Not Just Developing Strong Connections with the Public, But Also FOR the Public

By: Sam Ford, PepperDigital

This blog is devoted to all things digital, and especially how digital tools are transforming corporate communication.  We like to write about new ways that brands can create dialogue with customers, how online and mobile communication better facilitates a more honest and transparent conversation with a company's multiple audiences, etc.  But, that "Web 2.0 atmosphere" can often lead to tunnel vision.

As you might guess from my last post, I'm much less a technical enthusiast as I am someone who is excited by the way that social practices develop around tools.  In short, it's theory versus application, and "blue sky" prototype technology has never really gotten my heart beating faster.

So, for me, it's important for brands to realize that the Internet experience, for all its bells and whistles, needs to offer more steak than sizzle, to use a Jim Ross analogy.

Even more than that, it's important to realize that there are still many people who aren't experiencing their Web connection with the luxury of high-speed Internet.

I've been thinking about these issues while I'm working from Kentucky this week, remembering my frustration with years past, when my parents could not get DSL because it was not yet available on their street.  The cable company offered no Internet service, so it was a choice between much-too-high satellite service and dial-up.

Back in 2006, I wrote:

Sure, when I'm in Boston (where I'm visiting right now), I can pick up Internet signals at almost every corner. But, I'm staying in Kentucky this summer, and I feel like a druggie in need of a fix when I'm searching for a good Internet connection.

C3 adviser Grant McCracken, C3 analyst Ivan Askwith and I were all having a conversation while visiting New York City a few months back that wireless Internet for the nation might be available in five years, and that would really help to enable the convergence culture we talk about. But, there are plenty of places where people who have the disposable income to afford the Internet not only don't have great wireless options available but are even completely dependent on dial-up Internet service.

In Kentucky, the momentum is shifting, though.  While my parents eventually gained access to DSL, there are forces other than AT&T at work, trying to connect the Commonwealth.  An organization named Connect Kentucky is playing a major role in getting fellow Kentuckians online.  This recent U.S. Economic Development Administration's Excellence in Innovation Award-winning organization is making major strides in helping businesses and individuals overcome digital divides in rural parts of the state.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article that my colleague Matt Purdue passed along:

Based on a formula developed at the Brookings Institution to measure the economic benefits of broadband service, ConnectKentucky estimates its efforts have resulted in about 63,000 new or retained jobs. In particular, the group's analysis of federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that Kentucky experienced a 3.1% increase in information-technology jobs over the two years ending in December 2006, compared with growth of 0.1% nationally.

The point of brining this situation up is that it's amazing how drastically different a broadband connection makes not only the lives of individuals but the economic climate of an area.  We here at PepperDigital are quite interested in the role government plays in technological adoption, and it's crucial, I think, for businesses and government alike to realize the economic benefits to the country to providing the proper "information superhighway" infrastructure across the country.  The cost of implementing these projects might be an initial hurdle, but public/private partnerships such as the ones fostered by ConnectKentucky to accelerate the rate of technological advancement have crucial financial repercussions for an area.

For major corporations, especially those whose brands face the general public, there are great benefits to having as much of the country connected with as strong an Internet connection possible.  In our era, there's a strong argument to be made that the Internet is becoming as pervasive and crucial a technology for people to have easy access to as landlines were to a previous generation.  The more academic institutions and public interest groups like Connect Kentucky get involved, the better.  And, most importantly, the more corporate America and elected officials realize the vital importance of having a country connected online and help find new ways to make that happen, the more quickly we'll develop the Internet as an even more viable platform for communication of all sort, including commercial applications.

Comments

[Rob Longert]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out on a global scale, as well.

It seems that in many countries without internet access, mobile communications are taking the lead in terms of staying connected. I wonder how that correlates to what we have experienced in terms of not having DSL or accessible wi-fi.

Do you think that third world countries with limited access to the internet will branch off in another direction such as mobile technologies (smart phones, text messaging, wireless internet cards), or continue to try and adopt to using DSL, and other connections stemming from landlines or cable?

[Dustin Bratcher]

Sam, you'll be glad to know I am still currently fighting AT&T to get DSL at my home.

If you want to talk about feeling like a druggie looking for a fix, imagine this situation.

Imagine a fork in the road in which both forks dead end and are essentially equal in length. The left fork has had DSL for over 2 years now and the right fork doesn't.

I live this every day. Literally. And not only that, the Connect Kentucky organization faced a lot of opposition because our good friends AT&T initially promised that everyone in the Bellsouth area that they bought would get DSL. EVERYONE and they would do it by Januay 2008. Obviously they said this to make sure the buyout would get pushed through.

Also because of this false promise by AT&T that caused our county officials to balk at offering spending for Connect Kentucky's project. Luckily, we got the right folks to influence their decision.

My problem with AT&T is that I can call them up and essentially tell them that in addition to my cell phone service and telephone service, I would love to give them an extra $50 per month for the rest of my life.

Their response: Can't help you even though you can literally see homes that do have our DSL service. I think I need to get together a class action lawsuit or something.

In this day and age, broadband can play a huge role in rural communities because I could definitely "telecommute" to work most everyday, but my bosses are old school in that they need me to be in the office in order to consider me to be "working." That and creativity only happens between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in that office.

