Wikification in Action

FusionBrand has a great post on Wikification in Action. The title was enough to catch my attention, but the case study is pretty interesting, particularly the early example of Federal Express changing it’s name to reflect customers insistence on calling the company FedEx. Even though Federal Express increased spending and aggressively positioned the brand, customer consensus rang true.

That was probably the first example of wikification, especially since FedEx announced its first Web site at the same time. Wikification – or the process by which customers define brands based on the economic, experiential or emotional value they receive – represents the biggest force in branding today. Wikification is occurring on Intelliseek, Epinions and other feedback sites, message boards, viral emails and SMSs, water-cooler chat, and other peer-to-peer conversations.

This is the point where I’ll pull out the marketing truism – your company is what your customers think it is. Wikification is just a relatively new way to label the important influence customers have on brands. If you’d like more information, this was the third in a three part series, so check out the other two posts to learn about The Death of Positioning and How to Wikify Your Brand.