For many, the goal is to gain as many “followers” or “fans” online as possible. That’s the gold standard for determining how popular or established your reputation is.

Thing is, that’s only half-right.

Corporate entities will often default into communications plans online that are one-way and highly regulated. No direct engagement, no responding to customer queries. There’s an assumption that, if someone complains, no one will really hear them. In the early days of the internet, pre-Facebook and Twitter, that was more likely.

However the culture online has changed. People have great capacity to amass large followings with relative ease. And with these mass followings, they, too, are given a global platform.

What gives them the leg-up is their audience is more receptive and in-tune with the dialogue than the followers of the corporate entity. According to a recent Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, “ninety percent of consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70 percent trusted consumer opinions posted online”.

It’s increasingly important that corporate entities be aware of who the influencers are in their networks. They’re the people who can turn the tide of public opinion quicker than most PR campaigns, because there’s inherent trust.

For an example of good use of social media and influencer targeting online, check out U.S. telecoms company Comcast, on Twitter as @ComcastCares. TechCrunch has more in an interview with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts:

Comcast has for a while now been using Twitter to scan for complaints and engage with customers. The idea was not his, but rather rose organically when someone in the company realized that a lot of public complaints were being sent over Twitter … Roberts went on to note that “Famous Frank,” also known as Frank Eliason now has 11 people working under him simply to respond to information about Comcast being broadcast on Twitter. Roberts says that it’s an entirely different kind of dialogue coming in then the usual phone complaints, and he seems very pleased about the work the team has done with the customers on Twitter.

Comcast’s strategy isn’t going to make everyone happy. But given the sheer size of the company, the fact that they’ve taken to such an organic process of customer service speaks to the company’s understanding of how the internet can spread messaging, both good and bad.

It also ensures they’re able to stay in the loop about what’s being said, by whom, and whether their influence is large enough to cause bigger problems down the line.

Part of a package of new regulations designed to enhance consumer protection across the EU, it’s this one which has received the most attention from the blogosphere — with popular examples being drawn from Sony’s ‘All I want for Christmas is a PSP’ campaign and Wal-Mart’s unfortunate encounter with an Edelman-driven campervan.

However, the full range of newly prohibited practices reaches far beyond the blogosphere. While cases like those mentioned above were simply too ill-conceived to escape public scrutiny, and so resulted in public humiliation for the organisations involved, the new legislation should provide a simpler recourse for those less-public instances of unscrupulous or dishonest trading.

In the consumer sphere at least, a genuine victory for transparency.

Here’s the full list of prohibited practices for those who are interested — there’s also some further analysis on Andy Beard’s blog:

