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The brand that’s made me the happiest this year is Wolfgang’s Vault. I go there on a regular basis, often on Friday afternoons when I’m finishing up administrative tasks and need some ear candy. The more I listen, the more often I return. I’ve heard concerts by artists I wish I’d gone to and concerts from the same tours I saw “back in the day” by artists that hadn’t made it big yet. I started going to the site a couple of years ago to relive some great musical moments in my life—but now I’m getting much more.

I love that the Vault has branched out to newer artists and more recent concerts. Their A to Z list of performers is huge and inclusive, so I can experiment. There are artist interviews as well as concerts. There are lots of free downloads as well as ones you have to pay for. Plus concert listings in my area.

The website has improved steadily. It’s become increasingly easy to use and what Wolfgang’s Vault is adding, I’m enjoying. I must be in their target demographic—they’re hitting me in my soft spot and I love it!

What’s the brand lesson? Do one thing really well and build from there. Innovate around what you know and give your customers and fans an easy path to follow as you lead the way. If the substance is there and you demonstrate that you’re listening, you’ll keep your die-hards and win new ones.

Have a great 2010!

Beth Woolley

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If you weren’t too worried about your website and how it reflected your brand, there is an even bigger reason for you to start worrying, at least a little bit: Google Sidewiki. This new application from Google allows users to comment on your site and share their thoughts on their favorite social media sites. Don’t fear, however, as there are some great business use cases that demonstrate use of it to start conversations and allow your users to co-create content for your site.

What would you like people to say about your website (now that they can more publicly)?

–Jen Travis

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A colleague of mine has a great printing company—having worked with many printers, they are the best of them all at customer service and helping people figure out the best way forward with their printing needs. So imagine a scenario when they made a mistake, and thought they had resolved the issue to the clients’ satisfaction, only to find out that the disgruntled client used every social media venue, from reviews on Dex and Google Maps to Yelp, to flame and rant.

This is the dark side of social media: the ability to really hurt a good company. So what are the best practices when your reputation is under attack?

First, listen. My friend, Kevin Sullivan of CCS Printing, said:

“I had no idea these reviews were on Google (maps) and being seen by hundreds of customers a month until I did a search yesterday and saw the low star rating. So we’ve probably been losing some opportunities for 90 days due to our lack of inspection on reviews online. So, multiple morals to the story; First, take care of problems promptly (very promptly), second, inspect your brand online everywhere all the time, and third, have a plan in place to drive positive reviews from your willing and happy customers. The vocal minority often seem to outshout the happy majority. Happy customers don’t feel a need to take the time to say good things. But they might if they were asked nicely. One unhappy customer can assume multiple online personalities and trash your brand if they are vindictive enough.”

Kevin went on these sites and explained the situation in a reasonable and transparent way, a good response to a negative event.

So, if you’ve used CCS and had a great experience, take a couple of minutes online to say so. And keep listening to what the market is saying—and respond when you need to.

-Lynn Parker

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