For many businesses, getting a scathing review or being subjected to a sustained online smear campaign conducted by competitors or commercial rivals can be devastating both personally and financially. In 2012, online reputation management services are set to see a steep rise in demand.

Before the advent of the internet, if a consumer was unhappy with a product or service, they usually had just a few choices. They could contact the business, and failing that, they could file a complaint with the local Better Business Bureau.  

Whether the complaint was resolved or not, unless it rose to the level of a legal matter and a lawsuit, it's impact stopped there. And why?  Because it was almost entirely a private matter.

Today, blogs, complaint sites, and Google Places Pages have given consumers unprecedented power using free outlets for distribution of  their opinions – and consumers are using them!

Businesses of all kinds find themselves confronted with highly visible commentary when searched on Google, Yahoo and Bing….and those same business owners often feel helpless in protecting their online reputation  from these comments, especially if they suspect some may be from competitors.

So, do all these online 'reviews' and comments get read, and really matter?

Apparently so. The New York Times reported a survey by the Opinion Research Corporation, in which 84 percent of Americans say online reviews influence their purchasing decisions.

Having a proactive strategy for disseminating positive customer feedback can often be the best defense against future negative attacks.

RepProtect, a UK-based provider of online reputation management, has seen a sharp rise in the number of companies seeking help on how to manage their online image. A company spokesman explained:

"For small and medium sized businesses, seeing their good name dragged through the digital-mud is hard to take. They often feel helpless and unsure of how to react and try to remedy the problems. The first thing we tend to do when businesses contact us seeking help is to try and establish whether the bad PR is warranted or the result of commercial espionage. Legal recourse is expense and very difficult to pursue unless you have a particularly skilled and experienced lawyer on hand. Our job is to try and help these businesses overcome the problems and turn negatives in to positives."

RepProtect provides online reputation services for businesses in a wide variety of commercial sectors including the motor trade, hospitality, health care and retail. Find out more at www.goodreputation.co.uk

Reputation Management in the Digital Age is a post from: I-Station News

Employee performance appraisals are essential to evaluate the productivity, development and overall motivation of an employee. Formal appraisals are normally conducted annually, with reviews on a quarterly or six-monthly basis.

emPerform, a leading supplier of talent management software for businesses, has stepped in to offer employees the key answers they'll need to research when facing their annual or quarterly appraisals.

They offer these quick tips for assisting employees on the best areas to focus on:

• Approach your employee appraisal answers from an objective point of view. Do not over-score yourself, as this is likely to lead to a conflict with your manager’s results, as they will know how you have performed over the year. This in itself will put you in an uncomfortable position!
• Analyse and report on how your achievements during the course of the appraisal year have contributed towards the overall goals and objectives of the business. This will also help show that you understand your role and the ongoing aims of the organisation.
• List your major achievements for the year; don’t just think about the previous few months. Consider the whole year.

A spokesman for emPerform:

"Employee appraisals can be daunting for many employees, even when they are confident they have performed well in their assessment period. We advise employees to really focus on areas of objectivity and to be careful not to overscore themselves but to be honest and direct about their achievements."

Are you using technology to evaluate the performance of your key employees?

Employee Appraisals in the Digital Age is a post from: I-Station News

Deloitte's State of the Media Democracy (sixth edition) survey assesses media consumption preferences of nearly 2,000 consumers, ages 14 to 75 years old in the United States, revealing significant trends including increased access to content driving consumption, smartphones continuing to challenge other devices, and the role of DVRs in preserving consumers' cable and satellite television subscriptions.

Accessibility Drives Demand

Access to content is increasing American media consumption. Movies are available on a wider array of platforms – home TV via cable, satellite, DVD, pay-per-view and Internet, and online via streaming/downloading to a personal computer, gaming console, smartphone or tablet. As recently as 2009, only 28 percent of Americans reported streaming a movie; today, 42 percent report streaming. 

Moreover, the number of people citing streaming delivery of a movie to their computer or television as their favorite way of watching a movie rose to 14 percent from 4 percent in 2009. Most tellingly, in 2007, 37 percent of people said that they had not viewed a movie, available for purchase or rental, during the past six months. In 2011, that percentage of non-consumers dropped to only 19 percent.

The phenomenon of eBook readers increasing consumer purchases of books is another encouraging sign that digital content married with new devices can increase consumption. While only 23 percent of respondents preferred to be able to download their books, magazines and newspapers to a digital device in 2007, more than one-third of respondents (36 percent) now express interest in this option.

