Copyright © 2010 I-COM International 2010-09-06T16:19:29+0100 2010-09-06T16:19:29+0100 http://www.i-com.net/blog/ Leading Manchester SEO, SEM and web design agency blog. http://www.i-com.net/blog/ http://i-com.net/images/icom-net.gif http://www.i-com.net/blog/ Leading Manchester SEO, SEM and web design agency blog. I-COM International blogmaster at i-com dot net I-COM International I-COM International en SEO, SEM, Web Design, Web Development 1440 http://www.i-com.net/blog/why-is-brand-important-299/ We all experience brands every day. This article will attempt to explain why lucid, well realised brands are so essential to success. Firstly what is a brand?A Brand is = Collectively, what people say, feel and think about your product, service or company.A Strong Brand is = A collection of coherent ideas and experiences with a product or service over time.A great brand is a great storydefined by Paul Isakson Take a look at this video for Volkswagen.View hereOriginally created for T.V. this video has been posted online and now exists as a viral. The ad, generally missed on television, has since received millions of hits online and lots of positive attention in the press. The colour palette is rich, and the music is modern and electronic. The story is unique, showcasing Volkswagens commitment to building their cars with care, attention and technical expertise. Lars Axelsson, Volkswagen, describes the rationale behind the concept, As traditional advertising is becoming less effective, and the competition is becoming more aggressive, we believed we needed a more innovative approach to draw attention to the website  In contrast the print advert below, whilst being instantly recognisable as Volkswagen, is completely different in style. The colour palette and design is clean and minimal, especially when contrasted with the viral.  The concept tells viewers how owning a Volkswagen will never go out of fashion. The four icons on the key ring depict four differing styles and cultures, demonstrating Volkswagens unilateral appeal.The final example of a great piece of advertising is a specific microsite showcasing the new Polo. View hereThe microsite expertly balances creativity and the user journey. The videos are cinematic and aspirational. The user experience is well thought out, allowing users to customise their car and build their own tool kit. It gets close to recreating an on-screen experience online.However, does using these disparate forms of advertising render the brand disjointed and incoherent? Do people get different experiences when touching the brand?Throughout all these disparate pieces of advertising material, the brand values come through strongly. All three are innovative, technically excellent, clever and fun. The concept which defines Volkswagen is Volkswagen Thinking, the idea of creating a product which is seen as a democratic people car, but also as a desirable object. So the answer is no, Volkswagen is a strong brand. I personally think this shines through in their advertising, but the proof is in a steady increase in growth and products over a fifty year period; a period in which hundreds of similar companies have ended up on the scrapheap.For a brand to stand the tests of time, it has to have roots that help it stay true over time. Why? Because lasting relationships are built on a foundation of trust. If you are constantly changing who you are and/or what you stand for, how can anyone come to trust you?Paul IsaksonSo in conclusion everything you produce as a company must reflect this brand. A brand identity represents your company's values, services, ideas and personality. A consistent and well-positioned brand can make your company; it can generate loyalty in your customers, and make you the envy of your competitors. By understanding branding we'll be able to help our clients find their values and tell stories that set them apart from the crowd.To end controversially, here is the latest viral video from Diesel. 
