Amazon's Jeff Bezos Day 1 Philosophy Can Transform Contentment and Attrition in Business

By Gina F. Rubel 

In a recent letter to his staff, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos outlines the proverbial “Day 1” landscape, while warning against the complacence of “Day 2.”

In Bezos’ view, a company never can stop being a start-up. He believes that company leaders always need to think as they did on the first day of their business. “Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1."

His letter is a powerful reminder of the importance of staying focused on your clients and their needs, every day. For instance, marketing of a company is not really about the company’s products or services per se, it is about how those products and services fill the wants and needs of the company’s particular customer.

Bezos makes some key points:

• Provide value. Like many of the successful consumer-facing companies such as Amazon and Zappos, it is client value and client service that differentiate thriving companies from their competitors. 
• Focus on the future. Always look ahead for your clients and your business. As markets and industries evolve, so must your products, services and delivery methods. 
• See the big picture. Understand that short-term decisions cannot be allowed to affect long-term success. Sometimes, in fact, difficult decisions, such as reorganizing staff, no longer providing certain services and changing product offerings must occur to ensure the long-term health of your business. 
• Make decisions quickly and learn from others. Embrace the process of “disagree and commit.” Not everyone will agree on every decision, but it's still possible for people who disagree to work toward the same goal. Those goals should be dictated by quantifiable client feedback. Remember, it is client service and client value that you ultimately should strive to be known for. 
• Focus on results and not just process. While process is important, it cannot wag the dog. Use it as a tool, not as the proxy. 

Daniel B. Kline, for The Motley Fool, asks, “Is it really always Day 1?” Kline says, “What Bezos is doing is guarding against the contentment that success can bring. He's creating a culture where past results do not guarantee future success so it's always important to strive, innovate, and be open to change.” This is the key takeaway.

This business advice is much like long-term relationships, whether it be marriages, commitments, friendships and the like. In order to keep a relationship fresh and interesting, to meet the wants and needs of the other party, and to keep the relationship alive, it serves us well to think of every new encounter as a first date.

Because, like Kline said, “past results do not guarantee future success,” and this is true in all relationships, business and personal alike.

What's in a Name?

View image | gettyimages.com

By Rose Strong

It’s been a tough year for companies and organizations that use the name ISIS.

When I was a youngster, Isis was the name of a deity in Egyptian mythology, the goddess of health and wisdom. As I grew up, the name also referred to Isis, the female superhero in the TV show, Secrets of Isis.

Today, according to CNN, ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The splinter group of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda is also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and just as Islamic State, and gained notoriety after videos were posted online depicting the group’s barbaric and gruesome killings of western hostages.

Given this political backdrop, executives at companies that share a name or otherwise use the acronym ISIS have scrambled to find ways to distance themselves from the newest appropriation of the name. It is a difficult predicament for any business to be in, considering this name / acronym usage isn’t something easily controlled by the business itself.

A condo development in West Palm Beach, FL changed its name from ISIS Downtown to 3 Thirty Three Downtown.

A Belgian chocolate company changed its name from ISIS Chocolates to Libeert after their international customers were unable to carry the chocolates because of the negative connotation associated with the name.

Even the animated television series Archer had to rename an organization within the show as the producers didn't want to associate with the violence and horror of the terrorist group.

A few companies using the acronym of ISIS are making a conscious decision not to change their name. A feminist group affiliated with Fordham University has decided to keep the name ISIS which stands for In Strength I Stand. "People know who we are. Nobody thinks we are in any way an Islamic terror nationalist group. So I really don't see a need to change it because of that," Wallis Monday, the group's president told New York Magazine.

Rebranding is a huge undertaking. Oftentimes, a new mission statement must be developed to coincide with the core values, which may change from time to time as the business changes with the times and its demographics. When you consider having to redesign stationery, packaging, logos, websites, advertising and any other collateral a company uses for its brand identification, a rebranding project can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars as well as a potential loss of customers.

Of course, there are times when rebranding is needed. As a company grows over time, it may evolve to offer new products or services, or may be making a push towards gaining a new client demographic, or may want to keep up with a change in trends and fashions. Other businesses rebrand because the business name doesn't fit or it is easily confused with something else or is unpronounceable or in the case of ISIS, to change the negative connotations consumers may have.

Have you ever rebranded your business? Would you change the name of your company if it had unwelcome negative associations with forces you couldn't control? Let us know in the comments below, what you think about this predicament and how you’d handle it.

