Online Branding Report - Kinder Morgan

Online Branding Report
MAY 2013
TIM HOWARD, PRESIDENT/CEO
IR SMARTT INC. - 401 CONGRESS AVE, SUITE 1540
AUSTIN, TEXAS, 78710.
C: 512-568-7405 E: TIM @ IRSMARTT.COM

Online Branding Report | 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................................2
WHAT IS ONLINE BRANDING?..........................................................................................................................3
KINDER MORGAN .............................................................................................................................................6
The Company..................................................................................................................................................6
Google Search Results.....................................................................................................................................6
Online Resources.............................................................................................................................................8
Social Media Profiles .....................................................................................................................................10
Multimedia....................................................................................................................................................15
Executive Branding........................................................................................................................................ 17
Investment Communities...............................................................................................................................18
Positive Sentiment ........................................................................................................................................22
Negative Sentiment ......................................................................................................................................23
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................................25
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
During an Online Branding Report, IR Smartt conducts an exhaustive analysis of every online mention of the
company in the past year. The Online Branding Report is the first document delivered to a new client after
signing a 12 to 24 month contract with us. In some circumstances, we will provide an Online Branding Report to
a current client or partner profiling a competitor of theirs.
The following is an Online Branding report requested by a partner of ours in Houston, TX. It profiles a client’s
competitor, the Energy and Pipeline company Kinder Morgan.
Within this document, Kinder Morgan companies will be referred to using their ‘Cashtags’ $KMI, $KMP and
$KMR. Cashtags are a web-based nomenclature that references a public company using the $ sign and a
company’s stock symbol. They were originally championed by StockTwits and have become popular amongst
investors when discussing stocks online. Cashtags are now also widely used by search engines and Social
Networks to denote a company.

WHAT IS ONLINE BRANDING?
When we use the term ‘Online Branding’, we’re referring to how a public company appears online to a
potential or existing stakeholder. When preparing an Online Branding Report, IR Smartt analyzes:
GOOGLE SEARCH RESULTS
Since ~ 60% of traffic to a public company website comes through Google search for the company name, we
see this page as being more important than the home page of the company’s website. We consider:
- What does someone see when they ‘Google’ the company?
- What would they do next based on the results?
- How many of the page #1 results are ‘owned’ by the company?
- How professional does the organization appear?
- How streamlined is the branding on page #1 of results?
- Is there prominent negative sentiment on page #1 of results?
- How well optimized is the company’s website? (yes, we can tell from search results)
ONLINE RESOURCES
Dozens of resources exist online that provide information to the average investor. These range from business
directories to wikis and news websites that store profiles of public companies and their management. We
analyze the information in these forums for accuracy and make adjustments where necessary to comply with
official company branding. We remove negative sentiment where possible and reduce the risk of this occurring
in the future. Source we examine include:
- Wikipedia
- Forbes
- Google Local
- Wiki Invest

SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES
Less than 10% of Fortune 500 companies control all of the first page results when you Google their company
name. Creating and maintaining Social Media profiles is one of the most cost-effective ways to change this and
control the major aspect of online branding. In our report, we consider:
- Does the company actively use Social Media profiles?
- Do Social Media profiles exist that the company is unaware of? (This is almost always the case)
- Do the company’s Social Media profiles appear on page #1 of search results?
- Social Networks we examine include: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+
Throughout this document we use the term “claiming” when referring to Social Media profiles. Claiming is a
process that takes place when a Social Media profile in the company’s name is found, the Social Network is
alerted that the company would like to seize control of this profile and the Social Network allows this to
happen. This usually occurs when false or fake accounts have been created in the company’s name.
MULTIMEDIA
Simple recording devices and editing tools are rapidly increasing the influence of multimedia content.
In our report, we consider:
- Does the company actively use Multimedia to communicate with stakeholders?
- Does multimedia content exist that the company is unaware of? (very common)
- Does video content appear on page #1 of web search results?
- Networks include: YouTube, Slideshare, Vimeo
EXECUTIVE BRANDING
With the SEC’s 2013 Guidance on Social Media, company executives have become increasingly valuable IR
tools. Many of the C-Suite at the world’s largest companies don’t use Social Media at all. In spite of this, the
Internet contains a huge amount of information about company executives that can greatly influence the
impression of the company that potential stakeholders receive. We recommend getting “ahead of the
message” by proactively branding company executives in Social Media.

