For Submission:

Research Topic:

The Impact of Collaborative Technologies on consumer generated media and its effect on Marketers.

Literature Review

Consumers are key to a successful business. Most business listens to their customers because of the underlying importance of feedbacks and primarily satisfying their needs. Web-based companies dealing on digital products and services maximises the opportunities created by the Internet to effectively communicate and collaborate with customers on new product development or redesigning existing products (Robert, et al., 2003).

Innovations in web experience brought about by web 2.0 have created disruptive force like CGM (Carson. 2008). Consumers now are more appended to what another customer feels about a product than mere traditional channel preferred by marketers (CompeteInc. 2006). These innovation and the capabilities of using collaborative tools available with web 2.0 give marketers great opportunity to get direct feedbacks from end users. It also eliminates data collection barriers and reduces error assumptions in data analysis (Neilson. 2008).

Marketers have already anticipated possibilities for fostering trackable, one-on-one relationships with customers. This is possible with innovations in collaborative technologies like Google’s Android which will offer portable rich-media capabilities, allowing brands to integrate online, text and e-mail marketing into a lower-cost smart phone that fits into consumers' pockets (Noreen. 2008).

Therefore, the way forward is to create a robust customer relationship management based on systematic collaboration using technologies where customers manage that relationship with generated contents to support product marketing while companies concentrate on and customer satisfaction and service fulfilment (Seybold. 2008).

The areas that needs further research is the lack of proper understanding from marketers’ perspective on the application and use of collaboration and associate technologies to effectively compromise between customer wants and profitability.

Background

The internet has created enormous opportunities for people and business. Nowadays, consumers are up to date in terms of information on product and services in the market. One of the trusted sources of information is customer generated media from various customers. Existing customer reviews and user experience plays an important part in influencing potential customers in making buying decision. Therefore, an effective strategic plan dealing with consumer behaviours is very vital for any business to success online.

Companies could gain an advantage by simply creating platform using collaboration with customers and suppliers and also mining massive available content generated media on the internet. This is achievable by using technologies to effectively communicate and implement important marketing strategy and the ability to review feedbacks in an inexpensive way.

Business agility to respond to current market trends will highly be dependent on how well companies communicate with customers especially on feedbacks and comments on new offerings and existing products.

Research Objectives

The main objective of this research paper is to address how the use of collaborative technology in customer generated content impact marketing strategic planning. It will focus primarily on answering the following questions;

1. Do marketers really need to listen to customers?

2. What are the effects of CGM on product development life cycle?

3. What could marketers gain from using collaborative technology in creating online customer intimacy?

4. What are the current available technologies?

5. What are the limitations of using collaborative technology in today’s customer-centric marketplace?

Benefits of Research Paper

This paper will benefit e-marketer as well as product designers to understand the impact of using collaborative technologies in creating value proposition based on customers reviews on different CGM channels online.

Another benefit is how these technologies could be used to communicate with customers in an inexpensive and effective way and customers feedbacks on new product offering can easily be collected and assessed.

Sections of Research Paper

1.0 Introduction

1.1. Definition of Collaboration

1.2. Importance of the “customer”

1.3. Purpose of Research Paper

2.0 Consumers’ influence on product development

2.1. What the customer wants

2.2. CGM as a disruptive force

2.3. Impact of consumer to consumer messaging

2.4. Innovation Vs Marketability

3.0 Collaboration as a Branding tool

3.1. Virality

3.2. Customer retention

3.3. Inexpensive information gateway

4.0 Current Application of Collaborative Technologies

4.1. Web 2.0

4.2. Virtual Worlds

4.3. Business intelligence tools

5.0 Limitations of collaborative technologies

5.1. Internet infrastructure

5.2. Consumer Awareness

5.3. Trust and Security

6.0 Future trend of Technology and CGM

7.0 Conclusion

8.0 References

Sources of Information

1.0 Carson, J. 2008.Four disruptive opportunities wrought by CGM.[Internet] Available at: http://blogs.nielsenbuzzmetrics.com/mouthpiece/archives/2007/03/four_disruptive.html [Accessed on October 1st 2008]

1.1. Disruptive nature of CGM

2.0 Noreen , O. 2008. Walk the talk: What marketers are learning from word of mouth and group dynamics. VNU Business Media Journal, [Online]. 49 (5),
Available at: http://search.rdsinc.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/texis/rds/suite2/+lReElW_eoxbtqA68nh_Wxv9+xFqo15nG9+vW/full.html (Business and Industry)
[Accessed October 8^th 2008].

3.0 Seybold, P. 2008. How your customers will co-design your company’s future. [Internet] http://outsideinnovation.blogs.com/

3.1. General source for Innovation on Collaboration

4.0 Nielsen BuzzMetrics. http://www.nielsenbuzzmetrics.com/cgm

4.1. My source for CMG estimates on posting and usage

5.0 Pitts, RA.. and Lei, D. 2003. Strategic Management: Building and Sustaining competitive advantage. 3^rd ed. South-Western: Thomson Press.

5.1. Source for strategic planning theories

6.0 Blackshaw, P. 2005. Word of Mouth a long term strategy? [Internet] http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3553036

6.1. I’m using this source to identify the importance of CGM as part of strategic planning.

7.0 CompeteInc. 2006. There is a Viral going around that Marketers will want to catch http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20061213005288&newsLang=en

7.1. This source is to suggest how viral marketing influences buying behaviour