The Power of Social Media Complaints on Brands

By Rose Strong

Do you like Old El Paso products on Facebook? Have you sent in for a rebate to Betty Crocker or save Box Tops for Education? If so, under the now-retracted General Mills website privacy policy and legal terms, you could have been giving up your rights to sue the company. According to a New York Times article, the terms stated that people who joined the cereal maker’s online communities and downloaded items of value, such as coupons, agreed to General Mills’ arbitration clause for the settlement of legal disputes.

In April, social media sites were all over General Mills and its now-retracted website privacy policy and legal terms . It was interpreted as saying that if you liked the company or any of its individual brands such as Cheerios, Pillsbury, Green Giant, and a plethora of other familiar food labels on social media or its websites, used coupons or applied for rebates, you had no right to sue the company.

A Forbes article subsequently clarified the misconception of the masses, explaining that “The fight here isn’t over individual lawsuits; it’s over class actions, those cases that reward lawyers with millions of dollars in cash fees and give their clients little to nothing.”

The Forbes article does an excellent job at explaining what the legal issues are all about, so I’m not going to discuss them further here. What is interesting to me is the fact that a corporation as large as General Mills actually paid attention to the masses on social media, the court of public opinion as you will, and changed their policy back to their old legal terms.

Regardless of how you feel about General Mills doing an about face only 48 hours later, it’s a sign that smart brands listen to what consumers say on social media. Commentary on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to name only a few, give consumers a voice that big business is really starting to hear.

Molly Katchpole had a beef with Bank of America and Verizon over charges she felt were unfair to customers. She set up petitions on Change.org. This millennial was able to bring attention to the issues and caused the companies to drop their stances on certain fees they had applied to their bills.

Big business is doing more than just setting up social media sites for promotions. They are listening to the conversations online and are taking action. A recent Social Media Marketing University (SMMU) study indicates that 70 percent of brands respond to customer complaints on social media within 24 hours while just 45 percent of brands have a policy to deal with customer complaints on social media. While brands are starting to get on board with today’s reality, and some have set the bar very high, others have a long way to go.

Just recently, one of my colleagues had an issue with USAirways. She posted something on Twitter on a Friday. USAirways responded the following Monday (after several Twitter influencers reached out on my colleague’s behalf) saying that they were sorry they hadn’t responded sooner but that the social media manager had been off for the weekend. At the same time, American Airlines responded with a suggestion as to how to get the matter solved. Good thing the two companies have merged – maybe American will help USAirways handle their online discourse better.

Here are a few tips from the Furia Rubel team about how to handle complaints about your brand on social media:

• Implement a social media response policy, educate everyone in your company about the policy, and then stick to it. 

• Monitor social media for brand discourse.

• Appoint a team of social media ambassadors to correspond on your company’s behalf.

• When you see something negative, review all social media sites for posts from the same individual to see if he/she is a serial complainer (no pun intended). If so, most of his/her comments will likely fall on deaf ears. Don’t do anything.

• If the person appears legitimate, respond within 24 hours (keeping in mind that some responses may require the approval of a higher up and possibly even your legal department).

• Provide viable solutions when possible and respond with integrity.

• Accept that you don’t always need to have the last word and you cannot make 100 percent of the people happy 100 percent of the time.

And remember, customer service is still as important today as it ever was and every situation is different. So while it is imperative that you monitor and respond to social media attacks (when appropriate), there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Have you ever posted something on a company Facebook or other social media page and received a response? Share your stories in the comments; I’ll read them over a bowl of Cheerios!

PRSA Philly 2012 Pepperpot Awards - Furia Rubel's Awards & Acceptance Videos

As you may have already heard, Furia Rubel was the recipient of several Public Relations Society of America - Philadelphia Chapter 2012 Pepperpot Awards in December. Our agency compiled acceptance videos for two of our three honors in the categories of brand management and website design. Below see our animated acceptance videos - we are not only proud of the awards, but also our accompanying videos...

Furia Rubel has long been Philadelphia personal injury law firm Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock & Dodig LLP's agency of record, providing strategic marketing and public relations counsel and services to the law firm. We designed a new website focused on increasing awareness of Feldman Shepherd’s successes while reinforcing the firm’s brand and national reputation through a myriad of communication tactics. The campaign resulted in more than 14 million media impressions and a consistent increase in visibility supporting business development.

