(Length: 18 pages)

June 22, 2006

Social Computing's Impact On Financial Services

How Social Computing Will Erode Financial Brands And What To Do About It

This is the first document in the "Social Computing In Financial Services" series.

by Benjamin Ensor

with Cliff Condon, Ashara Giordanelli

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Peer-to-peer technologies like user review sites, discussion forums, and blogs are contributing to a new era called Social Computing that empowers individuals at the expense of institutions like retail financial services firms. As consumers use the Net to share information, financial brands risk being undermined as marketers lose control of the message. But it's not all bad news for financial firms. Smart firms will use the same emerging technologies to communicate with customers, gather customer insights, and develop stronger customer relationships.