INVESTMENT COMMUNITIES
Investors (both retail and institutional) regularly collaborate on investment strategies as part of online
communities. Most public companies have yet to take advantage of active participation in these groups. They
represent a huge opportunity to get out in front of the message and control the discussion people are having
about your organization. StockTwits and Seeking Alpha particularly are the perfect places to practice risk
avoidance.
During an Online Branding Report, we consider what people are saying about the company in:
- Yahoo Finance
- StockTwits
- Seeking Alpha
- Motley Fool
- Bloomberg
POSITIVE SENTIMENT
This Online Branding Report provides a snapshot of positive sentiment for the company during the past 12
months. This might include news, videos, analyst commentary, discussions etc. IR Smartt looks at the overall
impression that a potential stakeholder would take from researching the company and also looks for
opportunities to make the most positive sentiment more prominent.
NEGATIVE SENTIMENT
This Online Branding Report also provides an overview of any news or conversations online that could have a
negative impact on company branding. This might include anything from community groups, anti-company
propaganda, fake Social Media profiles and poorly-researched market analysis. As part of our Social
Engagement service, we work to overcome negative sentiment wherever possible.

KINDER MORGAN
The Company
Kinder Morgan has four publicly traded entities with varying levels of unique Online Branding. All four have
their own listings in financial networks. However, they all use the same website and Social Media profiles.
- $KMI - Kinder Morgan, Inc.
- $KMP - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners
- $KMR - Kinder Morgan Management, LLC
- $EPB - El Paso Pipeline Partners
Google Search Results
$KMI
- Website provides the first 4 results
- Google Finance stock information is visible; indicates company is well respected
- Maps results visible with data pulled from Google Local listing
- Google Local listing is unclaimed by the company; open to being claimed by someone else
- No video results on web search
- No image results on web search; indicates poor image tagging
- News results very prominent
- Wikipedia listing on page #1
- Google and Yahoo Finance profiles on page #1 but not claimed by the company
- Prominent Negative Advertising on company keywords
-

- Sitelinks to website pages are visible below meta description (indicates good website optimization)
$KMP
- Sitelinks are visible below Meta description (again, good SEO)
- Google Finance stock information is visible
- No Maps results or location information
- No video results on web search
- No image results on web search
- News results very prominent
- Wikipedia listing on page #1 (result 3)
- No advertising on company keywords
- Google and Yahoo finance profiles on page #1 but not claimed by the company
$KMR
- First result points to $KMR within the primary website
- Google Finance stock information is visible
- No Maps results or location information
- Wikipedia listing on page #1 (result 9)
- No advertising on company keywords
- Google and Yahoo finance profiles on page #1 but not claimed by the company
- News visible but at bottom of the page

Online Resources
WIKIPEDIA PAGES
Whether they know it or not, most major public companies have a Wikipedia page dedicated to them. In the
case of Kinder Morgan, one or more Wikipedia users have created pages that are intended to reflect poorly on
both $KMI and $KMP. Wikipedia pages rank particularly high in a Google Search for the company name. Even
though it is possible to submit other content or have the existing content removed, Kinder Morgan has done
nothing to overcome these negative references. It’s also important to realize that Wikipedia pages are the most
linked-to pages by other websites – so potentially, hundreds of other websites could be driving people to these
pages.
$KMI
- Limited information about the company
- Brief description of the CEO’s role
- Limited company history
- Extensive content covering spills and accidents
- No mention of success, technology and community outreach
- All projects painted in a negative light
- No information about market success or value to investors
$KMP
- Very limited information about the company
- No information about management or directors
- No company history
- Extensive content covering spills and accidents
- Photos of accidents
- Negative description of regulatory oversight
- Refers negatively to former Enron employees with the company
- No mention of success, projects or community outreach