Seeking top-of-mind awareness among existing and potential clients, Para-Plus Translations, Inc. contacted Furia Rubel for strategic assistance in 2011. In 2012, we designed and launched the new Para-Plus website, www.para-plus.com, garnering a top nod from PRSA Philadelphia. The website was designed to segment translation and interpretation services while providing more user-centric content and a streamlined experience. The results were increased site visits by 120 percent within 40 days, increased average length of visits and more online inquiries with less emphasis on phone screening.

We do hope you enjoyed these videos featuring illustrations by Pat Achilles and animation by TD Post & Animation.

Sexist Branding: Learning from Bic’s Mistake

Image from www.thedailymusing.com

Posted by Leah Ludwig and Rose Strong

A Ragan.com article draws attention to a brand social media faux pas – one that we all know well and may use every day – Bic. The “Bic Cristal for Her” is a ballpoint pen that comes in pastel colors and touts an “elegant design—just for her!” Interestingly enough, these Bic pens cost 70 percent more than identical regular pens – according to Jezebel.com. Recently, Amazon’s users have taken to bashing the product or making snarky remarks about the sexist labeling of this product. Samples of these reviews can be seen within the Ragan.com article, on ABC News and by visiting Amazon.com, of course.

Shockingly, with all of this buzz, Bic has remained silent – especially within the social media sphere. More specifically, comments on the Bic Mark-It Facebook page have gone unanswered and the company has no Twitter presence. Communications experts weighed in with commentary in the Ragan.com article, stating that this is the exact opposite reaction of what a company should do in our social media age – as Bic is essentially allowing the public to shape and tell the story.

According to the article and our own social media thought leaders, a brand – especially one in the consumer lime light – should be ready to actively engage and respond to any sort of feedback from its customers. Bic could even join in on the conversation with clever or humorous responses to the snarky comments being made, which would at least give the brand a voice and demonstrate that it's actively listening. At this point, however, the brand has remained silent for far too long.

The bottom line is that this brand catastrophe could have been avoided. Echoing the Ragan.com quoted experts; by running the brand idea by focus groups and through test markets – individuals that would use their product daily – Bic would have found that putting time, money and so much more behind this targeted product could have been avoided entirely, and Bic as a brand could have kept its integrity intact.

We also dug up a few other stories (listed below) on sexist branding campaigns and products for your inquiring minds:

•    15 of the Most Sexist Marketing Campaigns from the Past
•    How sexist marketing sold America on the automatic transmission
•    Little Girl Calls Out The Sexist Marketing Ploys Geared Toward Kids
•    Dr Pepper's 'not for women' ad campaign: Sexist?

Understanding Message Channels and Target Audience Preferences for Marketing

I was thinking about all of the things we didn't have as kids (“we” meaning those of us who were born pre-1970s). The world has changed so much in the last four decades. In fact, the speed with which technology evolves seems to grow exponentially faster each year.

When I was a girl growing up in Philadelphia and spending my summers at the New Jersey shore, I had to pick up the corded telephone to call my friends and make plans. If I was making a long-distance call from the shore house, I even had to tell the operator the telephone number from where I was calling. Today, that sounds like such a strange concept with things like email (which is passé among our youngest generation), text messaging, Skype, ooVoo, Google Chat, IM and the myriad of other ways people can be instantly contacted. 

During the winter months, my friends and I wrote letters (on paper) to one another and addressed envelopes. We had to purchase stamps at the post office and then mail our letters and wait for days and sometimes weeks for a response. I remember checking the mail every day when I’d get home from school hoping for a letter from one of my friends who lived in New Jersey, Florida, Maryland or a host of other places.

For the traditionalists, baby boomers and gen-Xers reading this blog, think back. We didn’t have cell phones, PDAs, apps, satellite radios, cable TV, DVRs, GPSs, social media, reality TV, DVDs, mobile transit messages, electronic games (not until Atari anyway), digital photo sharing, and the many other things available for sending and receiving messages today.

And for the millennials out there, it’s also important to remember that while all of these different means of communication exist, there are three generations ahead of you who may prefer more traditional means of communicating. 

In the age of electronic communications there a nearly limitless ways people send and receive messages, it is important to understand all of the channels to reach your intended target audiences based on where and how they are communicating.  Before you assume that your blog, website, brochure, billboard, direct mail piece, advertisement, text, etc. – all tactics used for marketing and public relations – are reaching their intended audience, do your homework. Find out how your target audiences want to be reached. Then deliver your targeted messages in ways they can’t ignore.

Louis Vuitton vs. Penn Law – Lessons in Intellectual Property

Posted by Gina F. Rubel, Esq.

