

Blacklist.co - Power to the People - valefebvre
http://www.blacklist.co/
Hi guys, here's a beta version of a new Startup that is called Blacklist.<p>Blacklist empowers consumers to react and impact, while creating for brands this opportunity of “Defensive Marketing” channel.<p>Blacklist is a web application where users can blacklist brands &#38; products they dislike or with which they had a bad experience, anytime and anywhere from their favorite device.<p>The aim is to break the barriers of digital feedback and gives the power to the people by making it easy, fast and simple to react. 
Brands and companies on the other side will have this ‘Defensive Marketing’ opportunity to listen, and engage directly with people talking about them on the platform.<p>The vision is to bring more transparency between consumers and brands, for more aligned interactions.<p>When you think about it, when you’re a happy customer you tell 3, maybe 5 people, but when you’re pissed, you want to tell the whole world. 
Blacklist enables individuals to do so. 
Because when people complain, the most important thing for them is the reach of their comment, the opportunity to get spread out and heard so they can have an impact; just as if their voice matters and their opinion can have influence.<p>Blacklist is that digital megaphone designed to do just that: give individuals the best tool to react and seize the force of their feedback.<p>One last thing: it is free and there is no ads
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tobiashaag
When I first saw Blacklist one thing was extremely clear, its is not about
getting instant gratification, its not about getting a 1% discount on a
Starbucks coffee, and its not about collection a bunch of likes.

The key purpose of Blacklist is one thing; building a space for a
concentrated, organized and collective voice about consumer frustration which
finally fights back against billion dollor marketing and PR budgets. Its about
focusing this frustration and pooling it together to ultimately find the worst
of all and shout out loud.

Its off course true, all airlines are bad, but if we closer, some are just a
nightmare. These ones need that hear it and these ones are also the ones that
would pay a lot of money for the right "negative!" data. Think about it, if I
want to come back as the worst airline in history where do I start? I need to
fix the biggest pain points but where do I get this information? That can be
one massive revenue stream considering Blacklist is all verticals, all
geographies.

But apart from that, I feel it is finally a place where my frustration is
heard, is noted, not forgotten has impact. It is about feeling better after a
rip off, it is about contributing to the whole and about fairness!

All very important things in times of hardcore capitalism and corporate
superpowers. So team Blacklist, call yourself David (to the power 10) and
fight against Goliath - big time!

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keenahn
Gotta be honest, I don't see the point of this app. As it is right now, it's
useless to me. What benefit is it to me to see that someone "blacklisted" UPS?
Guess what, I still have to ship packages occasionally, I'm still going to use
them.

Complaints about airlines... I'm guessing all airlines will be "blacklisted"
eventually because guess what, delays are part of flying.

It just looks like a slightly more organized version of what Twitter and the
Internet already largely is: people complaining. There already exist the BBB,
ripoffreport, yelp.

So... what value does your app provide? How will you make money?

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valefebvre
what you see for the moment is an early version of the product, so it's easy
to drive conclusion based on that but let me tell you a little more. Blacklist
aims to be the destination online for people to complain on their consumer
experience (be it with brands or products). It's designed to empower consumer
to have a voice on that matter and extend their reach on the web from that
relevant platform. Think of it as a digital megaphone that leverages your
voice when you want to get heard. Because when you complain, what counts is
that you get the chance to get noticed in order to have interaction with the
targeted parties or your social groups. Blacklist is built on that premise.

The aim behind the concept is to bring brands and companies closer for more
aligned interactions. It's quite counter-intuitive but we'll create a
"Defensive Marketing" channel as an opportunity for them to engage with their
end-customers and be part of these conversation online about experience with
their products & service. This will effectively provide them the chance to
defend their reputation and manage their image in a genuine manner and in a
public way.

It has been proven that an individual complaining online, that is then taken
care of (and maybe eventually) and got his complaint resolved is far more
inclined to turn into a praising customer (than a satisfied customer in the
first place). In the same process the brand has the chance to show to others
their engagement and care of end-users.

So on a psychological level it means that you-as a customer- you are
important, your voice is valued and your experience/opinion matters.

Regarding other solutions out there today, I think they are well serving their
own purpose like Yelp for local and others for more specific consumer reports.
But Blacklist is focused on reacting and impacting on the brands & products
experience that consumer have; anywhere anytime from any of their web-enabled
device.

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spenny2112
So far as it stands this app isn't very helpful considering it is just people
"blacklisting" huge companies in a non-descript manner. I think if you could
change the blacklisting process to encourage higher quality responses a la
Quora then it might have more use. Otherwise it just seems like a bunch of
people hating on companies with little justification.

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valefebvre
There is some copyrighting and some test to be done here. The concept is
pretty straight-forward, but now there is some work to be done to lead users
into the best use of it, I agree. The best is constructive critics, but it's
also hard to find on the Web. Feedback from experiences are very valuable
though even if they are sometime not well formulated. Some contextual elements
can be added and thus enhance the content.

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valefebvre
To get a glance about the vision and opportunity tackled by Blacklist, you can
check out the book titled "The Power to the People" (<http://amzn.to/TTZkZL>)

For more content: @Blacklist on Twitter and Tumblr: blacklistpower.tumblr.com

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monsterix
Looks like something is wrong:

"An error occurred in the application and your page could not be served.
Please try again in a few moments.

If you are the application owner, check your logs for details."

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valefebvre
yes thanks for the heads up, It has been fixed.

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Chris2048
Power to the people? What about fairness?

It'll be easy for bad customers to complain, and then we have an ebay-style
situation where sellers have to unfairly make amends for nothing.

We need a way to rate the raters! That's the real problem.

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alexnewman
Perhaps a better description would get more points.

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valefebvre
right I changed it based on your suggestion which I find more appropriate