 View here
Is this video coherent in the Diesel marketing strategy. Does it reflect their  brand and, more importantly, is it good for their brand? Please comment?If you're interested in further reading there are a few great resources below.Excellent white papers covering all aspects, lots of social media info too.  View hereAuthor of 'brand tags' discusses all things brand
 View hereMore related to User experience a case study on McDonalds and how they utilise branding
 View hereLots of stats and viral videos here 
 View here Web Design 2010-01-21 10:15:47 http://www.i-com.net/blog/why-is-brand-important-299/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/an-insight-into-online-personal-reputation-services-288/ We have all typed our name into Google once or twice to confirm our internet fame, obliterate our name exclusivity and see how much information about us is really out there . But have you ever considered paying to have results removed or promoted in light of other people searching for you? In todays ever expanding world of online information, personal name results are being scrutinised and picked through daily to back up offline knowledge. With real time search launched on Google recently, social media postings are being added into the monitored information equation. This raises the question, at what point does our personal responsibility for our own online reputation end? Its no surprise then that one of the most popular web 2.0 businesses in 2010 will be companies paid to make it their responsibility to defend personal reputations. Over the pond in the US these online services are already thriving while drenching their websites in a mixture of cheesy sales patter and over-enthusiastic stats. Promoting Your Online Personal Brand The lowered guards brought on by the anonymity of the web have been raised as people realise their education prospects, work future and even dating chances are affected by web information. Hiring a personal branding site to become your own online PR agent is the newest solution. PlaceYourName.com is one of these businesses, with a website overflowing with enthusiasm which claims it "creates a positive online image and gives you a solid Internet presence when someone searches your name." These businesses tend to use a mixture of SEO techniques, web development and public relations to achieve this. Eliminating Your Online Personal Dirt Whats the point in promoting positive online presence if you have negative postings and results that are going to drag it down? Enter services like DefendMyName.com who have a "team of engineers that is not only ready but also excited about the opportunity" to remove your negative information because of "the cool yet frightening revelation that people trust opinions they find on the internet more than those from newspapers, TV, radio and magazines." Childrens Online Reputation With kids now contently exposing every facet of their personal life on sites like Bebo and MySpace its no surprise that these services are now being targeted at parents. A mixture of paranoia, popularity and future education/career prospects are pushing parents to hire companies such as ReputationDefender for their 'MyChild' service. This service produces a monthly report detailing references to your child's name, images, screen name and social network profiles that is meant to encourage the parent to request changes, deletions and promotion of positive results. ReputationDefender.com claims: "Teens have always cared about their reputations - the Internet defines the reputation of a person." Besides, do teens really want their parents seeing everything they do or say online? Surely this infringes on a teenager's right to be a kid in favour of building a parent-controlled online persona for future success? Surely even online, teenagers need to build their own online persona and learn from their mistakes. Then again with 'enthusiastic' customer quotes like the one below how can anyone dispute such a service? Limitations There are clearly a lot of legal issues with removing online information when you dont own the rights to that post or article. An FAQ on ReputationDefender.com site highlights these issues when asked "Can you remove absolutely anything?" The site responded stating "No. Newspaper articles and court records are difficult to impossible to remove" but goes on to state "we typically focus on content that is slanderous, private, defamatory, invasive and/or outdated." Surely two of the most slanderous and private sources of information online are newspaper articles and court records. This is one of many fairly substantial limitations for online reputation services. At the end of the day if you're that worried about your online reputation and you want to keep it respectable then behave as though your mum or nan is looking over your online shoulder. For more information on this topic visit Personal Branding Blog. Internet 2009-12-18 15:24:24 http://www.i-com.net/blog/an-insight-into-online-personal-reputation-services-288/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/how-your-offline-customer-service-issues-can-haunt-you-forever-online-277/ One problem with the internet is that when it falls into the wrong hands, things can get messy. Say you have an altercation with a customer over the phone (or in person), if that person is unhappy enough, they may go online and detail their experience. Take this exchange, for example. A web designer does some work for a former co-worker and is never paid for his efforts. Then he's asked to do some additional work under the premise "If deal goes ahead there will be some good money in it for you."Needless to say not only was the web designer unimpressed, he proceeded to explain why and detailed the exchange on his blog for the world to see - and for Google to index.Are you getting taken to task online by dissatisfied offline customers?Here's the thing - anybody with access to the internet could be saying anything at all about you or your business right now. You have no control over this fact. If what they're saying constitutes libel then maybe you have some legal means of getting it