Jan 31, 2007
Companies Warned: Don't Get Left Behind By Internet Advances

The European Networking Group held its third annual conference in Vienna, Austria, on January 30th and 31st. The Group regularly brings together senior corporate communications managers from across Europe to exchange views on industry trends and how to use online technologies to improve communications strategies.

Corporate communications experts and consultants issued a wake-up call today, warning companies they must adapt more quickly to a new generation of web technology or else risk being left behind.

Delegates to the European Networking Group’s third annual conference in Vienna were told that second generation web technologies (web 2.0), such as blogs and consumer-driven sites like YouTube or Myspace, present a serious challenge to companies confronted by an online environment increasingly controlled by web users.

Speaking in Vienna, Guy Nielsen, Senior Vice President, Group Corporate Affairs for the Dutch life insurer AEGON NV, said urgent steps should be taken to close “the generation gap” that has sprung up between communications executives and younger web users.“These days, the younger generation lives and breathes this stuff. They are comfortable with it. That’s their world. For today’s corporate communications manager, who is 35-40 and above, his or her world is different. More needs to be done to close this generation gap,” he said.

Nielsen told the Vienna conference that companies face both new risks and great opportunities because of the proliferation of web 2.0 technologies.  He said that, in an age when carefully-established reputations can be tarnished overnight by well-coordinated internet campaigns, companies should be aware of potential risks. But he added that the benefits of using new web technologies to help develop richer, deeper relationships with stakeholders through more interactive dialog will “clearly outweigh the risks”.

“There are a number of companies that are forging ahead. They are doing a terrific job embracing these new technologies and putting them to effective use. But there is a surprisingly large number that are still just talking about it and not doing it. For those companies, the time has come to stop just thinking about it and take real action,” Nielsen said.

The AEGON executive urged companies to strive to learn about the new web applications, build web 2.0 techniques into their overall communications strategies and look to bring younger managers more familiar with new technologies into their workforces as quickly as possible.

Tim Walters, director of marketing and strategy for FatWire, one of the world’s leading internet content management companies, said action is also needed to improve existing corporate websites. He said a staggering 80% of company sites currently fail to come up to scratch because of deficiencies in either content or effectiveness, or both. Walters said the key to better corporate websites is “more persuasive” content and graphics.

Delegates at the Vienna summit also witnessed presentations from ABB’s Stein-Ivar Aarsaether, Group Vice President of Corporate Web Communications, Andrew Barriskell, Vice President Web Ccommunications, Outokumpu, Anna Augustson, Senior Vice President Group Corporate Communications, TeliaSonera, Klaus Salminen, Vice President Web Communications, Electrolux, among others.