Courtesy of http://fashionlawcenter.com/?p=804

The National Law Journal article by Sheri Qualters, “Louis Vuitton says Penn Law symposium poster infringes its trademarks,” highlights a recent disagreement over the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s use of the Vuitton brand on invitations and posters for an upcoming conference on fashion law.


The article states that Michael Pantalony, Louis Vuitton’s director of civil enforcement for North America, wrote a letter to the dean of the law school, Michael Fitts, expressing dismay over the use of the company’s trademarked “toile monogram.” Pantalony wrote “that the egregious action is a ‘serious willful infringement’ that knowingly dilutes the company’s trademarks and may mislead others into thinking such actions are fair use.”


The University of Pennsylvania’s associate general counsel, Robert Firestone, responded stating that the student-run Pennsylvania Intellectual Property Group responsible for the symposium, “does not believe that the poster and invitation infringe or dilute the company’s trademarks.”


Firestone quoted a section of the U.S. trademark code that “expressly protects a noncommercial use of a mark and a parody from any claim for dilution.” He further maintained that it is highly unlikely that one would think that Louis Vuitton sponsored, or was associated with, the symposium in any way. To close his letter, Firestone invited Pantalony to attend the seminar: “The students have invited some of the in-house counsel from some of your peer fashion companies to speak on the panels, and I am sure the students would welcome your attendance as well.”


When the author of the article reached out, neither Firestone nor Pantalony responded. I’m sure it won’t be the last that we hear about the disagreement.


What I find most interesting is that graphic designers, illustrators and lay-marketers alike often use parody-like images to convey a message for an event. Such parodies may be called into question by the originating brands and there seems to be a very fine line.


While I’m not an intellectual property lawyer, I am intrigued by this dialogue and the amount of media coverage it has received so far. As a lawyer and strategic marketer, these are the types of issues we face regularly when clients present ideas using other brands’ images or ideas. Now more than ever, we are hearing about copyright infringement because of the explosion in popularity of online sharing and in particular, the website Pinterest. I am curious to see how this plays out.

How is Your Brand Going to Utilize the New Facebook Timeline for Business?

Posted by Amanda Walsh


If you haven’t heard, according to AdAge, Facebook is going to be rolling out its Timeline layout for brands this month! While we don’t have a clear idea of what Timeline for brands will look like just yet, we know that the “look-and-feel” will be consistent with Timeline for personal profiles, but not a “carbon copy.” For example, the tabs and apps that are used on brand Facebook pages may be replaced with boxes or places for interactive apps on the Timeline version.


Ken of Inkling Media, wrote a blog post today that I thought would ring true with some of our readers. The post titled, “Small Business Tip Tuesday: 9 Ways to Prepare for Facebook’s Timeline for Business Pages” shared some points to think about in advance of Timeline coming to your brand’s page.


This may seem like a “no-brainer” but if you haven’t accepted Timeline on your personal profile, accept it. By doing so, you will have a chance to familiarize yourself with the layout and functionality that Timeline has to offer. Then, begin thinking of ways to use the layout for your business.


Those of us who have switched over to Timeline know that it’s visual-centric. Therefore it’s likely that brand Timeline pages will be based heavily on visuals as well. Timeline features a large cover photo and a profile photo that should be catchy and appealing. Videos can also make your page more attractive, as well as interactive with your audiences. With that said, now is the time to also consider incorporating videos onto a branded YouTube page and cross-populating them onto the new Facebook Timeline layout.


Timeline is just that, a chronological timeline of the user’s, or in this case, company’s history. For those companies that have 100+ years under their belt, marketers will want to put some serious thought into creative ways to convey a long-standing history through the new Timeline format. Other things to consider include posting old photos or researching important events in their corporate history, then making sure that they are included in some way on the brand’s Timeline.


Despite the change in layout, the underlying purpose for your business to be on Facebook is to establish thought leadership and share articles, news and compelling information. This still holds true, even with a new Facebook layout.


The last point that Ken mentions in his post is that companies should explore and enjoy the new Timeline layout. It’s going to roll-out to everyone eventually, therefore perhaps you make the choice now to make it easier on yourself and your brand by switching to the new format now, rather than a playing catch-up with your brand’s very public social networking site later.


Photo courtesy of mashable.com.

Re-Branding Penn State - Parts 1, 2, & 3 - It's Your Call with Lynn Doyle

Gina F. Rubel, Esq. recently served as a branding and crisis communications expert on the TV show, “It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle.”