GOOGLE LOCAL LISTINGS
Google Local Listings are the continuation of the now outdated Google Places application. Google Local listings
are important because when a user ‘Googles’ the company name, they will regularly be displayed in search
results. This is because Google’s algorithm assumes that the business is a retail location like a bakery etc.
$KMI
- Contact info is correct
- Unclaimed by the company
- No official company branding
- No images
- Not linked to Google+ listing
- No reviews of the location
- No link to company website
- No company financial information
- No +1s
- No cover image or financial info
$KMP
- Contact info is correct
- Unclaimed by the company
- No official company branding
- No images
- Not linked to Google+ listing
- No reviews of the location
- No links to company website
- No company financial information
- No +1s
- No cover image or financial info

Social Media Profiles
TWITTER
$KMI
Kinder Morgan has chosen to use just one corporate Twitter account rather than a unique account for each
publicly traded entity. This strategy reduces the reach of the company within Twitter and its ability to interact
with the different stakeholders of its subsidiaries. The branding on the official Twitter account also leaves a lot
to be desired. In particular the account has:
- No header image
- A background image that doesn’t fit a standard 13’3’’ monitor
- No $cashtag in description text
- No stock info in background or header images
- No ‘conversational’ Tweets with stakeholders or analysts
- No use of $cashtags in Tweets
- Only followed 4 users, none of them influencers
- Repeated questions have asked by stakeholders without response
There are several employees of the company who have mentioned this in their Twitter profiles. These
employee accounts have not been created according to any internal company style-guide and presumably are
not distribution channels for material disclosures according to the company’s Form 10-K.
Example of Employee Profile Example of Following Account

FACEBOOK
$KMI
Much like with Twitter, Kinder Morgan seems to have been reluctant to use Facebook as a shareholder
communication tool. There are seven Facebook Pages that reference Kinder Morgan and its subsidiaries, only
one of which is controlled by the company $KMI. The others are either pulled from Wikipedia or contain user-
generated content that is incredibly negative. The Page that Kinder Morgan Inc. does control has:
- Only 400 ‘Likes’ compared to over 11K LinkedIn followers
- No links to website content
- No access to multimedia
- No embedded videos
- No links to Investor information
- No timeline pre-2011
- An incredibly limited About section
- No investor info in Header image
- No Facebook ads campaign to boost reach of posts
- No custom tabs for additional investor information
- No company responses to questions on the message board
- Negative sentiment and recommendations left visible repeatedly
- Not all company news is posted here
Example of negative sentiment left visible

$KMP
The remaining Facebook Pages represent an even worse image for the company. These Pages pull information
directly from Wikipedia, so the Facebook Page for $KMP shows accident and spill information prominently,
while the Personal Page for Richard Kinder has limited useful information to an investor.
Richard Kinder

GOOGLE+
Kinder Morgan is not accurately represented by an official Google+ company page. This lapse leaves employees
and the public to post information about the company without being monitored.
Employees
Both $KMI and $KMP have hundreds of users on Google+ who list them as employers. None of these profiles
have been created using a company approved style guide for employees. The company is regularly
misrepresented in these profiles and runs the risk of being negatively affected by this lack of brand continuity.
Mentions
$KMI and $KMP are mentioned around 15 times daily on Google+. This occurs mostly when users share news
about the company. None of these posts (including questions about investment and corporate governance) has
ever been responded to by a representative of the company. Every one of these is an opportunity missed to
create a conversation with a potential stakeholder.

LINKEDIN
Kinder Morgan’s LinkedIn company page is perhaps its best Social Media asset, and certainly its most under-
utilized. As for Facebook and Twitter, it appears the company is running one single company page for all of its
publicly listed entities. The company (and its subsidiaries, presumably) has over 11,000 followers on LinkedIn
and more than 3,000 listed employees.
$KMI
The company has never once updated followers of the page with news, analyst coverage or multimedia by
posting this information to the page’s wall. This represents a huge opportunity lost every single day. LinkedIn
users are typically a focused, business-driven demographic. By ignoring these people, Kinder Morgan is
choosing not to engage with over 11K people who likely have a serious interest in becoming stakeholders if
they are not already. For an MLP, this is a shortsighted decision.
Employees
The company’s employees on LinkedIn have not created their profiles according to a company-approved style-
guide. As with Google+, this means many employees are misrepresenting the company with the information
they are referencing. This is most of a concern within LinkedIn because of the demographic focus of this Social
Network on employer and employee relationships.

