In our unceasing bid to be the world super-power of ORM, we are extremely excited to launch our most recent addition to the BrandsEye Prediction Engine - Geolocating Mentions!

This handy tool will appear in the same Firefox add-on along with the new Prediction Engine spoken about previously. It will enable you to pick up not only the source of a mention, but also where in the world it came from. Yes, that’s right, BrandsEye can now determine the physical location of the online conversation.

Strategically, this gives you invaluable input for the direction of your campaign. Allowing you to test the effectiveness of your message in reaching desired geographics. On the flip side, you can monitor where in the world conversations are occurring around your brand so that you can identify other viable markets. This increased functionality will create synergy between offline and online campaigns, further increasing your ability to use BrandsEye as a measurement tool in addition to monitoring and managing. Depending on the motivation behind your BrandsEye account, you will be able to exclude mentions coming from specific countries and are able to continuously tweak this to suit your needs. And if you are concerned about your past mentions, Geolocation will automatically take effect on these when you first login to your account.

Geolocating greatly expands the insight provided through custom reports. The following graph illustrates the country-dispersion of conversation occurring around BrandsEye, from Consumer and Enterprise media sources:

BrandsEye Insight is getting better and better. If you haven't yet upgraded to the Insight package, Geolocation is certainly a compelling reason to do so.

The best journalists always manage to get the freshest stories before anyone else does. Maybe they got a hot tip from an anonymous caller, or they have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Whatever their secret, these seasoned journo's may find some tough competition coming from an unlikely source. As we saw from the recent Iran election crisis, it wasn't CNN or other news channels that had the skinny on the situation as it happened, but Twitter and its field network of citizen journalists.

Antagonists on the power and credibility of Social Media will find it hard to argue against the fact that Social Media is fast becoming a voice to be reckoned with. President Obama seems to agree, he asked Twitter to avoid shutting down for maintenance so that tweets could continue to feed information from the ground in Iran. In fact, Social Media has played such a powerful reporting role that it is possible to put together a time-line of events from the Iranian crisis using Flickr, Wikipedia, YouTube and Twitter.  Part of the magnetism of Social Media as a news source is its rawness. Where traditional news sources will filter content for sensitive viewers, Social Media presents the graphic nature of our world, as it is seen through the eyes of the people capturing it.

The question arises, could Social Media overtake traditional press as a source of news?

While many have accused the press of getting to the story on Iran a little too late, the Social Media coverage was not structured and planned. Conversations online occur organically and gain viral momentum unexpectedly. The people who tweeted about what they saw happening around them in Iran were not acting as journalists. It is this unfiltered, as-it-happens nature of Social Media that makes it stand out from any other form of media. On the other hand, it is because of this that I doubt Social Media will overtake traditional press. It will, however, stand as a strong voice and the press best take notice if Twitter or other Social Media platforms communicate the story first.

As for the future of traditional news providers and Social Media, it looks like a peaceable one - should they integrate and evolve together. However, one of the biggest challenges with Social Media is the sheer mass of content available. Consumers are looking to bloggers and journalists to filter through all of this content for the truth and to portray the bigger picture.

What we can see from this is that Social Media is being recognized as a credible source of information, and not only by like-minded consumers as indicated by the Edelman Trust Barometer, but by the press themselves, and even the president of America. Ultimately, Social Media can no longer be ignored. Its coverage is expanding with the world around us. Conversations are occurring around brands, breakfast, and breaking news. Perhaps it is time to take a serious look at the conversations happening online, and what people are saying about you.

Last week on I Spy we looked at General Motors and their brave brand reinvention move amongst the turmoil of the world economy. Their move was received well with the majority of the mentions being rated with a +2 Endorsement and the bulk of the chatter around this topic coming from Consumer mentions.

But there was one dark cloud that threatened GM’s bold move. We picked up on a spoof video that had been made to mock GM’s brand reinvention advert. Is it possible for some small mock video to tear down all GM’s hard work?

When you look on YouTube  the original GM Brand Reinvention video has been viewed 8 746 times, while the spoof video has been viewed 93 851 times. That means that for every one view that GM’s advert got, the spoof video got ten views! let's find out what effect this has had on GM’s reputation.

Where are the mentions coming from?

Last week the majority of the mentions were coming from Consumers and this week is no different with 76.67% of the rated mentions originating from consumers. The rest of the mentions came from Enterprise mentions, 16.67%, Directories, 3.33% and Press mentions, 3.33%.

It seems not much has changed since last week, the Press have not yet caught on to the story and enterprise sites are equally ignoring GM’s efforts. Yet, even without the help of press and enterprise mentions to spread the word, the story is being talked about. And by consumers no less, which is what we can only assume GM would want.    

