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Piercing "the Wall of Rational Ignorance” - A
Communication Strategy for an Information Centre
Summary by Stephanie
Blundell |
In a recent paper delivered to the
attending members of the 2003 SLA conference, Barbara Wilson (Rohm and Haas)
and Elizabeth Freeman (CRA) outlined several marketing approaches that the Rohm
and Haas Knowledge Centre (KC) could and did take in order to create a greater
awareness of what the KC had to offer its clients. Through audience analysis of
key target areas, an audit of existing services and interviews with KC leaders,
the team was able to highlight three key insights
- People like dealing with people
rather than technology
- The KC is seen more as a vendor
than a strategic partner
- The greatest barrier against
awareness is the “wall of rational ignorance” – people
consciously choose not to use the KC because of they are too busy or perception
that there is no ROI
From these insights and additional
analysis the team generated seven ideas.
- Structured Relationship management
– building relationships with key stakeholders
- Outcomes-Focused Messaging –
benefits of using the KC rather than what was there
- Blogging – summarize
information, provide commentary
- Consultative Orientation –
adapt training/orientation to specific individuals or groups
- Leveraging Network Stars –
create coaches to share the message
- User Advisory Panel
- Knowledge Networks – knowledge
maps
The KC has chosen to initially
proceed with three of the ideas, structured relationship management,
outcome-based messaging and blogging.
To read the full paper, follow the link to:
http://www.sla.org/Documents/conf/ny/PiercingtheWall.htm
or via
http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/2003annual/slacontribpapers.cfm
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