The Power of Customer-Driven Media

A Chinese news anchor has garnered a lot of attention as the subject of a story. His blog entry helped pressure Starbucks into closing its store in the Forbidden City, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Sure, the guy was a media star in China, and so his blog got more attention than most. However, that's not the remarkable thing from a business view:

Seven months ago, Rui, an anchor for the state-run China Central Television, complained on his blog that the presence of a Starbucks had "undermined the Forbidden City's solemnity and trampled over Chinese culture."

It was as if he had opened the valve on an espresso machine. Reaction from Chinese readers poured forth, hissing and full of steam. Many people, it seemed, were offended by the presence of a shop selling half-caf mocha frapuccinos in the most hallowed spot in China, where 24 emperors had ruled in almost unimaginable grandeur for nearly 500 years. By the next day, Rui says, the item had been read by half a million people and generated "thousands, if not tens of thousands," of e-mail responses.

That's the point. When people get fed up enough with something, it doesn't take much of a crack to start the vocal explosion.

Think that couldn't happen here? Look at the number of scandals and outcries started by bloggers, one of the latest having been the Don Imus affair, though rumors are that he'll be returning to the air by September. It doesn't take a big presence for a blogger, or any other person who is passionate about a subject, to make a difference. It just takes reaching some of the right people at the right time. That's one reason why companies should focus less on having their own blogs - because, frankly, most people don't care what management says anyway - and more on reading the content of others'. When public opinion is out there for the world to hear, why wouldn't you want to know what it stated?