Posts Tagged ‘online reputation’

Microsoft has knocked Google off its top spot in the 2010 Business Superbrands survey.

Google, ranked first in the two previous surveys, changes places with Microsoft who were in fifth spot last year.

New entries to the top ten include BlackBerry, 42nd  last year and British Airways, back to eighth from its worst position last year - 36th. Rival Virgin Atlantic however, also appears, above BA, in fourth position.

Revealing the fall-out from the financial crisis, the list of the top 10 biggest fallers includes UBS and Morgan Stanley, with the Royal Bank of Scotland falling out of the top 500 altogether.

Proving that a re-brand can have a positive affect Aviva, Read the rest of this entry »

Back in the late eighties, the reputation of city institutions seemed bullet proof. As mysterious as they were venerated, ambitious graduates of the day would talk in awed terms about big fives and big fours, while leafing through prospectuses made from linen and parchment.

In private banking, one name soared above them all, a name guaranteed to score big yuppie points with the stripey shirted city aspirants of the day.

In 2010, that bank’s reputation is in danger and in this guest blog for Stopgap Group, Furlong PR CEO Ross Furlong lays out why venerable institutions need to wise up to the new world of online reputation.

A few weeks ago I fell off my chair at a comment one magazine editor posted on Twitter, speculating that members of a certain London club suffered from, shall we say, onanistic tendencies.

Such scope for personal expression may not last long. The LA Times has issued updated  social media content guidelines for their staff emphasising that just about anything they post online both personal and work related, reflects on the reputation and credibility of the newspaper.

“Integrity is our most important commodity: Avoid writing or posting anything that would embarrass The Times or compromise your ability to do your job,” says the first guideline.

It goes on, “Your professional life and your personal life are intertwined in the online world, just as they are offline, attempts, for instance, to distinguish your high school friends from your professional associates are fine, but in all spaces one should adhere to the principle that as an editorial employee you are responsible for maintaining The Times’ credibility.” Read the rest of this entry »

Google’s new social search tool went live yesterday, enabling participants to see results from agreed social networks they belong to. The timing is interesting, shortly after Google had agreed a deal with Twitter to incorporate tweets in search, here’s a tool to mine them.

Also yesterday, eMarketer’s latest survey once again confirmed word of mouth is the number one purchase driver online, family first, friends second, social networks third.

So theoretically, if we’re looking for a hotel recommendation in say, Dijon and some friends have stayed there and tweeted about it “Having dinner in the garden at the lovely Sofitel, Dijon” - that’s the review we trust, more so than the one from Swedish  Bjorn and Benny on Trip Advisor who enjoyed playing the hotel piano (though that might have been quite a sing along). Read the rest of this entry »

In a post on her blog on Thursday, Susan Moskwa, Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst recommends proactively publishing “useful, positive information”  to gain control of your business (or personal) online reputation.

Moskwa’s comments come in the context of dealing with negative online publicity and in 2009, it’s still the case that most businesses only think of online reputation when something goes wrong. It’s the online equivalent of crisis PR.

Other companies are taking a more considered approach, combining elements of search and editorial planning to ensure that their online reputation matches their brand values. Read the rest of this entry »

So says Weber Shandwick’s US based chief executive Harris Diamond, speaking this week to PR Week’s Danny Rogers. Diamond sees the Italian suited ad execs and Ivy League management consultants ‘walking away’ from the challenge of driving reputation in the era of dialogue and a more strategic place for PR in the corporate pantheon.

On a more micro level, I was in a restaurant in Reigate this week, eating a cheese omelette with some very successful international marketers, talking about social media. The thing that stands out is not the need for technical advice, though there was a bit of chat about blogging platforms, but the need for good quality, on- message communications through new channels which they simply don’t have time to handle. Read the rest of this entry »

UK Google search results for online reputation have risen 41% in the last year, according to data from search specialists WhyCommunicate?

Internationally, the US, followed by UK and Germany are the countries running most searches for online reputation with “online reputation management” and “bad reputation” the fastest rising search phrases.

Interest in online pr has grown over the same period by 27%  and micro-blogging (Twitter) by 72%.

Interest in online pr is surfacing more frequently in the media too. Recent news stories include  the LSE’s findings  that companies with good online reputation grow 4-5 times faster and the slightly surreal recommendation from Gartner that company avatars follow a dress code. Centaur launched a dedicated site to the subject - Reputation Online last month. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone claims they are doing it, but hardly anyone is measuring the effect on their business - findings from a survey in August 09 on social media use by US based Mzinga and Babson Executive Education.

The survey found that while 86% of their sample said they were using social tools in some way  only 16% said they measured ROI.

  Read the rest of this entry »

In case the PR industry needed any more clues about the future significance of online PR, Centaur Media, not a company known for throwing money around on spurious projects, is launching Reputation Online on September 28th.

The new editor, blogger, commentator and former tech PR Vikki Chowney says “there’s a vital need for a site where reputation practitioners and clients can discuss ideas and approaches” and this is so true. All the surveys show that marketers want to use social media but just don’t have enough information on how to do it. Read the rest of this entry »