The Top Technology 100 Awards are recognised as the premier business excellence awards in South Africa; a longstanding national program mandated to celebrate South Africa’s role-models in science and technology that acknowledges with fanfare the success that today’s organisations enjoy through their development and use of technology. More importantly, it encourages, measures and honours these organisations for the value their use of technology brings to the South African economy.

“We are proud to receive this acknowledgement in what is a highly competitive environment, maintaining focus in our product offering and excellence in delivery are key cornerstones of our success to date. Keeping up with ever-changing trends in the online space and meeting the needs of the client in our product delivery is a constant challenge to our team” says Ingrid Rubin, CEO saidWot Global.

saidWot (Pty) Ltd is a leading online monitoring, management and reputation strategy company. Offering a software application that can be accessed by clients globally to research their market and manage and monitor their brand reputation online. The tool supports the analysis and development of robust communication strategies for the ever-growing social media space, and allows the brand to report back on the Return on Investment from the campaigns implemented.  

Carla Jones – GM & Chief Strategist: South Africa and Armond Furmie – Technical Lead, were at the event to accept the award on behalf of the company.  “Winning this and similar awards is an important and well-deserved acknowledgment of success based on the focus and passion of our team”, says Carla.

To read more about the awards: http://www.dst.gov.za/other/techtop100

For further information about saidWot contact:

South Africa: Carla Jones – Carla@saidwot.com

United States: Ingrid Rubin – Ingrid@saidwot.com

Did he go on this rant out of pure frustration and used his opportunity of being on live radio wisely? Did he do this to draw attention and make a name for himself as a controversial and opinionated radio personality in the hope of following in the footsteps of the likes of Mark Pilgram and Gareth Cliff? Or did he really commit career suicide?

At this stage, public opinion seems to be that he was only saying what most of us were thinking anyway and most individuals are applauding him for this and, although some are questioning if it was truly necessary to swear so much, others believe that this is exactly what caused the huge impact. Additionally, with an initial 3568 followers to a growth of 453 on Twitter within a matter of 24 hours, I would say the impact has been tremendous.

However, some opinions on answerit.news24.com include that he is an “Attention seeking twazzer, he wanted his 15 minutes of fame and he got it. Silly, childish little boy” and “Certainly not very high ambitions. He was quoted as saying ‘all I ever wanted was for Gareth Cliff to read my blog’. That would be the pinnacle of success…?”

A Marketer’s Perspective on this:

Let us ignore the question of why he did what he did and have a look at the impact it made, and what marketers can learn from this.

Firstly, the incident took place at 1 am, a time that most media strategists would not consider for advertising their brands. This incident has proven that a truly impactful, unexpected message can take place at any time and that it can reach your market virally anyway. A Brand that applies this often is Nando’s. Their ads are usually only aired once or twice and their posters are only up for a day before somebody complains about them and they are removed by the ASA. However, by the time this happens, they have already made their rounds on the Internet by members of the public, through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or blogs.

Secondly, and this is widely known, but a reputation that takes years to build can be destroyed in seconds. Although, it is uncertain whether in the curious case of Mark Esterhuysen he intended to build his reputation with this outburst or if it was truly an act of insanity based on pure frustration; the rule still applies. It takes years of hard work and sometimes countless efforts to own a specific space in the minds’ of your audience and all this hard work can be instantly ruined by a silly mistake. There are many examples like this that are easy to find with a simple Google search, try it out with the keywords “car recall”.

So, in this world where incidents that take place in the early morning hours can spread like wildfire through the interconnected network that we take for granted every day, how can one ensure that the reputation that they worked on for years stays intact? Well, in my opinion you should use this interconnectedness to your advantage and constantly keep an eye out for what is being said about you. Consumers no longer only share their opinions with friends and family around the braai, but share this with the rest of the world.. And we all know that it is easier to share a bad experience than a good experience with your peers online. Therefore, keeping a close eye on what is being said about you and analysing the impact on your brand, makes a huge impact in terms of maintaining brand health. This can easily be done with the use of Online Reputation Management tools.

So, if you are planning on doing something outrageous, unexpected or shocking, or you are just interested to see what is being said about you, make sure that you contact saidWot for a free trial as your first port of call.

The Job to be done:

My job title ‘Online Brand Analyst’, even 5-years  ago  would have seemed completely futuristic. So what does this job entail, how exactly does one analyse a brand online?

I’ll tell you how; we filter through all the mentions collected via the monitoring tool that we use (from social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and YouTube, to blogs and websites) regarding brands, based on keywords that we have inputted into the system. 

What I particularly enjoy, is that I get to read unadulterated opinions of consumers and see how the ad-guys use the information to better brands.

After all, consumers are king, so , shouldn’t their opinions be valued above all else? Their opinions form the basis of all research that we provide and that should be conducted before the work on any brand commences.

