Interview with Nick Sharples, Director of Corporate Communications, Sony

In the wake of the PS3 crisis, Sony is a brand that understands the need for speedy online reputation management.  I interviewed Nick Sharples, Director of Corporate Communications at Sony.


What has been the impact of social media on brand reputation?

The two key features of Social Media as they impact on brand reputation are reach and immediacy. Building a positive brand reputation online is as prolonged and multi faceted a journey as it is offline, but destroying a reputation can be done in a matter of minutes and the damage can be spread globally to an enormous audience. The increasing porosity between the online and offline environment means that damaging comment in the online world is much more readily transferred to traditional media than in the past.


What is the biggest opportunity of online media?

For a consumer centric organisation like Sony, Social Media and the wider online environment offers the opportunity to get closer to our consumers and engage with them in a channel of their choosing. By far the greatest value is in advocacy. Developing strong, meaningful relationships with influencers, Sony is able to encourage credible communication through third party recommendation and increased word of mouth. Ultimately this engenders increased trust in the brand: turning passives into vocal advocates and advocates into brand ambassadors. It also offers a great opportunity for customer service innovation in responding to questions, addressing issues as they arise and providing a positive experience for our consumers.


What is the biggest mistake brands make when trying to manage their reputation online?

If there was just one it would be all too easy. There are so many ways to get it wrong, but perhaps some of the worst offenders, in no particular order, are not being authentic in your tone and manner online, trying to repair your reputational issues on your own web site rather than on the channels your detractors are using to attack you, using agencies and sub contractors with only a superficial knowledge of your brand to defend your reputation, not moving fast enough to address a reputational issue and not using every channel available to you to address the issues.


What does a rise in consumer power mean for brands like Sony?

Consumers have so many ways to consider, research, review and choose their purchase in the online environment, and as a consumer centric company this rise of consumer power allows us to engage with our consumers on many more levels and through many more channels than previously. The downside of the increased visibility is a need to ensure consistency and excellence in each and every one of the communications we have with our consumers. It is a tall order for a global company such as Sony, but one that is absolutely essential if we are to live the reputation of the Sony brand.


What trends should we be looking out for over the next 12/24 months?

Consumers are already adopting more than one social network. In fact 52% of networkers have more than one profile. The proliferation of different social connections will eventually result in the use of aggregation tools to manage a suite of social networks. Consumers will use one portal in which to connect to friends, colleagues and acquaintances through a variety of differing social media. For a brand like Sony the challenge will be maintaining a presence, managing consistent conversations and delivering value across multiple consumer touch points!
This year will also see the rise of location based social media; tying mobile more tightly into the online social networks. Already Foursquare has grabbed consumer and brand attention, and as we move from early adopters, I suspect that this will be just the start of a new gamut of location based social applications.


How do you decide which social platforms are right for your brand?

Generally speaking, if our consumers and influencers are using a particular social media platform then that is the place we need to be. There are other mainstream platforms which recommend themselves simply because of the huge number of users, but a targeted approach and a unique offering is required on these sites to enable us to cut through the noise.


Which brands do you most admire, and why?

It is hard not to admire Apple. Their single minded focus on design led consumer electronic products, their ability to surprise the market and keep leaks to a minimum is a model often emulated but not yet bettered - so far!


Who would you recommend to follow on twitter?

The Sony Europe Twitter feed is a natural choice


What's the worst thing about your job?

I travel a fair amount of time for business and having to leave on a weekend to be in time for Monday morning meetings is certainly an aspect of the job that my 8 year old son is less than happy about.

What are your three most played songs on your ipod?

I really couldn’t tell you. I have a selection of songs with a beat that encourages me to keep to a decent pace whilst running in the gym or on the road. The shuffle feature makes it so much easier.


Nick will be sharing some more insights on how to tap into the power of online PR and reputation management as a tool to build your business at Online PR and Reputation Management World 2010, from 22-23 June in London.

Could you handle a crisis better than say... Toyota?

How would you handle a PR crisis in your organisation?

Last month, Toyota was in the midst of a public relations nightmare and their failure to deal quickly and effectively with their crisis has been the driver for much analysis and debate over the ensuing weeks.

Online, feedback on the way in which Toyota handled the situation has been mainly negative:

"Toyota suggested that the drivers of the vehicles might be ‘in error: a cardinal failure. The customer may not always be right, but even if they are wrong, you don’t tell them so"

"The company’s crisis management was invisible. When things go wrong, the public expects to see leadership from the top"

"When a company makes a mistake, it needs to apologise with honesty, speed and conviction"

"Toyota has handled the issue dreadfully. They have been somewhat in denial"

How would you have handled the situation differently?

What tools would you have used to help?

What do you think Toyota should do now - what are their options?

What experiences can you share?