1. Faking credentials — Claiming to be a signatory to a code of conduct when the trader is not.
2. You’re not who you say you are — Displaying a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without having obtained the necessary authorisation.
3. Your endorsement is not real — Claiming that a code of conduct has an endorsement from a public or other body which it does not have.
4. Not being true to the terms of the endorsement — Claiming that a trader (including his commercial practices) or a product has been approved, endorsed or authorised by a public or private body when he/it has not or
5. making such a claim without complying with the terms of the approval, endorsement or authorisation.
6. Unbelievable price, literally — Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price without disclosing the existence of any reasonable grounds the trader may have for believing that he/she will not be able to offer for supply or to procure another trader to supply, those products or equivalent products at that price for a period that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable having regard to the product, the scale of advertising of the product and the price offered. This is known as bait advertising.
7. Luring people in with a product you don't have — Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price and then: (a) Refusing to show the advertised item to consumers; Or (b) Refusing to take orders for it or deliver it within a reasonable time; Or (c) Demonstrating a defective sample of it, with the intention of promoting a different product (known as bait and switch)
8. Limited time only — Falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time, or that it will only be available on particular terms for a very limited time, in order to elicit an immediate decision and deprive consumers of sufficient opportunity or time to make an informed choice.
9. Illegally selling goods — Stating or otherwise creating the impression that a product can legally be sold when it cannot.
10. It's not right — Presenting rights given to consumers in law as a distinctive feature of the trader’s offer.
11. Scare tactics — Making a materially inaccurate claim concerning the nature and extent of the risk to the personal security of the consumer or his family if the consumer does not purchase the product.
12. Over promise, under deliver — Falsely claiming that a product is able to cure illnesses, dysfunction or malformations.
13. Creating extra paperwork — Requiring a consumer who wishes to claim on an insurance policy to produce documents which could not reasonably be considered relevant as to whether the claim was valid, or failing systematically to respond to pertinent correspondence, in order to dissuade a consumer from exercising his/her contractual rights.
14. Being honest about advertorials — Using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion (advertorial) without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer.
15. Faking goods — Promoting a product similar to a product made by a particular manufacturer in such a manner as deliberately to mislead the consumer into believing that the product is made by that same manufacturer when it is not.
16. Closing down sale? — Claiming that the trader is about to cease trading or move premises when he/she is not.
17. Pulling the wool over their eyes — Passing on materially inaccurate information on market conditions or on the possibility of finding the product with the intention of inducing the consumer to acquire the product at conditions less favourable than normal market conditions.
18. Forcing the deal — Including in marketing material an invoice or similar document seeking payment which gives the consumer the impression that he/she has already ordered the marketed product when he/she has not.
19. A wolf in sheep's clothing — Falsely claiming or creating the impression that the trader is not acting for purposes relating to his/her trade, business, craft or profession, or falsely representing oneself as a consumer.
20. Advertising to children — Including in an advertisement a direct exhortation to children to buy advertised products or persuade their parents or other adults to buy advertised products for them.
21. Pyramid schemes — Establishing, operating or promoting a pyramid promotional scheme where a consumer gives consideration for the opportunity to receive compensation that is derived primarily from the introduction of other consumers into the scheme rather than from the sale or consumption of products.
22. You can't promise a win — Claiming that products are able to facilitate winning in games of chance.
23. Winner takes nothing — Claiming in a commercial practice to offer a competition or prize promotion without awarding the prizes described or a reasonable equivalent.
24. Is it truly free? — Describing a product as 'gratis', 'free', 'without charge' or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item.
25. No win situations — Creating the false impression that the consumer has already won, will win, or will on doing a particular act win, a prize or other equivalent benefit, when in fact either: There is no prize or other equivalent benefit, or taking any action in relation to claiming the prize or other equivalent benefit is subject to the consumer paying money or incurring a cost.
26. Forcing the sale — Creating the impression that the consumer cannot leave the premises until a contract is formed.
27. Overstaying your welcome — Conducting personal visits to the consumer's home and ignoring the consumer's request to leave or not to return except in circumstances and to the extent justified, under national law, to enforce a contractual obligation.
28. Pestering the consumer — Making persistent and unwanted solicitations by telephone, fax, e-mail or other remote media except in circumstances and to the extent justified under national law to enforce a contractual obligation.
29. Using guilt to make sales — Explicitly informing a consumer that if he does not buy the product or service, the trader’s job or livelihood will be in jeopardy.
30. Asking for payment when they didn't ask for the product — Demanding immediate or deferred payment for, or the return or safekeeping of products supplied by the trader, but not solicited by the consumer except where the product is a substitute supplied in accordance with regulation 19(7) of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (this is known as inertia selling).
31. Misleading after sales information — Creating the false impression that after-sales service in relation to a product is available in a European Member State other than the one in which the product is sold.
32. Talking the same language — Undertaking to provide after-sales service to consumers with whom the trader has communicated prior to a transaction in a language which is not an official language of the European Member State where the trader is located and then making such service available only in another language without clearly disclosing this to the consumer before the consumer is committed to the transaction.

— from ‘The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations: A basic guide for business’ (PDF)

Going to war by bringing in the lawyers is a guarantee the ‘negatives’ will spread. newscounter.com meets a real market need – for those aggrieved by media inaccuracies to put a full, immediate, unedited rebuttal ‘out there’, next to the accusation, for the world and the search engines to see.