My job is also highly entertaining; this is where having a good sense of humour comes in. Sometimes people create jokes out of a brand name, it’s hardly ever reputation damaging, however, it does add to the brand awareness created online especially through the use of retweets. It is also vital to understand these acronyms and pet names and to update them in the system to track and start to use in in the content that the brand is generating to show the consumers that you are listening and do understand where they are coming from. Currently, my favourite mention I picked up is: “Dear Snooki, there’s a fine line between a tan and looking like you rolled in a bag of Doritos, Sincerely, you’re making me hungry!”.

 Although jokes such as these don’t really give brands any useful information from the consumer’s point of view, it still creates awareness around the product. Additionally, the chances of me recalling the joke and the product related next time I’m looking for comfort food in the chips aisle, is rather high.

It’s all in the understanding:

Right now you’re probably wondering what jokes made online have to do with research for Ad agencies and the Brands they serve; here’s the answer to your question…. it’s all part of the research process, the conversations that occur online and the jokes that spark off conversations all relate to what people are saying about a brand or product. Therefore, it’s all relevant.

This brings me to my next point, with ORM tools such as saidWot, one can observe what consumers are saying about certain brands or a product, including what or how they consume certain brands; and this information is incredibly useful during the research process of a campaign. Not only because it allows a brand to fix any problems that consumers are having with the brand/product, but it also allows us to delve into the habits and passions people have around certain brands, this makes up valuable consumer insight.

For example, a couple of weeks ago “I wish they would bring back” hash tag was trending on Twitter and many individuals tweeted that they would like a certain product brought back. This information allows brands to find out what consumers most like about their brand and also cater to their needs. When consumers see that a brand they’re loyal to has taken time to respond to them and make provisions for them, consumer loyalty will increase. Consumer insight doesn’t stop at products; it also applies to ATL adverts.

Traditional advertising through billboards, print media and TV commercials are all great mediums when trying to create brand awareness, however, how often do above the line agencies find out what consumers are saying about the brand before creating a campaign? There are loads of adverts that get slaughtered online on a daily basis and it’s usually due to insufficient research. Through the use of ORM tools such as saidWot, valuable consumer insights can be made and research should form the backbone of all campaigns. Moreover, measuring the success of a campaign can be easily tracked online. What people say, the amount of times people mention a certain advert they saw, the impact it created on them, all these aspects are vital for ATL agencies and the ROI they are delivering to the Client.

How campaigns are received online and whether the feedback has been positive or negative will allow agencies to improve their campaigns or to keep doing what they’ve been doing all along. This all adds to the research process, and like previously stated, research should form the backbone of any campaign, not only to benefit the agency, but also so that campaigns are received favourably by the consumer. Now you’re probably thinking “of course we conduct research, we just pay market research companies to get the information we need before we start our campaign”, however, there’s a huge difference between results received by means of online reputation management tools such as saidWot, and research conducted by market research companies

The real truth online;

Firstly, receiving and sifting through mentions made online is unbiased, it’s raw, and it’s the consumer expressing their opinion for no incentive whatsoever, so results are never skewed. Plus, it’s anonymous. People feel they can say whatever they want without implications. The truth is, they can and they should be encouraged to do so. This can only help brands improve their services or products. Although social media is an easy tool to complain about bad service or products that weren’t satisfactory, it is also used for those rare occasions where people show some brand love. This is always encouraged; a happy consumer equals a loyal consumer. Brand loyalty is something most companies try to achieve and are never able to because building lasting, satisfactory relationships with consumers is difficult, but it’s not impossible.

I recently had a problem with Vodacom and I whined about it on Twitter, not only did I get a response immediately, but the problem was resolved within the hour. The person dealing with a very angry and disappointed customer was friendly and that experience managed to get me to change my mind about switching to another network. Thus, positive mentions are great, it means a brand is doing all the right things, and negative mentions can be considered as constructive criticism, or a chance for the brand to rectify its mistakes. Mistakes are okay, everyone makes mistakes; the important thing to remember is that consumers are forgiving, as long as the brand takes action. An apology goes a long way. However, a television advert and a great big billboard isn’t going to fix the problems people are having with a brand, being aware about the issues and dealing with them before going forward with a new campaign will be received far more favourably than a campaign that’s been launched to very disappointed consumers.

The Social Fresh Conference held in Charlotte earlier this year attracted marketers from across the US. The conference hosted a number of experts  and provided useful insights. The saidWot US team attended the event.

You can find a summary of the conversation that took place online around the event at http://www.slideshare.net/saidWot/social-fresh-case-study

This gentleman posted a negative article online expressing his frustration and anger regarding a particular Standard Bank Branch.

This negative mention was seen by many of his followers online and therefore affected the online reputation of the brand in a negative way.

However, due to ORM, Standard Bank was notified of the mention and responded immediately. Their quick response and the fact that they personally contacted him twice telephonically, left the man with a positive feeling about the bank. So much, that he even decided to blog about it again and add a compliment to his previous complaint.

