ORM and the role of celebrities

Online reputation management and the role of celebrities

Presentation by: Carla Jones

20 March 2012

@saidWotORM

@CarlaJones1000

Just a quick introduction

Carla Jones – GM & Chief Strategist for saidWot South Africa.

@carlajones1000

za.linkedin.com/in/carlajones1000

plus.google.com/105788718313293278117

Outline

• A Quick Introduction to Online Reputation Management

• The role of celebrities.

• Can brands match brand values with celebrity idiosyncrasies?

• Strictly short term or can it be long term?

• Who are the big names right now?

• Crisis management!

From Springbok Captain to Chip advertiser

Why?

ORM

(Online Reputation Management)

Explained

Online Reputation Management

The process of monitoring your brand online,

knowing how to deal with any negative and

positive commentary and understanding how

you can pro-actively protect your brand via

conversation.

Why?

So that you know

• What is being said,

• Who is saying it,

• Where they are saying it,

• How they feel about you,

• How often they talk about you…

How?

Celebrities?

Brands & Celebrities

The Relationship

Celebrities are used by brands to

• Generate brand awareness and raise their profile

• Highlight a certain attribute of the brand, product or service

• Extend an offline campaign online

• Increase attendance to an event

• Promote a competition

• Promote a specific product

• Attract a new audience

• Launch a new product

• Refresh an existing product

Why do brands use celebrities?

The celebrity reaches a much

larger audience than the

brand would.

People rather hear from a

celebrity than a brand.

Why do brands use celebrities?

Highlight certain attributes – style,

class, status

Highlight certain attributes –

strength, endurance, leadership It is much easier to get an

attribute across to an

audience if you translate this into

a human being.

Why do brands use celebrities?

A celebrity can add a new

dimension to an existing

product that a brand

cannot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SPB9F260CE56D04E73

Why do brands use celebrities?

Consumers feel the product will

deliver what the celebrity

stands for (the lifestyle,

beauty, wealth)

Why?

Brands & Celebrities

The unwanted connection

Celebrities can damage a brand just as easily

• General misbehaviour

• Display of norms and values that are not in line with the

brand’s values.

• Supporting too many different brands.

• A dislike from the audience towards the celebrity

• Overuse of the celebrity.

• Celebrity making use of competing products

Celebrities misbehaving

A celebrity’s

misbehaviour online and

offline will immediately be

linked back to the brand.

Note: Celebrities in ads are seen as brand ambassadors as well.

Celebrities’ Norms & Values

A celebrity’s norms and

values in his personal life

will have an impact on the

brands he represents in his

professional life.

Dislike of celebrities

Not everybody will like the

celebrity chosen by the brand.

This could lead to

disassociation with the

brand.

Celebrities do not

always live by the

rules.

Overuse of the celebrity

Overuse of the

ambassador in all marketing

campaigns can lead to

frustration.

Consumers know you are

paying them to promote

the brand.

Celebrities with too many supporting brands

People don’t like celebrities that are associated

with too many different

brands.

Why?

So should or shouldn’t

you use celebrities for

you brand?

It all depends…

• Is your brand difficult to sell without a famous face

to it?

• Does it need a celebrity to stand out from the crowd

• Do you have the money to pay a celebrity?

• Is there no other way to get the same message

across to the audience?

Why?

Which celebrity fits your

brand?

It all depends…

There is no quick list of celebrities

to consider, it all depends on your

brand.

One size

doesn’t fit all

Do the research

• Monitor your brand to see who speaks about you regularly

• Monitor these loyal or influential people to see what else they

speak about.

• Make a list of the shortlisted candidates

• What other brands are they linked to?

• How do they behave online?

• How influential are they online and offline?

• What channels do they have to engage on?

• Are they mainly liked / disliked?

• Does their personal profile suit the brand?

Ask the Audience

• Monitor your target audience to see how they engage with your

shortlisted ambassadors.

• Monitor how your own brand is perceived online and what

issues may come up in the future.

• Check what other topics the audience discusses.

• Monitor the crisis mentions that could come up around the

ambassador and the product.

Check that the celebrity fits the brand

• Make sure the personal life of the celebrity fits the brand.

• Make sure that the message they put out there fits the brand.

Set up goals and KPIs

• Set up clear KPIs for the brand ambassador that are monitored on

a monthly basis.

• Make sure the celebrity is briefed thoroughly on the brand, the

brand attributes, and the brand values.

• Put a crisis management plan in place that caters for all

foreseeable crisis areas.

Monitor

• Monitor how the ambassador represents the brand online.

• Monitor how the audience reacts to the ambassador.

• Monitor whether the link is made between the brand and

ambassador.

• Set up crisis alerts to notify you or any crisis taking place online.

Afterwards

This is not a short term process

• Have a plan in place for when the contract ends.

• Be prepared to replace them with another celebrity.

• Depending on how strong the relationship was, there will always be

a link between the ambassador and the brand.

Other Possibilities

Loyal consumers as brand ambassadors

• Loyal consumers can be just as influential but at a lower cost.

• Pamper and reward your loyal fans to turn them into brand

ambassadors.

• This can easily be done via vouchers, added value, recognition,

unique information, etc.

• Assist your disloyal fans and resolve their problems.

Internal stakeholders as brand ambassadors

• Make use of the internal stakeholder base already available.

• Encourage your employees to be brand ambassadors BUT make

sure there are policies in place to explain the dos and don’ts to

them.

• Appoint key spokespeople for the brand.

Questions

How to get hold of us

South Africa: Tel: +27 11 021 8740 Email: infosa@saidwot.com Web: www.saidwot.com

United States: Tel: +00 (1) 704 450 2403 Email: infous@saidwot.com

saidWot Online Reputation

Management Tool

saidWotORM