Engagement and transparency: turning your company inside out

Brandjacking turns every previous notion of power in the economy upside down. Everyone is a celebrity. Everyone is a VIP. It is not surprising that an organization like Greenpeace can damage your brand, but when an ordinary customer like Dave Carroll or a lone satirist like Josh Simpson can come to dominate the discussion around huge brands like United Airlines or BR the world is clearly changing. Imagine, for a moment, if it had not been Dave Carroll, obscure Canadian folk singer, but Sir Paul McCartney, global superstar, whose guitar had been damaged: “I am terribly sorry, Sir Paul. Allow us to replace your guitar immediately, Sir Paul. And please fly with us, first class, forever, at absolutely no cost, Sir Paul. Please don’t tell anyone we broke your guitar, Sir Paul.” What businesses are only starting to realize is that they are going to have to treat us all like that from now on.