Stave Off Attacks on Your Brand
When customers talk about your brand online, those conversations last for a while. They sit in article comments, in forums and on profile pages, waiting to be spidered by search engines. Every one of those enduring comments is a piece of mini-media that either builds your brand’s credibility or stains it.
Pete Blackshaw, Executive VP, Digital Strategic Services, Nielsen Online, told me how companies can maintain their brand’s credibility and keep consumer conversations about the brand positive. Basically, a credible brand has to:
1. Instill trust in the consumer
2. Genuinely strive to fulfill missions and uphold values
3. Be transparent and easy to learn about
4. Listen to consumers’ suggestions and online conversations
5. Respond to consumer complaints, suggestions and conversations
6. Have its self-image supported by simple online research
Not long after talking to Pete, I happened across an article from the Providence Phoenix, a free local magazine, that fit right into the topic. The article pointed out what they described as a bit of hypocrisy in a local newspaper, The Providence Journal.
Here’s the article’s lead:
“In April, The Providence Journal strongly endorsed reducing use of plastic bags, but the newspaper continues to use more than 100,000 plastic bags a day.”
Pete’s model says this is bad for the ProJo’s brand. The ProJo said it values an environmentally-conscious efforts that, in fact, it is not following. That is an open opportunity for their critics to wag their fingers online and stain their credibility.
The ProJo doesn’t say it is an environmental leader. But the lesson for brands is clear: If you’re going to take a stand on an issue, follow through. Your detractors can have a field day on you if you don’t.
Categories: Online Marketing, Social Networking Evangelism Community brand, social media