Rural areas don't have the luxury, if you can call it that, of public transportation. Not even what we consider larger cities (50,000 pop.) in rural areas. Most hybrid electric cars are built for city driving under 35 which is a rarity in rural areas so being able to utilize the internet for more than just answering trivia, news and porn would be a solid idea.

For the same reason there is suburban living outside of gigantic cities where people have a short (distance) drive to work, why drive to an office where you are going to work from the same computer you have at home?

[johnny sha]

Hi Sam

I am very interested in the topic of branding and the speed/availability of web connection that you have brought up and discussed so eloquently.

The developments in branding and the advancements in the technology of communication often runs parallel to each other. Will USA, the birthplace of modern creative agency and branding firms, fall behind nations that do have wide spread and high speed internet access? Are there already signs of new mode of communicating with consumers emerging in those nations who's information superhighway are more developed?

Thanks again for the thought provoking piece.

[Sam Ford]

Rob, there are a lot of countries in which the first phone people have learned to use is a mobile one, where the infrastructure of landlines were just never in place but the technology of mobile outpaced the need for putting up lines. These sorts of issues explain why there's simply not an infrastructure for broadband penetration in some countries outside of the most urban areas, and why mobile devices and connections might be best suited for many. Of course, we also have to think how that means the Internet experience will differ for these folks. I think that it makes sense in some of those markets to put even more thought into mobile, because it's simply more realistic. We're certainly not one to talk about being innovators as a country when it comes to broadband or mobile, considering our infrastructure problems relative to the cultural and financial power of the U.S.

Dustin, I know that you know exactly what I'm feeling when it comes to these infrastructure issues. Now that the tools in place, life can really be transformed. Work can be transformed, especially for jobs that are (or should be) salary. I've always said that journalism just cannot be a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job. Some companies even make journalists punch a time card when they go in and a time card when they leave. That means that, no matter where the story is at, the journalist has to go by the office first. I understand some of the mentality behind that, perhaps. I assume it could mean some degree of distrust, some need to monitor the whereabouts of employees. My suggestion would be that, if they didn't trust the person, they shouldn't have hired them in the first place. Infrastructure cannot get in the way of work optimization. Living in NYC, I can tell you that commute times can suck the time and energy out of your schedule, for instance, no matter what job you're doing. But, as you point out, the technology is in place to overcome many of these issues. I'm writing this right now from Kentucky, where I've participated in five conference calls or so today, advised multiple client teams on projects, answered all sorts of e-mail, spent a little bit of time working on an academic project, and did some analysis for a survey project we're doing at Peppercom. That sort of interaction wasn't possible in a previous generation.

For rural areas, the possibilities are endless when the technology opens doors. The "brain drain" that states like Kentucky worry about, when they educate folks who end up going to "greener pastures" (or concrete pastures, in my case) and then take the $$$ the state spent on educating its citizenry to pay taxes and stimulate the economy somewhere else, it can be frustrating. But perhaps the next big sell, if they could get all the infrastructure consistently laid, would be for the virtual commuter. This may not be a great place to work, but it's a great place to live, and now you don't have to compromise one for the other. That sort of marketing message.

As for your experience, Dustin, the problem is that the person you're talking to just doesn't want to see things from the customer's point of view. From theirs, it's an infrastructure issue. They wired one street; they haven't gotten to yours yet. If they were standing at your window looking out at the DSL houses, though, they'd realize that the view is quite different. Perhaps it would help them get a move-on? As for Connect Kentucky, whatever became of Ohio County's push for Internet? My parents have DSL, so I haven't followed it, but my in-laws can't get DSL still, again for no good reason.

Finally, Johnny, great comments as well. I've said before that technology is driven by cultural practice, which was the point of my Twitter piece a few days ago. In all honesty, as Dustin's message points out, the problem is that there's cultural practices already there, that the "user" is ready for, and no one is filling that gap. I know many families that are affluent enough to consider broadband Internet a staple but simply cannot get it, or are not willing to pay the high satellite fees because they realize that it's so arbitrary that they don't have cheaper options.

[Dustin Bratcher]

The wireless DSL they proposed is actually up and running to an extent, but they only have a few towers operational. It doesn't appear that the customer base is as large as they thought it would be. Geography has a lot to do with the service as well. We have very uneven terrain here in the OC.

It appears that AT&T is providing just enough home with DSL that alternative providers aren't going to be able to survive. A perfect storm of willingness and apathy.

Broadband technology and all we can do with it is completely under utilized even in a highly technological time. We are a generation or two away from having CEOs and company presidents who want to make the effort to use it to its fullest potential.

There is no telling what we'll be doing with broadband then, but it's a shame that essentially(to use Sam's Jim Ross analogy) we have the steak but few know why it's sizzling and exactly what that means for them.

[Sam Ford]

I actually didn't realize what had come to be with that project, or else I saw or heard about it and ended up forgetting. Part of that's because I'm not in Kentucky as regularly, but I wonder if that's indicative of many people just not knowing or not getting the word out. When you get a chance, let me know how the service ended up coming together in Ohio County. What's the brand name? What areas are served?