Since the media origin has changed very little from last week, let’s focus on what is being said, especially in light of the spoof video.
 

The sentiment of the mentions:

The majority of the mentions are still +2 Endorsements (36.67%). This is, however, not a huge majority with the rest of the mentions being rated with a -2 Concern (6.67%), -1 Downplay (23.33%), +1 listing (13.33%) and +3 Praise (20%).

This -2 Concern expresses how consumer are reacting to GM’s brand reinvention once the spoof video highlighted certain truths about big companies such as GM : “This GM spoof video I found on Twitter  is good for a laugh and highlights the ridiculous situation big, bloated companies are finding themselves in.”

Other negative mentions such as this -1 Downplay, show that while the spoof video has by no means destroyed GM’s efforts, it has put a slight damper on it: “We'll start off by saying that this spoof on General Motors' Re:invention commercial is not exactly fair and not exactly accurate... but it is funny.” With the majority of the negative mentions following this similar sentiment, it doesn’t look like GM will be hard hit.

The same -1 Downplay mentioned above elicited over 40 comments with consumers arguing over GM’s honour. This comment is an example of what consumer are saying about GM with regards to the spoof video. “The commercial says GM has been screwing the customer for 100 years. Really? Is that how they got to 51% of the market share?”

This Enterprise mention shows how GM’s brand reinvention is being picked up as a case study on how brands can use Social Media to make a come back! It was rated with a +3 Praise and really captures the essence of GM’s brand reinvention: “This week I'd like to take a look at one example of a company that is utilizing it's blogs very well: General Motors.” 

And what about their reputation?

Last week GM ended off on a really strong 2.07 reputation score. This week that score has decreased slightly to 1.92 (out of a possible 5). This drop in score is due to the negative effect of the spoof video. Lucky for GM the spoof video has done minimal harm and I have to give it to consumers for debating the topic and making up their own mind. With that being the case, those that follow GM in the end could turn out to be the most loyal.

Coming back to the video views:

Two groups are emerging in GM’s market, those that have seen the original GM advert and the spoof and those that have only seen the spoof. Those that have seen the spoof in conjunction with the original are viewing the spoof in context and have enough knowledge to form their own opinion. And we have seen this happen with consumers defending GM in comments on posts.

The numbers show that nine out ten people have only watched the spoof video. This group threatens GM’s reputation as they may communicate a biased opinion based on the spoof. When the vulgar Domino’s Pizza videos came out, the Domino’s CEO released a video to counteract the damage. While the CEO's video was watched, it did not manage to garner the same number of views that the original videos did, leaving the same two groups of people that GM is left with now. This is something that Domino’s failed to realise and their sales have suffered.

The best thing for GM to do now would be to promote the GM advert to increase views and close the gap between the two groups. They have the structures in place with their brand reinvention blog and their fast-lane blog. Now let’s see if they use them!



 

This week on I Spy, we spotted General Motors making an industry first in their use of Social Media to activate an extremely sensitive turnaround campaign.

The world has been watching the collapse of the motor industry amidst the turmoil of a sinking global economy. But this grand daddy of the industry is fighting back with a surprising take on business. They have released an online video aimed at consumers that is honest and informative. So honest in fact, that many have balked at the idea of a company advertising their bankruptcy. After watching the clip, even the sceptics will have to admit to being swept up in the captivating feel good visuals and soundtrack. What makes this move strategic is the combination of the viral with GM’s reinvention blog which is slick and well thought out. It hits all the right consumer notes by linking to Flickr, Twitter and Facebook. GM hopes that this campaign will mark the beginning of a new era for the American motor industry. Let’s see if they are on the right track.

Where are the mentions coming from?

 
The origin of the mentions is super interesting with a massive 65.17% coming from Consumer mentions and 23.6% from Enterprise mentions. Press mentions make up the rest at 11.24%. One thing that is alarming is the lack of Press mentions. When one of the hardest hit giants in an industry crippled by the slumping economy fights back in such a radical way, surely it is worthy of a couple more Press mentions? Well perhaps the rest of the Press will recognise the story in GM’s brand reinvention, but will it be too late?

Even more interesting is the number of consumer mentions. This is most likely due to the nature of the campaign. Aimed at the consumers, it is packaged to be talked about, and their online YouTube video has taken on a viral quality. 50% of these mentions are coming from blogs and 50% of these blog mentions carried a credibility of 4 or higher. This is a remarkably high credibility for blogs and shows that a few influential bloggers have taken on the story and spread it. This is probably exactly what GM were hoping for. And it gets better for GM, 75% of these mentions carried a +2 endorsement sentiment. So the right message is being spread by the right people!

