Ivory Towers in the Bazaar

2010-2011

The individual Internet User:

As the first decade of the 21st century drew to a close, more and more of us got connected not only physically but also virtually. [DF: Increase in people going on-line, Power of Information-anywhere, everywhere)]. My network of friends and associates literally became a real-time network: thanks to our mobile devices with built in GPS systems, I knew the whereabouts of my friends at every hour of the day and they could locate me too. Not only did I know where everyone was, but because we kept our status info continuously updated, (“I’m typing a scenario story…”) we all knew what we were doing and when we were doing it. [DF: Increasing use of broadband internet services with 3G mobile phone]

In my busy life, time is scarce. Wherever I can find ways to save time, I will take the opportunity. The development of online shopping meets my needs very well. I bank online; I buy my books, tickets and clothes on webshops and read magazines and news items paperless. 24/7.

The aftermath of the global crisis was longer than we had expected. I felt companies were in part to blame for the crisis [DF: Importance of authentic identity]. The scandals that were exposed on the web and the slow recovery have reduced my trust in companies. They might say that they will change their morale, but I haven’t seen it actually so far. Therefore, I was reluctant to ‘give away’ information to companies. I also saw that companies themselves were not transparent; they seem scared to expose themselves on the web. Therefore, I was reluctant to ‘give away’ information to companies. Privacy debates also hindered the dialogue amongst the companies and the customers. As a consequence, I couldn’t always find the information I needed on their sites and so turned to other sources for my information.

The Corporation:

In 2010 we were trying hard to recover from the effects of the global credit crisis. However, the aftermath of the 2008/2009 global crisis was longer than expected. The global economy only started picking up in 2011. Due to the global crisis, we have been exposed to negative publicity. This has made us wary to open up to the public too much through our websites. Moreover, due to the credit crunch, European internet legislation was sharpened [DF:Control of the Internet, Internet Governance]. As a result, it had become more difficult for us to advertise online and provide new and existing customers with pushed information. We consider our websites as a channel to be controlled tightly and we see them more as a communication means to our shareholders than to our customers.

Due to the increased use of the web, we see that people more and more share and seek knowledge online, also with respect to our services, products and reputation [DF: Increasing democratization of knowledge, Increasing user-generated content]. This can have far reaching consequences for our business. If customers are not satisfied, they can easily share this experience with their peers and influence them in going elsewhere. This ‘power of the web’ is becoming a serious threat. Our world is becoming smaller and smaller [DF: The Globalization of Culture (or Cultural Globalization)]. These days, we can do business with more customers than ever and real-time. This is a great opportunity on the one hand, but on the other, it also has increased competition. By mergers and acquisitions, companies conglomerate to bigger units. In the early days of our company, we only had a limited amount of competitors in the Western world. Now, we have to compete with companies all over the world which means that we have to deal with cultural differences and different, new and still unknown business dynamics. This makes us reluctant to share information on our website. We can’t control who reads it and what people and competitors do with that information and so far, there is no governance control to manage these dynamics to secure that our privacy can be guaranteed.

2012-2013

The individual Internet User:

My life becomes more and more influenced by the internet. I continuously discover new advantages of using the web. Technological developments are making the interaction with people from all over the world easier and funnier every day [DF: People's need for communication and information]. I can do almost everything online and the possibilities are endless. The trend of being permanently connected continued and I now constantly updated my status info. Often, this was automatically done for me based on the location I was in or activity I was performing [DF: Location based services and real-time status info available]. As I consequence, I came to expect others to act on that information; and they did, especially my friends (“Hey, I see you’re in town, how about lunch?”). I’d have expected companies to pick up on this as well.

With the development of secure online IDs, regulation was kept to a minimum. Where once laws were adapted to protect privacy and regulate the use of information, we now slowly saw them being abandoned and Internet becoming more and more self-regulated. For me, this is a great development. My social network opened up even further on the web as I felt fewer inhibitions to place personal information online (DF: Secure digital online ID established). I became a member of a number of online communities and started sharing ideas through the web with my friends. I can interact and communicate with people all over the world real-time and we can share knowledge and ideas openly.

What strikes me is that companies do not seem to be part of this development. I would have expected them to be part of the online communities, asking me, as a customer, for ideas and feedback, and presenting new services and products. Sometimes I receive a personalized advertisement, but if I want information or to share my ideas, it is hard to get in touch. Companies’ websites do give information, but only at a high level. They seem to be scared to be transparent. I can buy products online, but companies’ websites do not give me the feeling to be "close". As a consequence, I felt I had to reach out for the information myself, which was frustrating, as my time came at a premium. If I want advice on buying a product, I actually ask my online friends.

The Corporation:

We noticed people gathering around virtual communities more and more, sharing knowledge and ideas (DF: Increasing user-generated content. However, we thought it was best to hold back on these activities. We knew that taking part in these online communities would imply that we were transparent and honest about our business [DF: Importance of authentic identity]. Although we saw this as an advantage towards our shareholders and key customers, we didn’t want every possible internet user (and competitor) to gain insight in our business. Therefore, we asked for new privacy regulations to protect our competitive advantages. These regulations were realized by the European Union [DF: Internet Governance].

2014-2015

The individual Internet User:

I am getting tired of the 24/7 online availability and overload of information [DF: Information overload]. Every minute, I get information from my peers and my mailbox is full of unanswered messages. Recently, I was looking for a new way to finance my mortgage. I got hundreds of advices, complaints, personal stories and questions from all over the world. It took me days to find my way in this topic: everyone highlighted a different aspect of it. Then, I met an expert who guided me through my questions with smart and practical advice. It was a relief to meet someone who could help me straight away. Since then, I have met more of those ‘online brokers of information’ who helped me in effectively connecting me to products and services offered by companies.

These sites, acting as go-betweens, provide me with the right services at the right moment. These are the players with which I really want to interact and am prepared to give something back. I’ve come to trust these sites, they provide valuable information and services to me and I now not only turn to my friends for information but am also prepared to obtain that information from these 'virtual merchants.'

The Corporation:

We think that the concept of the ‘virtual merchant’ works out very well. Those online players enable us to connect to our customers in a way they appreciate and we keep controlling what information is being shared and what is kept behind the scenes.

Timeline