Who is in Control of a Company's Brand?

       Tomorrow is the first exam of the quarter in my Social Media Class. While reviewing, I stumbled upon this quote in the book Groundswell by Josh Bernoff:

     The value of a brand belongs to the market, and not to the company. The company in this sense is a tool to create value for the brand...Brand in this sense--it lives outside the company, not in the company. When I say that the management is not prepared for dealing with the brand, it is because in their mind-set they are managing a closed structure that is the company. The brand is an open structure--they don't know how to manage an open structure.

      My interpretation of this argument is that the public contributes a great deal to a company's brand. I do not think this is necessarily the case. While people have the opportunity to interact with company websites, and forums, at the end of the day a brand concept is created by the company itself. Feel free to disagree, that is why I am re-posting this quote, to spark discussion!

      The term brand can be defined several ways. My personal definition of a brand is in the details. For example, a retailer's brand begins with the way customers are greeted when they enter stores. It is then reinforced through tangibles such as lighting, store design, logos, bags, pricing and displays. A brand is the complete embodiment of an organization. To me, a brand is ideals on paper brought to life by hand-picked designers and a thoughtfully crafted web-persona. I feel social media can be used as a great extension of a brand, but the brand does not begin and end online. Social media may also serve as an indicator of how well a brand reads to its customers. If the brand is negatively received it is a lot easier to spot using online forums and comments. In conclusion, while a brand can be expanded upon online using social media tools, I believe the majority of a brand is still in each company's control.

Eager as always to hear your thoughts!

You Digg?

     
     The book Groundswell has inspired me to explore unconventional social media sites. Lately, I have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of news stories I come in contact with throughout the day.  There are talk shows, news programs, newspapers, peer groups and internet sites all trying to win my attention.  As a college student, it is difficult to find time to search through the bulk of news in order to find a few articles that are relevant to my life.  
    Groundswell suggests Digg.com as a great social media tool. This site is similar to the "like it" button on Facebook.  It expresses approval, and more approvals lead to higher  ratings.  Stories on Digg are essentially ranked by popularity. 
     Digg.com seems ideal for a girl like me, so here goes nothing.  Today I joined the Digg World. My first impression of this site is very positive.  The fact that articles are grouped by category makes maneuvering around the site incredibly easy.  The Business section and Lifestyles sections are most relevant to my life. In the next few weeks I look forward to reading top rated stores from these categories.  At first glance, I  also enjoy the section denoted "Hot Stories on Dig." Under this particular heading, I found an article called, "The Safest Countries in the World." After Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti and the Tsunami in Japan, I am curious which places are the most prone to disaster, and which are least prone.  "The Safest Countries in the World," lists Storrs, Connecticut as the safest state in the United States.  Overall, this site names Estoni,a Qatar, Bahrain the United Arab Emirates and Andorra the safest place to live.  Ratings are based on disasters in the past century. All of the countries listed have not experienced any monumental disasters in over 100 years. I found this article to be fascinating.  Hopefully the rest of my experiences with this site are as fruitful.  
    My question to my readers is this: Do you Digg? If not, is there a site that you prefer for discovering top news stories? Keep reading my blog because for the next week I will be checking Digg daily and make sure I report back with my satisfaction level. Thank you all for taking this social media journey with me. My hopes are to eventually master alternate media outlets in order to compete in the field of Marketing.