OPEN

In one of the finest installments of In The Thick Of It, The Rise of the Nutters, the Tory shadow minister confronted with a suggestion that he starts a blog looks as disgusted and dejected as anyone could do and in a surrendering tone asks:

I mean, have you ever Googled your own name? It’s like opening a door to a room where everyone hates you.

A lot of brand managers would know exactly what he means. But sometime, everyone needs to do it.

In an excellent article for BusinessWeek’s Customer Champions issue, Jeff Jarvis asks us not only to Google our brands but to go and embrace those who are doing the hating.

….don’t get mad at these people. Instead, help them get even with you. These angry customers are doing you a great favor. They care enough about your product or service to tell you exactly what went wrong. Other customers may just desert you and head to the competition. But these are telling you what to fix. Listen to them. Help them. Respond to them. Ask their advice—and they’ll give it to you.

And of course, he’s exactly right.

: : Bonus The Thick of It quote – which IMDB reminded me of:

Terri Coverley: [on the phone, about Peter Mannion in the Immigration center] When everyone went out of the office he just Googled his name.
Malcolm Tucker: Yeah, that’s always fun. Although I find it quicker just to poke needles in my eyes.