Brand: vodafone

Vodafone is the first phone operator in the Netherlands to introduce a ‘widget’ with which prepaid customers can buy extra credit through internet banking. Once customers click ‘add to Google’ on a Vodafone web page, the personal Vodafone box from then on appears in the completely personalized Google home page (am, Dutch). Brands get less and less opportunities to enter the lives of consumers. They will therefore put more and more effort into getting people to introduce them in their world. For example by really offering added value. This widget is an example of that. Earlier or later we will gather our favorite brands in one place, which together give a summary of our lives. Thus Google (or a similar brand) forms the cockpit, and our favorite brands are the meters. This is a small step in that direction.

Vodafone starts a Web Relations department, apart from the existing Investor Relations and Public Relations departments, to monitor the web. The new, 6-persons department will actively follow web logs and discussion forums to monitor the public image of the company and its services (em, Dutch). In fact, you could say that Web Relations is the same as ‘Stakeholder Relations’. Without a doubt, the department will not just look at what is being said, but also at who says it.  Is it a (former) customer, a (former) employee, a (former) stakeholder, a specialist, a technician, or a combination? And then the public comments of this person will be recorded in the HRM, IR, or CRM system. And Vodafone comes with a proper answer for this person. This way the brand develops more openness, and the dialogue about brands between customers becomes more and more transparent. This is another good step in that direction.