I’m normally not one to copy content, but Seth Godin had an excellent blog article/definition that I just wanted to share. His word of the day was demonization:
The closer you get to someone, something, some brand, some organization… the harder it is to demonize it, objectify it or hate it.
So, if you want to not be hated, open up. Let people in. Engage. Interact.
So many companies are scared to death to let customers interact with them — and then they wonder why they are hated. Microsoft was all too famous for doing this, for being secretive and closed during a period when the rest of the computing industry was going to open standards. They finally realized the error of their ways — but after how much damage was done?
Will it really hurt you or your company to develop an API that others can use to help make your product better? What about hosting a forum or a blog for others to leave comments on. One-way communications is dead in marketing, and trying to keep that method alive will lead to people finding ways to demonize your product and your brand.