Monitoring is an essential part of managing a brand.

It will help to ensure your branding is correctly funded and will increase the effectiveness of what you are doing by proving that your work is having the desired effect.

Managing through monitoring

The most powerful measurement is a quantitative one.

It’s difficult to argue with the figures. But you should focus on producing statistics and measurements that are relevant to your situation:

Does your brand measure up?

Measured against what you set out to achieve, no sensible brand strategy sets out to achieve everything.  

Strategic aims may include:• Awareness amongst a specific target audience • Focusing on customer satisfaction issues• Increasing margins by growing the premium that

customers are prepared to pay for

The point is not to lose focus.

1. Strategic brand success

:

You may have increased your margins, but what if some of your competitors have increased them even more?

This could prove that: • you have chosen the right strategy• or the market is generally favourable • and there is a better way to do what you’re doing.

2. Your competition

:

Qualitative monitoring can often reveal many things that cannot be reduced to statistics, like:• Brand experience (How do customers describe their experience?)• Brand associations (What do customers associate with your brand?)• Brand preferences (If not you, then who? And why?)

What are people saying about you?

On-line reputation management works to both get an idea of how your brand is doing and improve brand perception.

On-line reputation

Online reputation management is really all about word of mouth. But now that this happens online brings some crucial differences:

1. A comment about your brand can be seen by millions of potential customers

2. A comment about your brand will remain saved and searchable for years.

3. You can always find out what people are saying. On the web, nothing is hidden.

1. Relationship

Broadly, you have two options:

1. Try to control itOne technique is to dominate Google. Your SEO expert will offer enormous technical detail about how this can be achieved, by cleverly using sub-domains and references to other ‘controllable’ web resources to occupy the top results in Google.

2. Be honest, face up to it and correct itWhen someone posts a blog complaining about lack of service, get in touch with them and deal with their problem. Correct that individual’s perception of you by doing something for them, and you have every chance of turning them into a convert.

Managing your reputation online

• Every brand manager should do everything they can to keep their finger on the pulse

• Ensure that the task of brand monitoring is not overlooked

• Set aside some budget for this purpose from the start

• Make web reputation management a part of your daily routine.

Keep your brand on track

Richard.bush@baseonegroup.co.ukwww.baseonegroup.co.uk/beyond