Update: MapMyRun and Online Brand Management

Hello everyone!

First things first – I apologize for my absence the past week and a half or so. Between the internet being out at home, and a pretty terrible cold, I’ve been out of commission.

Anyway, I have a great short story about online brand management to share.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a “Wouldn’t It Be Great If…” post on a handful of ideas I had for the sites I frequently use. One of my comments was:

…MapMyRun provided functionality with popular social networking sites so marathoners and dieters could share goals and track their successes? (It would also be great if they didn’t require users to pay for a Gold Membership to use their iPhone and BlackBerry apps!)

I even had a couple readers contact me to let me know that they have thought the very same thing in the past! Anyway, time passed and there were new topics to discuss, so you can imagine my surprise when I received an email from MapMyRun’s Editor in Chief this past week.

In a very friendly and non-canned way, he shared information on MapMyRun’s current offerings and let me know that there is more to come in the future:

“I am happy to report that we have in fact improved our social networking capabilities online and within the latest version of our iMapMy apps.  Plus, later this winter we are going to roll out a whole new site redesign with greatly improved overall functionality—including some major enhancements to our social networking interface capabilities.“

Impressive!

Perhaps my favorite part of the email was at the end where he let me know that I could feel free to send an email with any other comments or suggestions to him or Sarah, MapMyRun’s dedicated community & member liaison.

I think that this is a great example of successful online brand management today. I made a suggestion on my own website, and not only did the brand see it, but they responded…

…and not only did they respond, but they responded very positively and encouraged additional feedback in the future…

…and not only did they do all this, but they wrote to me in a nice, friendly, human way, with the Editor in Chief even calling out the fact that he noticed I was from St. Louis, and that he spent some time there.

I think that’s what I appreciate most — the human aspect. Real people are listening and real people are responding. We are living at a very exciting time in business and technology, where the voices of individuals are not only heard, but are recognized.

I hope that as we move into the new decade, more businesses will see the value in this type of online brand management and CRM. It may take some extra time and effort to engage with consumers, but there is no question that the results are mutually beneficial.