In 2010, the Media Seems to Cover Just 2 Tech Companies. Will that continue in 2011?

We think the media will continue to focus on Apple, Google -- including Apple vs. Google -- as well as Microsoft as a distant third player, at least in terms of coverage.

There are, of course, thousands of tech companies in the U.S.

But given tech sections at daily newspapers generally focus on smartphones and, increasingly, tablets, and digital cameras, Apple and Google are the main stories for consumers.

When it's time to talk about laptops and printers, Dell and H-P get their share of articles.

That doesn't leave much room for the rest.

Check out "The Media’s Double Vision about the Digital Age" that provides more details, based on a Pew Excellence in Journalism study.

Online Reputation Management Will Be More Important in 2009

Online reputation management will become more important and much more in-demand function due to the proliferation of sites and ways that people can post information, reviews, etc. about their experiences.

For some companies, including Dell and Comcast, online reputation management becomes part of the customer service function.

In fact, while understanding and working with social networking sites has been the purview of PR departments and their agencies, there will likely be more of a push by sales and customer service departments and HR departments to be in charge of social networking.

In fact, because of media, customer relations and recruiting needs, all three functions (PR, HR and sales) should be working together to maintain and enhance their online reputation.

WSJ Article on Online Corp. Reputation

Online corporate reputation management is going to continue to be an issue for companies, given the proliferation of blogs, micro-blogs like Twitter, etc.

The Wall St. Journal ran an article about an oldie-but-goodie: the "gripe site" run by disgruntled former employees and customers.

Check out: "How to Handle 'IHateYourCompany.com': Some Firms Buy Up Negative Domain Names To Avert 'Gripe Sites.'"

Basically, according to the out-quote in the print edition: "Companies should use these sites as a vehicle to solicit feedback."

For example, visitors to Loewsucks.com and Southwestsucks.com get a guest-satisfaction survey and the customer-service page, respectively, to register complaints.

The article notes that Dell does not own many gripe-site names. The reason, as readers of this blog know, is that Dell has found it more effective to conduct a thorough outreach program to identify and work with bloggers and others who complain about Dell. That program seems to be extremely successful.

Media coverage addressing "why monitor blogs" is always negative -- managing customer complaints

Blogs and microblogs are about conversations. Too many stories about why companies should monitor blogs focus on putting out fires of customer complaints. Latest example is from the Boston Globe: "Hurry up, the customer has a complaint; As blogs expand the reach of a single voice, firms monitor the Internet looking for the dissatisfied."

The reason coverage focuses on the negative may be because it can be a more dramatic story to tell.

But B2C companies should be thinking about a blogger campaign to get ahead of the problem, to be a participant in online communities before something happens.

The same is true for B2B companies, which may have more specific niches that could actually make it easier to implement.

The current mindset, however, seems to be putting out fires rather than working ahead to ensure there are no fires. Dell, which started out putting out fires, seems to have done well being proactive.

I hope to talk with Richard at Dell to get additional insight from him.

Dell's Blog Campaign Clicks In -- Even to this Blog

It took less than 2 days, but Dell found me, and posted a comment about my previous posting that referenced Dell.

I didn't really expect a comment from them since my article did not reference a problem with Dell (as Jeff Jarvis famously did a few years back) .

Here is some background from RichardAtDell:
- On average there are 4000 conversations online everyday about Dell. We do not respond to all of them...in some cases we drop by, listen and learn and go back with a stronger and better customer point of view inside our business every day.
- since we started our work the negative commentary about Dell has declined by 30% and positive commentary has increased;
-sharing of nearly 5000 "accepted customer solutions" has reduced costs
- the team can point to retained and new sales
-Ideastorm produced ideas that were not on the product roadmap which have generated increased sales for systems with Linux operating systems; continuing to offer XP; Product (Red) and other business improvements
- generally, more and more of customers are coming online, connecting and sharing information. There is a value to us in the direct relationship we have with our customers, given that it underpins our business model and is what we are all about at DELL.

Some very interesting points.

PS -- Can you even do a PS on a blog? -- RichardAtDell, I would love to spend a few minutes discussing lessons learned for a future article about blogging relations. Please let me know if that's possible.

Dell's Blog Campaign Clicks In

BusinessWeek's recent cover story on blogs, "Beyond Blogs: Three years ago our cover story showcased the phenomenon. A lot has changed since then,"did a good job updating general business readers on the state of blogs -- but it missed an important issue for companies, especially those in the B2B space: The metrics by which to judge the success of corporate blogs. Is there an ROI for blogging? Can it lead to new business and stronger client relationships?

For B2Bs, I'm not so sure. I will be exploring blogging campaigns over the next few days.

But for B2Cs, I think the answer is definitely yes.

Check out Ben Worthen's the article in Wall St. Journal, "Dell, by Going Click for Click With Web Posters, Ensured Bloggers Saw Its New Red Mini Laptop,"in which he reports:

"Dell Inc. hit a viral-PR home run last week when photos of a not-yet-released computer -- a candy-red miniature laptop -- swept across the Internet, creating excitement in advance of the release.

"The buzz wasn't an accident: It was the payoff from a year-long effort by Dell to engage more directly with bloggers and others who write about the company online."

Worthen's article provides an overview of Dell's blogging campaign: "Today, it's nearly impossible to find a story or blog entry about Dell that isn't accompanied by a comment from the company. Dell left a comment in response to a recent post on WSJ.com's Business Technology Blog about the personal-computer maker's plan to offer premium customer service. Another Dell correspondent wrote an entry about the post on the company's blog."

That's a very intense, time intensive program, known as online engagement -- and it must be done transparently, letting people know that the postings are part of a corporate initiative, and entails understanding the tone and subtle rules for each blog, forum, etc. Get the tone or other variables wrong, and the company can be accused of "astroturfing, " a term for artificial grassroots programs. (For more on astroturfing, check out the Wikipedia entry. While I still don't like aspects of Wikipedia's culture, and believe more strongly than ever that it needs a massive copyediting makeover, it is a decent source -- as long as you look at it skeptically. My posts from Aug. 2007: Yet more about Wikipedia..., More advice on Wikipedia, and Some things to know about Wikipedia.)

Dell's initiative appears to be working because it was willing to invest the time and resources. Worthen reports, after all, that the campaign took more than a year. What's interesting is that Dell can point to success by pointing out that whenever someone blogs about Dell, whether it's positive or negative, there's a corporate comment in response. I would be very interested if the company could discuss the ROI for its campaign or to other metrics to demonstrate its success. In other words, can Dell demonstrate the value of its blogging outreach in terms of sales, visibility, new business/lead generation, customer retention, etc.?

It will be interesting to see if Dell responds to this post, by the way.