Two-way Street

October 4, 2009 · Filed under Orcom · Tagged Communication, Internet, irishprecious, New Social Media, online marketing, online stores, Orcom, Organizational Communication, prosumer, twitter, UP Manila, upm orcom, viral marketing, yehey philippines

During one of our sessions in our OC 152 Class, our professor invited a speaker who talked about the use of online tools for Viral Marketing. Mr. Gian Paolo Pangan, the invited guest, is currently the Strategy Manager of Yehey Philippines Corporation, which most of us is most likely already familiar with. Sir Paolo started his talk that morning with a video and a discussion on Internet, wherein he pointed out that:

• Internet gave way for shifts or changes to happen
• Internet has become an essential touch point
• With internet, finite contact points evolved to infinite contact points

As he went on further with his discussion on online Marketing, one of the important things he stressed out is that gone were the days when consumers were just plain consumers. People today are more aware of what they want and how they want it. More importantly, they themselves have become “Prosumers” = consumers + producers.

Now most people may not be aware of this, but as we spend a lot of time online, as we create our accounts, as we post contents online, we are actually becoming producers ourselves.

Let’s give out a more concrete example.

Anyone can be a Publisher

Before, people are just merely audience or readers. They wait out for materials to be distributed (i.e. book, magazine) and spend the rest of the time reading that material. Today, those used-to-be readers can also be publishers themselves. How? The answer is Internet, of course. Anyone, whether a certified writer or not, can just post his works online and it will readily and easily be available online for public consumption. Let’s give a more specific example–blogs. Everyone is now familiar with the use of blog; from a 10-year old kid to a housewife. Every day, hundreds of blogs were being published online, the same way hundreds of them were being read. As of now, I am officially one of those who produced (producer) a blog online, and you as my reader is my consumer. Later on, I will be reading other blogs by other producers as well, then I will become the consumer= Prosumer.

Anyone can be a Broadcaster

Photos posted by friends on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube

People are always on the lookout of what is happening around them. They want to be aware and be updated at the same time. Before, the best way to get the latest happenings is to turn on the Television, the radio, or read the newspaper for news and information. Those media feed us with the current events. Today, anyone can be a source of information with, again, the use of online tools. New Social Media, such as blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Friendster, and Twitter, now gave us the power to give live updates of what is hot, what is new, and what is the latest information. Every time we shout out, for example an event, we are already giving out real time updates. Let’s take the example of the most recent event, the Typhoon Ondoy. Immediately the day after Ondoy hit Metro Manila, people have already posted videos, blogs, and tweets online on what happened in their place and other places as well. Announcements on community works, charity drive and the likes were already posted online, too. During that time, people have become producers themselves by posting updates, and consumers at the same time as they read other people’s post = Prosumer.

Anyone can be an Entrepreneur

Photo credits to littlereddress.multiply.com

Before, if you want to set up your own business, you need to have a great amount of money for your capital, a place to set it up, and hire people to man your business. Without those basic requirements, it will be hard to own a business. Today, it’s actually still the same thing; but, it is NOT the ONLY option anymore. Anyone of any age, whether a real business person or not, can venture into Entrepreneurship. Internet made it possible for business-minded people to have their own “firm” with lesser costs. Multiply, Ebay, and Sulit.com are just few of the tools people can use to sell out their products. It’s just easy as posting your announcement, a picture of the product, the price and the payment procedures. The convenience it has (lower costs, faster and easier transaction) is the main reason why more and more people, who were just ordinary customers before, were now engaged to produce a business of their own online = Prosumer.

Conclusion

By the end of the day, the whole talk with Sir Paolo made me realize that Internet broke the barrier between the Producers and the Consumers. Connection and interaction have been made easier. It is not a one way street anymore, wherein consumers were used to be placed only on the end side waiting for the Producers to feed them with products and information. It has become more interactive and they are now sharing and passing information to each other.