brand reputation
It’s not just Donald Trump, Ann Coulter, and other celebrities slinging dirt on social media. There are plenty of “regular” people ranting, pointing fingers, and practicing totally obnoxious behavior.
It’s almost as if social media has given everyone with a grudge a platform to release all their tension, anger, frustration, and negative thoughts. It may be healthy for them to unload - maybe even cathartic - but, what if you’re on the receiving end?
I made the mistake of voicing an opinion on a “political” Facebook page. My comment wasn’t rude or provocative. In fact, I posed it as a question.
What I got in return were 2-3 mean-spirited replies. The weird thing is that I wasn’t disagreeing with these people. They interpreted my comments as opposite to their beliefs for some reason. I think they watch for any hint of opposing views to trounce on unsuspecting commenters with a “Let’s get ’em!” mentality. Continue reading
By now, you’ve probably heard about Subway’s former spokesperson, Jared Fogle, being in trouble for distributing child pornography and paying for sex acts with minors. It’s any brand’s worst nightmare.
Funny thing, it’s not just the “big guys” that use celebrity spokespeople in their marketing campaigns. Smaller businesses and nonprofits do it, too. Continue reading
There’s nothing like stating the obvious. Why would any business use misleading advertising at all - especially when it has a good reputation or is trying to build it?
There’s a good lesson here for small to medium businesses whose brand reputations could potentially implode if they practiced business this way. Case in point… American Express.
First, let me say that I have been very brand loyal to Amex for many years. It was the only credit card company that gave me credit when I relocated from Canada to the US. Who knew that credit bureaus don’t share information over borders? One can have a stellar credit rating but has to start from scratch when relocating. Ouch.
So, here’s the promotional email I received from Starwood on July 14, 2015:
Your benefits are getting even better. Learn more > Continue reading
