In November I had the pleasure of attending The Annual Conference hosted by Jeremy Maggs.
10 leading trend experts, all in specialist areas have been asked to come up with ten things for 2010. The morning was packed with great insights and thought provoking information but ever since then I have been asking myself how 2010 will unfold in the world of Reputation Management.
In 2009 we have already seen a couple of reputation scandals with some of the big brands in the country feeling the effect of the collective voice of the everyday people. Domestic airline Kulula witnessed this first hand after a Spring Sale promotion caused the Kulula.com website to crash. In October FNB’s online banking site also experienced problems after a software update, leaving customers without access for nearly 4 days. It seems that slowly but surely the importance of Online Reputation Management is hitting home for companies and brands alike. I have put together my thoughts for what I would like to see happen in 2010:
Budget, budget, budget
At this point companies are not entirely sure whether Online Reputation Management should fall within the PR or Marketing budget. Although offline tracking seems to happen more often than not, most companies don’t budget for proper tracking and monitoring of the online environment. This means that in many cases they are unaware of the types of conversations that are happening out there but also loses out on the opportunity to capitalize on the insights and comments from their customers. The world recession has put budgets under more strain than usual but this is one area where you can’t afford to cut back or even worse not budget at all.
Education
The South African market seems to be a slight step behind the rest of the world and none is truer than in the world of Reputation Management. Slowly but surely people are starting to realize the impact unmonitored conversations can have and recognizing the need to track and engage with these customers. Although I am aware that in many cases there is still a huge education process that needs to happen, I am positive that 2010 will be the year that more people are not only becoming aware of the necessity but will also start to adopt strategies to monitor, track and protect their reputations online.
Legacy of 2010
One of the main highlights that everybody is predicting will have a lasting impact in our country is the FIFA 2010 World Cup. I agree, but for me it’s really not so much the actual event but more the legacy that 2010 will hold. I am hoping that with this event people from around the world will start to realize just how interconnected we all are and how the internet has the power to bring our worlds even closer together. That said, it just underlines the importance of knowing what is being said about you online.
