Sticks & Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click (1st edition)

Citation

Hazlett, K. (2010), "Sticks & Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click (1st edition)", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 382-383. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421011068630

Larry Weber, chairman of W2 Group, a global marketing services ecosystem that helps CMOs in their new role as builders of communities and content aggregators, has devoted the greater part of his professional career to guiding corporate leaders through the minefields of public opinion and corporate reputation.

In so doing, he has amassed a wealth of experience, all of which qualifies him to speak knowledgeably of the risks and rewards of maintaining a public “face.” Sticks & Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click is Weber's latest compilation of advice for survival and success in “world 2.0.”

The author sets the stage in Chapter 1, “Your Digital Reputation in World 2.0” with this sage advice: “[R]eputation is not something you can control like product quality, service response time, advertising taglines, or the research and development budget… ultimately it's all about how customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, and regulators perceive you and your company” (p. 9).

Sticks & Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click addresses this issue from the perspective of corporate life in which such concerns as globalization, corporate responsibility and financial transparency are no longer sidebar conversations in staff or board of directors meetings. Reputation, in today's cyber‐connected world, is a fragile commodity that must be actively nurtured and protected. “In this digitally‐flat world 2.0, doing nothing is not an option – unless you want someone else to define your digital rep for you” (p. 12).

The book is divided into four main sections – “Digital world, digital reputation”; “Shape your reputation”; “It's all about you (and your firm)”; and “Tools and tactics.” Each comprises easily digestible chapters addressing specific issues and concerns that should be at the forefront of every C‐level executive's daily agenda, with strategic observations and tactical suggestions providing a solid framework for safeguarding an organization's reputation.

Getting started isn't difficult, says Weber, and can be accomplished using already‐familiar tools. “To begin to see what people are saying about you, your company, your brand, your products, your industry, or all five, the simplest tool may be an alert from your favorite search site.” (p. 21) These alerts enable you to keep tabs on conversations taking place on the Web about you or your company and to respond when negative issues arise.

Monitoring is just one piece of the puzzle, though. The author makes a good case for the value of such online proactive tools as blogs, which provide a way to discuss issues of importance to you and your company as well as to initiate a dialogue with those publics who have an interest in your company: …“you have to pay close attention to what's being said and join the conversations to keep the dialogue going” (p. 38).

Initiating or joining in a conversation, though, should not be the only objective, says Weber. Your comments or insights should be useful for the receiver. Let people see and hear your opinions, your interests, and your concerns. “Whether you want to help end hunger or save the environment, incorporate this moral purpose into your online activities and invite customers, suppliers, and dealers to join you in this cause” (p. 58).

But how to get started? Where should you be on the web? E‐communities … online networks of participants sharing common interests … are a logical and valuable starting point for dialogue. “Be visible and active in e‐communities where … key issues are discussed; [but] be transparent about who you are and who you represent … Building trust will build your reputation” (p. 67).

“Active participation” is a phrase that appears repeatedly in Sticks & Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click. Today's corporate leaders don't have the option of waiting and hoping “it will all blow over.” And, particularly in the case of blogs, as well as other online communication channels, “In the digital world, your foreground reputation evolves from what you deliberately put out about yourself on the Web … Your background reputation comes from what people learn about you from other sources” (p. 95).

The reason for this emphasis on proactive communication is quite simple, says Weber. People are going to be having conversations about you or your company online and elsewhere “whether you like it or not. They are going to be telling … customer feedback sites what they think of your service, your product, your quality, and your value” (p. 110).

In the final section of Sticks & Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click, the author addresses “Tools and Tactics” for building and maintaining a company's digital reputation, with an entire chapter devoted to “The YouTube Juggernaut.” YouTube is being used by more and more businesses as a means to establish an online reputation and connect with diverse audiences. Weber provides this fascinating statistic to bring home the impact of this phenomenon: “If YouTube were a country, it would be the third most populous in the world…[ranking] behind only China and India” (p. 138).

For this reason alone, it would behoove the corporate executive to become familiar with and develop a strategy for incorporating YouTube into the company's communication efforts. But, Weber cautions, remember that what you post on YouTube, or anywhere digitally for that matter, will be there for a long, long time, so “be careful what you say and do in public” (p. 148).

But what to do when someone posts an online complaint? Rapid, proactive response is the answer in world 2.0. No longer does the luxury of days, or even hours, exist. Active, continual monitoring of online communications is mandatory because, “Thanks to Twitter and other tools, your window of opportunity for avoiding harm to your digital rep is fairly narrow these days…a few minutes (maybe as long as a couple of hours)” (p. 155).

The good news/bad news for communicators is that, although the basic function of identifying key stakeholder audiences, facilitating two‐way conversation, and shaping public opinion hasn't changed, the ability to control those audiences and conversations has lessened dramatically. “With the rise of social media, you have less control over what's being said but more ways to get your message across” (p. 170).

This means, simply, that “the new tools of PR can help you manage reputation equity by better communicating your company's moral purpose and more effectively rallying internal and external support for it” (p. 178).

In the next‐to‐last chapter, Weber turns to the 2008 presidential campaign as an example of effective use of online communication. In particular, he says, “The Obama campaign proved that social technology can build strong bonds between a leader, his organization, and his supporters” (p. 194).

What lies ahead? Simply stated, company executives must become more knowledgeable of and comfortable with the implications of 24‐hour uncontrolled conversation about their company. And, for some, this will not present a problem. “The up‐and‐coming CEOs, who will start being appointed in the next few years, are completely comfortable with digital technology…[They] are accustomed to having technology as their slave, and they are going to demand that technology answer a lot of problems and make things even easier in the future” (p. 205).

Sticks & Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click is an easy‐to‐digest education in reputation management in world 2.0. The CEO or communicator who takes these lessons to heart will be prepared to manage and protect his or her company's digital reputation in the 24/7 digital age.