You Need an Online Brand Manager
Corporate image is everything. In today's world, you're either a good company or a bad one, and your products will be judged in the same fashion by association. Consumers are savvy as they look at who makes what they buy as much as what they're buying. And the place that most of your consumers are beginning their search is online. Do you have an online brand manager or someone who keeps track of what is said about you in bulletin boards, chat rooms, and blogs?
The Internet should be changing the way you do business because it is bringing a level of transparency and immediacy to public opinion. And you need to be careful in how you respond to online criticism, even if it is patently false or rumor. Wikipedia Scanner is a software program invented by Virgil Griffith. It's also the program that caused a public relations flap for Pepsi, Wal-Mart, and ExxonMobil. Wikipedia Scanner looks at whom, or what entity, has edited an entry into the online, user-compiled encyclopedia, known as Wikipedia. In the case of those major corporations, Wikipedia Scanner apparently discovered that they along with The New York Times and Microsoft among others had apparently given their own entries a face-lift. The Internet went crazy as those companies were seen as violating the public trust.
But what recourse do you have when someone directs a negative Internet campaign about your customer service or corporate polices? The answer is to listen. Find out what they are upset over and try to ascertain if there is merit to the criticism. If there's not, explain why you believe you are right. Otherwise, you should explain how you are addressing the problem and what you will change going forward.
Kryptonite, the bike lock company, learned that not listening could have been a multimillion-dollar mistake in 2004. When reports began surfacing online that one of their locks could be picked using a ballpoint pen, the company apparently ignored the building criticism. They later admitted that they were monitoring the situation, but were unable to respond because the solution wasn't in place yet. Eventually, the company was forced to acknowledge that the lock was vulnerable; they worked to fix the problem and ordered a multimillion-dollar recall.
Today Kryptonite has relationships with influential bloggers and is better connected to the Internet. They've learned to cultivate the trust of influence makers online, helping their company to have a better finger on the pulse of what is being said. They're not trying to lock down what is being said online, just understand how they can utilize it to improve performance. That is a recipe for a winning brand online.
But what recourse do you have when someone directs a negative Internet campaign about your customer service or corporate polices? The answer is to listen. Find out what they are upset over and try to ascertain if there is merit to the criticism. If there's not, explain why you believe you are right. Otherwise, you should explain how you are addressing the problem and what you will change going forward.
Kryptonite, the bike lock company, learned that not listening could have been a multimillion-dollar mistake in 2004. When reports began surfacing online that one of their locks could be picked using a ballpoint pen, the company apparently ignored the building criticism. They later admitted that they were monitoring the situation, but were unable to respond because the solution wasn't in place yet. Eventually, the company was forced to acknowledge that the lock was vulnerable; they worked to fix the problem and ordered a multimillion-dollar recall.
Today Kryptonite has relationships with influential bloggers and is better connected to the Internet. They've learned to cultivate the trust of influence makers online, helping their company to have a better finger on the pulse of what is being said. They're not trying to lock down what is being said online, just understand how they can utilize it to improve performance. That is a recipe for a winning brand online.
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