Multimedia
YOUTUBE
Video is becoming an increasingly valuable shareholder communication tool. Because YouTube is a Google
property, YouTube videos rank particularly high in Google Search results and can readily appear on page #1 of a
search for your company. YouTube is therefore one of the most important multimedia sites on the web for
public companies seeking to communicate with stakeholders.
Dozens of content creators have uploaded videos to YouTube referencing Kinder Morgan. In the past week, the
company has been referenced more than 150 times in YouTube and other online video content. By not having a
YouTube channel, the company risks having people watching videos by independent (and unknown) analysts
rather than company messaging including CEO and other management interviews.
Examples of Video Content from the past 7 days:
- Kinder Morgan
- Kinder Morgan Scrutiny
- Bill McKibben Video for Kinder Morgan
- Adrian Dix on the Kinder Morgan Pipeline
- Kinder Morgan’s Smoking Gun
- Stop Kinder Morgan, Stop The Tar Sands
- Response to Kinder Morgan Pipeline Opposition
- Opposition is growing to Kinder Morgan pipeline in B.C.
To overcome this, Kinder Morgan should employ a Content Strategy to create video and other multimedia
material that would force negative content off page #1 of video search results and makes company-approved
video available to investors.

SLIDESHARE
Slideshare is one of a handful of Social Media websites that includes a specific “Investor Relations” category.
Public companies have begun using this website to upload Powerpoints, corporate presentations and PDF
documents.
Examples of Powerpoint Content referencing Kinder Morgan:
- Kinder Morgan, Inc. Analysis Across the Oil and Gas Value Chain Report
- Bp holdings kinder morgan and bp north america enter into long term agreements
- Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline
- Kinder Morgan MLP Conference
- The $1 CEOs
- Oil and chemicals storage industry outlook in south and central America
- Canada will emerge as an Energy Superpower
- 'Peter Tyler' Account
At least fifteen Slideshare users have uploaded Powerpoint presentations and PDF documents that reference
Kinder Morgan. As with video content on YouTube, removing this content should not be Kinder Morgan’s
primary concern; instead, they should look to upload their own material to Slideshare.
Kinder Morgan has dozens of PDF documents and Powerpoint presentations stored on their corporate website
for investors to download. Making these available on Slideshare would allow users to read these online, while
also providing the company with detailed analytics on the number of views and downloads by stakeholders.

Executive Branding
CEO, RICHARD KINDER
Kinder Morgan’s CEO, Richard Kinder, is very prominent online. The vast majority of content is incredibly
positive, with repeated references to his creation of Kinder Morgan and development of the company. He
regularly appears in articles about CEO compensation strategies and energy company executives.
Kinder Morgan has made little effort to utilize the profile of Richard Kinder as part of their Investor Relations
strategy. By not creating verified profiles for their CEO and using these for shareholder communication, the
company runs the risk that inaccurate profiles will be created in the future using Richard Kinder’s information.
Current online profiles for Richard Kinder include:
- Website profile
- LinkedIn
- Facebook
- Wikipedia
- Kinder Foundation
COO, STEVEN J. KEAN
Kinder Morgan’s COO, Steven Kean is surprisingly difficult to find online. We would generally have expected to
find more information about him than exists. For example, there is no LinkedIn, Facebook or Wikipedia profile
for him. Again, by not controlling this branding, Kinder Morgan runs the risk that another profile could be
created in Kean’s image negatively affecting the company.
Current online profiles for Steve Kean include:
- Website profile
- No LinkedIn profile
- No Facebook profile
- No Wikipedia page
- Apfn.org

Investment Communities
STOCKTWITS
All public companies with a stock price > $2 will have a dedicated page within the StockTwits investment
community. StockTwits creates these pages automatically based on market information. MLPs and dividend
stocks like $KMI and $KMP receive some of the most attention on StockTwits, with shareholders and analysts
discussing dividend values daily.
$KMI
$KMI has 93 followers on StockTwits. While this is not a significant figure, some of these followers in turn have
a significant following as well. Analysts like Philip Trinder, Marshall Ingel, Hinds Howard and Matias have
relatively large and growing audiences on both StockTwits and Twitter and would be useful to engage with as a
way to get in front of their followers.
Below is a screenshot of the $KMI StockTwits page including the last time the company was mentioned:

