There was a time when companies (or non-profits, universities, etc.) controlled their brand. Today companies control their brand logo, brand colors, and message but what they no longer control is the brand experience or "emotional aftertaste" (coined by Ze Frank).

There's been a power shift and the first mistake many companies make is believing that they do and can control the brand experience. That's no longer the case. It's the people on the other end of that experience that control it. Today, customers sharing brand experiences happen every day, everywhere without being edited or seeking a company's approval. And sometimes, a brand experience (positive or negative) could be with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. That said there are some new challenges in brand management. So then, what are some basic first steps companies can take?

Listen
The first step? Listen. "Listening" to what's being said about a company on-line can unveil a lot of critical information. Listening includes, but is not limited to, reading comments, reviews or rankings. Listening is not about collecting "on-line hits." Listening can start out as simply as setting up a Google Alert for a company, brands (i.e. product names), and people (any employee who is in the public eye).  The second step? Hear. Hear what is being said and try to understand the context in which it's being said (yes, there is a difference between listening and hearing). Make no mistake, it's a lot of roll-up the sleeves work, but it's essential to overall brand management. The Internet isn't going away anytime soon so there will continue to be a lot of places to talk about a company.

Managing Fractured Conversations
Where are customers, prospects, competition, and adversaries talking and where should listening take place? With all the places to leave comments and engage in a conversation there is a potential for fractured conversations. For example, someone could potentially respond to a company news release in a variety of places and other people pick up on that conversation and take it to another place, spreading the comments about a company. What makes it fractured is that is can be disassociated from the original comment, leaving the context in a position to be misunderstood. It's a company's responsibility to follow the conversations where and no matter how many places they go, including:

• Social networks (like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Blogs
• Microblogging sites (like Twitter)
• YouTube, Viddler, etc.
• Podcasts
• Photo hosting sites (like Flickr)

Fractured conversations present multiple challenges to companies. So, it's very important to go where the conversations are being held and respond to them in that specific place. Don't insist that people talking about a brand experience move their conversation to a place that's convenience.

The Importance of Listening & Following Conversations
Every time a conversation is being had about a company, brand or person it's an opportunity to get involved. A lot of companies fear or are not sure how to engage in on-line conversations. But by not following what's being said companies miss out on a chance to:

• Learn what their true brand perception is in the market
• Collect important feedback
• Engage in meaningful conversations with customers
• Build relationships with customers
• Tell their side of the story (if necessary)
• Harness the power of brand enthusiasts

Tools for Listening & Monitoring
Some of these tools are free and some are not. This is not in any way an endorsement of any of these tools, but just a list to get companies started in the right direction. If there are other tools that are available, please be sure to let everyone know.

• Google / Yahoo Alerts
• Google Blog Search
• Technorati
• Co.mments
• Serph
• Addictomatic
• Disqus
• Radian6
• Twitter Search
• Blogpulse
• Lijit
• Linqia
• NetVibesMotive Quest
• Nielsen BuzzMetrics
• Cymphony
• Trakur
• SEER
• Techrigy
• CyberAlert
• Umbria
• ChatterGuard
• Custom Scoop
• Ice Rocket

Steps to managing brand experience
How can a company get started in a conversation? What steps, in what order should be taken? Take it slow. There is no need to rush into engagement. The old adage rings true in this case: Look before you leap. Here's just a brief list of steps:

• Start monitoring your brand  
• Collect the data
• Process the information (where did comments come from? where are the conversations being held?)
• Analyze the content (what are they saying & why?)
• Determine if you should respond
• Join the conversation

To learn more about the importance of brand management, please be sure to read David Wallace's post, "Connecting the Dots: Online (Brand) Reputation Management - SBM Unleashed." This is a great post because it was "live blogged" during Christina (CK) Kerley's Brand Management workshop at Small Business Marketing Unleashed.