removed, but most of the time what gets put online in relation to businesses is opinion and one side of a bad experience.So how do you protect your reputation online? Always be polite - even offline. Try to put yourself in the customer's shoes and understand why they're upset. Google yourself occasionally so you know what's being said about you. If you find anything negative on review sites or social media sites go and try and solve the complaints. If you find anything positive, say thanks. Never get angry - sure, explain yourself, but don't rise to the bait if somebody's calling you names. If you respond with compassion to complaints about your business online and make an effort to resolve them, you'll be amazed at how much goodwill you'll generate. Social Media Marketing 2009-12-04 08:35:00 http://www.i-com.net/blog/how-your-offline-customer-service-issues-can-haunt-you-forever-online-277/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/greggs-the-baker-and-the-under-used-twitter-account-282/ During a recent conversation I was surprised to learn that Greggs the Bakers had a Twitter account. I was even more surprised to see that they had a massive number of followers yet seemed to be doing nothing with it. As you can see the account has remained dormant since July and they have tweeted a grand total of 14 times since joining. It seems to me that the business really is missing out on a huge opportunity. Greggs should use this account as a master account, and should then set up a separate account for each store; for example I-COM's local Greggs would be #GreggsLincolnSquareMCR. The benefit of this would be that each store could tweet directly to its local area, giving a large company a really personal touch. They could easily set up a directory of stock, automated tweets such as Sausage Rolls out of the oven in 5 Mins or all pies now half price which could be tweeted throughout the day. Both would drive sales and help build brand loyalty - we all know how annoying it is when you get a cold sausage roll, imagine if you could pop down to Greggs knowing that they'd just come out of the oven! This strategy would also give Greggs the opportunity to discover and respond to bad customer service through any #fail tags. Overall a win win situation for Greggs as a company and their customers, and also fantastic for branding and PR. Social Media Marketing 2009-12-03 16:22:10 http://www.i-com.net/blog/greggs-the-baker-and-the-under-used-twitter-account-282/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/playing-games-278/ It's the time of year that online shopping goes through the roof, and companies like Amazon, Play, and Toys R Us are rushed off their feet with orders flying over the internet. When a friend of mine was shopping for her kids on PLAY.com she came across something that many consumers need to be made very aware of over the Christmas period, inaccurate pricings of goods. I have taken a screen grab of an example of a product which has been priced incorrectly.  PLAY are offering 'buy 2 for 25' on many of their Nintendo DS games, but would you buy 2 for 25 when 1 is only 9.99? This is clearly a mistake made by PLAY, but it is becoming a common problem. Content uploaded onto websites needs to be proof read and checked before being uploaded to a live site. When Christmas shopping online make sure that your basket has taken into account the offers, that you are getting the right deal and when you are at the checkout that the total is what you expected it to be. Inaccurate information on a webpage can lead to visitors becoming confused and subsequently turning their attention to competitors. This is especially true around the Christmas period when customers want to make sure their gifts arrive on time and for the right price. The Royal Mail has officially said that the last Christmas postal date for letters and packages sent 1st class will be 21st December 2009. Make sure you get your prezzies sent out in time! Internet Marketing 2009-11-30 14:41:00 http://www.i-com.net/blog/playing-games-278/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/social-media-reputation-management-271/ In today's recession stricken market and unpredictable trading conditions, consumer trust is at an all-time low. Their confidence in brands is being chipped away every time a company fails to live up to customer expectations or standards. Companies can no longer rely on monitoring their offline resources and media history - more and more businesses are pushing time and money into monitoring social media sites in order to ensure they maintain a positive online reputation. In the online world, brands share their results with customers, competitors, bloggers, and users who with one review or blog can bring down the whole perception of quality for future online and offline customers.  This produces an environment where actively managing, monitoring and repairing your online brand is crucial. Brands should be aware of guidelines in each of these areas to help it stay ahead of its competitors and avoid or repair negativity online.Research Your Reputation Researching your online reputation and finding out what is being said about you and where is vital to understanding how much work you have to put into to repairing negativities or boosting positives. Make reputation research a regular occurrence and create an inventory of your findings for future reference as the web is constantly changing along with your audience Don't Try Too Hard to Impress Users You can plaster flashy design, interactive bells and impressive whistles on your sites, blogs and social media pages, but if there's nothing of substance then you will have unimpressed users leaving and potentially saying bad things about their experience to their online contacts in a public forum. Don't Treat Your Audience Like Statistics Your audience may be spending their time complaining, reviewing, tweeting, commenting or posting but if treated like statistics then they will be unimpressed with your attitude towards your customers. There are many people out there that will take an interest in your business. Don't limit your brand's focus to a selected