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Brand Reputation Management in The World of Web 2.0: The Public Controls Your Brand Message

When considering the use of social network-driven brand management and the “Web 2.0” market climate, businesses need to redefine what it means to build a brand message, or expect to lose major market traction. The days of one-way brand projections using television commercials or newspaper ads are becoming a thing of the past. Modern consumers demand a personalized connection with the brands they interact with. As a result, online dialogue now drives the service or product message. Gone are the days of message control by the individuals behind initial brand creation. In today’s market, choosing to listen to the praises and complaints of consumers isn’t an option; it could define the life or death of ones business success.

Blogging, social media, forums, Wiki’s, and many other social platforms have turbo charged word-of-mouth marketing; thereby redefining our ability to achieve information sharing efficiency and the power of free speech (David Meerman Scott, 2010). The world of online social interaction has changed the face of written publication from an exclusive community of writing experts and brand developers, to a virtually-based low cost and effective way to communicate new ideas and connect with business as individuals (David Meerman Scott, 2010).
Spreading unique human perspectives at the speed of light via public web-based mediums, has forced brands to respond to complaints or praises immediately. Engaging in open-forum responses to snub out injuring reputation feedback or ride the wave of viral public support, has also proven an effective marketing tool impossible to ignore. Case and point, even prominent business feedback forum site Yelp was thrown into the court of public opinion in March 2010, when they were forced to respond to reports of three impending lawsuits with business owners who accused the review giant of permanently tarnishing their reputations (Robles Patricio, 2010).
In response, Yelp communicated directly with commenters and made changes to their business approach according to feedback. They even produced a video to help explain their application function and to help prevent further negative results for all brand managers: video (Robles Patricio, 2010). Though the public address could not fix the complaints of all, it certainly did wonders for replacing a potentially irreparable bad reputation in the eyes of many, and also forced great improvement for the Yelp review platform (Robles Patricio, 2010).
It is therefore important for brand developers to note, that the introduction of user friendly web platforms like social networking site Facebook.com and the blog creation platform WordPress.com, have opened the floodgates of online communication and public brand message management (“7 sneaky ways,” 2011). Though this transparency seems like a major headache when comparing old rules of reputation management, it also ensures an improved range of business marketing tools and techniques.

The Facebook marketing paradigm that began as an evolution from the chat room/instant messaging platform of the 90’s, has changed the face of personal connection and communication to benefit more than just ones social life. By giving branders instant access to a consumers online profile and tracking references as they relate to an individual brand, modern marketers are able to gauge a brands temperature in the global market and make adjustments to benefit the group/brand (“7 sneaky ways,” 2011). Even speaking directly to a disgruntled consumer within a targeted customer base could convert them to brand fans in no time. This process of “Facebook Spying” as it is often referred to in the Internet marketing community, has proven invaluable to brand managers (“7 sneaky ways,” 2011). Watching what is being discussed online can fix mistakes without a large time, energy, and money investment (“7 sneaky ways,” 2011). Clearly, it pays to show the consumers of your product or service that you care.

Similarly, the “blogosphere” as it is affectionately known by its online users, is another web-based tool that has changed public branding as we know it (Rivera Larry, 2009). Though in its infancy many “bloggers” used sites like wordpress.com as journal-type archives of virtual written records, they eventually evolved into the general public’s solution to “viralizing” content and allowing public interaction and involvement (Aaron Tucker, 2009). By navigating through the simple virtual worlds of blogs and social media sites, consumers, businesses, and marketers spanning varying technological savvies can use these platforms to spread and define brands and ideas.

This shift in marketing communication has marked our current economic trends by proving that one does not have to be a giant corporation to gain a huge following in the business world. Using public social networking platforms, brands have gained the ability to connect personally and directly with their target market audience, make adjustments according to their consumer’s needs, and further define a brand nitch. This coupled with the interactive functionality of these sites which allow followers to connect and identify directly with the brand via commenting on posts, “liking” a page, and other member participation tools, has provided small businesses with the ammunition needed for publicly-driven marketing/branding campaigns. In conclusion entreprenuerial concepts belong to the creators; but brands belong to public review.

References:
David Meerman Scott, M. (2010). The new
rules of marketing and pr: how to use social media,
blogs, news releases, online video, and viral marketing to reach
buyers directly, 2nd edition,. (2 ed., Vol. 1, pp. 37-56).
New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Robles Patricio. (2010, March 19).
Yelp fights lawsuits in the court of public opinion
[Web log message]. Retrieved from http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/5623-yelp-fights-lawsuits-in-the-court-of-public-opinion
(Robles Patricio, 2010)
7 sneaky ways to use facebook to spy on your competition
[Web log message]. (2011, July 26). Retrieved from http://blog.kissmetrics.com/spy-on-your-competition/
(“7 sneaky ways,” 2011)

Rivera Larry. (2009, December 02). Network marketing in the blogosphere
[Web log message]. Retrieved from http://profitonknowledge.com/the-blogosphere/network-marketing-in-the-blogosphere/