The discussion was focused on the re-branding of Penn State University and what the university needs to do to rebuild their reputation. Other panelists included Garry Cobb, host of Sportsradio 94 WIP and former NFL player; Cory Bank, Ph.D., Sports Psychologist at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; and Kevin Scholla, Sports Anchor at CBS.

A Brand In Crisis - Learning From Susan G. Komen For The Cure & Planned Parenthood

Posted by Amanda Walsh

The recent crisis communications situation involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood has a lot of people talking, particularly in the public relations industry. The need for a proactive crisis communications strategy and plan has become more relevant as we watch this situation play out in the media and through social media. Susan G. Komen for the Cure may just become the poster child for what NOT to do in a crisis situation. Check out The Accidental Rebranding of Komen for the Cure from the nonprofitmarketingguide.com for an insightful commentary on this topic.

Logo courtesy of sodahead.com

Scarlet Denial In Louboutin Trademark Case Against Yves Saint Laurent



Photo Courtesy of Kristopher Dukes

What a bummer for Christian Louboutin - they were denied a preliminary injunction to keep Yves Saint Laurent from marketing red-soled shoes. The court reasoned that color can sometimes be protectable as a trademark where the color identifies and distinguishes a particular brand and thus has acquired a seocondary meeing in the minds of cunsumers but NOT when that color is function nor when it hinders competition.


What is also interesting that this will directly affect the branding of Christian Louboutin shoes which in turn, has a will have a huge impact on their marketing, public relations and possibly pricing.


Here are some links to relevant articles:


-Bloomberg


-The Legal Intelligencer


No matter the final outcome, as this is only a denial of a preliminary injunction, I still want a pair of Christian Louboutins!

Protecting Your Brand Online: What Every Business Person Needs To Know About The New .XXX Red Light District - By Griesing Law LLC

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has recently approved a controversial new .xxx top-level domain (TLD) that is meant to give the adult entertainment industry a clearly marked home on the Internet. This addition to familiar TLDs like .com, .biz, .org, .net and others will alert Internet users that a website contains adult content and will presumably make it easier to block such online content. What does this mean for your business? Virtually every business that offers goods or services under a brand name has trademark rights. The creation of the .xxx TLD will allow cybersquatters to register your trademark as a .xxx domain name. Trademark owners who value their reputation and seek to avoid an association with the adult entertainment industry should consider taking simple proactive measures now to reduce the likelihood of engaging in costly administrative or legal proceedings later.

The .xxx TLD will be operated by Florida-based ICM Registry. ICM has set up an opt-out mechanism that will allow most trademark owners of nationally registered marks to prevent third-party registration of their marks as .xxx domain names before the .xxx TLD is launched.

Here's how the opt-out mechanism works: For 30 days starting around September 2011, there will be a "sunrise" period when trademark owners can defensively register their marks for a one-time fee, placing them on a reserved list and preventing others from registering their marks as .xxx domain names. The fee to opt-out has not been finalized, but is expected to be around $300 per domain name. If you register your trademark during the "sunrise" period, anyone attempting to access your trademark at the .xxx TLD will land on a generic page stating that the domain name has been reserved. To guarantee you are well positioned when the "sunrise" period opens, we recommend that you pre-register your mark now for free at ICM's website, http://domains.icmregistry.com/.

This new development is an important reminder to companies to consider registering domain names in all available TLDs that correspond to their primary trademark and website to avoid the expense and hassle of fighting for them later, including in foreign jurisdictions where a company has a bona fide intent to do business.

Monitoring your domain name portfolio is just one aspect of protecting and promoting your brand online. Other considerations include: 1) selecting a strong mark when launching your brand or business; 2) filing for a trademark registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and where appropriate internationally; 3) monitoring your trademark online with Google alerts and other Internet tools; 4) policing the Internet and PTO database for trademarks that are identical or confusingly similar to your own; and 5) developing internal guidelines on how your company can use social media to strengthen brand awareness and trademark rights.

Brand owners should also be aware that in addition to creating the .xxx TLD, ICANN has announced additional plans to expand TLDs. ICANN has authorized the creation of new "vanity" TLDs, paving the road for an unlimited number of TLDs reflecting familiar brands such as .cocacola or simply generic TLDs such as .shop or .movie. Vanity TLDs will be costly at $185,000 for the application fee and $25,000 for the annual fee, as well as third party costs. ICANN is also expanding domain names to include Chinese, Cyrillic and other non-Latin scripts.

If you have questions about how to protect your brand online, please contact Kathryn Legge or Dina Leytes.

