In 1645, Oliver Cromwell took the lead of a ‘New Model Army’ revolutionising Britain’s approach to warfare. For the PR industry, the transformation brought about by the Internet means that we have also had to learn how to raise new armies and maintain their loyalty to help us strengthen or protect the brands we work with. Our new model of army doesn’t include the journalists of yore, but consumers, customers, punters, you know …. people.

Last week saw a perfect example with the release of Google’s Nexus One. This prompted a lot of media debate on the merits of the new phone when compared to the iPhone and other “super phones”.  Even The Times saw fit to run a full page review of the leading smart phones in much the same way as Mashable and Techcrunch.

Beyond the comparisons of the traditional media, one of the most visible battlefields in which the rivalry between mobile phones is played out is Twitter. The micro-blogging site was overrun for days with #Googlenexus1, #Nexus1, #beware of blackberry, #Teamiphone, #Droid, and #Tmobile.

Particularly interesting are the emotionally loaded examples like #teamiphone and #teamblackberry. These armies, the modern equivalents of roundheads and cavaliers, demonstrate a wellspring of online support for the brands in question. In fact, almost all tweets about the mobile hashtags quoted betrayed a strong positive or negative sentiment.

How did these armies come about? Brand loyalty begins with a good product and/or service. But in the digital age, communities that coalesce around brands have become an integral part of the personal brand experience. We’ve always had word of mouth, but the internet has given communities scale, a sense of power and a sense of ownership which prompts them to join the battle. Brand experience has become a truly communal activity.

So, whether you’re a Charles I or a Cromwell, rallying your internet armies has become one of the most important functions of PR. Groups that support or attack your brand may have sprung up organically, in which case the PR’s job is to engage with the established leading voices to maintain and strengthen loyalty. Where these don’t exist, an active strategy to build them should be developed. It’s no good thinking about it once war against you has been declared.

Whether your army exists or needs to be created, the fact is that there are too many online conversations going on for a brand to be actively engaged in all of them. Nurturing your army of online supporters to ensure they promote your product or defend you in a crisis is where the modern PR battles of Marston Moor are won or lost. A case in point was when Tmobile was the subject of criticism following a rumour that it was to be the exclusive carrier for Nexus 1. Its fan base came to the rescue offering countless positive testaments to Tmobile’s good service.

The role for PR practitioners in all this is pivotal. PR is the only marketing discipline that is used to negotiating with people who have no commercial reason to engage with you to generate positive coverage of brands. It is also the only discipline that has the expertise to deal with a backlash and can provide clients with objective advice on whether to surrender to the baying mob or stand their ground.

Keeping up the morale of your online army needs a lot of work. Maintaining relationships with your generals, creating bespoke content or events, providing access to new information first, working with marketing departments to create exclusive deals and offers that resonate, and developing a tone of voice that strengthens the bond between brand and consumer all have a role. But we must all realise that business reputation will continue to depend increasingly on the debate and rivalry between online supporters and detractors.

Martin is MD at Propeller PR.