64 BCBusiness July 2014
The tweet by "Thomas" isn't that
unusual in the Twittersphere: disgrun-
tled customer goes public—and per-
sonal—to complain about a corporate
behemoth, most likely assuming the big
machine isn't going to respond. But only
a few moments later, Telus did, in fact,
tweet back at Thomas. "Beg to differ!"
it said. "Her meatballs are delicious. If
you'd like to discuss issues you may be
having, perhaps try @TELUSsupport."
From purchasing decisions to techni-
cal support to customer service, a com-
pany's interactions with its customer
base have changed. People reach out on
social media first: for help, to complain,
to connect with others in the same pre-
dicament. No longer is the company the
expert; the wisdom of the crowd reigns.
And that poses challenges for organiza-
tions whose brand reputations increas-
ingly live online.
While a company's online reputation
has long been important, how that rep-
utation is managed is evolving quickly.
In just a few years, "community manager"
—a job once considered a lower-than-low-
est-rung gig for a junior staff member—
has become a strategy-focused position
that centres on building brand fans from
networks of other brand fans. And that
"If your reading this telus you suck
and your mothers a terrible cook."
p062-069-OnlineReps_july.indd 64 2014-05-29 3:26 PM