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Griesing Law LLC

Asking Questions? Now, Find Answers On Facebook

Posted by Amanda Walsh


Finding answers to questions through social media has become an easier task thanks to various Q&A options like those found on LinkedIn Answers, Yahoo!Answers, or Quora.

When LinkedIn rolled out its Answers section, professionals were able to crowd source from other experienced, like-minded professionals in their network. Then Quora made a debut. Quora is like the Wikipedia of questions and answers. Self-described as “a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.”



Now, Facebook has jumped on the question train. “Facebook Questions” allows users to get recommendations from friends, see others opinions with polls, or point others in the right direction for answers.


This new Facebook option, along with the "Reviews" tab for products/services, will be valuable tools for marketers and business professionals to be able to communicate directly with clients/customers.


Facebook “Reviews” seems to be used mainly for products and/or services at this point. Big brands like Starbucks use the "Reviews" feature to enable customers to provide feedback on the service and quality of the product. Perhaps this could be used as a business testimonial page after a successful project launch or great media placement, instead of a "traditional" review of an experience or level of satisfaction with a product.


Another idea of how to use both the "Reviews" and "Questions" functions on Facebook would be to reach out to disgruntled customers who left negative feedback. By targeting those them with a question and/or poll on how the business could improve their experience or make the product better. Even if a follow up "Questions" poll is not asked, a community manager should reach out to all unhappy clients quickly.


According to this article found on Mashable.com, Facebook "Questions" differs from Quora and Yahoo!Answers in two major ways. First, users are limited to multiple-choice responses and second, the questions and answers are not catalogued by search engines yet. However, there is a setting that enables users to add more answers to the multiple-choices options. One notable aspect of Facebook "Questions", that will most likely boost usage, is that the feature is integrated within Facebook, which allows users to bypass third party applications in order to provide feedback to businesses/ brands.


To read more about how to utilize Facebook "Questions" or Reviews for your client base, check out the Mashable.com article here. I also found this article on Social Media Today discussing challenges that may arise for community managers that will use "Questions" on behalf of a business or brand. What do you think?

“How Do I Respond To That?” - Tips For Community Management

Posted by Amanda Walsh

The whitepaper by Buddy Media Platform entitled, “How Do I Respond to That?” circulated throughout our office this week. It provides great insight into brand management of a company Facebook page and how to publish and moderate effectively.

It is important to work within an overall policy of moderation in the same way that you would train customer service representatives to handle clients on the phone or in a store. Online interaction needs to be personalized and specific to your industry. Brands now have a Facebook wall that are often the first outlet an angry or frustrated customer will turn to and managers need to be equipped to handle those complaints quickly and politely.

The worst thing you can do with a complaint on Facebook is ignore it, or pick and choose which users you will respond to. For that matter, monitoring Facebook and other social media platforms has turned into a full-time job and vigilance is key.

Reacting/Responding
• Respond quickly, sometimes even a response within 24 hours isn’t fast enough. Other customers can jump on the complaint bandwagon and the negativity can easily spin out of control.
• Use the user’s name in your response. Make the message personalized and convey sympathy.
• Provide a direct link to more information for a specific problem.
• Offer follow up avenues including an e-mail address or a customer service phone number.
• Be humble, apologetic and polite.

Spread the Positivity
Not all users will be frustrated. Some will be very happy with your service or product and leave positive feedback. It is important to acknowledge this with a “Thank you!” Positive feed back also provides an opportunity to suggest other options for the customer. For example, a happy customer at a hotel leaves a comment on the hotel’s Facebook page. You now have the opportunity to suggest the hotel restaurant for dinner or the in-house spa for a massage.
• Provide direct contact information for a follow up opportunity.
• If a customer is happy with service on the phone, let them know that the representative’s manager will be notified of their job well-done.
• Take the high road when competitors are acknowledged. Continue to be positive.

Requests for Information 
• Quick, accurate responses are key. Especially when there is speculation about a product release or something that is highly anticipated. The rumor mill can quickly spin out of control.
• Be proactive with your comments.

Guidance and Advice
There is a fine balance between proactively protecting the brand from litigation and providing a valuable response.
• Offer direct links for more information and/or the opportunity to contact an industry expert. Provide e-mail addresses or phone numbers for follow up.
• Use a reassuring tone in your message and let the user know you are listening.

