Podcast Summary: AOL, community support and corporate reputation

The hosts, Charles Nixon and Kiran Kapur, discussed several current topics. They began by noting the end of AOL's dial-up internet service, which led to a reflection on technological advancement. The main part of the conversation focused on the role of corporations in supporting their local communities, especially at a time when state funding for services was strained. They argued that such engagement was crucial for corporate reputation, customer loyalty, and staff morale. They also briefly touched upon a heatwave in England and concluded by marking the 60th anniversary of the Ford Transit van as an example of brand longevity.

Key Points

  • AOL officially ended its dial-up service after more than 30 years, a nostalgic moment that highlighted the immense progress in internet technology.
  • Charles Nixon suggested that with local councils facing severe budget constraints, corporations had a responsibility to step in and support their local communities through initiatives like environmental clean-ups, educational support, and social care assistance.
  • Kiran Kapur emphasised that the local community was a critically important but often overlooked stakeholder group, essential for a company's reputation and as a source for its workforce.
  • Both speakers agreed that community engagement activities, such as company-organised litter picks, were beneficial for corporate reputation, customer loyalty, and team morale.
  • The conversation concluded by noting the 60th anniversary of the Ford Transit van, which was presented as a case study in long-term brand endurance.

 

Pocast Transcript

These transcripts are auto-generated. 

Kiran Kapur (00:04):
Hello and welcome to Opinionated Marketers with Charles Nixon and me, Kiran Kapur. And it's been confirmed this week, in fact, this morning, that we are finally saying goodbye to this [sound effect]. Yes, the AOL has ended the dial-up service after more than 30 years. Charles, I'm sure you remember the dial-up service tone. I definitely do myself.

Charles Nixon (00:40):
Yes, you were waiting thereafter for the connection at the other end and the magnificent speeds that it would offer, maybe 19.2 or thereafter

(00:54):
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(01:13):
It seemed at the time that that was a good speed if you got the connection though. I do remember waiting 20 hours to download a software patch to my Apple. We are now super served with fast broadband, and get complaints if things don't last instantly. It's a long way that we have come. One has to say one probably doesn't regret the whole process of dialling up with modems.

Kiran Kapur (01:37):
No. And the fact that, because it was a dial-up line, you then couldn't use the phone.

(01:42):
So if you were home sneakily trying to download something, your parents could be very cross because they couldn't make their phone calls. Apparently,  it's only now offered in the US and Canada or was only offered in the US and Canada, and fewer than 300,000 people in the US had only a dial-up internet connection compared with more than 300 million with a broadband service. So you can see why AOL might finally have decided it's time to get rid of the BBC article that I found this in does not relate what happens to those 300,000 people who were using a dial-up only service, but presumably AOL have come up with something for that. But yes, I just thought that was something to note, and an RIP to the dial-up noise,

Charles Nixon (02:24):
Well just further on that one, it may well be of course that they just leapfrog into Starlink and satellite communications rather than, if you're not using a dial up because you've only got some slow copper, you're not only going to be replacing it with broadband, especially if you happen to be in a rural part, which is very expensive to go out and cable. So it's going to be mobile and possibly satellite communications. And you never know the people who are the 300,000 suddenly are getting better service than you or I in the rural sticks.

It's a slow season at the moment. It's summer, it's warm, there's not a lot going on, Parliament's out, et cetera. There's the usual Trumpisms. But the aspect of those is that they tend to change fairly frequently so there's not a great deal really to get your teeth into. The one thing that had occurred to me as I was wandering around and considering was the degree to which, especially in the heat, what are companies doing to aid their local communities?

(03:23):
And that brings us back to the issues that we have touched on in the past. But the fact that the State isn't able to pay for the services that we have taken for granted, certainly, certain councils are now spending up to 90% or around that figure on either social care or social care and special needs for schools. The result of which is that the rest of us, as in the majority, are looking for the majority of services to be funded from a very small amount of money. What do we do as corporations to assist our local communities, whether it happens to be in supporting education, supporting social care in cleaning and helping the environment? And the College has done multiple litter picking exercises and others. So it's possibly an interesting one to think about. What does your company do to assist and help the local community?

