Recent example of an emerging social media tug-a-war between Engadget and T-Mobile over the use of the color magenta for mobile products/services. Engadget launched their mobile product as Engadget Mobile (logo magenta) which got the T-Mobile marketing teams fired up see story below.
Entries Tagged 'Reputation Management' ↓
T-Mobile and Engadget go at it in Social Media
5.5.08 by Blake Cahill {Blake Cahill, Brand Management, Consumer Generated Media, New Media, Reputation Management, Social Media}
Interview with KOMO-4 News on Online Reputation Management
5.5.08 by Blake Cahill {Blake Cahill, Reputation Management, Search Engine Optimization}
Todd Friesen and myself are sitting here with Justin Hopkins and Kiyomi Taguchi from KOMO-4 news being interviewed for a segment they are doing on what consumers can do to build and manage their online reputations. We both spoke about how people are their own brands and that individuals need to inspect and manage their reputations. Some basic tips we discussed are: own your domain name, create a blog, think before you post, actively participate in the space. We had a chance to highlight some noteable examples of things gone wrong and right and what consumers can do to take control of their reputations in search engines. It should be interesting to see what of an hour of our commentary gets edited down to for their report.
Stay tuned.
Buzz Marketing techniques to become illegal in UK?
4.16.08 by Blake Cahill {Blake Cahill, Brand Management, Consumer Generated Media, Customer Experience, New Media, Reputation Management, Social Media, Social Networks}
I am not sure how this one slipped by me late last week but thought I would share the update from the IPA in the UK. Effective on the 26 of May 2008 certain activities will become a criminal offense when the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations becomes effective.
Seeding positive messages about a brand in a blog without making it clear that the message has been created by, or on behalf of, the brand will be an offense. Using “buzz marketing” specialists to communicate with potential customers in social situations without disclosing that they are acting as brand ambassadors will be an offense.
Seeding viral ads on the internet in a manner to suggest you are an ordinary member of the public will also be an offense. Legal Director at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Marina Palomba warned agencies and marketing departments that not assessing their activities could lead to hefty fines and potential prison sentences. She said, “If advertisers and their agencies ignore the ethics of responsible advertising, the damage to the advertising and marketing industry generally will be considerable, undermining all commercial messages, their effectiveness and the self regulatory systems.”
This is one of the foundational elements and principles of the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association based in Chicago with affiliates in the UK and my company. Marketers globally are continuing to understand and embrace transparent conversations with consumers - it is the only way to have dialogue otherwise governments will begin to regulate as we are seeing happen in the UK.
VT named “Cool Vendor” by Leading Analyst Firm
4.8.08 by Blake Cahill {Blake Cahill, Brand Management, Consumer Generated Media, Reputation Management}
Last week I heard from Toby Bell at Gartner that we had been selected as a “Cool Vendor in High Performance Workplace” in their semi-annual report on emerging companies and technologies.
A thank you to Toby and the rest of Gartner team for investing time in learning about Visible Technologies and our solutions. The report from Gartner highlights vendors with a common goal of brokering better relationships, whether between users in an enterprise, a social community, or both.
Gartner defines a “Cool Vendor” as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are:
- Innovative; enabling users to do things they couldn’t do before.
- Impactful; have, or will have, business impact, i.e., not just technology for the sake of technology.
- Intriguing; caught Gartner’s interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months.
We are extremely honored to have been acknowledged in the report. Will follow up with more commentary and link to report on the Gartner site as it becomes available.
Customer Service Champs and Chumps
2.25.08 by Mike Spataro {Blogs, Brand Management, Consumer Generated Media, General, Mike Spataro, Reputation Management, Social Media, Social Networks}
Business Week’s 2008 Customer Service Champs edition contains a variety of interesting rankings, facts and sidebar articles that underscore the new media challenges faced by those in corporate America today. Although we’ve all heard most of these customer service horror stories before, it’s still good to learn about the progress some brands made from last year to now. The trend for many brands to do more is definitely up from last year.
Unfortunately, Business Week plays the scared tactic card again (like many publications have done in the past) in its Consumer Vigilantes piece - profiling angry out-of-control consumers smashing their products to gain attention and rebates. While there is no question that some companies deserve such wrath and need to listen more closely to their customers, the vast majority of brands have exceptional customer service. If you’re in the business of honest measurement of consumer sentiment about brands like we are, then you know most companies do a pretty good job at taking care of their customers. I doubt we really need to constantly profile out-of-control consumers to gain the attention of most brands today.
Business Week was smart though to balance its coverage with a more realistic view from Jeff Jarvis called “Love the Customers Who Hate You,” that points out how and why customer service is fast becoming the new marketing of this century. Lots of others, like John Bell and Pete Blackshaw also offer their views on the new rankings.
