ReputationDefender
Corporate Online Reputation Management
 
Your Brand & the Internet: It’s a Brave New World The Numbers
Internet users who 78%
I NTRODUCTORY have researched a prod-
With public relations campaigns, advertising strategies and B2B presentations, busi- uct or service online
nesses have historically dictated both the medium and the message for their corpo- Americans who con- 16
rate communications. Times have changed; the Internet is the catalyst. sider the Internet cru- million
cial in making impor-
The bad news is that many small businesses are finding themselves ill-equipped to
tant investment or
manage their corporate brands and reputations online. The good news is that by up- business decisions
dating antiquated business practices and enlisting expert support, businesses can
even the playing field. American Internet us- 89%
ers who have purchased
U NDERSTANDING I NTERNET S EARCH E NGINES goods or services online
Internet search engines, like Google, Yahoo! and MSN, are powerful and user-friendly Americans consulting 45%
resources. The problem is that results that search engines consider most relevant (or Web for information
making a major life
most highly-ranked) do not necessarily provide a complete or accurate
decision
picture of a business’s products, services or more general corporate repu-
tation. Left to their own devices, search engines sift through Internet  
content concerning a corporate entity (much of this content is created by Top 4 Myths of ORM
third-parties) and return results based upon which websites rank highest   People know the Internet

in an engine’s mechanized algorithm.
is full of inaccuracies.
The result is upside down: it is the search engine and not the company  No one is really influ-
enced by the information
they find online.
The Answer: Online Reputation Management
 Once you or your company
T HE O LD G UARD R EMAINS N ECESSARY, B UT IT’ S N O L ONGER S UFFICIENT is attacked online, there
is nothing that can be
Pre-Internet public relations firms are still capable of placing articles for clients in done.
leading publications and news outlets. Advertising firms, both online and off, are as
savy as ever before in reaching a client’s consumer and/or B2B target populations. But  Public relations and ad-
vertising are sufficient for
neither entity is equipped to manage the portrait that the first several pages of an protecting and promoting
Internet search engine paints about a corporate client. your corporate reputation.
In the Internet Age, this is a glaring limitation for traditional corporate brand manage-
 The Internet does not
ment outfits. It begs the need for a third pillar of brand management and that pillar is affect my business.
Online Reputation Management (ORM).
O NLINE R EPUTATION M ANAGEMENT D EFINED
ORM is the method of monitoring and directing Internet content. Many business
leaders mistakenly believe that their successes, perhaps reported in major news out-
lets and industry journals, are naturally carried over to the Internet — that search en-
gines will filter through the morass of online information and present, in the first few
pages of a Google, Yahoo! or MSN search, the ideal representation of their companies.
Creating a company’s preferred online representation requires the support of an expert
ORM firm.
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Page 2 ReputationDefender
ReputationDefender
Corporate Online Reputation Management
ORM: How It Works
No successful business or business professional is without its detractors. On the Internet,
these detractors, both legitimate and not, enjoy thousands of venues through which they
can make their mark. This means that as consumers and industry analysts turn to the
Internet as a primary and trusted medium for gaining information about a corporate en-
tity, that entity’s Internet detractors can become powerful and persistent voices influenc-
ing corporate reputation.
At the same time, Internet search engine results, if managed effectively, provide compa-
nies with a new and invaluable avenue with which corporate reputation can be reinforced.
ORM recognizes that the Internet content a company creates about itself and the com-
mentary created about that company are part of a larger, democratized conversation of
“Search engines are not the Digital Age. ORM harnesses this conversation to create an online search engine image
in the business of that squares with a business or business professional’s intended image. This result is
giving the world the achieved as a function of three techniques:
truth about your
 Insulate the client from reputational attacks from third parties.
company. That work is
up to you and it is up  Ensure the first several pages of a search engine tell the full story of the client.
to your ORM firm.”  Respond to and manage new content created by and about the client.
- Michael Fertik, CEO
ReputationDefender
Note: ORM firms engage in complex mathematical modeling and content creation in order
to produce results for clients.
Case Studies in ORM
The Numbers C ASE S TUDY #1: T HE P RUDENCE OF P ROACTIVE B ASE C OVERAGE
Internet users who 64%
The Company: Gallant Trust (GT) is a small business insurance pro-
say that most or all vider. The firm enjoys a stellar reputation . For years, Gallant has em-
of the information ployed local public relations and advertising firms to protect and pro-
produced by search mote the GT brand.
engines are reliable The Event: A regional newspaper publishes an article quoting one of
and accurate Gallant's smaller, start-up clients as being dissatisfied with the in-
surer's response to various routine claims. Gallant executives are not
Average # of hours 8.9
spent online per
pleased with the article, but they are confident that several well-
Internet user p/wk placed responses will mitigate further fallout.
A New Reality: What Gallant does not anticipate is the effect a single critical arti-
Internet users who 41% cle can have once picked up by the blogosphere, the searchable index of Internet
look online for finan- blogs. Whereas an Internet search prior to the problematic article turned up GT’s
cial information (e.g., website along with related industry and general media links, a search now returns
stock quotes, mort- two full pages of results, almost all criticizing GT’s insurance practices.
gage interest rates)
Aware that existing and potential clients use the Internet daily when considering
  insurance providers, Gallant now has a rather serious brand issue on its hands.
Analysis
This case study represents a situation that businesses and their leaders find them-
selves in everyday. ORM firms like ReputationDefender can effectively manage both
corporate and personnel reputations online, even after you or your business has ex-
  perienced reputational harm.
But it is important to recognize that the more cost-effective and reliable path to effec-
  tive ORM is to insulate your brand and reputation well before sailing into rocky waters
on the Internet. Think of it as Google Insurance.
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www.reputationdefender.com
Case Studies in Active ORM (cont.)
C ASE S TUDY #2: T HE H ALF S TORY & THE F IRE THAT B EGINS IN THE B LOGOSPHERE Spotlight on MyEdge

