You've spent a lot of time building up your reputation and image both online and off, so it's important to make sure that someone or something has not jeopardized your brand.

One of the simplest and easiest ways to track your reputation is to use Google Alerts. With this free service, you can search either all of Google's properties, or you can specify that only News, Blogs, Web, Video, or Groups is searched. You can then configure the Alerts results to be emailed to you either as it happens, once a day, or once a week. There is also a page where you can edit the alerts once they are created or delete them when they are no longer in use. 

If making a good name for yourself online is a priority, it's time to take a proactive approach to getting your name out there the way you want.  

BUSINESS SOCIAL NETWORKS – Complete your profile in its entirety and connect with key professionals in your network.

BLOGS – Consider a business blog and one that you contribute to – showing you are a thought leader will aid in elevating you or your products in your industry. Likewise, use blogs to amend or respond to bad hype.

WEB 2.0 PR – Get news interviews, podcasts, webinars with clients 'live' online. Third party testimonials by key constituents regarding your products and services will go a long way in building brand reputation.

LINKING – If you have a web site, consider carefully where and how inbound and outbound links are connected – bad links will reflect poorly on your brand.

SUB-DOMAINS - Add a sub-domain for careers, corporate and/or product info for little or no cost.  Not only will sub-domains elevate your search results but add depth to your reputation.

PPC/ONLINE ADVERTISING – This can only help protect your brand and will help influence visitors to see who is the real website that should be visited.

SEARCH - Take control of the visible results of any search related to your brand. By taking a coordinated approach to search engine optimization, you take greater control of the other nine slots.  

FREE MONITORING TOOLS:

Similarly to Google Alerts, Yahoo! Pipes is also a good tool for aggregating and combining feeds into one central repository.

Using Twitter search you can locate any instances of your name and decide whether you want to tweet back or ignore them. 

If you have a blog, then you have to be on Technorati. Technorati tracks “blog reactions,” or blogs that link to yours. Search for your brand on Technorati, and subscribe to RSS alerts so that when someone blogs about you, you find out.

Yacktrack lets you search for comments on your content from various sources, such as Blogger, Digg, FriendFeed, Stumbleupon, and Wordpress blogs.

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Organic search optimization is wonderful - it helps visitors interested in your services find you through search engines by merely typing your name into their web browser or search bar.  However, if your company name is "MacDonald", you get interesting visitors to your site. 

So, to honor all those visitors looking for "McDonald's", I'm here to write a blog especially for you based on the top search string to my blog site: McDonald's Marketing Strategy.

McDonald's Brand Positioning and Messaging 

One of the greatest attributes of McDonald's is its "everyday affordability" message that drives customers to McDonald's restaurants. Think of your children - they know McDonald's by the time they are two years old. Chanting "Mickey D's", you can't possibly drive by a 'golden arches' without having to stop. 

Flanked by great integrated campaigns centered around such initiatives as the Olympics, the Kung Fu Panda film and fresh "I'm Lovin' it" ads, McDonald's continues to keep their marketing edge (and brand) ahead of the pack (its sales are three times that of No. 2 burger chain Burger King). 

Ongoing Innovation and Knowing When to Make Changes 

For McDonald's it will continue to be a year of innovation. According to CMO Mary Dillon: "We are the kind of business and brand that is never happy with yesterday. We are always looking to tomorrow and how do we get better?"  This type of thinking and marketing philosophy has always kept the fast-food giant in the black.

Global Reach 

By combining fundamentally sound operational practices with innovative marketing strategies, Ray Kroc (McDonald's originator) laid the foundation for McDonald's global success. Today, McDonald's values transcend borders and cultures. Each and every day, 47 million consumers worldwide visit McDonald's because they know and love the Golden Arches, Ronald McDonald and Big Mac sandwiches.

Keeping Up with McDonald's

• Corporate web site - includes latest news briefs
• Values
• Fact Sheets

Best,

Despite its iconic status, Starbucks has struggled of late, stung by disappointing quarterly results and closing some 600 stores. Where did the coffee giant go wrong? AND, do they have an opportunity to get back to the brand's heritage and core values? 

If you're like me, Starbucks had initially been a 'coffee treat' - that is, I would cherish those moments where I would opt for a $4 cup of coffee over having to buy a gallon of milk. As time went on, I got really hooked on the coffee AND the Starbucks culture - an environment with an amzaing brand experience that I wouldn't get from driving through McDonalds for an iced coffee. But I sense that Starbucks has moved beyond their initial brand experience — offering a bloated storefront with retail goods along with breakfast sandwiches to entice new customers.    

What can we learn from Starbucks early legacy and success?

Simply this, when creating a differentiating brand, insure that your entire company understands what your brand ultimately promises to customers. A brand promise is the backbone of any marketing strategy. Starbucks differentiated themselves by offering “indulgence and escape” not just “expensive gourmet coffees.”   

Delivering a memorable and relevant experience will drive customer loyalty and ultimately create brand ambassadors — people who not only buy from you but also virally testify to the benefits of your brand to others. Building a relevant experience is critical if your company is vying for optimum growth — even during economic fluctuations or competitor resurgence. 

Lastly, how do you create these experiences?

The answer lies in understanding what is important to customers. What information do they seek? What is valuable to them? What can you do to make their life easier? By understanding your brand and how it resonates with customers, you can create experiences rather than just selling products. 

Resources

Building Brands: Unlock Your Potential

Building Brands and Believers: How to Connect with Consumers Using Archetypes by Kent Wertime

Brand Channel

Best,

Denice MacDonald