Branded Tagging
I have to thank Ernie Mosteller for blogging about my use - and possible coining of - the term “Branded Tagging” even before I got a chance to.
If I’m the ‘owner’ of this term…great (I first used it on 8/05/06). If not, it doesn’t really matter does it?
So what is Branded Tagging anyway? Well, as you may already know, tagging is a methodology associated with Folksonomy and is a way of identifying content with a certain keywords.
The process of folksonomic tagging is intended to make a body of information increasingly easier to search, discover, and navigate over time. -Wikipedia
Branded tagging is the process of folksonomic tagging which is intended to make content relatable to a brand - whether that brand wants that association or not. -Peter S. Corbett
Examples:
- Negative Brand Tagging: A web user reads an article about how SUVs are exacerbating global warming. In their del.icio.us account that user can tag that content with “Hummer”. The tag in del.icio.us for the keyword Hummer just shifted a little towards the negative side.
- Positive Brand Tagging: Peter Corbett visits www.adrants.com, reads a post about something Steve Hall felt compelled to write about, and comments on it. Within that comment section the commenter’s name could either be my own, or the Brand I’d like to attached to that comment/article. Namely, I could comment with “Blattner Brunner” as the commenter name so that people will associate my knowledgeable response with the agency I work for - better yet, I can link my Branded Tag to the Blattner Brunner homepage.
The point is that content can be associated with brands whether those brands like it or not. More than ever consumer have control over the brand.
I guess the customer is always right…
