VB Interview #5 - Mark Rogers, CEO of Market Sentinel (adtech London 07)

I met Mark Rogers after the session about Monitoring Consumer Conversations Online. Market Sentinel helped Avis, the leading car rental company in the UK, to launch their blog WeTryHarder in January 2007. 

Avi's main goal for the blog is to engage with its customers and provide the best customer service.

There is a similarity with the heavily regulated banking industry, and the risk of brand damage. Indeed, the car rental industry has been subject to bad press in the last couple of years. Xavier Vallee, Head of Marketing at Avis UK, proudly admitted that Avis put themselves in the line of fire.

Avis wanted to give their customers the chance to express themselves, they wanted to create a dialog. Xavier and his team make sure they respond to every comment, positive and negative.
Being sincere, honest and showing that you listen can help you not only win back an angry customer but turn to a brand ambassador.
 
Avis approach, with the help of Market Sentinel, is excellent: not only they make sure to respond to every comment on their blog (they have over 300 comments to date) but they also engage with influential industry bloggers, and they proactively browse forums. They surely got inspired by Dell or Sony.

Avis even won an award with their blog: SOCAP Award for innovation in Customer Service.

Mark's advice on how to implement a successful blogging strategy
A blog is an excellent medium to engage with your customers, as long as you make sure you respond to your customer comments.
But how do you show you understand your customers? How can you respond? How can you measure success?