$KMP
With around 250 followers on StockTwits, $KMP has a very reasonable audience within this investment
community. Considering the average StockTwits user has 40 followers, this means a total direct reach for the
company of 10K users. Being able to affect this many potential stakeholders should be a priority for $KMP. The
vast majority of questions directed at the company come on the same day that press releases are published. By
not responding to these, $KMP is publicly declining to engage with investors.
Prominent Followers include:
- Zac Moore
- James Baumusc
- Philip Trinder
- Scott Rochelli
- Hinds Howard
- Turn Key Oil
- Ian Paisley
Below is a screenshot of the $KMP StockTwits page including the last time the company was mentioned:

SEEKING ALPHA
Seeking Alpha is a platform for investment research, with broad coverage of stocks, asset classes, ETFs and
investment strategy. In contrast to other equity research platforms, insight is provided by investors and
industry experts rather than sell-side analysts.
Seeking Alpha is unique in three ways:
- Breadth: Seeking Alpha has remarkably broad coverage of stocks
- Depth: Over 7,000 contributing authors and 20,000 commenters
- Influence: Seeking Alpha articles frequently move stocks, due to a large and influential readership that
includes money managers, business leaders, journalists and bloggers
$KMI
The majority of all commentary on Seeking Alpha referring to $KMI is incredibly positive. MLPs are getting a lot
of positive attention at the moment, and $KMI is continually out-performing its peers. Unfortunately, the
company is not taking advantage of the exposure they’re getting on Seeking Alpha.
Examples of these articles include:
- Avi Morris (4950 followers) - 3 Growing MLPs with high dividend yields
- Mike Nadel (480 followers) - Dividend growth and me, an anniversary story
- David Knapp (5554 followers) - Survey: These Are Dividend Growth Investors' Most Widely Held Stocks
- Dividend Growth Investor (13510 followers) – KMI Rewards General and LP With Higher Income
Some of the industry experts on Seeking Alpha have as many as 15K followers, many of whom are asking
questions that the $KMI IR team should be aware of. $KMI is mentioned in a major piece of analysis on Seeking
Alpha about every second day. The followers of these authors are deeply engaged with the content and
comment readily. Seeing 100 comments on any piece of news on the web is rare, seeing this on a financial
article about the MLP space is unbelievable. This level of interaction represents a huge opportunity for $KMI to
connect with potential stakeholders.

$KMP
As with $KMI, the majority of news and analysis referencing $KMP on Seeking Alpha is positive. Some of the
content is drawn from recent news releases by $KMP, while others examine how $KMP is performing
compared to industry partners.
Examples of these articles include:
- Valuentum (3329 followers) – Don’t Look At Kinder Morgan’s Payout Ratio
- Ron Hiram (979 followers) - Performance Comparison Of Selected MLPs
- Trefis (1671 followers) - KMP Has Another Strong Quarter Boosted By Recent Acquisitions
- Dividend Growth Investor (13510 followers) – High-Yield Dividend Investing Misconceptions
Below is a screenshot of the $KMP Seeking Alpha page showing the frequency of posting and comment counts
on pieces of analysis by Seeking Alpha authors. Since the beginning of May, six articles have been published
that reference the company, with in excess of 200 total comments on these articles.
If we dig deeper by visiting the author profile pages for these articles we find that this content has reached an
immediate audience of almost 20K Seeking Alpha users even before you start looking at readers outside
Seeking Alpha.

