Devoted to online marketing, viral marketing, and web marketing

We talked about the way the poison popcorn butter flavoring story took off and how we need to take actions on certain viral events that may impact us.

The release of the nude photo of Vanessa Hudgens online is another case in point. It has been mostly thrown around as a possibility it was her, until today a representative for Hudgens confirmed it was her photo.

Now she faces a huge branding problem. The first question is of course whether she is the one who released it in the first place. If that's the case (which I don't think it is), then the rest we talk about is a mute point as far as it relates to her.

The comments by her representative seem to indicate it didn't originate with her.

"This was a photo which was taken privately. It is a personal matter and it is unfortunate that this has become public," he said.

Now she is in negotiations for the ongoing, wholesome "High School Musical" franchise with Disney. Already having turned down a $1 million offer, it may come back to haunt her.

So here we have another negative branding, viral situation.

If she didn't initiate this, her handlers and Vanessa need to take steps to change her suddenly changed personal brand and image. She has went about as viral as she could go with this happening to her.

While she can't take back the picture, she can take back who she is if she chooses to. In other words she can confirm herself as a brand if that's what she wants to do.

This is another one of those surprise viral instances that can happen to anyone at any time.

Other than being careful who your friends are, which obviously was where this photo had to have come from - it even could have been her boyfriend from the High School Musical series, Zac Efron - which would have kept this from happening in the first place, there are a couple things that can be done.

The first is you've got to decide what your brand is and then live it. To be one thing as a brand and another in your private life is really no longer acceptable. That way there won't be two different personas of you individually or as a company coming forth. Know who you are and what you represent! That way you won't get caught faking it. For you it will be real.

Second, if something inadvertantly gets out like it already has with Vanessa, it could be time to stand up for herself and say it was an anomaly. Vanessa, through her representative already said it was a "personal matter."

It's too bad he didn't elaborate. It could have been said her and a friend were goofing off and the picture was taken. That's something that could be understood. Again, it depends on whether she's changing her brand purposefully, or it was something someone did to hurt or embarrass her.

The problem she faces now is whether she had plans to continue on with High School Musical or not. Her image in it is now tarnished. She simply won't be looked at the same any more.

Another problem is this has become a huge story on the Internet and having a big impact on her life. The silence is deafening for her, and it's a mistake to let it continue on with no comment other than saying the picture wasn't meant for the public. That doesn't say a thing about Vanessa as a brand.

If she says nothing personally or through her representatives, her brand will be taken away from her and presented as people want it to be. That is a huge mistake.

We have to consider this when our brand comes under attack. There are times to be silent and a time to be aggressive. We must answer anything that attempts to redefine who we are as individual brands or a company. Vanessa has definitely been redefined. Now she must answer back with her own definition if she wants to take back control

To do nothing is to accept the definition now placed upon her. If that's not her plan, than it can't be an acceptable alternative.

In the end, Vanessa, and we too, can have our brands hijacked. The only way to battle that is to make sure we live our brand and continually define what our brand is. Even in difficult times like these these steps must be taken.