The Principal: Paul is a managing director at a local consumer bank. For the What
past several months, he has been running point on a large real estate deal. MyEdge delivers a meticu-
The Event: When the deal unexpectedly sours, a “real lous ORM service, tailored to
estate watch” blog devotes considerable attention to client specifications.
its fallout. The blog is picked up by newspapers and At MyEdge, an independent
online forums. Paul’s judgment is called into question team is assigned to each
client.
The Trouble with the Half Story: While Paul has built
over twenty years of transactional experience and the That team is then devoted
bank continues to express confidence in his leadership, this is not what one to defining and protecting a
would gather from conducting an Internet search of Paul’s name. The first client’s corporate or per-
sonal online brand.
pages of Internet search results are populated by articles, blogs and online fo-
rum entries criticizing Paul and the recently failed deal. Why
Analysis A client enlists Reputation-
Defender’s MyEdge exper-
Paul’s online image is suddenly a liability for his professional reputation and, by proxy,
tise for one of three rea-
the reputation of his employer. In a business world where we often Google before we sons:
shake hands, Paul’s circumstance online is not to be left unattended.
1. The client has an existing
 The fiduciary responsibility of a qualified ORM firm, like ReputationDefender, is online brand or reputa-
to ensure that a client’s full story is told over the Internet. tion issue.
2. The client anticipates an
C ASE S TUDY #3: D ISTANCE F ROM P AST M ISFORTUNE , W HY I T TAKES M ORE T HAN TIME online brand or reputa-
The Company & the Principal: Winston Lang is the long-time CEO of Clyde’s, a tion issue.
regional furniture store chain. The client wishes to in-
The Event: Lang resigns unexpectedly when a disgruntled employee leaks an sulate itself from ever
having an online brand or
in-house memo to an Internet forum — a forum read widely
reputation issue.
within the furniture industry. The memo links Lang with de-
cisions made by the Clyde’s design team to replicate popular
furnishings of a leading competitor. Overnight, the scandal
becomes an Internet, print and radio press favorite. The fol- “Companies that get their
lowing three quarters see several outside and core brand sup- hows wrong won't be able
to just hire a P.R. firm to
pliers cancel their orders with Clyde’s. Without these brands,
clean up the mess by a
Clyde’s experiences an unprecedented dip in sales.
taking a couple of
A Different Way Forward: Eighteen months later and under reporters to lunch.”
new leadership, Clyde’s is only beginning to pull its head out -Thomas Friedman, New
of the rabbit’s hole. The company has just turned its first quarterly profit since York Times Columnist
the Lang fiasco and suppliers are beginning to say “yes” to high-level meetings.
But at almost every turn, Clyde’s executives are frustrated by suppliers’ con-
cerns over aligning their own brands with that of Clyde’s. Over a year after the
Lang debacle, the Clyde’s homepage remains flanked by damaging search en-
gine results.
Analysis
Time has passed, but because news articles damaging to Clyde’s are rooted on high-
ranking websites, search engines will not consider these articles considerably less rele-
vant over time.
Without enlisting ORM experts, such articles will remain top search results.


