Shifting consumption with the “rapidity of thought”

Earlier this month, Malcolm Gladwell argued that the social change revolution will not be tweeted. However there seems to be consensus among readers that Gladwell is wrong … about Twitter, about social media, about social networking, about digital activism, and about the revolution.

Gladwell claims that social media are not effective tools because they lack several key factors central to the success of any organized activist movement: “strong ties” between people who are willing make a sacrifice and a top-down, hierarchical leadership structure.

Maria Popova published a sharp retort which opens stingingly with, “Malcolm Gladwell's take on social media is like a nun's likely review of the Kama Sutra” and goes on to convincingly, and accurately deconstruct his argument.

(If you have not yet done so, I suggest reading her article, which includes great examples of successful social media activism campaigns.)

Instead of getting into all of that … There is little question that social media and digital advocacy campaigns, even when organized spontaneously can influence both social and political change (see Obama, Barack). Furthermore, social media has, and will continue to affect both consumer behavior and company bottom lines. The best part? Neither sit-ins nor choreographed activism campaigns required!

Gap bows to community feedback, squashes rebranding campaign
Bombarded by negative feedback, particularly on blogs and Twitter, Gap scrapped its new logo less than a week after its debut. According to Fast Company’s Co.Design, the vilifying logo rage led to “the largest logo backtrack of recent memory -- followed only by Tropicana’s disastrous rebranding. It might not be that earth shattering, but almost overnight, community criticism halted the corporate marketing “evolution” of the largest specialty apparel retailer in the United States.

Marka Hansen, president of Gap in North America:

“Since we rolled out an updated version of our logo last week on our website, we’ve seen an outpouring of comments from customers and the online community in support of the iconic blue box logo.

AT&T pressured, modified iPhone upgrade policy
Last summer, AT&T altered its upgrade policy for the new iPhone 3G S after existing customers protested the $200 upgrade fee. While existing customers were offered a discounted price with new two-year agreements, existing iPhone owners were not afforded the same luxury. In response, over 15,000 outraged AT&T customers signed a Twitition – a Twitter petition – demanding reasonable 3G S upgrade prices. The “overwhelmingly negative” tweets directed at AT&T, combined with the most successful Twitition ever, opened the mobile telephony provider’s ears.

David Fishman, AT&T Spokesman:

“Since many of our iPhone 3G customers are early adopters and were literally weeks shy of being upgrade eligible due to iPhone 3G S launching 11 months after iPhone 3G, we’re extending the window of upgrade eligibility for a limited time. … We recognize that these customers likely camped at our stores, stood in long lines or waited for iPhone 3G inventory to arrive. We value their business — and want to keep them doing business with AT&T.”

EA Sports fails to produce, benches basketball franchise
Chris Sanner, Executive Editor of Operation Sports, celebrated the news that sports game developer EA Sports decided to delay the release of its NBA franchise just before it was scheduled to hit stores. (Interestingly enough, NBA Elite 11’s cover athlete Kevin Durant, first heard the news via Twitter.) For months, harsh criticism of EA Sports’ NBA Elite 11 had been building in forums, on blogs, on Twitter and Facebook, and even on YouTube. No longer able to ignore the public outcry, EA shelved its product – costing them $60 million and millions in sales.

"[T]oday is about us, it's about the consumer, it's about being proven that we have a voice and that if something is so egregiously wrong – we can make something happen,” cheered Sanner. “This may become a new trend, it might even set off a revolution in sports gaming development cycles. But for the rest of the night, let's just relish in the fact that the consumer was heard loud and clear and EA listened – no matter if was due to necessity or simply out of convenience.”

And for the official statement, here’s Peter Moore, EA Sports President:

“All that feedback revealed some concerns about gameplay polish, so we’ve listened to your feedback, and made a judgment that the game would benefit from more time in development.”

*****

If corporate accountability is a new trend, it’s one that we must to hold onto. Social media can help us take back the reigns.

The revolution can be tweeted. It is being tweeted. For-profit companies will always be sensitive to their bottom line. By year’s end, nine out of 10 corporate businesses will engage through social networking portals, which will serve to further empower the consumer. Social media scrambles the classic producer-consumer paradigm. Today, if a group of consumers – if a single consumer! – feels cheated or disrespected, the online community will hear about it. More importantly, the corporation will be forced to respond … Quickly.

Thomas Jefferson once said:

"The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure."

He also said that when public opinion changes, it does so with the “rapidity of thought.” That’s the beauty and power of social media. It’s instant, it’s open, and it’s ours. Tweet by tweet, we’re becoming more comfortable effecting real change in the digital sphere.