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The Cluetrain Manifesto

This is the stuff David Churbuck has been talking about on his blog and is also the driver behind some of his efforts at Lenovo. David’s focus is to reach out to their customers in new ways that foster a closer and more participatory relationship. Many claim they do this, but I think Lenovo is going well beyond the lip-service (David even posts his cell phone number as an example of personal comittment). I cannot comment further on a lot of this because I am new to this space and just now understanding web marketing and some of the new models for building community; I write about it here mostly to make others aware.

With this Lenovo experiment, I am mostly interested to see if the blogging and interfacing catches on. For example, I love my Toshiba laptop. I love the design, the power, everything about it. If I need support, I’ll go to their site or make a call (I haven’t had to yet, fortunately). But I don’t think I’m that interested in reading news from their corporate team. That’s the interesting part to wait and see, how Lenovo will build that audience and participation.

Within the Manifesto, however, the emphasis and understanding of the importance of the intranet is something that resonates with me. I have long been a huge proponent of the intranet as hub of corporate culture and community (and the extranet as its external partner). That this document gives voice to that in human terms is relatively new to me (and apparently others as well) and very exciting as I seek to define myself and my potential roles in this space.

I also find it interesting that all these years after the invention of the Internet that still so much conversation is based on the power of hyperlinks. Such a simple part of the overall structure and capability of the web has such force. Hyperlinks radicalize common hierarchical structures. Hyperlinks extend beyond what we might otherwise group in logical fashion.

I’ve heard his name before but Doc Searls’ (co-author of the Manifesto, writer, speaker, and many other things) and his weblog are also fascinating sources. Try working your way through some of the great bloggers he lists in his extensive blogroll.

Here also is a nice quote from J.P. Rangaswami on Building Society for the 21st Century which helps to clarify some of this philosophy:

Use what you stand for to attract the customer. Use what you do to retain the customer¹s trust. Ensure that the customer is always free to leave, and paradoxically he or she will stay. Who is this customer? Your family. Your friend. Your employee. Your business partner. Your client. Your citizen.

In a world of empowered individuals, everyone’s a customer.