Newspapers have also benefitted from increased accessibility via smartphones. This year's survey found that 20 percent of leading millennials (respondents between the ages of 23 and 28) have read their favorite newspaper in the last six months on a smartphone – up from 9 percent last year. Eleven percent of leading millennials have also stated that this is their favorite method for reading the newspaper – up from 3 percent last year.

"Our data shows that while Americans may be less interested in physical content, their appetite for digital content continues to grow. That appetite, coupled with the introduction of new technologies, is leading consumers to access the content they want on a number of different devices," said Phil Asmundson, vice chairman and U.S. media & telecommunications sector leader, Deloitte LLP. "Consumers may be watching fewer television shows and movies on TV, or reading fewer physical copies of books and newspapers, but they have not stopped consuming the content. They are simply watching or reading on different media or platforms."

Smartphones Challenge Other Devices

Americans' love of smartphones continues to grow. The number of households owning smartphones jumped to 42 percent in 2011 from 25 percent in 2009. Furthermore, the number of consumers interested in purchasing a smartphone in the near future increased to 52 percent in 2011 from 40 percent in 2010.

As adoption of smartphones grows, Americans are beginning to use them as "all in one" devices for a number of different tasks. In 2011 the survey found increases in Americans using: text messaging (up to 78 percent in 2011 from 71 percent in 2009), mobile online search (46 percent in 2011 compared to 30 percent in 2009, GPS for directions (37 percent in 2011 versus 22 percent in 2009) and even online banking, which was tracked for the first time in 2011 (19 percent).

"Smartphones allow consumers to greatly expand a phone's functionality by downloading different applications. As the costs for these types of devices, apps and the wireless services that come with them continue to fall, consumers are starting to shift their behavior, taking advantage of connectivity, performance, and portability that rivals and often beats that of a laptop," said Asmundson. "As 4G rollouts continue and new smartphone technology is introduced, makers of single purpose devices may need to adopt similar business models if they want to remain competitive."

DVRs Represent an Opportunity for Cable and Satellite TV Providers

The survey also shows Americans value cable TV and satellite TV above most other services, and using a DVR is the second-most preferred means of watching one's favorite TV show. Yet, only 44 percent of those surveyed have DVR functionality. This represents an opportunity for cable and satellite TV companies to provide this highly valued viewing capability to millions of additional Americans.

At the same time, a number of Americans have already cut, or are exploring cutting their pay TV connection entirely. Deloitte's survey found that 9 percent of people have already cut the cord and 11 percent are considering doing so because they can watch almost all of their favorite shows online. An additional 15 percent of respondents said that they will most likely watch movies, television programs, and videos from online digital sources (via download or streamed over the Internet) in the near future.

"Consumers have shown that they value DVR functionality, yet the majority of Americans don't have a DVR in the home. This represents a potential opportunity for cable and satellite TV providers," said Asmundson. "In a world where consumers have other ways to access content, the DVR may be an underutilized service that could serve as a value-add for new and existing subscribers at minimal cost to cable and satellite TV companies."

Digital Media Accessibility Drives Demand is a post from: I-Station News

The Smart Screen Digital Directory features the latest touchscreen technology, and has been deployed in Westgate Mall in Boston and Galleria at Fort Lauderdale – both new malls to the Adspace Digital Mall Network.

Features of the directory include robust search functionality that allows shoppers to search by store name or category. Once a destination is chosen, a line draws out the path from the user’s current location to the requested destination. It also prominently displays directions to elevators, restrooms and restaurants.

“This is a logical product extension for Adspace Networks. It’s what the mall developers and editorial partners have been asking for,” said Bill Ketcham, executive vice president and CMO, Adspace Networks. “We aim to be the one-stop resource for the best deals in the mall – and now we can show shoppers how to navigate to them.”

In other company news, Adspace has taken over programming and ad sales on the 26 screen LCD network deployed at the Beverly Center, a premiere mall in Los Angeles. The screens are located throughout the parking facilities, escalator banks, and guest services.

Adspace continued its technological and retail innovation with the installation of outdoor Smart Screens in the network’s first outlet mall. “The Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City” features upscale retailers such as DKNY and Polo Ralph Lauren.

