Not the Same Old News: Institutional Branding & Public Engagement in the Era of Online Social Media...

Not the Same Old News:Institutional Branding & Public Engagement

in the Era of Online Social Media

The Institute of Public Affairs of the College of Law & Iowa League of Cities and the Iowa City/County Management Association

Iowa Municipal Management Institute, March 17, 2011

1

DAVID D. PERLMUTTER, Ph.D.

Director, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Professor & Starch Faculty Fellow

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

The University of Iowa

©2007-2011 D. D. Perlmutter

http://www.uiowa.edu/jmc/faculty/perlmutter.html

http://www.uiowa.edu/jmc/faculty/perlmutter.html

Gov’t Services: Tweet Effect?

• In case of emergency…• 2011 survey of 1,058 adults by the

American Red Cross• "74 percent said they expect help to

come within an hour after their tweet or Facebook post."

©2007-2011 D. D. Perlmutter 2

Triumph of the Blog?

• Online Social Media: From cranks to…everybody

• BLOGS NOW: 2008

"The Daily Show": Blogs have arrived!

3©2007-2011 D. D. Perlmutter

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=168063&title=david-perlmutter

© 2007-2010 David D. Perlmutter 4

Today: "IDS" Era

• Internet + Instant + Interactor Everyone can be a producer, disseminator, receiver

o Blogs, podcasts, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc.

• Digital Autography, Photoshopping

o No "original" photo or document

• Satellite "Live from Ground Zero" anywhere to anywhere

• "ID" + Self-cast Expression of inner wants, needs, ideas, feelings Personal Global

Social Media: Crisis of Expertise, Authority, Publicity• Comment/review effects on all

products/brands including you and government services

• Googlization/Wikization of knowledge– "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15

minutes." – Andy Warhol (1968)

– "…And everybody will be embarrassed via Google or YouTube at least once." – David Perlmutter (2008)


Revolt Against "Experts" & "Golden Rolodex"

• Journalists

• Academics

6

►Gov't

►Industry

Oogling• Online reputation and image

45-75% of HR professionals use online media to screen candidates; at universities this may be 100% for hiring committees and faculties.

• Employers/clients

• Image of individuals, institutions, and groups

• Cell phone journalism

• Ethics? Legality? But…happens anyway


So…What to Do?

• Off the grid is not an option…


Eight Proactive Strategies


1. Brand audit2. Stake out territories3. Candor4. Suppression5. Positive flooding6. Greatest hits7. Expert-casting8. Allow easy

interaction/complaint

1. Brand Audit

Monitor SM/Internet• Run searches in

Google/Yahoo or many other services/engines and specialty tools (PeopleFinder, sproutsocial and zesty)

• Set up "alerts" to monitor Google, blogs, Internet


Audit, cont.: Internet/Social Media: What is out there?

• Venues (major search engines)

• Depth (go past first page)• Identity confusion – "middle

name" upfront markers– Check variations of

names (institution, leaders)

• Frequency of appearances• Sources (who is

saying/posting?)


Audit, cont.: What Is Out There?

• Listening to clients…• What is the chatter? (like/dislike,

comments, blogposts) Ex.: Complaints about services

• Early warning/trip wireSomething often pops up in social media

before it hits you from big media


2. Stake Out Territories

• Claim your name (on all social media)– Google profile, .com,

Twitter, Facebook, etc. – Name…as close as you

can get– Put unique and

consistent identifiers (pics, titles, mottos) on each page

© 2007-2011 D. D. Perlmutter 13

https://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=97703&

4. Suppression• Online reputation

management must be practiced by staff– Ex.: “Wow, you can’t

believe the idiot who came in asking for….

– Clear rules and definitions

– Clear penalties


5. Positive Flooding


6.Greatest Hits


7. Expert-casting


8. Allow Easy Interaction• Comments, ideas, complaints,

questions• Response

– Positive tone– Human– Timely– Path to resolution offered


Eternal Brand


Not the Same Old News: Institutional Branding & Public Engagement in the Era of Online Social Media...

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