Web 2.0

I've been working on a startup over the last 3 months. Interestingly, I came across the concept of Web 2.0 while working in the apparel industry, which apparently doesn't have anything to do with the web saga.

Web 2.0 is said to be the next big thing in the internet arena. Its the next big game changer.

So what is Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 is the name used for the basic trend of consumers creating their own content and more importantly managing the content. This is best explained through an example.

Lets say there is an online newspaper. Now, till now it was pretty similar to the offline newspaper, in the sense that the editor would plan the layout - the headlines, the editorials, top news in all the different sub heads and so on. Come to think of it, it is not at all different from the offline paper.

Now under Web 2.0 what would happen to the normal online newspaper? What would happen is that people would rank news. The headlines would get decided by the number of hits each news item gets. Each article would have an authenticity score based on what the readers believe. Therefore when you read it, you would know what the pulse of the city, state, country or the world is; what do the people believe and so on. It would no longer depend on what an editor thinks is most important. The consumers are managing the content themselves.

Another is the case of Youtube. The consumers create their own videos or post the videos they like. Youtube only facilitates the process.

Why is Web 2.0 the next big thing?

Traditionally marketeers have tried to increase the involvement of the consumer with their brands. The more closely the consumers are involved with the brand, the stronger the brand.

This they tried through their advertisement campaigns, the product, the packaging and the normal rigmarol. The techniques of interacting with the consumer have been very indirect. The process has been very serial; in the sense that there would be market research which studies the consumer. Second stage would be developing the product based on the market research. The third stage would be to develop sales and marketing techniques to sell what is developed. Finally the consumer would see what the marketeer has made for him/her and vote on it with his dollar spend.

The power of Web 2.0 comes by the disruption it can create in this tried and tested chain. In Web 2.0 the consumer gets directly involved with the designing process. The challenge is no longer to drive excellence in the functions of market research and consumer insight generation. The challenge is to create an environment where the consumer is excited about contributing and influencing the product creation.

This is a totally different ball game and companies who do not move fast enough to the change that Web 2.0 brings won't be around for long.

- Kashy