The 24 mall expansion in 2011 was capped off with the addition of three premiere Class A malls: Bridgewater Commons in Bridgewater, NJ (NY DMA), The Mall in Columbia (Md.), and finally the historic South Street Seaport Mall in Manhattan, which includes the network’s first large landscape format screen.

“We are continuing to explore different opportunities in the digital mall media space,” said Dominick Porco, chairman and CEO, Adspace Networks. “Digital directories and all-weather Smart Screens demonstrate our flexible approach to giving mall shoppers the digital content they crave, enhancing their shopping experience and driving engagement for our advertising partners.”

AdSpace Launches Digital Mall Advertising is a post from: I-Station News

As the app gains popularity, parental groups and media outlets alike are outraged that the app, which takes a picture and scans it using facial recognition, generates derogatory comments based on your “ugliness score.”

“Your face looks like it was in the dryer with a bunch of rocks,” it might say, or, “When you walk past a bathroom, the toilet flushes.” These remarks and photos can then be posted on social media networks like Facebook or Twitter.

Stephen Balkam, CEO of Washington-based Family Online Safety Institute, told the New York Post: “I can see that the guys who programmed it were having a bit of fun and all … If you’re 25, 26 or 28, this sort of thing could be quite funny or amusing. But in the hands of a 14- or 15-year-old, it could be quite the reverse.”

Now that the Ugly Meter has reached 3 million users, bullies are allegedly using it nationwide in many of our public schools, most likely under the radar of school administrators and staff.

The Harvard Crimson posits that the key is not censorship, but education. “The existence of the Ugly Meter application does make clear the increased need to educate kids about technology as the age at which individuals are exposed to the Internet and applications steadily becomes younger … In the school environment, educators should also look out for their students’ well-being.”

Dr. Gwenn O’Keeffe, author of “Cybersafe: Protecting and Empowering Kids in the Digital World of Texting, Gaming and Social Media,” seems to agree. “There’s a fine line between teasing and razzing one another … [This app] is just hurtful. It could have crushing blows on kids with low self-esteem. There’s just nothing good that could come from an app like this.”

Awareness Technologies, a development company that many parents use to monitor their child’s online activities, issued a warning saying, “A newly released $0.99 iPhone app called ‘Ugly Meter’ is the latest tool that creates opportunities for cyber-bullying, the online pandemic causing severe emotional and psychological pain to children across the nation. … Apps like Ugly Meter are ripe for cyberbullies to use in tormenting their peers.”

So far the creators of the app insist that its purpose is for “fun” and “humorous purposes.” One of the creators, Jo Overline, remarked to news outlets: “All of our insults are PG-rated. We kept it pretty clean. There will always be bullies out there and we can’t control what they do. Parents need to take responsibility for their children and stop trying to blame the media.”

Anti Bullying iPhone App Reaches 3m Users is a post from: I-Station News

In line with its vision to deliver news to its growing target audience around the world, the Saudi Research and Publishing Company (SRPC) is set to launch native Android apps for all its publications starting with Asarq Al Awsat, the pioneering pan-Arab daily and the world’s most trusted source of Arab news.

This project comes as a part of the company’s strategy to deliver the content of its various publications on the latest platforms such as iPhone, iPad, smart mobile and Android.

“Asharq Al-Awsat” (AAA) is the most influential newspaper that attracts a large audience base. Saudi Research and Marketing Group is determined to leverage the leading position of AAA through the launch of its native Android app to be followed later on by similar native apps for the other SRPC’s publications. “We strongly believe that this launch will help widen the reach of the newspaper among its sophisticated audience worldwide,” Dr. Azzam Al Dakhil, SRMG’s CEO, said.

The AAA Android app, developed by KnowledgeView, displays Arabic content and multimedia for Arabic and non-Arabic supported devices.

The KnowledgeView’s advanced Android app technology allows offline browsing and sharing content through Facebook, Twitter and by email.

SRPC has chosen KnowledgeView after performing a thorough examination of the different technologies available worldwide.

“We are proud to have established a strategic partnership with SRMG, the largest publisher in the Arab world, especially on the digital technology front. Developing advanced and solid native apps for SRMG’s publications in such a little time is a great challenge we were happy to take and we look forward to more success stories with the group to help raising the bar in the ever changing and fast moving world of technology and content delivery,” Dr. Ali Al Assam, KnowledgeVie CEO, concluded.

First Arab News App Launched is a post from: I-Station News