Positive Sentiment
Kinder Morgan and all its subsidiaries are enjoying a Bullish reception online. MLPs have been particularly
popular in the early 2010s, with interest rates low and investors beginning to understand the notable tax
incentives of the MLP structure, companies like $KMI and $KMP have seen big jumps in shareholder acquisition
and market activity.
NEWS CONTENT
Whether it’s the NYT, Bloomberg or any other outlet, Kinder Morgan is doing well in financial news.
Commentators are largely saying either buy or hold the stock. MLPs have an advantage in retaining
shareholders and Kinder Morgan’s decision to increase quarterly payments makes retention even easier.
Examples of recent positive news content:
- Kinder continues growth in dividends and distribution
- Kinder Morgan donates trees to a school
- Kinder increases production
- Video: Mad Men - Kinder ($KMP) profits and pipelines
- Kinder Morgan has growth in their dividends
- Kinder Morgan’s big win with RIN’s - video
- Independent Organizations
FINANCIAL COMMUNITIES
Investors who spend the majority of their time researching companies within financial communities like
StockTwits and Seeking Alpha would be largely impressed with what they see on Kinder Morgan. Other
investors, analysts and online observers are all Bullish on $KMI and $KMP particularly. In the past six months
particularly, it’s difficult to find visible Bears online.
Kinder Morgan is not taking advantage of this trend, but it’s impossible to deny that the vast majority of
investors would see Kinder Morgan as a buy right now based on financial news and community discussion.

Negative Sentiment
MLPs are designed to keep stakeholders slightly removed from management’s decision-making process at the
company. Because most MLPs are operating in the energy space, they’re susceptible to many of the same
criticisms. This largely equates to the safety, regulatory and environmental concerns of the communities in
which they operate.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
Mobilized against Kinder Morgan are a series of community groups, particularly in Canada, who oppose the
expansion of an oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast of BC. The groups are at least as active within
Social Networks as the company is. Also, the company makes no effort to respond to criticism of its
environmental record.
Examples of web content critical of Kinder Morgan include:
- Kinder Morgan Surprise
- Kinder Morgan doesn’t like to be bashed
- Kinder Morgan in Canada
- BC First Nation ask court to prevent Kinder Morgan Pipeline
- Kinder Morgan pitches Oil Sands Pipeline to skeptics
- Keep the Pressure Up Against Kinder Morgan's Tar Sands Pipeline
- Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion
SAFETY CONCERNS
More troubling for stakeholders are the ongoing safety concerns surrounding the company. During 2013, the
US Department of Transport fined $KMP almost $1 million for breaching 27 pipeline regulations. While this isn’t
a significant amount of money, cutting corners on safety has cost the company in the past. Shareholders would
note that $KMP spent almost $60 million cleaning up a Southern California water reserve that was
contaminated in the 1990s.

Following the Deepwater Horizon accident in 2010 and the most recent Exxon Mobil rupture in Arkansas,
shareholders are becoming increasingly wary of companies who breach safety restrictions. A poor safety record
is concerning for several reasons:
- Accidents cost money. For the cleanup and as a result of pausing pipeline flows post-spill. Both of
these affect the company’s bottom line and the return given to investors each month.
- Accidents cost reputation. Potentially dramatically affecting the company’s stock price.
- Accident risk reduces pipeline flow rates. By forcing the company (as happened in 2011) to reduce
pipeline pressure to maintain its existing infrastructure.
- Accidents can cost lives. As in the case of Deepwater Horizon or last month’s West Fertilizer plant
explosion. Workplace accidents that cost lives have a huge impact, not just financially.
While the company’s financials will be the first thing most investors look at, those who want to avoid risk in
their portfolios will be less inclined to invest in an MLP that has a poor safety record.
Examples of web content critical of Kinder Morgan’s safety record include:
- Kinder Morgan Breaking Safety Rules
- California Vs Kinder Morgan
- Kinder Morgan Pay $13 Million To Clean Port Site

CONCLUSION
While Kinder Morgan is showing great results for current stakeholders, the family of companies is poorly
branded online and is at risk of suffering long-term as stakeholder demographics shift. This is largely due to a
lack of monitoring and inaction.
The company’s image could be turned around relatively quickly if it decided to make Online Branding and Social
Media a priority by working with IR Smartt.
For more information on how this Online Branding report fits into an overall Social Media Campaign, please
visit our website at: http://irsmartt.com or get in touch with one of our primary points of contact using their
details below.
POINTS OF CONTACT
Tim Howard Michael Noonan Jack Aldridge
CEO CFO Manager, Business Development
tim@irsmartt.com mike@irsmartt.com jack@irsmartt.com

Online Branding Report - Kinder Morgan

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