Customer Relationship Management Case Study

Corporate Blogging in India: Customer Relationship Management Redefined?

OR

Abstract:
This case is written to discuss whether blogs can successfully serve as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool for corporates. With the advent of the Internet era in the 1990s, the blogging phenomenon – a success across the globe – percolated into the Indian scenario with 14% of the Indian Internet users actively indulging in blogging. Despite being in its nascent stage, blogging culture has emerged as a rage amidst the Indian youth, who regard it as a platform for self-expression. The vociferous nature of blogs combined with the growing Indian blogging community has made it imperative for corporates to take notice of this communication medium. With the aim of interacting with its customers and creatively promoting products to attract new buyers, many corporates have launched successful blogs. For instance, Hindustan Unilever Limited’s ‘Sunsilk Gang of Girls’ and eBay’s blogs are a huge hit with the crowd. However, except for a few startups and cash-rich companies, blogs are yet to find wide-spread acceptance by corporates in India. Regardless of its benefits, using blogs as a CRM tool has raised many apprehensions. Should corporates ignore the power of blogs? Can blogging act as a long-term and an effective CRM tool? With the ambiguity over blogs – being just a fad from the west or a reliable and enduring marketing and CRM tool – still far from resolved, the case delves into what should be done to make corporate blogging an effective CRM tool.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the evolution of blogs as a powerful ‘social network’ touchpoint
• To analyse and explore the business potential and business barriers of blogs
• To debate on whether blogs can become CRM tools/platforms.

Keywords : Corporate Blogging, Customer Relationship management, CRM, India, HLL, Social Networking, Marketing, Blogs, Word of Mouth, Customers, Image, Communication, Publicity

Contents:

• Blogging in India: The New Social Network Tool
• Corporate Blogging in India: An Aid to Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?