Agree with *most* of that, but I’m not entirely sure the reputation management is out of the hands of PR.

It’s true enough that disintermediation is a big social media theme, but companies still need guidance on how best to handle these relationships, as well as everything that goes on behind the scenes such as strategy, messaging and so on. It’s a conversation, true, but by necessity one that companies need to get value from.

I see it as a continuum, from the polarities of PR companies having total control of brand image through to companies doing it entirely themselves. Neither is necessarily correct – or workable – but there are stages in-between that characterise a good, balanced relationship between agency and client, or indeed between company and in-house specialists.

As I said in the post, it’s a question of where this sits – as a separate function, or connecting groups, or permeating the entire company. VM are in the process of deciding this.

Great reality tale about the power of social media. The evolution of “2.0″ interactivity is that companies (like Virgin Media) not only need to monitor for mentions of their brand, but they need a strategy. They have to first – listen, second – align their stakeholders/response, and finally – engage in the conversations.

Your comment about the value of a relationship is golden. Reputation management is now in the hands of the market, no longer the PR department. Companies that get this, and leverage technologies to do this will share ownership of their brand and reputation. Those who don’t could forever loose control.

Thanks for the post!

An excellent “personal meets professional” viewpoint reflecting my experience of how many organisations are developing a social media strategy, i.e. driven by a few individuals that ‘get it’ and then can communicate and demonstrate value to their bosses.

‘Value’ might be a reduction in customer service emails, increased web traffic, increased positive sentiment or whatever…

Actvists, strategists, evangelists or just plain old listeners/communicators – the namebadge doesn’t matter.

The tools are out there for brands and businesses to spot customer complaints as well as opportunities, free research, product/service gaps…and many clued up ‘clientside marketers/customer service/community managers like Asam, Alex and Paula, Guy, Matt, Ros, Anna (the list can go on and on) are using them.

I wholly agree with the issue that you raise around resourcing. I believe that organisations are being offered the opportunity to not dump ‘active listening’ using social media and other digital channels into a departmental silo (customer service, corporate comms, consumer PR etc) but to give staff regardless of their role, an opportunity to become conversationalists/fixers/listeners and as you say “as a group of people rather than a corporate brand”.

Sum of its parts and all that…..

I’m not sure if I told you but I actually went for a series of job interviews (I think it was 5 in the end!) with a large media planning and buying company for the role of ‘Social Media Activator’. This was nearly a year ago now and was the first time I had heard the term but perhaps it is growing in popularity.

In the end they didn’t end up creating the position but the manager who was interviewing me did recognise that to be a full service digital agency they couldn’t rely on creative content alone, communication was / is king of the web 2.0 world.

As more and more individuals within large organisations start communicating through social media it will no doubt strengthen the communication capabilities of a firm. On Twitter alone, I’m following many CEO’s and being followed by recruitment staff at some large companies. Meaning I have a communication link with companies I would never normally have had any contact with besides their advertising and traditional PR. UNLESS I had a friend that worked for them, which is exactly the point and the reason for these tools in the first place.

To maximise this is the key and although the tools, and education elements need to be in place, what is most urgently needed is a clear social media policy. Companies need to have simple to understand policies on the use of social media and preferably an expert that their staff can contact when they are unsure. This expert could be in house like Asam or agency side like your Guru self. (nearly works)

Anyway I think my argument jumped a bit there but, thanks again for an interesting piece.

@thewikiartist

It’s nice to be back on the interweb! Although now my major headache is getting my Dell Inspiron machine to work properly with any USB soundcard… I swear, I’ve been cursed by technology recently!

It is an exciting time now that so many organisations are starting to get the feel of social media and understand the strategic and communications imperatives. Throw in some of the enthusiasm that Virgin Media appear to have and you have the recipe for brilliant customer relations. Let’s hope more companies start pulling down the walls and processes they’ve built to manage customers and investing in people-centric approaches like this.

Oh and congrats on being back on teh internets. I know how painful it can be without broadband…