A blog is a blog. It's a platform that invites the user to engage in dialog and to network. Such a tool is a standard part of every modern enterprise communication set-up.
But what if a blog were more than just a blog? What if it were THE hallmark of a business on the Internet? What if it provided the model for the company's website? What if the blog was the website and the website the blog?
We have been using digital media in our communications since 2009. As part of this strategy, we have been running our blog.telekom blog system for more than 5 years. The blog's central idea was to provide the "voice of Deutsche Telekom on the net". The goal of the blog was to enter into dialog, to create a central link to online communities, to use the opportunity to tell new stories and to tell existing stories in a different way. And that's what we're doing. Blog.telekom is now a standard tool in our communications toolbox. It's the place we use to provide insights into Deutsche Telekom, to share knowledge, take a stance on issues and enter into dialog, including with critical voices. We see things from a subjective point of view there. That's what makes it human.
Dialog with stakeholder groups is an essential element of what makes a blog a blog. Exchanges of views, discussion and feedback on each individual blog piece. Made possible via the comment functionality provided by a blog platform. With every article having a face and a name. That's what gives the piece, the conversation and the discussion its personal character.
What would it be like, though, if we were to take the dialog beyond the boundaries of our blog, transmitting it to the entire company website? To do that would be to effectively dissolve such boundaries, turning the entire Deutsche Telekom website into a blog.
You can see the result here! After the relaunch of our Group website, not only will you be able to see our blog contributions on the company website, but our online contributions and media information will be opened up to you to allow you to make comments on it. This step will be what makes the new telekom.com site into the Group's leading medium of digital communication.
We have done more than simply fitted out our corporate website with a new design. We have also equipped it with an enhanced range of dialog and service offerings. At the heart of the new website is a feed in which all the latest news on the Group is presented – no matter what communications channel was used to publicize the stories. What that means is that articles published on the website – news, media information, blog pieces – will be seen on the feed. But it will also carry the posts that we publish on our various social media accounts – including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. In this way, we will be placing all information on the topic of Deutsche Telekom right up at the front in our shop window. In real time. Together with our enhanced offerings to facilitate dialog, which includes a new dynamic Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) module.
The information and communication behavior of the average user has changed fundamentally as a result of the digital revolution. In my view, trying to communicate without leaving an opportunity to provide feedback is not an option any more. With our new telekom.com site we have created a forum that allows real and authentic communication. Users can now comment on and debate a wide range of topics. Visitors have the option to pose their questions and make their suggestions directly on the site. And the fact that we have integrated our social media offerings and corporate blogs (from blog.telekom) into the site strengthens the dialog-like qualities of the offering.
By the way, this new shop window for Deutsche Telekom is a reflection of the results of our cross-media editorial planning and production of media content, activities that form part of the work of our Content Factory. That's yet another milestone we reached a few weeks ago. After an initial stage during which we deployed our "media factory" at the CeBit and IFA fairs, we have now introduced it for use in our everyday business and have anchored it firmly into the new office world of Deutsche Telekom enterprise communication.
It should be said that the entire exercise is a massive experiment that we're carrying out on ourselves. We're opening new ground, looking forward to the new experiences we'll be encountering as a result.
I'd like to cordially invite you to check out the new www.telekom.com site, and to use it to enter into dialog.