Tech Issues
Sitting, waiting customers can easily turn into enraged customers who vent their frustration on your Facebook page. In this type of situation, it is important to:
• Give online and offline options for the customer to resolve their issue.
• Direct links to community forums for more advice.
• Acknowledge there is a known tech issue with the website and you (the company) are actively working on it. Post that information publicly to everyone. This gets the message out that you are aware of, and working on the issue.

In conclusion, vigilance is very important when monitoring Facebook as a brand/community manager. Acknowledge positive feedback from users. Outline rules and guidelines for the brand Facebook page. Post them in a clear area with a link to detailed information. Provide examples of feedback that is encouraged and other examples that are frowned upon. Profanity and/or offensive comments could be grounds to delete or even block a user. Encourage brand advocate to monitor as well. Facebook provides every user the option to report offensive commentary.

In the end, having a rock solid strategy will be the guide to handling disgruntled customers. Brands must continue to be vigilant in all social media spaces, because one negative comment could spur hundreds more in minutes!

Plane Tickets Through Facebook? Delta Makes It Possible

Posted by Amanda Walsh

I just read on Mashable and InformationWeek that Delta Airlines has made a Facebook application allowing users to purchase flights via the company’s Facebook page. A new “Ticket Window” tab on the Delta Facebook page lets you find and purchase your flights without ever leaving Facebook.com.

There is also the ability to share your flight details with friends on Facebook. Since the Ticket Window is so new, I haven’t heard if there is a privacy feature allowing you to decide if you want to share your flight announcement with others or not.

The thing I like most about this news story is not necessarily the Ticket Window announcement (which is cool!) but the fact that Delta realized that people are increasingly using social media to follow and connect with their favorite brands.

Bob Kupbens, Delta’s VP of eCommerce is quoted in the InformationWeek article, "our customers are spending more time online and are looking for new ways to connect with us. We're now delivering technology where our customers are – from our own website to our Facebook page to Internet news sites and beyond."

The Delta team seems to be listening to their audience and making changes to best accommodate them. In addition to the Facebook application, Delta recently re-designed their website for customer ease of use and is discussing interactive web advertising and even iPhone applications. I noticed they also have an active Twitter account with conversations and retweets.

It’s hard to say whether the Ticket Window will be a success or a failure right now. I think it’s an exciting announcement and an example of the endless possibilities for companies to serve their clients via social media.
(photo credit: ediscounttickets.com)

How To: Set A Custom Username For Your Facebook Business Page

Posted by Amanda Walsh

Today’s tip for our readers deals with Facebook pages. If you are looking to create a custom URL for your Facebook page, which you definitely should do for your business’ or organization’s page, you simply need to visit www.facebook.com/username.

Once you’re on that webpage, there is a link that reads, “Set a username for your Pages.” When you click on it, a drop down box appears saying:“Easily direct someone to your Page by setting a username for it. You will not be able to edit or transfer this username once you set it.”

Since page URLs are not able to be edited, make sure you put some thought into the decision. A custom URL is a good way to maintain brand consistency across the various social media platforms that may be a part of your marketing campaign.

For more help with the username setting process, go here.

(Photo credit: http://www.dakno.com)

Tapping into Brands College Students Trust Most

Posted by Amanda Walsh

Want to know what brands college students trust the most? I came across this article on Media Daily News by Erik Sass that references the 2009 Alloy Media + Marketing's College Explorer survey.

The survey gives a snapshot into the college-age demographic’s most trusted brands. During the month of April, 1,521 college students were polled by Harris Interactive.

According to the survey, Johnson & Johnson, Apple and Sony are among the ‘trusted’ brands. However, when students were asked about brands they associated with ‘happy’ the only brand that came up again was Apple. So I gather a ‘trusted’ brand may not necessarily be thought of as a ‘happy’ brand? I’m not even sure what it means to be a ‘happy’ brand but I’m assuming that was the point of these questions – for students to form their own opinions and rate brands accordingly.

Sass reports the study findings, “Following Apple on the list of "happy" brand associations were -- in order -- McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Target, Wrigley and Sony (tied), Walmart, Dove and Hershey. On the "trusted" list, Apple was followed by Colgate, Microsoft and Coca-Cola (tied), Toyota, Nike and Bank of America (tied), and Target and Dell (tied).”

In my opinion, Apple does a great job of advertising and marketing. I think many of us can still remember the fun Ipod commercials featuring the black silhouette people grooving to their jams. It’s also interesting to note that Bank of America is on the ‘trusted’ brands list despite the economic times we are facing. The brands chosen are diverse but seem to make sense considering the demographic group.