group or segment of "important people" thereby forgetting the growing audience - any one of whom could become one of those "important people" in the future. Know Your Outlets Know the places where your brand is appearing, whether its an obscure forum, purposefully set up social media site or personal blog. After all, how can you mange or repair your reputation if you don't know who's talking about you and where they go to do it? Remember, however, that it's not just the blogs you must look out for - some of the most negative comments come from the comments sections of blogs. If you're looking to defend your brand then these comments are the ones to take time to answer.Give Your Brand Personality and a Face Companies don't have conversations, people do. Remember that these feeds and sites are portals for your customers/clients to communicate about you and with you, a person - not a faceless corporation or business. Oscar Wilde said, "Being yourself is far easier than putting on a front." You are more likely to receive positive comments or repair negative comments by having a person take an interest in what customers are saying (through social media or blogs) because people can relate to a person who is speaking with them directly and answering their feedback than they can with an enquiry for or an email address. Acknowledge the Good as well as the Bad Remember reputation is made up of both negative and positive comments, reviews and feedback. Monitoring and acknowledging the positive is just as important. If you are already known on the web or offline then you need to remember that your customers helped you get there. Engage with users and customers leaving positive comments and attempt to build a community amongst your customers because those happy customers could be your strongest defence against negative comments when they happen. Think before You Tweet Twitter is a great way to give your brand personality and seem more 'human'; but for companies using it there is a thin line between good and bad. Remember tweets are automatically set to 'public access' so your foul ups are seen by all. Learn before doing and avoid the following: Don't "hard sell" through tweets Don't spam people or harvest email addresses for spamming Don't tweet about mediocre or old industry content Don't use ALL CAPS Don't spell things rong Don't over tweet And lastly, don't tweet while intoxicated Finally, if you've learnt nothing from this post, at least take a page out of the 'book of real world' and treat online relationships similar to real-life relationships. Think of those traits in your staff or favoured people in your life (e.g., honesty, respect, confidence, uniqueness, informative and worth) then apply them to your online brand personality. Social Media Marketing 2009-11-18 10:26:53 http://www.i-com.net/blog/social-media-reputation-management-271/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/can-you-take-the-criticism-5-ways-to-benefit-from-negativity-269/ As a Copywriter and writer in general, I cop for my fair share of criticism. I got it all through Uni on my creative writing course (which consisted of a group of people sitting around chewing up your hard work, saying things like Im not sure what your characters motivation is here and Whats going on with the dialogue here?), and now I get it at work from clients and colleagues I dont like it, but Ive learnt how to deal with it. Criticism can be difficult to handle and many people find it impossible not to get hot under the collar when faced with poorly thought out constructive criticism; but from time to time it really is useful. As someone who soaks up a lot of it, I feel vaguely qualified to offer a few tips to those who find themselves immediately adopting the defensive stance in any battle of wills: DONT get angry: Without a doubt, this is the most fundamental way to combat the misery that often accompanies negative criticism. If you get angry and defensive, the person giving the criticism will mirror you (unless theyre unusually restrained). Staying calm allows you to focus on the positives, and if there arent any then its not very constructive anyway so you can ignore it. LISTEN to the criticism: Believe it or not, sometimes other people do know better than you. This is something I had difficulty coming to terms with as I believe that I am 100% right, 100% of the time. Unfortunately, even if youre a world leader in a given field you can be proved wrong, even the Theory of Relativity has been proven to be flawed. If you sit back and listen carefully to the criticism, you just might learn something. DONT stoop to their level: If the person who is criticising you is doing so in an angry or aggressive manner, dont stoop to their level. Remain calm and offer reasonable responses to their criticisms easier said than done, I realise. This is a point that applies to both online and offline criticism. Often online criticism, particularly on forums, messageboards and blogs, can be particularly vehement thanks to the anonymity of the internet and the lack of significant repercussion dont end up like these guys. ACKNOWLEDGE your mistakes: If the criticism points out a flaw that youre aware of and have been trying to correct, acknowledge it. None of us are infallible and admitting that you are aware of the areas in which you need to improve will make you appear gracious, and could help you improve in the long run. DONT sulk: Children sulk, dogs whine when you dont feed them scraps from the dinner table if you have to take a hit then just suck it up. Try to learn from it; if theres nothing to learn just try not to let it get to you and think mean thoughts about the person instead. There you go, now its down to you. According to Psychology Today The alchemy that turns the bitter dross of negative feedback into the gold of professional development is purely from within. The language is a bit flowery, but the sentiments right. For an example of how to deal with online criticism on your blog, see the comments section here. Copywriting 2009-11-16 10:09:58 http://www.i-com.net/blog/can-you-take-the-criticism-5-ways-to-benefit-from-negativity-269/