Have you Googled yourself lately? I mean, really gave yourself a deep Googling?
What are people saying about you? What kinds of pictures will your boss, employees or (gasp!) kids discover with a few short clicks? What does any of this mean to your personal brand?
We’re going to talk about the changing face of personal brand, why your online identify matters and tips for monitoring, positioning and saving your digital reputation.
On Wednesday, I had the profound pleasure of moderating a Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) event on the topic Digital Reputation Management, a topic that is a core focus of my company (and me personally) in 2009.
A Weber Shandwick proprietary analysis revealed that over three-quarters (79 percent) of the world’s number-one most admired companies lost their crowns over the past five years in their respective industries.
Reputation loss is also on the rise. Nearly 9 out of 10 business executives participating in our Safeguarding Reputation™ survey agree that susceptibility to reputation damage is a growing threat.
Similarly, a sizable 84 percent of global senior executives surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit reported that reputation risk increased significantly over the past five years. When executives were asked to choose among 13 risk types, reputation risk emerged as the most significant threat to global corporate business.
As company, brand and product reputations fluctuate and/or deteriorate worldwide, communicators need to proactively engage reputation radar systems to identify, track and respond to approaching reputation threats, as well as find ways to locate and empower brand advocates.
This is definitely a topic which our interactive marketing community needs to be active (especially proactive) in discussing, exploring and collaborating. What a great panel topic!
Our star-studded panel constsited of Tammy Lee Stanoch, VP Corporate Communications for Delta/NWA, Lela Phommasouvanh, Senior Consultant, Search Marketing for FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters Business, and Steve Bendt, Social Technology Activist for Best Buy, Inc.
More than 250 attendees absorbed tips about tracking buzz, making the business case to leadership and the imperative “Set Up a Google Alert for your name and your clients’ names” mantras. If you missed the event, you can stream the archive here.
Gems from the discussion:
Be authentic
Be transparent
Be cautious, but fearless
Don’t be stupid
Don’t be unethical
Trust your employees and your customers
Realize you don’t have control, but put forth measures to proactively inoculate detractors and engage advocates
The panel put together a list of suggested reading links on del.icio.us here, and also mentioned the following resources to research, check out, use or peruse:
…the next MIMA event panel on Jan. 21. The topic is Digital Reputation Management.
Event Description:
Remember telephone? Where you’d say “apple” and it would come out the other end as “elbow fireworks”?
Well, these days, controlling your online reputation is akin to playing telephone. You’ve got to speak clearly. You’ve got to listen carefully. And if someone misrepresents your message, you’ve got to speak up. Sound easy enough? It’s not. With so many online communication channels – blogs, social networks, wikis – it’s getting harder to track who’s saying what.
But not to worry! We’re gathering some fine folks to talk through common problems, offer advice and answer your questions. Cool? Cool.
Panelists include:
* Tammy Lee Stanoch, VP Corporate Communications for NWA
* Lela Phommasouvanh, Senior Consultant, Search Marketing for FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters Business
* Dawn M Bryant, Manager, Corporate Public Relations for Best Buy, Inc.
We’ll discuss key issues related to online reputation management, including:
* SEO practices
* Active listening
* Response techniques
* Personal brand
* Customer and employee communities
You’ll walk away with practical tips and smart strategies you can put to use right away. If you’ve got clients, customers and competitors who A) know how to type B) have Internet connections, seriously, don’t miss this discussion.
Last night I spoke to Rachael Marret’s Minnesota College of Art and Design (MCAD) marketing class on the topic of corporate reputation management.
I shared the developing case study of the Motrin Moms campaign crisis, the four-stage reputation recovery model (Rescue, Rewind, Restore, Recover) and an overview of how President-Elect Obama used social media to build a nation of advocates who helped shape his reputation (oh, and help get him elected).
It’s important to remember no reputation is bulletproof, each crisis and recovery has its own rhythm and you can’t just leave reputation up to the roll of the dice.
Also, if you aren’t out there participating in the social mediasphere, you have no ability to help shape your online persona or engage with people talking about your brand.
Here’s what you get if you Google “Greg Swan.” It still bugs me that these three folks are still crowding into my results.
My approach to marketing a band is akin to consumer product roll-out and positioning strategies, and I spent a lot of time listening and responding to their specific local band challenges and opportunities using insight from both my day job and music blog.
In honor of the class, I’m going to start a series of indy band tips over at PerfectPorridge.com.
Titled “When Generations Collide,” my co-presenter, Kay Augustine, and I gave an overview on the characteristics of the four generations (Millenials, Generation X, Baby Boomers and Traditionalists), areas of clash points between each generation and social media marketing tips for retention and recruiting of Millenials and Generation X.
Juicy blogs. Sweet tweets. Fresh, hot analytics. Today’s Internet is a virtual all-you-can-google buffet. It’s easy to get overwhelmed. Well, no more. Come learn how to manage all your information sources, and sift the gold from hundreds of options out there.We’re bringing together a group of fine folks to dish about how they filter through the onslaught of RSS, email newsletters, Google Alerts and other research to find truly useful information, fast.