Scoble states it as it is:

"Here's my thesis: companies that have lots of bloggers will end up making better products, will end up having better marketing and PR, will end up making more profit at the end of the day, and will be more likely to have more than one "hit product" and will be more likely to last 100s of years."

Scoble is right, this is why I agree:

  • Feedback.  Without feedback, any product design decision is at best a guess.  Guessing what the customer needs will only get you so far.  Actually listening and understanding what the wants and giving it to them will get you a lot further.
  • CMR, not CRM. The problem with the philosophy of  Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) is that the customers that want to manage the relationship with the company, not the other way around.  Modern marketing turns the CRM concept on its head - Customer Managed Relationships (CMR).  Customers want real relationships with companies.  The most direct and productive relationship a consumer can have with a company is one where dialogue occurs with the actual people who design, create, support and market the product.  The conversational nature of blogging enables CMR in a way that is scalable, personable and real.
  • RSS, not email.  Customers will increasingly want subscribe to your RSS feed and not your email newsletter. RSS gives the customer control of the relationship and their data (CMR, not CRM).
  • Discoverability - The truth wins.  No amount of marketing dollars will hide the fact that your customers think your product is crap if it is crap.  Potential and existing customers will search before they buy.  They will find the product bashing.  Without the product maker's acknowledgment of the product's flaws, weaknesses and areas where the product can improve, the bashing will go on, unabated.  Competitors that have better relationships with their customers than you and have better products than your because of the relationships, will outsell your products every time.  Joining and learning from the conversation is the only way out.