Social media has been marked as a branding tool, to establish your position with online communities who may not be aware of the services or products you provide. It's also been marked as a marketing tool where interactions and customer comments have driven satisfaction to an all time high. With all we've seen in the last two years, it's hard to ignore the fact that online engagement has changed the way businesses and customers coexist. In most instances it's a positive change, and the this has further pushed the business relationship paradigm to shift.

People are fickle, it's a fact of life. But what happens when the response is overwhelmingly negative? Few companies have pushed back that tidal wave of perceptions and won. Two that come to mind are Walmart and Comcast . Both of these companies overcame tremendous amounts of negativity in order to build the bridges that were so vital to establishing a different identity. The mission of the company remained the same, the goals ultimately may have stayed the same, but these two companies saw that the methods in achieving them needed to be adjusted.

This is the power of engaging people, using word of mouth marketing, and strategically outlining your goals from beginning to end.

The Domino's Effect

Last year, 2009, Domino's suffered from some bad press when employees posted a video of them tampering with customer orders. Domino's failed to respond in a timely manner, when they did it was a scripted and cold apology. Finally, because of their lack of involvement online, connecting with customers, building fan communities, and sharing a piece of their brand with people, they had no "street cred" when it came to online interactions. Their response was viewed as more reactionary rather than truly caring about what people thought. This one case study alone showed the importance of having a visible and engaging presence online.

Domino's suffered greatly from this hit, the negative speak on their brand was growing, the tidal wave seem insurmountable. They took the feedback and re-branded their product from the ground up. Their product line changed entirely from the crust of their pizzas to the toppings. This change was not something that happened behind the scenes, it was out in the open. Domino's created videos expressing their understanding of the negative talk and how they are here to share with all of us, as the customers, their new stance on their brand and what they are doing to make it better.

Is this a good move for Domino's? Only time will tell. I still say they need to bring back the Noid!

Is your business willing to rebuild if necessary?