Seems like marketers are all a twitter about social media these days. Is social media a threat to companies, a place where customers and employees can voice their dissatisfaction of poor quality, poor customer service, and corporate arrogance? Or is it an opportunity for companies to spread the news about new products, new services, and a forum to respond to consumers perceptions of how well they are being serviced by these companies?
It is probably all of the above. Take customer feedback, large corporations use to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on research to discover what consumers thought of a product or service. The explosion of Consumer Generated Media (CGM) has allowed consumers a constant dialog on how well they are being served by companies. This has prompted companies like Domino Pizza, who was damaged by the release of disgusting video on You Tube by a couple of employees, to take notice of the importance of social media and proactively to take action to satisfy consumer demands. See social-media-baptism-for-dominos-pizza/
Companies like Southwest Airlines, Volvo, and Intuit have established their own Twitter and Facebook accounts to not only monitor the daily buzz from their consumers, but to also use this media as a part of a larger marketing campaign. Volvo is promoting its new XC60 through snail mail, email, web site, and YouTube, but also directing visitors to the Volvo Twitter page where consumers can comment and follow the activities of Volvo.
While large B2C companies will no doubt take the lead on using social media to monitor consumer response, amass fans to its brand, and use as an extension of traditional marketing efforts, smaller companies, and B2B companies will, I believe, find relevance in this social media space and use it to maintain customer loyalty and enhance their corporate brands.
Before you Tweet, do a little research:
1. Search your own company on Google Search to see if there are any unsolicited comments about your company.
2. Search www.twitter.com for your products, your services, your competition, and your market keywords.
3. Do the same on www.facebook.com and www.linkedin.com
4. Register on some of these social media networks. Post information that you would only want the public to see and keep it professional.
5. User names on social networks are very much like domain names, so grab your company name and main keywords now, before it is too late.

Several months ago I commented on my blog on salesvantage.com about the adverse affect a brand icon like Tiger Woods would have on the companies that use Tiger as a brand icon for their company or products while he was out with knee surgery. Tiger Woods is the brand icon for companies such as Buick, Accenture, and of course the game of golf itself. We can’t blame Tiger for poor sales of Buick and the downfall of GM, but it is noteworthy that the viewership of the Buick International was down 57% without Tiger participating in the tournament. While we don’t have evidence of the direct effect of the absence of Tiger Woods from the PGA tour due to his knee surgery on the companies he sponsors, we do now have the results of the affect of his absence on viewers of the PGA tour. The percentage of change of viewers watching the following PGA events with Tiger not participating follows:
British Open -13%
AT&T National -45%
NEC World Series of Golf -45%
PGA Championship -58%
Buick International -57%
Deutsche Golf Championship -57%
BMW Golf Championship -65%
Tour Championship -62%
My conclusion may be a stretch, but I believe the Tiger Woods brand effect supports that a strong brand brings positive results, and when that brand is absent, companies and products suffer negative results. In today’s economy it is more important than ever to maintain a strong brand strategy.

Want to understand the significance of your company or product’s brand? Take a look at the brand icon known as Tiger Woods. In a recent Wall Street Journal article by Suzanne Vranica and Stephanie Kang, the authors site that the injury to Tiger’s knee and his resulting miss of the rest of the PGA season, will not only be painful to Tiger, but also to the companies whose brands he represents.
Think of General Motor’s Buick division that was planning a major promotion both online and offline highlighting the theme “Tee-Off with Tiger.” This probably could not have come at a worse time for GM, which is already suffering from poor sales. What will be the impact on Tiger’s other sponsors, like Nike, Tag Heure, and Accenture?
According to the WSJ article, TV ratings for the final rounds of tournaments show a 28% increase when Tiger Woods is in contention versus not in contention. Calculate this effect on advertisers of the PGA tournaments along with Tiger’s usual sponsors. The amount of money in lost ad revenue and sponsorship sales revenue must be staggering.
This event is just one illustration of the value of brand and why brand development needs to be a C- level, corporate responsibility. Many corporations can measure the value of their brand in their P&L's, but the Tiger brand story shows that even a brand icon can affect a company's bottom line. CEO's need to be sure that they maintain a strong brand strategy and be vigilant about their brands.