Changing negative brand perception online
UPDATE: See part II of this series: Thoughts from LinkedIn respondents.
The other day I blogged about Spoke.com, a company that even they admit has received its share of negative attention on the web.
Which brings up the question... How does a company go about changing perceptions and protecting its brand?
Though companies like Dell and Facebook have done a reasonably good job of turning things around (and I think you'd agree they had quite a number of rotten eggs thrown at them by consumers), many companies have yet to find the secret sauce.
As you know, an entire industry has grown up to manage this problem. Companies like Andiamo Systems and Umbria make their living by monitoring, reporting and, in the case of Reputation Defender, promising to protect your good name on the Internet.
I of how to fix a broken rep at LinkedIn and, in a few days once sufficient responses have come in, I will report excerpts.
I'd like to pose the same question to you and solicit your response here: "How do you go about changing negative perceptions about your brand and protecting your reputation?"
You're not just responding to me either. I'm sure the folks at Spoke.com would like to know the answer. In fact, once I feel I have a sufficient amount of information compiled, organized and digested, I'm going to suggest a course of action.
PS: Here are some good resources I came across when doing some research in preparation for this post:
- Protect Your Reputation - Whitepaper from SEMPO and Elixer Systems (PDF download)
- Safeguard Your Brand Reputation Online - Article at Inc.com
- Online Reputation Management Beginner's Guide - Andy Beal
For any company that needs to figure online reputation management out, these are good places to start.
