How businesses can use the Internet to enter into dialogue with their target groups - and avoid pitfalls

If businesses speak of their CSR and sustainability activities, it is not considered anything special any more. But sustainability communication is facing a paradigm shift through participation and networking via the Internet, also known as ,Web 2.0‘. Companies that enter into dialogue with their stakeholders by this means and thereby observe some important rules can obtain huge confidence and consequently achieve a competitive advantage.

On 23 April, 2010 a double-sided advertisement of Deutsche Telekom with the ,Utopia Change Maker Manifesto‘ appeared in national newspapers. At a press conference held the day before, Rene Obermann, the company‘s chief executive, had signed the ten commitments to its objectives and specific measures. At the same time, the information has been published with all details on the websites of Telekom and Utopia. A unique step that encourages discussion and marks a new approach in dealing with customers, critics and new audiences.

Web 2.0 - active participation and networking

A study of the branch association BITKOM shows that 87.4 percent of 400 surveyed German companies are taking the view that Web 2.0 technologies are going to become more and more important for their businesses. More than 40 million people in Germany are online. Many of them also use the Internet to participate actively in the creation of content, to network and to let emerge influential opinion pools. They regularly search the web for products and services, inform themselves about the manufacturers, compare prices or take into account comments and discussions of other users. Especially in the social networks: about half of the 40 million use Facebook, Xing and other social network services. Therefore, it is not surprising that more and more companies are taking Web 2.0 seriously. Also in the field of sustainability it is worth it: utopia.de, Germany's largest Internet platform for ,strategic consumption and sustainable lifestyle‘, has more than 60,000 registered users (,utopians‘). In addition to the contributions of Utopia editorial they are the ones that shape the quality of the content of the page: they write blog entries, comment on more than 7,000 products, which are summarized in the Utopia product guide, and they support each other with recommendations and tips .

Parkos - a new consumer group

,Utopians‘ count among a growing group of Internet users: the ,participatory consumers‘, also called ,Parkos‘. They are looking for their own way by themselves, are active and critical. They cannot be mislead by fair promises and ,plastic words‘, as Freiburg linguist Uwe Pörksen called them in an article in Brand Eins magazine. The term stands for words that are used inflationary and therefore become meaningless. For many, ,sustainability‘ counts among these words. The more important it is for companies to fill this term with specific content and to communicate credibly.

At the press conference to present the Change Maker Manifesto, Telekom boss Obermann stressed that it is not about the group go to ,present‘ themselves on Utopia, but to „intensify the dialogue." The expectations are high. For with the ahead-shooting, conversational communication, the company takes the duty, and is held accountable. Thus, communities, blogs and websites such as Utopia become a sensorium, which is both challenge and opportunity for businesses. So far, addressor-orientated sustainability communication is turned upside down. These Internet users cherish clear expectations - they are expecting:

- companies to do what they say.

- to be able to clearly see what companies do and why they do it.

- companies to pro-actively engage in dialogue.

- to do so continuously.

Rules for successful sustainability communications

In the first two years since the founding of Utopia in 2007, more than four million users visited the site to inform themselves, to exchange information, to start discussions and to debate critically with companies. The dialogues were constructive for both sides if the companies have complied with the main rules. These include:

1. Credibility: who is on trial between rhetoric and reality and goes into a permanent trust check should make sure to provide the necessary reliability first.
2. Authenticity: who is hiding behind marketing slogans is not taken seriously. Companies and representatives must be touchable in the Web 2.0 and communicate their interests, their personal experiences and sensitivities.
3. Dialogue: the user is interested in dialogue at eye level! Who is listening and responding to arguments is being appreciated even by the sharpest critics.
4. Transparency: problems and weaknesses are allowed to become a subject of discussion. And suggestions of users can be a driver of innovation for companies.
5. Staying power: successful Web 2.0 communication needs of continuity. Anyone who goes into dialogue and then disappears at the first headwind (and it will come!), will not build any confidence.

Companies that want to use the Internet for sustainable communication often fear ,loss of control': do unwanted discussions occur? Critical questions? Are we convincing enough with our arguments? These are understandable concerns - only are they not annulled by the fact that companies abstain from the dialogue. For there are going to be discussions anyway. If companies do not participate in them on the Web, they will still take place, only without the company and its arguments. Therefore, the presence in the Internet by using pro-active Web 2.0 communication does not lead to 'loss of control‘. Rather, it extends the capabilities of the company. On one condition: Web 2.0 activities only bear a meaning if they are part of an overall strategy. If you just want to be there because everyone is, you just squander your opportunities.