The $7,500 Reputation Eraser

One of the key practice areas in the career path of Public Relations is called Reputation Management. Simply put, it’s about helping companies and individuals create the best possible representation of what they offer to the world and keeping track of it on a regular basis. the north face fleece jackets on sale A slew of opportunistic companies now claim they can help client safeguard their online reputations by getting comments declared legally libelous and then systematically having them removed. nike x fragment They call it “the world’s first systematic program for removing slanderous web pages from popular search engine indexes.” And all for the low, low bargain price of $7,500. Awesome. adidas yeezy boost So a couple of things. adidas superstar 2 femme One of these companies is called “brand.com” and in my probably libelous opinion, they have very little to do with actual branding, more like a “cleaner” who disposes of the dead bodies so they don’t stink up da joint after the client has committed a gruesome murder. And they have even less to do with reputation. You see class, reputation is about, you know, behaving appropriately towards your customer and (wait for it) earning a positive reputation through those acts. adidas hamburg Going through with a big magic legal eraser to all negative comments about your business that could show up in a search engine is a Camelot-like existence that does not closely resemble…reality. What’s next? Erasing bad editorial reviews? Where is the line? Ironically enough, the reality they are erasing is very reality that their customers crave. If I see an unflawed business with a perfect record, I immediately don’t trust them because that is not possible (given that human beings are probably in charge). Adidas Zx Flux MUCH better to let your customers see your flaws and deal with them honestly then to scrub them out like blood stains on the digital carpet. So if branding is creating an emotional connection between your customers and your organization and reputation management is the process of building up those relationships over time, what is removing negative comments but another way to cover things up and be false in a world that thirsts for honesty (and really doesn’t trust your business to begin with). My advice is not to erase your slanderous comments, but to deal with them and in doing so, become a better business for your customers. nike air max 90 femme That is real reputation management. Does your company have the courage to be real in an artificial world full of services like those offered by brand.com? The reward is great for those that do.