Linda Locke (Principal at Reputare Consulting, formely SVP at MasterCard)

By Rebecca Canan

As I’ve talked about in a previous blog post, it seems there is no limit to the amount of information that people are willing to share on social networking sites.  We are swimming drowning in a sea of data — people are talking candidly about almost everything; their words are being documented publicly on the Web for anyone to see.  How can we leverage all that audience insight in a scalable and smart way to help our reputations?   How can we take an “outside-in” approach to incorporate what stakeholders are saying (and reading) into our own internal reputation management?

We’ll be exploring that BIG question at an upcoming August 12th webinar with Linda Locke from Reputare Consulting – formerly SVP at MasterCard.  We’ll also be joined by Scott Stevener from Monsanto and Karin Kane from Evolve24.  During the session, we’ll show CEC members how they can take advantage of the tools and technologies now available – not only for traditional media monitoring, but also for social media monitoring – and apply them in a way that proactively manages their company’s reputation.  Sound lofty?  Maybe.  Sound impossible?  It’s definitely not.

In preparation for what is sure to be a rich discussion, I recently caught up with Linda Locke to ask her a few questions.  During the webinar, she’ll discuss her experiences and opinions re: how Communications needs to meet the challenge of using monitoring tools to elevate its its value to the company.  Below she talks casually to us about some questions that were on our mind.  CEC members, be sure to join us for the conversation on August 12th!

Rebecca (CEC):  Many companies view media monitoring as something to just “get done” – and they really miss out on the benefits that a smart media monitoring strategy can bring.  What advice do you have for them from your experiences at MasterCard and since then?

Linda: You’ve hit on a central issue that in my mind defines communicators who are positioning themselves to contribute strategically vs. those who may be limiting themselves.  If you choose a [monitoring] platform simply because it seems easy to use, you may be missing out on depth that could change the way you bring value to your organization.  Push yourself and grapple with the sophisticated technologies that can help move your career into a higher gear.  I learned a number of things in my 14 years at MasterCard, heading up measurement and reputation:

• First, you have to recognize the need to create a listening strategy.  The volume of material being created about any company far exceeds the ability of most companies or their agencies to gather manually.  So the initial step is to, at the minimum, identify a platform that will help you track what is being said, across social and traditional media, across channels of communication (including broadcast, print and social media), and across geographies in multiple languages, if you work for a global company or client.  You aren’t looking to track impressions or ad equivalency, but for business intelligence that helps you protect your brand and do your job better.
• Second, learn as much as you can from what you are tracking.  If you have a good platform, it will produce for you rigorous analytics that provide business intelligence.  You should be able to establish research questions and provide answers for your colleagues across the enterprise.
• Third, quantify the impact of your efforts with your platform, and incorporate predictive analytics so you can help your organization, from the Board of Directors down, understand how the company is perceived, and what to do about the perceptions you’d like to change.

Rebecca (CEC): What’s the biggest challenge to overcome as you are starting to more deeply “mine the public dialogue?”  What roadblock will likely crop up that folks should be aware of?

Linda: We have met the enemy, and he is us.”  If you’ve built your career on media relations, it can be hard to change the way you think about your work.  The truth is, if you are still using impressions or AVE to “quantify” the impact of your work, you are sending the wrong message to the company.  You are not using metrics with meaning. You are probably a highly disciplined communicator who works very hard for your company.  It’s time to put that discipline to work and challenge yourself to identify an approach to understanding the information environment in which your brand and products exist, to identify risks and map out solutions.  The tools on the market enable you to perform at a much higher level.

Rebecca (CEC): Can you tell us one fun fact about yourself and/or background?

Linda: 35 years ago I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. Two weeks ago my son returned from a two-year stint as Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova. For his sake we are hoping Romanian is the language of the future.