If it builds a reputation as a place to go to see ‘both sides of the story’ and where those rebuttals can be seen, then it will have a place in the corporate communications armoury. At the moment, the Baby Products Association (BPA) is winning the public vote against Which? in a battle over child car seats safety. The fact that ‘public opinion’ on a public, impartial web site ‘backs’ their position is a gain in itself because it’s referenceable as evidence in their ongoing communications battle that their position is understood, believed and deemed fair. For corproate communicators, that’s got to be worth having.

Here’s her Video. Technology is not neutral.

Oh, and while your browsing at lift organiser ‘bread and butter’ s the site CheckTechnology is not neutral! Checkout Brian Cox from CERN doing the child-like wonder thing about the current state of human ignorance…

With blogs for Skype and the management systems community at BusinessAssurance.com part of our current portfolio, we’re at a stage where sharing our experiences has become an integral part of our own learning process. Through open discussions like these, we’re well placed to draw on the insights of our peers, as well as demonstrate our own strengths.

We believe that blogs are a crucial weapon in the armoury of an organisation which values transparency — an open, honest, and most importantly human mode of communication, valued by stakeholders and search engines alike.

Further reading:

• There’s more on the value of blogs in marketing over at Blogopreneur.
• Murphy’s Law has a good round-up of some recent corporate blogging discussions.

The core consumer insight was that Ariel’s ability to provide a ‘brilliant wash’ at 30°C would help consumers save money and at the same time help reduce their carbon footprint. The campaign which was launched in conjunction with the Energy Savings Trust is still being evaluated to see if it really has had a long term impact on consumer behaviour as initial results suggest consumers in several EU markets are ‘turning down the dial’.

The campaign strikes us as a brilliant piece of P&G marketing… data driven insight, clear analysis of a rational (money saving) and emotional (help the environment) consumer benefit and then a cleverly endorsed, well executed integrated marketing and communications campaign.

Interestingly, the product promise (a great wash at a low temperature) has been the same for years and wasn’t really changed, just emphasized in a different way. Even more, the possible guilt of using the product (after all, how ‘green’ are the chemicals in washing powder?) has been replaced by a gentle, reassuring sense of greenness.

Earlier, on the same stage, Gareth Hughes, Climate Change Capital, painted a picture where the capital markets are going when it comes to environmental factors — those interested in a quick view should read Peter’s blog over at BusinessAssurance.com.

Skype cherishes its online community and sees the blogosphere as an important part of its communications activities especially when it comes to maintaining its profile on a local country level. Skype bloggers have a critical role in explaining and interacting with Skype’s customers helping to highlight and explain new products and services.

“Everyone knows that the blogosphere is an incredibly influential arena for motivating public opinion. Much of Skype’s success has been driven by the open relationship we have with our online communities who, via our forums and posts, give us direct and valuable feedback on how we’re doing as a company. So we need to make sure we are responding in the right way. And Glasshouse is an instrumental part of this, especially in helping us project the right voice,” said Imogen Bailey, director of global PR.

Glasshouse Partnership has been charged with building the strategy and explaining what Skype is doing on a local market level. Glasshouse Partnership will co-ordinate the team of freelancers who blog from Brazil, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

The appointment is effective immediately. The account will be led by Glasshouse founder director, Tim Kitchin, who said: “We’re delighted Skype have chosen us for this and look forward to working with Skype as it continues to expand and innovate worldwide.”

• 42% are planning to apply user-generated content (UGC) to their websites in the next 12 months
• 35% are planning to use corporate blogs in the next 12 months; 17% are using them already
• 33% are planning to use podcasting in the next 12 months; 18% are using it already
• 35% planning to use videocasting in the next 12 month; 17% are using it already

Our client, Oxford Strategic Marketing, has really bought into the power of the weblog, and around ten of their consultants are so far participating in a shared conversation around the critical success factors for marketers in the first 100 days of a new role.

It’s great to see high powered, buttoned-down professionals embracing such a fluid medium.

I trust this will be the first of many such sites, as we build on our own blogging experience to create new reputation-building campaigns for our clients.

You’ll see lots more coverage of this idea in marketing media in the weeks and months to come.