SMCQ7 Answers: Brand Control? Hah!
April 30, 2009 by Deborah Crooks
Last week, Social Media Club asked readers SMCQ7 In the era of social media, what do you do to control your brand?”
The answer: You don’t.
This revelation can be a blow to the best laid of plans. To whit, notice the current push by the pork industry to rebrand the swine flu epidemic. Talk about a nightmare for an industry. But whatever your product, service, or situation, a surrender of complete control in no ways means you don’t have the ability to influence and craft messages that are most accurate to what you offer. The good news is, Social Media is perfect for this task:
“It’s not so much about brand control as it is about brand management and appropriate representation,” wrote Pete Codella who also offered some tips for going forward in his “PR & Social Media” blog post: “…once you’ve had your come to Jesus moment — realizing you’re not really in control of your brand — what do you do about it? You become a master at using new social media tools to publish your own content which then competes in the marketplace of ideas for mindshare. The more creative, authentic and entertaining your content, the greater your chances of popularity.”
Justan Kownaki concurred: “No one controls their brand, but social media allows you better manage your brand’s perception in real time. More importantly, it helps you understand what others are saying about you (and why), so you can identify any disconnect between what YOU think your brand stands for and what OTHERS think your brand stands for.”
@mattceni: You can control your product, your service Then your customers will carry your message
Of course, social media will reveal other truths as Joellyn Detjen reminded us:
@JoellynDetjen: Social media rewards integrity, exposes moral faults. Control of brand is then a result of a company’s inner values.
The sum? Give up control, welcome creativity, and collaboration …and be prepared to revise!
On Friday, the SMC Editorial Board will reconvene on BlogTalk Radio 8am PST to talk further about the results. Tune in, & give us a call. We’d love to hear your opinion.
‘Late to the game with this post but…
What’s a “Twitternship”? Can’t find anything about it on Dominos’ site or a general serarch and the emebbed link is dead.
Good article and I referenced it and Pete Codella’s quote in my blog, “Brands in the Age of Social Media” http://bit.ly/KDqkk
Social Steve
[...] an incident evolving into a crisis. Justan Kownaki supports this benefit in a Social Media Club blog No one controls their brand, but social media allows you better manage your brand’s perception in [...]