Listen to what the consumers are saying

This allowed them to show main races with key American athletes during prime time viewing hours, as well as maximise advertising potential.
The problem was that they failed to account for the ability to get results from multiple other sources online.
Twitter, Facebook, and the official Olympic website all broadcast results in real time.
So with all the hype over the American swimming pool battles viewers were waiting for five hours to see an event to which they already knew the result.
It is like going to watch a much-hyped movie and just before you go into the theatre someone tells you the ending.
NBC paid US$1,18 billion for the broadcasting rights so they have to recoup their money somehow and prime time advertising is the best way to do this.
Many viewers have disagreed with their decision and have made their views known via Twitter (search #nbcfail online for a few examples).
There has been a plethora of comments criticising the massive lock down that NBC managed to pull on internet streaming and television rights.
You can only watch online streaming in the US if you already own a TV cable agreement.
NBC’s drive to get people back to watching only prime time TV as a source of information in a digital age has been described as “turning off a nation’s stoves and asking them to cook over open fires”.
NBC’s response has focused primarily on the great viewer numbers it has received during the broadcasts, failing possibly to recognise that these ratings are largely because you just cannot get the information any other way.
Enough with the story from a distant land. The reason why I brought up this issue is to highlight a couple of principles to take to heart and practise.
Firstly, the world is changing. Television no longer rules the roost. Well, not in the sense that we are used to.
Online streaming, instant access programming is becoming flavour of the month overseas.
In your industry, things are not the same as ten years ago.
There are new ways of accessing information, new ways of reaching your market, new ways of producing your goods.
Find them, use them or face the potential of being stuck in the backwaters of an archaic age.
Do not just hear what people are saying, take time to listen. Social media allows you to hear.
NBC is hearing loud and clear on Twitter, but are they really listening to what people are saying.
Hearing is simply an auditory function. Listening implies that you seek to really understand what is being said.
What are your consumers really saying about you?
Give them a voice to connect with you, or reach out, find and engage on the platform they are connecting on.
People are not just passive recipients of your product.
More than ever they have a voice.
Seek to understand what they really want, then if it falls within the scope of your business, give it to them.
To be transparent avoid the smoke and mirrors, ways of glossing over your product.
NBC will tell you that they are trying to give families the opportunity to watch the Olympics together during the prime hours when everyone is at home.
This may be the case, but in reality it’s probably all about the money, there is no coincidence that the viewer times they have scheduled bring the highest revenue in advertising (over a billion dollars so far).
People who see through the smoke will distance themselves from your product and you.
It will be interesting to see the long-term implications to NBC, how many people will move away or switch networks because they are upset with the service they have received.
Finally, more often than not there is a way around what appears to be an impossible situation.
There is a way to circumvent the media lock down NBC implemented and it is perfectly legal in America.
People just have to find it. As in most situations it requires a little lateral thought and a bit of hard work, and not settling for what has been dictated to you by “circumstance”.
On a parting note, all the best to the Zimbabwean athletes at the Olympics this year. You have worked hard to get there, congratulations. Fly our flag high.