Reflecting on the recent untimely passing of infomercial king Billy Mays (think Oxyclean pitchman) made me realize that in some ways, Billy and evolve24 could have been a match made in reputation management heaven. Thinking about Billy’s work, I realized that Billy innately understood the power of perception and trust in brand reputation management. He realized the need for quantitative measurement of relationships between brand-related messages, customer perceptions, and product sales.

Billy Mays $1 billion dollar empire at the time of his death was built upon the strategies that evolve24 uses to help global companies achieve their financial and strategic goals and realize value through the management of brand reputation. People were buying based on Billy Mays’ reputation as much as they were on the actual attributes of the products he sold. Through the art of audience targeting, program impact measurement and message tracking, he had the insight to make his brand one we knew, loved, and trusted.

A master of his trade, Billy Mays knew his audiences and he knew them well. For those who argue that personal branding does not generate sales, they have not seen Billy Mays in action. Billy single-handedly brought to life 30 popular brand names by having an expertise in brand reputation management. A personal endorsement from Billy Mays resulted in millions in revenue and satisfied customers. Because people trusted him and his brand, he made it easier for them to open up to new products.

Perhaps even more important than his amazing power to influence purchasing was Billy’s requirement to understand and measure every step and facet of his marketing strategies and their outcomes. Through this measurement, he was always evolving his brand strategy and staying one step ahead of both his audience and his competition. A true champion to the evolve24 cause that accurate measurement of perception is the key to brand success, Billy ran exhaustive testing before and during the launch of a broad campaign. He wanted to ensure the product message he was sending resonated with the audience he was targeting. Then through media analysis and customer surveys Billy measured the overall success and impact of his messages on product sales.

evolve24’s Mirror for Marketing would have been Billy’s ticket to taking over the world. Through the Mirror, Billy would have been able to show a direct quantitative link between brand messages, shifts in perception and consumer-purchasing behavior as reflected in media discourse. evolve24’s Mirror would have given him the tools to gain insight into just how valuable and in turn just how powerful the Billy Mays brand could have been.