Post date: Oct 26, 2012 3:48:19 PM
That notion is being adopted by Nestle at its home in Switzerland.
In this room, a group of people called the Digital Acceleration Team. Pete Blackshaw, Nestle Head of Digital Marketing, said:
"This one is interesting because it looks at how the coffee conversation breaks out."
In March 2010 this video went viral.
Greenpeace accused Nestle of buying palm oil, destroying rain forests.
Attempts at damage limitation failed, so Nestle changed tack.
The aim now is to spot trouble in the online world and engage with it.
Pete Blackshaw is head of digital marketing at Nestle.
Pete Blackshaw, Nestle Head of Digital Marketing, said:
"Well consumers are demanding. You get a lot of praise, you get criticism, if there are an issue or concern about any aspect of a product you'll hear from it and I think you need to respond empathetically, factually, timely. And I think for large companies where everything wasn't moving at internet speed that's been a bit of a challenge and I think what we're trying to bring to Nestle is a new culture of responding very quickly and in an adaptive manner."
The stakes are high.
Nestle is a $200 billion a year business and has recently faced criticism that its bottled water damages the environment.
Nevertheless the Reputation Institute considers Nestle is the 12th most reputable brand in the world.
Staff members doing eight month rotations through the room plan to keep it that way.