It's no secret that as consumer generated media continues to grow and search engines continue to index it, that your average joe consumer is going to have the chance to make a massive impact on big brands. Truth be told, it's even MORE likely that the average joe consumer is going to have an impact on small brands as well. That's why online reputation management should be a respected tool in any businesses' marketing arsenal. Marketing Profs has a post this week that serves as a great example of why these "community evangelists" are necessary as part of the online reputation management process.

The story is one we've heard many times before...

It all started with a single person and a single blog.

Paul McEnany of Hee-Haw Marketing decided to write about the state of his local Kohls department store after a visit he made while equipped with a digital camera. What he found (and photographed) was complete and utter chaos. Clothing piled on floors, displays knocked over, basically...the place was a mess.

And don't think I didn't notice all those Kohl's ads, the millions of dollars burned driving customers into the stores. They did this while obviously and intentionally remaining sorely understaffed. That sort of penny pinching is wasteful, and if someone over there doesn't act quick, Kohl's situation will resemble something closer to Kmart, rather than the me-to Target they're shooting for. Businesses like this that fail to recognize the added value of experience, and the limitations of traditional adverting, won't be around much longer, thanks to customers like myself who choose to stop wasting their time with retailers who obviously don't care for them.

What makes it interesting isn't simply that McEnany made the post. It's that commenters on his blog back him up with similar tales of the Kohls near their own homes. It's that he took the time to phone Kohls to let them know about the problem and never heard back. It's that David Polinchock of the Brand Experience Lab picked up on the story and ran with it.

What's extra interesting is that Polinchock is delivering the keynote address at the upcoming National Retail Federation conference and yes, he plans to mention it.

Now, how well do you think you'd fair as a local store manager at that Kohls when the big bosses attending the conference see their brand being criticized as a "don't do this" case study in front of reps from the biggest retailers in the country?

Probably not well.

The little guy's voice isn't as quiet as it used to be, is it?