In addition, the fact that Standard Bank has a Twitter profile and uses this to handle complaints on the site, gave him an immediate feeling that ‘the bank cares and listens to its customers’.

This is such a great example of how Online Reputation Management could and should be used:

• Monitor and track all the mentions regarding your brand / product / employees online and categorise according to the sentiment of the mention.
• Receive feedback from your existing and potential customer base in the online world
• Make sure that when crisis mentions come through, these are escalated to the correct person within the company immediately.
• Respond to negative as well as positive feedback immediately and provide the writer of the mention with the feeling that ‘the brand / company listens to what you have to say and cares about what you have to say‘. This can be done in the form of a company or ‘personal’ Twitter account, a Facebook Profile, a Facebook Fan Page, etc. Furthermore show the rest of the online community that you care as a brand and that you are online to engage and communicate with.
• In the case of a negative mention or complaint, follow up with a personal call, email or other form of communication to resolve the issue at hand.
• Make sure that the person that follows up on the complaint is aware of all the aspects of the complaint and can assist immediately. (Having a call centre agent call the customer and not being able to assist with the actual complaint will only result in more frustration and therefore more complaints online. Making the situation even worse)
• Leave the customer with a ‘warm and fuzzy‘ feeling that will often generate a positive mention from the customer online.
• Learn from the mistakes made and make sure that they do not occur again.

In addition, other factors play a role such as:

• Learn from your competitors and see how they (do not) engage online
• Build an online relationship with your target market and be available to them in the online space
• Identify the channels used by your target market and make sure to be present on these channels.
• Engage…engage…and engage some more

More on this:

The Facebook Nestle Mess: When Social Media Goes Anti-Social

Facebook Nestle fan page

Nestle mess shows sticky side of Facebook pages

Nestlé Makes a Mess on Facebook

Vehicle recalls

• The first recall in September and November 2009 was for floor mats that could trap the pedal.
• The second recall in January, 21, 2010 was for pedals that overtime become sticky, they were hard to depress or slow to pop up when not depressed.
• On the 27th of January 2010 Toyota added 1.1 million vehicles to the original floor mat recall, the two recalls were mostly in the U.S.A and involved more than 6 million vehicles.
• In early February 2010, the car maker announced a further recall of 437 000 vehicles worldwide for the Prius to repair brake problems. About 60 000 Toyota vehicles meant for export from South Africa were part of a recent recall.

Toyota was slow to respond to complaints

Although the first complaints emerged in 2004, Toyota only started reacting in late 2009. Initially Toyota was very dismissive to customers’ complaints. The company thought their vehicles were flawless. Since 2004 it has been very difficult to investigate Toyota because its systems are kept top secret. It always delayed on giving U.S government answers relating to vehicle safety. It took a fatal accident that killed four people in San Diego to jolt the company into action during September.

Rivals swoop in on Toyota’s territory
On top of the January recall Toyota suspended North American sales and production of eight models. This caused serious harm to its brand. Soon after thousands of the car makers customers approached rivals General Motors and Ford. This enticed the rivals to snatch the company’s customers. The rivals took advantage of this situation. General Motors offered Toyota Customers payouts of up to $1,000 or zero percent financing for up to five years if they traded in their Toyota for a GM vehicle. Soon after, Ford offered a similar deal. In addition Ford started buying keywords to ensure their ads pop up in the same locations, or right next to articles in online news sites covering the ongoing Toyota debacle.

Lesson to be learnt

Although slow to respond at first, Toyota has managed to get a couple of things right since the recalls have been announced.

Senior communicators have been Twittering and blogging like crazy to fill the information vacuum and take control of the escalating situation. Websites and call centres have been established with information for worried Toyota customers. And US Chief Operating Officer Jim Lentz talked directly to Toyota drivers in a video posted to YouTube.

The company’s use of social media in this way has enabled it to get its point of view across and reach its customers directly without the filter of the media to editorialise the message. However many is of the opinion that it might be too little too late.

Toyota was ranked the world’s eighth most valuable brand last year, in a study by Interbrand, beating Apple, Disney and Intel. Where will they be in the rankings this year? Only time will tell.

Some of the interesting points from the presentation:

Do you think that you have some control over your brand the thing with social media is that often companies don’t
• Although people think that they have some control over their brand the thing with social media is that often companies don’t
• Web is a very different kind of space – its all about being social and are constantly evolving
• You want to get to a point where people care enough about what you are doing to tell their friends
• Not just dealing with one person in isolation, you are now dealing with one person that has 400 friends on Facebook, 200 followers on Twitter and so the reach of one person is much more important
• Traditional legal approach don’t really work when it comes to social media
• Need to also think about Employees and how they are using social media
• Manage your content licensing process – ensure you have the right license to enable sharing
• Privacy Rights is going to be the biggest issue facing us online in the next couple of years

Our very own Ingrid Rubin is featured in this eposide and she shares her valuable experience and insights in regards to this topic and how it is becoming more and more relevant for companies today. Be sure to check it out!