7. Is your reputation being trashed online?

Fiachra Ó Marcaigh, Director, AMAS

BP, Nestlé, Honda, United Airlines and Dominos have something in common apart from being big brands – all have been badly mauled in the social media space. All have taken a battering from angry users of Facebook and Twitter.

They are not the first big brands this has happened to and they won’t be the last. Other examples include Irish businesses (big and small) and individuals.

• The campaign against the Hunky Dorys adverts earlier this year had a large online aspect, with hundreds of posts on sites like Boards.ie, mostly negative
• Supermarkets, telcos and insurance companies are among those regularly trashed online by their customers. Expect to see phrases like “lousy service”, “I hate” and “rip off”
• Almost two years on, the top search results for Irish pork are still all about the contamination and recall in 2008

People are spending an increasing share of their media time on the internet. Much of that time is spent on social media, where they express themselves, rather than just consumer information.

Social media can focus and amplify ill-feeling that is already widespread. But even one angry person can attract a worldwide audience for a complaint (sometimes video or musical) that goes viral.

The reputations of brands, businesses and individuals face many new challenges in this environment. Among the questions business owners and managers must consider are:

• Who is talking about us online, where and what are they saying?
• How much influence do these voices have?
• What impact is this having on our business and how it is perceived?
• When should we join in and when should we ignore comment?
• What allies and assets do we have to monitor and protect our reputation online?
• Are our own staff helping or not?

Experience shows that it is often a customer, supplier or staff member who alerts a company to a reputational issue on a social media site.

But it’s not all negative – some brands have turned social media to their advantage and are using these channels to understand customer sentiment, deal with customer service queries and market their brands. Listening, engaging and interacting with customers through social media delivers results.

Back to the contents of State of the Net issue 18