Architecting fame

20Twenty, now saved by Standard Chartered from looming failure, is an intriguing phenomenon, and worth far more scientific scrutiny than I can give it.

Despite the crippling setback of its banking partner being placed under curatorship six months into its first year, it has retained the fierce and proud loyalty of a highly voluble (and sometimes informed) band of customers. Reports state that it held on to 94% of these customers, despite being forced at one point to stop extending credit and acquiring customers.

And while reports predicted its demise and other banks studiously avoided doing business with it, the faithful never doubted that 20Twenty would rise again, to show the country what Internet banking and customer service are really all about.

You don`t have to take my word for it. Take a look at ITWeb`s letters page, where 20Twenty`s customers and others sympathetic to it ferociously defend its honour. They are, in short, willing to slug it out with the worst of them. Why? Because they`re true believers.

And if anyone thinks these people work for 20Twenty, chances are they`re wrong. For one thing, it doesn`t have a hell of a lot of people in the call centre, called wired warriors and doing the work of personal bankers. For another, I`ve more than once come across e-mails from people who evidently did not work for 20Twenty, and whose sign-off included the words "Proud 20Twenty customer".

And if that doesn`t pique your interest, then maybe this will. Following the bank`s early decision to have a discussion forum on its site, came the independent launch of the 20Twenty fan club this year, which you may have read about on ITWeb. Again, you can be sure employees have nothing to do with this.

The faithful never doubted that 20Twenty would rise again, to show the country what Internet banking and customer service are really all about.

Carel Alberts, technology editor, ITWeb

What brought on this amazing loyalty? Are people crazy to like their bank?

Not at all. 20Twenty has a secret - not an easy one to execute or even an easy one in which to put your trust. But it`s not a very secret secret.

If you`ve read the book "The Cluetrain Manifesto", you`ll understand the 20Twenty phenomenon. Published in 2000 in the UK, it offered invaluable advice to dot-com start-ups or brick-and-mortar companies hoping to compete in the nimble world of tech-enabled business.

Paraphrasing from memory, the book states that people are people, and they will talk about your business. And since that is a given, you may as well allow them to talk about it with you, if you think you`re up to it and if you`re willing to heed their words.

That`s all there is to it, really. Christo Davel and his committed marketers read the book, understood and internalised it, and the company is a veritable case study of marketing success for having done so.

Specifically, apart from asking focus groups what they wanted from a bank before they built its architecture and products, they tested it on the same customers countless times and re-architected it until they got it right. They delivered on their promise of outstanding service and low charges, and one view of the customer.

Now they keep talking to customers, and they keep listening.

But the most important thing is that they gave the customer his voice back. And a pretty nice difference that makes from the stone-deaf, "here`s a product, now like it" incumbents. 20Twenty understands that if you listen to what people say and do something about it, it`s very tough for them to be nasty about you.

Why does it work so well on the Web? Because the Web belongs to the individuals who use it. It`s only right they should take charge of it. It`s cheap and relatively accessible, and it`s positively seditious. And that is nothing to be scared of. The seditious Internet can be a business`s best ally.

I was going to conclude by saying there is the possibility that 20Twenty will outgrow the need for the kind of apostle that shoots his mouth off on public lists, and may be seen as endorsing this. But other than listen and provide a customer forum, I think it stands safely away from the actions of its fans.

I was going to say there are people who will be driven away from a bank with a fan club, either because they like to think they can make their own choices, or because it seems a little freakish. Well, the kind of person likely to follow his own head may also realise that there`s a trade-off to most good things.