igopeople

IGOPeople.com an online social network has created quite a bit of interest on the Irish web scene since it launched in December. Anecdotally at least it’s has seen reasonable growth in that time. I spoke to CEO Campbell Scott on a number of occasions prior to launch and their aim is to create a trusted location where brands and their customers can discuss product & services and where those organisations can add value by offering extras to those contributing to the discussion and helping them improve their offerings.

There is an argument that this is somewhat in the same space as Getsatisfaction.com or Uservoice.com in the user discourse market. When challenged on this Campbell had this to say.

“Getsatisfaction.com is a great service, but focused mostly on resolving customer problems. It is currently very tech focused too. You can use IGOpeople to offer this type of customer support too, but in addition we’re try to encourage more of a dialogue with customers – you can solve their problems, but also make them an special offer or ask for their ideas. This makes it more appealing to businesses who are reluctant to be somewhere that’s just about sorting out problems”

It’s certainly an innovative approach to a busy space and it could be what differentiates them enough to appeal to what they see as an unserved demographic. If they can gain traction in this type of market then the opportunities to scale with revenue are certainly there. I’ll be watching them closely and hopefully 2009 will be a great year for them.