Here Come the Consumers
Online communities provide power in numbers. How a company named Virgance is using the internet's strength to save consumers money while increasing solar energy.
In my last post, I talked about the potential of the internet to affect consumer decisions and change the face of business. Websites like Zumer.com can be valuable tools, especially if we can combine them with mobile technology (check out this video from TED). After posting my blog on Facebook, a high school mate of mine informed me about a business called Virgance that is combining activism and the internet to empower consumers while rewarding businesses that are doing good.
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The first initiative is called One Block Off the Grid (1BOG). 1BOG has launched programs in 20 cities to connect homeowners who want to purchase solar panels with local vendors. The benefits lie in the numbers. Once the online community reaches a certain number of interested buyers, 1BOG negociates a bulk discount on the solar panels and installations. Obviously, the larger the group of consumers, the cheaper it is for everyone. Overall, it is a win-win-win situation: the solar panel business gets business, the buyers save money, and there are less greenhouse gases being spewed out into the atmosphere.
Another project under Virgance is CarrotMob. The idea seems simple enough:
1) Organize a group of people in a certain town or city that value socially responsible businesses.
2) Pick out two or more businesses in the area that sell a similar product (i.e. grocery store, hardware store, etc.) and decide what actions you want them to take.
3) Approach the businesses with a competition proposal. The businesses that accept compete.
4) The mob of consumers show up at the doorstep of the winning business and agree to spend their money at the store.
5) Consumers get the change they want and the business get money and build reputation.
Both of these programs are fairly new and it is too early to measure their impact. Of course, they will only succeed if people spread the word and join these communities. I think both 1BOG and CarrotMob show how the internet is opening up a world of opportunity to empower consumers on a scale that we never thought possible. If you need more convincing, I would read up on two experts in the field: Howard Rheingold and Clay Shirky.
