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.