Social media threats to brand reputation and mistaken identity.

[Stephanie Noble]

The Rolling Stones are just like Black Sabbath. Sound right to you? How about Kanye West is just like Cole Porter? Coming to these conclusions would seem ridiculous to most people. Yet online, consumer generated commentary in social media sometimes draws odd conclusions. The result? A threat to brand reputation and mistaken identity. A threat that could drive away existing client, potential consumers, or prospective partners.

Want real examples? We're working with pharma marketing companies and clothing fashion ... (different I know) among others ,to determine if their campaigns are effective and to get a gauge of what people really want to know. Additionally we're feeding them statements on the competition. This affects their brand rep. We locate statements such as "Vimpat is like Keppra in that..." well what if Vimpat doesn't want to be like Keppra? It's good to know what conclusions the audience comes to. Perhaps engagement with that audience would illuminate key differentiators previously unseen.

A social media statement for a fashion client we found ... "I love these jeans from X. My daughter bought a pair last week..." Uh Oh! Do you know how detrimental this is? We have a client positioning themselves as hip, cool, young, street, edgy... and we find comments from teenagers' mothers saying they love these jeans! What's the value in our alarm? Well before those moms are seen everywhere in the client's clothing, we can alert our client ahead of time. Perhaps they need to change their advertising locations. They need to go Elle girl instead of Elle. They should avoid Oprah like the plague and be making YouTube commercials for viral spread.

Be concerned about your brand. Be concerned about the company you keep (online). What's the difference between word of mouth online and word of mouth in the terrestrial world? Online is faster. It spreads. It has global reach. It is cached and stored and found years later.