Great interview by Shel Israel of KD Paine on Online Brand measurement. As KD explains the software tools used (she mentions Radian6 and BuzzLogic) do a great job but cannot always track sentiment (how would software rate a phrases like 'cool',  'well wicked' or real bad'?). This is where her team of consultants comes in. Adding the human element of analysing and judging tone and sentiment from the blogs and online social media world. She also gives some great examples of companies using knowledge of the online buzz about the company to judge if stating a company blog would have value or not and which parts of social media should be targeted.

Shel Israel has a great interview with Radian6. They have a web based 'dashboard' solution for monitoring blogs, flickr, twitter etc.

All companies need to be concerned about their online brand reputation - what is being said about them and by whom. As Marcel LeBrun says in the interview companies get lots of praise for actually monitoring and responding to comments. Dell is quoted as an example of a company that is very actively engaging with the online community of customers and influencers and has succesfully reduced negative comments.