Other survey questions focused on spending decisions in an attempt to pinpoint changes brought on by the economy. Interestingly enough, “the group's discretionary spending power has actually increased, jumping 37% from four years ago, and 5% from last year to $56 billion.” But only 35% had optimistic outlooks on the economy improving during the next year.

I wrote this blog to give a different insight on my own age demographic group. I thought this survey revealed some interesting facts about corporate brands and served as an interesting follow up to my recent blog post about corporate reputations and brand management.

Above the Law – A Parody in Law Firm Names

I received an e-mail for a colleague telling me that my blog on law firm names from The Legal Intelligencer was quoted on Above the Law.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with AboveTheLaw.com, their site says this: AboveTheLaw.com takes a behind-the-scenes look at the world of law. The site provides news and gossip about the profession’s most colorful personalities and powerful institutions, as well as original commentary on breaking legal developments. Above the Law is published by Breaking Media.

It’s considered the Huffington Post or Drudge Report of the legal industry.

Kashmir Hill is the associate editor for the “legal tabloid” (their words not mine). Hill quoted my eight reasons why I believe shorter is better – in the context of law firm names. She then went on to applaud Morrison & Foerster for using MoFo calling it simple and brazen. It certainly provides fodder for what comes next.

Hill then said, although I believe in parody, that “perhaps [law firms] should shorten to a couple syllables. MoFo conveys a sense of personality – forceful – that "Morrison & Foerster" does not. What opportunities do other firms have to rebrand themselves by going short?”

After giving a few examples, contributors came up with a few of their own. They are a hoot to read – although if you find sexual innuendos and opinionated commentary a waste of time – then you should avoid the comments altogether.

However, in response to Comment 13 where the anonymous guest says that in his “experience, these ‘experts’ [alluding to law firm marketing experts] don't really know that much about the practice of law or the marketing of a law firm to existing or potential clients” and “who cares what some former Philadelphia trial lawyer thinks about law firm branding? Her view is not relevant,” I say my business results speak for themselves. But more importantly, I want to thank commenter #120 who says:

“#13 - Don't generalize about legal marketing experts. Gina Rubel is one of the best at what she does and you might learn something if you actually paid attention to the content. The good legal marketers – inside and outside the firm – are actually helping law firms increase revenues and teaching thousands of attorneys how to grow their practices. They rarely get enough credit for their contributions but don't underestimate their talents.”

#120 – whoever you are – thank you for the accolades. I’m honored. And speaking on behalf of those legal marketers who have practiced law, managed law firms and kicked A$$ in legal communications by averting crises, garnering national media attention, keeping clients out of the media when necessary, advocating on behalf of the unknown to influence key thought leaders, increasing revenues, and building brands and businesses – I thank you!

To mail or e-mail holiday cards: Continued

My husband sent me a link to the Yellowbook holiday e-card today at http://www.yellowbook.com/seasonsgreetings. Here is another example of an electronic holiday greeting that is very well done: very professional, extremely creative, well branded and a good use of technology.

So like I said in my Dec. 2 blog, if you’re not going to do a great job on your e-card, please think twice about sending one. A well thought out, clever holiday card is always more effective.

I also received an adorable and original photo of a yellow lab with a Santa toy in his mouth wearing reindeer antlers from a photographer. The only problem is, the card isn't branded so I don't know who the photographer is or how to reach him/her. Lesson: don't forget the details.

Happy holidays.

How to Protect Your Brand in a Down Economy

Posted by Katie Noonan

Last week I blogged about how some well-known brands are addressing consumers’ concerns in a down economy by pushing their value-based offerings. This week I continue the discussion with a great blog from Media Post’s Marketing Daily Commentary on recession-proofing your brand.

According to the article, in a down economy, some businesses choose to cut spending and bunker down until the economy rebounds, still others move ahead with marketing strategies to strengthen their brand while their competitors are also struggling. While cutting costs may seem like the wiser, more conservative approach, often it translates into cutting marketing and public relations budgets and doing long-term damage to your brand.

Author Nicole Granese of Marketing Daily says, “When you cut marketing during a recession, you stop the conversation with your consumer. You are out of sight and ultimately out of mind, putting your brand at risk.” Instead of cutting marketing expenditures altogether, Granese urges companies to reallocate funds to the most effective mediums. I would also add that a down economy presents a great opportunity to shift your focus to free forms of publicity such as search engine optimization and making use of social networking sites if it makes sense for your brand and targets your desired audience.

I encourage everyone to read Granese’s blog for more on recession-proofing your brand.