Open Marketplace Manifesto

Well, it's been a couple of months since we last posted to the Linking Local blog. That's not to say that we haven't been busy. A lot has been happening in the background, we've released a number of new features to the http://www.wikiDOMO.com alpha site and more features and bug fixes will be released by the end of September. We've also been doing community outreach and have a couple of exciting partners to share with you. But, more about that in a future posts.

This post is about Open Marketplace, something we've been working on for some time. As we developed wikiDOMO.com from the original concept,  we kept encountering more and more concerns with the media, marketing and advertising industries - the industries we call the Marketing-Industrial Complex. We realized that the impact of what we were doing was much bigger than just a tech start-up - it was something that had the potential to change how marketing works - to change the marketplace.

We knew we needed to develop a broader model that allowed anyone to engage in its development and most importantly benefit from it. So, we started to work on the model, at first we called it "open marketing" and then after a lot of meetings and feedback we decided Open Marketplace was more accurate. After a few months of work we now have something that we can share with the world:

Open Marketplace Manifesto

The media, marketing and advertising industries are a massive marketing-industrial complex. The mass marketing options that once worked for marketers and consumers are no longer effective. They worked before, in part because there was no viable alternative. In the post Internet age consumers and businesses alike are abandoning the complex and attempting to replace it with the Internet.

However, the Internet by itself is not a solution. We're looking to social media for answers, but it's not meant to address this problem. We must develop a new model that allows us to transition away from the marketing-industrial complex. A model that truly addresses marketplace needs by providing efficient and low cost production, distribution and consumption of marketplace information. A model that avoids the inherent duplication and fragmentation carried over from the complex.

The future marketplace must be open. An open, non-proprietary model can help consolidate and direct innovation to the needs of both the providers and consumers. Only then, can the Internet deliver its true potential: free and open access to the information that empowers our lives.

Open Marketplace is a future where everyone has access, a voice, and shared responsibility over marketplace information to make better consumer choices. 

It's about a future:

    where everyone has free and equal access to promote anything;

    where local, national, and international marketplaces' are equally empowered;

    where relevant, reliable, timely information is freely available to the marketplace;

    where providers and consumers have equal ability to voice their opinions;

    where everyone is able to collaborate and engage in open conversation; 

    where the production and distribution of information is a cooperative effort;

    where we all benefit from a new sustainable, efficient and effective marketplace; and

    where the end game for marketplace participants is increased information quality.

To achieve the future Open Marketplace, we must be guided by these core principles:

 

1. The commons is where all marketplace information belongs.
2. Competing is good - sharing is better, because we all win.
3. Duplication and fragmentation are the enemy - aggregation is essential.
4. The marketplace must set standards, and most importantly follow them.
5. Transparency of information is the air that sustains the open marketplace.
6. An identification system for everything, and everything with an ID.
7. Every bit of information linking to the physical world.
8. Information without engagement is futile.

For more background info visit: Open Marketplace Manifesto Background

We Want Feedback & Co-Conspirators

We want to see the Open Marketplace future come to pass and we have taken it upon ourselves to make it happen. But, we can't do it alone. At the very least we need encouragement, we need to know if you think we're on the right track. Better yet, we need your help! We've created a public Open Marketplace Google Group. The group is a work space where you can learn more about the project, provide input and add your name to the Open Marketplace co-conspirators list.

If you have feedback of any kind on the Open Marketplace Manifesto please add a comment below or start a discussion on the Google group.

By Jose Leal

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=751682208]

Nice writeup, Jose.

I understand the Open Marketplace as yellow pages annotated with ratings, comments, and discussions.

That should be the future and I look forward to the day when it arrives.

Not clear on this sentence: In the post Internet age consumers and businesses alike are abandoning the complex and attempting to replace it with the Internet.

[Jose Leal]

Thanks for the comment Derek.

Open Marketplace is not about a directory exactly. The key behind the Open Marketplace is how things relate to each other. For example, if you have an offer for a product, that’s great, but what’s the consumer feedback on that product? Who manufactured it? What’s the feedback on the manufacturer? Who sells it? What’s the feedback on the vendor? Where is the vendor? Open Marketplace wants to help answer all these questions.

It starts with what we think of as a directory, but it ends with a marketplace graph. A graph that displays all the relationships between providers, consumers, and the goods and services they exchange.

As for this statement: “In the post Internet age consumers and businesses alike are abandoning the complex and attempting to replace it with the Internet.” We’re seeing consumers and marketers move towards the Internet to distribute and find information. Many no longer read newspapers. Many now only search the web vs. using traditional information sources for what they’re seeking. This is putting tremendous pressure on the complex. We felt we needed to highlight this because we’re concerned with the limited capacity of the Internet today. There are too many fragmented tools that are not yet structured sufficiently to address the needs of the average marketer or consumer.