In this podcast by Mitch Joel in conversation with Avinash Kaushik where they
discuss about the most happening Online digital medium and the way this
medium has matured and has become the new means of brand building
revenue generation.

Some transcript and summary from the podcast as below:
The way we measure the success or define success has changed since the
invent of the New age social networks.
Earlier websites used to measure the success of their online presence by
counting the numbers such as below:
1) No. of hits to the website
2) No. of page views
3) No. of Unique visitors
4) No. of form submissions etc….

However, these metrics are mere numbers that make little / no sense in this
age of Digital socialism. The success of an online channel is not only about
the short lived popularity but how can it prove to be successful in the long run.
Gone are the days when the website owners were churning out heaps of
content and expect the public to endorse them. Yes this is the age of Trust
and no matter how good a product is, there is a heavy chance to lose the
customer base as the competition is growing every day to make better quality
products.

So, what is that differentiator when it comes to building a sustainable online
business model? Is it about the speed of churning out new content?? Is it
about the variety of products that a company sells online? Or is it about the
advertising genius of the ad agency working on the website. What matters at
the end of the day is the way a community is built around a good product
which helps achieve a level of customer advocacy. Customer advocacy is the
trust that the customer has that whatever product / service is being offered is
absolutely based on his / her needs and the company does what is best for
the customer and the society as a whole (sometimes).

Let's take an example. We visited the websiteVim, website a detergent
manufacturer and found an image of a shining surface and a loud scream that
Vim is the best detergent and it helps clean everything under the sun. Well we
don't deny the fact that yes Vim could be good product but the Brand message
is all about screaming out loud. This is obviously the 80's way of selling a
product. Obviously the ancient metrics are the ones that would be used on
such websites. Now let’s focus our attention onto a similar product
manufacturer called Seventh generation. The hero banner on the Home page
screams "Protecting Planet Home". Wow look at the difference between this
and Vim website. Here the message is very clear. "We invite you to join this
initiative to make a better planet for you and the upcoming generations". Look
at the kind of connect that is brought out by this website. It tempts one to
really look up to their products because of the Customer advocacy that it
creates.

Any customer would really love to buy this product and would
definitely recommend this website to all the near and dear ones simply
because of the opportunity it creates to share their views, complaints,
recommendations and what not??The site is connected to all the major social
networks like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and YouTube. Also, it makes a
customer much more comfortable that the company is very open to their views

and helps choose a product that they think is best for them and their home.
There is no compulsion on the customer part to buy the product now and one
is made comfortable that at the end of the day that it’s an individual’s choice
whether to buy a product or not. Probably as a short term this could mean ROI
is delayed. But we are sure ROI would eventually become 3-5 times more
than what a competitor can get in a period of 6months-1 year for any new
customer.
Now look the paradigm shift in metrics when it comes to measuring the online
success of this website:
 No. of re-tweets on twitter (Engagement potential)
 No. of followers on twitter and Facebook(Popularity)
 Ratio of incoming messages per outbound message (Conversational
ability)
 Net promoter score (Loyalty index)

Nowhere in these metrics there is just mere volume sans Digital socialism. So,
as we see Online channel has become the face of the company and we could
say it is more appropriate to provide the right brand image online rather than
spending millions in offline branding that is fast becoming extinct and costlier.
Also, it is all about matured branding Online by focusing on the Brand strategy
and Key product features rather than on mere screaming that is increasingly
becoming irritant to the ordinary buyer who is moved up the Maslow's
hierarchy towards Self-actualisation and wants instant gratification of his
recognition needs.