IntelligentEye Blog

There was an article in the news recently about Ryanair and their dealings with someone who had openly created a website entitled "I Hate Ryanair: The Worlds Most Hated Airline".

 

Brand monitoring allows businesses to identify instances in which their company is the target of abuse or under attack from an outside source. Whether those attacks are warranted or not is another matter altogether.

 

I Hate Ryanair was set up by a disgruntled Ryanair passenger who had been subject to a particularly stressful flight along with his wife and new born baby. The website was set up for people to voice their own opinions of the airline and for articles about the failings of Ryanair.  

 

Once Ryanair had identified the website and owner, they were able to contact Nominet, a web arbitration service in charge of the use of domains in the .co.uk namespace. The owner of the website was less in trouble for the content on the site, as it is up to Ryanair to deal with the complaints and criticism of the customers, but more for the fact that money was being made off the back of the content of the website. 

 

A number of links on the site were aimed at earning revenue through clicks from site visitors. Nominet ruled that it wasn't ethical to use the Ryanair name in this way to make money. 

 

The saga continues as I Hate Ryanair has now been moved from the .co.uk domain space and is now using a .org domain name. The links have been removed but people are still free to vent about their experiences with Ryanair.

 

Ryanair were able to identify that this attack on their business was going on through brand monitoring. Brand monitoring has given them the power to step in and take control of the situation and ensure that they are able to address the concerns of their customers.

Do you know what your competitors did today? It is of great importance in today’s fast paced business world that companies keep up with their competitors. This means knowing what they’re doing, what they’re promoting, and how they’re advancing. Competitor monitoring and analysis show you where you stand in comparison to your competitors.

 

There are different types of competitor monitoring, which are useful in different ways. Let’s say, for example, you have an e-commerce store and your sales suddenly drop for no obvious reason. A competitor monitoring service will investigate competitor activities, and can provide you with some possible reasons. Your competitors might have added some new products to give them an edge, or they may have dropped prices.

 

Change is key, and competitor monitoring services aim to survey and analyse any changes that your competitors are making. Such changes might comprise a new product line, a new slogan, a new marketing approach, a change in pricing structure, or even a new brand name. Indeed, there are numerous ways in which a business can change innovatively. More often than not, change is usually positive for that company, but a smart competitor will keep up with their changes. If desired, you may want to counter attack your rival’s new initiative through a new strategy of your own – or you might even feel that the solution is to copy them.

 

Competitor monitoring will tell you about such things as staff updates and new offers via news links. If your competitors are offering something you’re not, you will be informed. Or, they may have brought on board a big name from the industry that puts them above you. A good competitor monitoring service will even tell you where and when your competitors’ name is being mentioned.

 

The business world is often cut-throat, sometimes ruthless and always fast-moving, so it essential to keep track of your competitors. Monitoring services help people and companies know what their business competitors are doing every day; keeping an eye on them, to help ensure that they remain continuously competitive.

 

Every business has rivals. If an idea, product or service is successful, history has shown that inevitably a great number of competitors tend to arise. Some will attempt to corner the market, and some will seek to push boundaries of innovation in their ambition. Others will play it steady and just focus on survival. Ultimately, however, every business seeks customers and therefore profits. All direct competitors are essentially vying for the same customers.

 

Competitor monitoring is necessary for telling you: how your competitors think, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, where they are vulnerable, and, perhaps, where the risk of attack is great too. It can tell you who is currently offering similar products or services to you and who is going to offer similar products or services in the near future.

 

Competitor monitoring services collect, collate and communicate information. The best ones are discreet, ensuring all monitoring is done tactfully. It can be counter-productive if your competitors find out you’re professionally monitoring them, so this is necessarily avoided. Competitor monitoring is not underhand either, and you should only receive information that you are fully entitled to receive.

 

With internet brand abuse on the increase, it has never been more important to establish an online brand protection plan than today. Technology is being altered and updated on a near daily basis so protecting your brand’s integrity is an ongoing task that requires vigilant monitoring. One of the most damaging threats to your brand or trademark online is the increasing problem of cybersquatting or domain name hijacking. Cybersquatting is one of the most prolific forms of online identity theft and has serious implications for your brand name is left unmonitored.

 

Cybersquatters divert traffic away from your company by hijacking your domain name and trading off your company’s reputation and popularity. Not only do cybersquatters divert business away from your company, they may also sell counterfeit products that are often substandard so consumers may associate poor quality with your brand name. 

 

However, most cybersquatters buy up domain names in the hope that they can profit from selling them on to businesses that desire them. In this instance, the squatter can name his or her price and buying back a domain name can often be very costly with no legal guarantee. The good news is that many cases have been brought to court against cybersquatting with companies such as Harrods and Cosmopolitan magazine winning the right to evict cybersquatters and reclaim damages.

 

Cybersquatters can also profit from pay-per-click advertising which can often be damaging to a brand’s image as brand owners have no control over what is advertised on that website. Some advertisements are a direct threat to brands as they often attempt to sell rival products similar to the popular brand that the domain name insinuates it has a connection with.

 

There is also the threat of negative association between an inappropriate advertisement and the brand that appears to endorse it. If you sell children’s products for example, you do not want customers to stumble upon a website that allows pornographic advertisements to be posted where your brand name appears in the domain. 