Kiran Kapur (04:21):
It's interesting, the world where we've become very global. We are very globalised, and companies trumpet their global credentials. There is perhaps more going on in the local communities with sponsorships or school visits or as you say, I mean the College has done several litter picks where the team just go out and pick litter for a couple of hours, come back, and we always get great feedback from the local community of people that see us doing it. And the team, although they thought it was a bit weird the first time we did it, actually really enjoyed it.

Charles Nixon (04:51):
Yeah, litter picking actually is quite therapeutic. It's not only slow and good exercise, but the result is actually something that's pleasing. I did it some on the weekend just around our village, and it is a small amount. Living in a rural community, it's easy to have a community that gets together and does things. Larger communities or urban ones, perhaps less so. But corporations have the ability to make an impact, and I think it is something that does well for their corporate reputation and, indeed, the loyalty of customers to know these things.

Kiran Kapur (05:31):
Yes, it's one of those areas we often forget to talk about, which is when we talk about stakeholders, we often forget the local community. But the local community is a terribly important stakeholder. Apart from anything else, it tends to be where your staff come from. So you need a good reputation amongst your local community as well as your international community, your customers, your finance providers and everything else. But local community matters, and it can be a stakeholder group that people can get a bit sniffy about because it doesn't necessarily relate to hard numbers and something you can report to a board.

Charles Nixon (06:08):
Yes, I mean, there was an item, I think it was yesterday, about the building of the Universal Theme Park down in Bedfordshire and the issue that's going to arise in the number of houses that are going to be built. And quite a few of them will be let out, whether it's to builders or whatever. So the company that's building it has got to manage the reputation of what it does, as it does it ,so that when its customers come along, they are welcomed by the local community rather than rubbished. And so that is an important aspect of all businesses when they think about their publics.

Kiran Kapur (06:49):
And my fun one, I was going to say, you said it was hot today. England is experiencing, I've forgotten how many heat waves we're now onto, is it the fourth one now? It is very, very hot. It's worth pointing out that, certainly, in England, we don't have a maximum temperature that people can work in. We have a minimum temperature, but we don't have a maximum temperature. And so people need to be aware that their staff need to keep cool.

Charles Nixon (07:14):
Certainly, I think there might be something for outdoor workers, but not necessarily for office workers. It's a very interesting point. I was also noticing that on the weather maps you see on television, you got sort of the yellows and pinks and then the reds at 30 odd degrees. But if I remember rightly, some parts of France and Spain were reporting 40. So what colour do we go to then? So again, we need to think about how we look after the local community in things like heat waves.

Kiran Kapur (07:49):
Anything else, Charles?

Charles Nixon (07:50):
-No. I believe that you had something about the transit van.

Kiran Kapur (07:56):
[advertisement for Ford Transit] "I'm the new Ford Transit with a new ultra-short engine. The Ford V, four tuck right up in front, easy to get at out of the driver's way."

Yes, the Ford Transit van is celebrating 60 years. There's a lovely article on the BBC website from a couple of days ago that the headline is "beloved by bands and bank robbers". The Ford Transit turned 60, which I just think is brilliant as a headline. Interesting idea that you can keep a marque and a brand going for that length of time, though, possibly. I think if you look back at the original Fords and this, I can never get very excited about automobiles I'm afraid, and the car market. But if you look back at the originals and you look at the modern ones, there's quite a difference, let's put it that way.

Charles Nixon (08:46):
There's still a box on four wheels as far as I would see. But essentially speaking, yes, I agree with you. It is a very good piece of branding, managed to transition through 60 years and should be applauded as such.

(09:01):
And on that lovely note, about 60 years of the Ford Transit van, lovely to speak to you, Charles, and catch everybody next week.

Charles Nixon (09:09):
Goodbye.