We've Moved!

Just a quick note - we have consolidated our blogs, and Branding Voodoo will not be actively updated in the near future. However, feel free to visit our other active blogs for engaging content. Branding topics will continue to be covered on Viral Voodoo, Corporate Communications Voodoo, and Online Marketing Voodoo as well as our marketing podcast, Internet Marketing Voodoo.

Growth in Brand Monitoring

There has been substantial growth in the brand monitoring service industry in recent years. There are full service organizations which will monitor all aspects of a businesses' brand, focusing primarily on consumer generated content. According to a recent Forrester Wave Report, "Brand monitoring solutions support four key steps:

1) Data Collection
2) Information Processing
3) Data Analysis
4) Insight Delivery."

In this report, Forrester went onto evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the seven leading brand monitoring vendors. In a separate interview, Peter Kim, author of the aforementioned Forrester report indicated that a full-scale analysis of all major media, including internet, television and print can cost as much as $75,000. This high cost presumably would include the most thorough data collection and analysis, as well as industry leading advice, or 'insight delivery'. As a field, there is strong indication that venture capital and angel funding is on the rise, as this is seen as a high growth, high potential industry. Also, as more consumer generated content fills the internet, and becomes increasingly organized and accessible, the need for competent brand monitoring services will grow. Supply will meet demand it seems, and a competative landscape is shaping up for the monitoring vendors.

It may come down to the size and scope of your business whether this magnitude of monitoring and evaluation is necessary or even feasible. But there are alternatives, many of which are 'free' of charge (don't forget that it takes time and resources to decipher this information yourself!). In either case, the relevance of monitoring your brand cannot be overlooked, and there will be people who want to do that for you. Do your research on these vendors carefully, Forrester is a great source of information.

Brand Monitoring Important In Times of Tragedy

The recent Virginia Tech shootings have been splashed across newspapers, news channels and especially websites of every kind. In times of horrific events like this, it is highly important to make sure your website and/or brand is portraying the situation in a light of sympathy and respect.

MySpace is currently under scrutiny due to a mishap of advertising placement on profiles of Virginia Tech students who lost their lives earlier this week. “Shoot the Rapper, win $5,000” banner ads were displayed randomly on their MySpace pages, which MySpace is saying is through no fault of their own.

Shawn Gold, CMO of MySpace, stated, “That’s a random network ad that runs throughout our site, and it’s not connected contextually because we don’t place banner ads contextually on MySpace.”

The fact is, MySpace made the mistake of not monitoring what ads were displayed on what pages in a time of mourning for many people. It is to the point now in our society where even if the ads were not displayed on purpose, your audience is going to take offense to it and that could possibly cause an uproar over something you could’ve easily handled in the beginning.

Brand Monitoring has really come into the spotlight for multiple reasons and the recent Virginia Tech tragedy shows proves another reason to closely keep an eye on what you are putting out on the Internet.

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Damage Prevention and Online Brand Monitoring Go Hand in Hand

..via MediaPost
In an attempt to avoid negative online attention and a false online image, Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the birth control patch Ortho Evra, has gone out of their way to ensure their brand is safe. The company has already purchased web addresses that provide negative domain names including examples such as Deathbypatch.com and Orthoevrakills.com. This quick action to swallow up such e-addresses is a promising step in protecting their brand and may have come about from following the much publicized Vioxx controversy and negative domain names they dealt with.

Pharmaceutical companies have become a highly sought out target to bash online in the past couple years, mostly thanks to litigators who mention negative domain names in medical malpractice TV ads. Johnson & Johnson found that non of the insulting web addresses were in use at the time of purchase, but thought ahead to the fact that they would probably be used at some point in the near future to criticize their controversial birth control pill.

Planning ahead is necessary to save face for your brand and product. Once damaging information spreads through the Internet like a wildfire, damage prevention is going to take a lot more time, effort and money. Start early and use constant brand monitoring, especially if you think your brand and/or product could be in trouble.

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Taco Bell/KFC Rat Infestation Broadcast on YouTube and Now This Blog

A month ago, a video was uploaded onto YouTube that has caused quite a ruckus for Yum Brands Inc.’s Taco Bell and KFC fast food chains. It shows a Greenwich Village, New York Taco Bell/KFC combination restaurant infested with a multiple number of rats scurrying across the floor.

Reports of rats in your restaurant are damaging to your brand to begin with, but when video footage is broadcasted for all to see on the Internet around the world, you could be in for some serious public relations and brand problems. They are going to need a solid crisis management strategy and brand monitoring plan to control the negative online exposure that is starting to skyrocket and may eventually overflow on search engines for the restaurant duo.

We know in today’s informed world that the brand is very important and once consumers have felt betrayed or a health scare arises, they part ways with that brand and usually don’t think twice about looking back.

“Are they selling the Taco Bell rats on Ebay yet?” –frequently asked question in the blogging scene.

Political Brand Monitoring Reaches YouTube with Anti-Hillary Ad

In one of the highly talked about stories of the past couple weeks, the famous “1984” Apple commercial has been resurrected as an Anti-Hillary campaign spot early in the democratic primary.

The “Vote Different” ad was released March 5th only on YouTube and independently created by a supporter of Barack Obama. It has since had over 2 million views and almost 5,000 comments, showing just how powerful consumer generated media and word of mouth is. YouTube is reining at its height of popularity right now, which is a different picture from the last presidential election we had. All candidates must be on high alert for what may appear online through blogging, video sites, etc. It’s a different virtual world this time around.

Watch "Vote Different"

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MySpace Wins the 2006 Title for Most-Searched-For Brand

Based on a sample of 10 million Internet users over a 52-week average of industry search terms (excluding porn), the online personal branding mecca MySpace topped the list of "The Top Ten Most Searched Brands in 2006" reported by Hitwise.

Only three “real world” brands, including Wal-Mart, Target and Bank of America, made the list this year but were not able to crack the top five.

Top 10 searched for Brands (spelled exactly how searched for, as reported by Hitwise):

1. myspace
2. ebay
3. yahoo
4. mapquest
5. craigslist
6. walmart
7. google
8. target
9. match.com
10. bank of america

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JetBlue CEO Goes Live on YouTube

What is sure to spark a wave of popularity, JetBlue’s CEO recently released a video on CGM airwave YouTube to discuss the latest crisis situation that the airline company is going through. A good move on JetBlue’s part, they put the crisis out there along with answers and a name and face to who is in charge-anyone with Internet has access to it. Tackling this situation the way they did shows they are up to date in the technology world and are aware of the way most people are getting their news and information now, online.

Any company with a good interactive marketing team should be well aware that just positive word of mouth and good impressions cannot save you. Defend your brand and work to fight against bad impressions of your company because that’s what your consumers are going to look for first.

Anheuser-Busch Checks Age for Bud.TV, Online Network to Leverage User Generated Content

In their new marketing venture, a web-based TV network titled Bud.TV, Anheuser-Busch is getting serious about past criticism for targeting underage drinkers. To show critics they are taking control of this matter, Anheuser-Busch has hired a Washington based company which provides age-verification services. The outcome being that in order to surf the website or create an account, you will need to provide your name, date of birth and zip code so this company can run a real-time verification check through public databases to prove your info correct.

Bud.TV provides Webisodes, celebrity interviews, comedy, short films, consumer generated content and outlets for chatting and blogging.

The wait is on to see if they will now put the majority of their budget and efforts into online marketing where consumers interests continue to grow.

View the full story by MediaPost here.