 

Brand abuse online can take many forms and all facets of trademark infringement must be constantly monitored if a brand is to retain a positive and consistent image to its consumers. Other things to look out for are: phising, social media and forum abuse and Google Adwords abuse. These are all examples of unfair online business practices that could damage your revenue and reputation- ensure that you protect your brand by being aware of the real threat that is online brand abuse. 

 

We live in a very competitive society where we are constantly trying to both offer and receive the best deals going. If we are not looking to offer the best deals, we are at least looking to stay competitive within a given market.

 

As a business this is often key to continuing success, but can be a difficult aspect to keep track of. In previous years there have been teams of staff devoted to following, not only market trends, but also the movements of direct competitors to ensure that nothing is being missed. 

 

With the development of social media and the democratisation of the internet to such a point that anybody can log on and say anything that they like on the most public of all forums, it has gotten a lot easier to follow what competitors are doing. 

 

Competitor monitoring can let you know what moves your competitors are making, what they are offering, when their prices change and even what is going on internally if someone has posted that information in a public place where the content is open for anyone to read. 

 

Competitor monitoring can be a great tool in any businesses arsenal when looking to develop the business and keep it competitive within its specific market.

It was recently reported on Wired.com's DangerRoom blog, that US intelligence officers are looking to monitor social media in order to make better use of readily available, open source intelligence.

 

By monitoring blog posts, tweets and other forms of social media where people can post their thoughts and ideas, intelligence officers hope to be able to read people's reactions to global incidents and to be better prepared to tackle large-scale, planned events. 

 

The scope and usefulness of online intelligence monitoring is fast becoming a key talking point, with various communities finding new and varied uses for the technology. Online monitoring is a powerful tool that can be used to meet the needs of any company, agency or business, so you don't need to be the CIA to take advantage of it. Monitoring can address a variety of needs, from monitoring global terrorist activity, right down to finding out which discussion forums a given brand or persons name appears in. 

 

 

Monitoring the ebb and flow of news and information on the internet isn't always about finding out information related to how your business is doing or how it is viewed in the public eye. Of course this information is very useful, but there is something else that monitoring can do for your business.

 

By consistently watching and listening to what is going on, especially in your market or sector, you should be able to identify market gaps, new opportunities and therefore generate leads for your business. 

 

No matter what you deal in, the internet is an unlimited resource of opportunity, you just have to be looking hard enough and often enough to find it. Luckily there are now monitoring tactics available that do most of the hard work for you, combing the web seeking out relevant information and 'noise'. 

 

What's more actively monitoring can make all the difference between you finding out about something before your competitors do, therefore helping you secure that first-to-market boost.

The term 'media' is fast expanding to include more and more platforms for the delivery of news and information to a media-hungry public. With news sites, blogs, discussion forms, and other types of online news propagation, as well as the traditional off-line media, there is an almost unlimited amount of information out there, much of which published freely and spreads fast.

 

Media monitoring has now been made vastly more effective by the increase in online press activity. It is possible to scan thousands of sites in a relatively short space of time to find out what is being said about a given topic, where things are being said, and whether the overall consensus about the subject is good or bad. 

 

Media monitoring can be useful, if not essential, in a number of ways. For businesses it's a way of keeping up to speed on your public image. Large companies might get a lot of main news coverage which they would want to monitor so that they can assess the impact of such exposure on the business.

 

Smaller businesses may also be in the mainstream press, but they can also benefit from looking into the more democratic media sources, such as blogs and discussion forums. These places are likely to see customers having their say and spreading the word about your business, whether that be good or bad. 

 

Monitoring the media can be a way to find out more about your business and how it is viewed in the public eye. The information can be put to good use developing your business or to ensure that negativity is dealt with in a professional and effective manner. 

The internet is fast becoming the place to be for retail businesses, but also a tool to be used in brand monitoring for businesses that wish to track their customers opinions. 

 

Brand monitoring can let you know where your business sits in the online community and in the online marketplace. As well as seeing the internet as a great place to spend money, people are also increasingly turning to the internet as a place to voice opinions and find information. In a lot of cases, those voiced opinions constitute the information that people are looking for, therefore it pays to know what people are saying about your brand online. 

 

While we all want to get good feedback about our business, there are always going to be instances when negative comments are made about your business. Monitoring can allow you to keep on top of such comments and take action where necessary. We would recommend joining the same discussion boards and social networks as your customers and actively involving yourself in their discussions.

 

By doing this you can let them know that you are taking their comments on board and you can offer suggestions as to how you can resolve the issue or make the service better. You should aim to make it a dialogue, rather than a chance to lash out at your critics. You should see it as an opportunity to get an outside view of the business and use it to improve things that are seen to be lacking.  You can also step in to correct anyone that makes unfounded comments about your business with the sole intention of damaging your reputation.

 

Word travels fast so brand monitoring needs to be an important part of any businesses overall strategy. Keep in touch with your customers and help them to help you have a strong profile in the internet. 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the IntelligentEye blog, where we are going to be discussing the latest news and updates in the world of online business intelligence. 

 

IntelligentEye offers services in brand monitoring, competitor monitoring and media monitoring, which are all becoming increasingly important for businesses who have an online presence, and even those that don't. 

 

You can learn a lot about how your business appears in the online community by monitoring how your brand is being used, who is talking about your business, and what they're saying as well as how your business is being challenged by competitors online. 

 

This information can be used to create opportunities for your business, it can help you to protect your business and it can help you to keep up to date with the latest online trends and movements in your sector. 

 

Keep checking in for the latest news from IntelligentEye.