ReputationDefender, Inc.
2694 Middlefield Rd.
Building A
Redwood City, CA 94063-3487 ReputationDefender was created to defend your corporate
1.888.720.9980 reputation and your personal reputation online. We are
1.650.369.0116 (fax) committed to ensuring that the Internet is a medium where
our clients can do business, pursue their passions, apply to
school, apply for a job, explore romance and stay connected
with friends and family, while knowing that their reputations,
safety, and privacy are being protected 24 hours a day.
Our services run across four lines:
 Picasso: A bespoke service, provided to Fortune 1000
companies, CEOs and public figures who expect the very
highest standard of service and results in Online
Reputation Management (ORM). MyEdge delivers a
holistic ORM suite that allows our clients to manage and
control their corporate and/or professional portrait across
leading Internet search engines.

Our commitment is to your
 MyEdge organizes, optimizes and publishes professional
peace of mind.
& personal information online, ensuring bankers, lawyers,
Our job is to watch your back.
doctors, and other professionals’ good names on the Web.
www.reputationdefender.com MyEdge elegantly and strategically places positive
content about individuals or their small business on the
Internet, and makes sure that it shows up in search
engine results. It’s personal PR for the Web!
Sources
Crampton, Thomas. “Shopping Online Grabs  MyReputation/MyChild: A subscription service,
10% of the World’s Population.” The In- delivering a monthly Search® report of all content existing
ternational Herald Tribune. 20 October on the Internet about you or your child. This report is
2005. refreshed monthly and monitored by your personally
assigned and expert MyReputation/MyChild Search Agent.
“Digital Future Report: Year Five.” University
of Southern California, Annenberg School MyReputation/MyChild also furnishes our clients, for an
for Communication. 7 December 2005. additional fee, the opportunity to command the
MyReputation/MyChild Destroy® team to remove
Friedman, Thomas L. “The Whole World is
Watching.” The New York Times. 27 June inaccurate, inappropriate, hurtful and slanderous
2007. information about you and/or your child using our
proprietary in-house methodology.
Horrigan, John and Lee Rainie. “The Internet’s
Growing Role in Life’s Major Moments.”  MyPrivacy: A subscription service, it delivers a monthly
Pew Internet & American Life Project Re- report detailing the hundreds of online phonebooks and
port. 9 August 2007. databrokering websites that house and sell your personal
“Internet Activities.” Pew Internet & Ameri- information, including social security numbers, driver’s
can Life Project. December 2006. 8 Au- license numbers, home address history, income, marriage
gust 2007. and divorce records, email addresses, tax liens and
telephone numbers. At no additional cost, MyPrivacy will
“Life in America.” Techweb: The Business
Technology Network. 15 December 2006.
allow you to correct or remove your most personal
information from these websites and data brokers.