The rest of the Consumer mentions are coming from Twitter which shows that the message has spread. These mentions don’t carry a very high credibility, but 62.5% of the mentions carried +2 endorsement sentiment. This Twitter mention shows that GM is hitting the right note with consumers: “GM Reinvention commercial. Message is clear, concise and honest. Great decision for their brand.”

Is anything negative being said?

 
 
The majority of the mentions have a positive sentiment with 50% of the mentions being rated with a +2 Endorsement and 20% of the mentions being rated with a +3 Praise. However there are negative mentions which should never be ignored no matter how few. 15% of the mentions have been rated with a -1 Downplay and these mentions all follow the same thread, the GM Brand Re-invention spoof video. The spoof is harsh and undermines GM’s message. It hasn’t taken on a viral quality yet, with only 15 % of the mentions relating to the video. That said it does have the ability to put a small hole in GM’s bubble.

So has GM re-invented their reputation?
 

 
Despite the spoof video resulting in negative mentions, GM has managed to maintain a high reputation score through-out the week of rating. Starting fairly low at the beginning of the week, GM’s reputation increased and then levelled out at an impressive 2.07 (out of a possible 5). It seems GM is well on their way to reaching their goals.

GM’s Brand Reinvention makes a great case study about a well thought out, consumer driven campaign. What this post shows is that the campaign is working according to GM’s plan, despite the one obvious spoof video stain. Will GM’s campaign be strong enough to withstand the attack? Will they use their already in place channels (brand reinvention blog) to respond? These are a few of the questions we will be answering in next week’s I Spy. 

 

What (exactly) is an online identity? According to Wikipedia, an online identity is the social identity we create through participation in social networks and discussion forums through the sharing of our photos and posting of comments on blogs and other websites.

Sound familiar? You’ve established an online presence? You have a couple of links, have made a few blog comments and feature in a few of the SERPS? Good. But not good enough. An online presence, whether it be for a company or an individual, requires constant online reputation monitoring and management.

When it comes to online identity, you better make sure you are using the sharpest tools in the (e)shed to face the challenges of online identity management:

• Owning your identity
• Protecting your identity
• Managing your identity

It is very important to take ownership over your online identity – although we want to share things about ourselves and allow others to interact and share with us, we need to remain in control. This ties in with the issue of protecting an online identity – we don’t want people to have unauthorised access to our personal identity information. You really don’t want to face the consequences and repercussions of someone taking over our online identity – this is dangerous and can take a lot of time to recover from. Another danger of having an online identity is that people may be able to follow a “trail” of information drawn from what you have shared and deduce (new) private information that you didn’t plan to make explicitly available. By being in control, you can avoid being vulnerable and prone to identity theft.

Just as in real life, we have different identities (though not necessarily the Jeckyll and Hyde type) and need to manage the image we portray of ourselves in each of these contexts. It is also important to establish the borders between these different identities - this allows us to face the “challenges” of online identity management. Based on our personal goals and aspirations, we can make use of the tools available to enhance and refine our identity.

This can be done by synching your networks – if you have a Facebook or MySpace account, link it to other profiles you may have on Flickr, Technorati etc. By doing so, you are laying the foundations for building relationships, networking and linking opportunities. If you’re like me and like to search your name on Google (yes, I admit it) whether it be with business objectives in mind or just for the thrill of seeing your name glowing on your computer screen, online identity searching and tracking tools will come in handy. BrandsEye allows you to track mentions and aggregate your online reputation score – it can also come in handy when having to react in real-time to negative comments or mentions. You can employ tools like Twitter Search, Twing and even blog search engines. These allow you to search for your name mentions and even track your reputation.

With Twing, you are able to find out what people are saying about you in forums and discussion boards. The blog search engine, Technorati, allows you to refine your search options and parameters and even set “authority” preferences. With the best use of search parameters in play, you can take the next step and subscribe via RSS feeds to track your mentions and monitor your online reputation. Google Blog search allows you to give advanced searching options – refining your ability to search even further. Blogpulse also offers helpful search options for you to track and manage your online identity – you are able to sort by date or relevance and by using Boolean operators, add/exclude additional words. You are able to see a trend graph that positions your (brand) name popularity in comparison to your competitors. Pretty nifty.

Having an online identity is like having a baby (work with me here). It is inherently a part of you - you create it, you have to nurture it (using the tools available), and “feed” it what it needs to become self-sufficient in the big bad world. You have to protect it fiercely and make sure no one takes it from you. You then watch it grow into something you are proud of. So on that note – go forth, use the tools available, and multiply!