With the maturing of the Internet, mass participation in discussions about companies and mass dissemination of information have moved from a possibility to a reality. It's no longer just one neighbor complaining to another about a bad experience he had with his car --- it’s a blogger relating his complaint to millions of people around the world. And what he says has permanence on the Web, unlike a passing comment made over the backyard fence. A review on Amazon.com or a strategically placed blog posting now has the power to radiate to more viewers than a primetime TV ad and be perceived to have more credibility.
The recent WOMMA conference called “Word of Mouth vs. Advertising” provided us with an exciting opportunity to explore this phenomenon. At the event, fellow word-of-mouth communicators exchanged insights about how word of mouth amplifies, answers questions, and adds a seat at the advertising table for consumers who now can talk easily about products and the ads used to market them. In the end, there was agreement that there is no word of mouth vs. advertising or word of mouth vs. anything. Word of mouth – at least effective word of mouth – must complement and work in harmony with all of the other marketing disciplines.
Ketchum was invited to shed light on how to understand and manage negative word of mouth. Everybody wants and is striving for the great benefits that positive word of mouth can generate, but word of mouth also can serve as a double-edged sword. And more and more companies are realizing this dark side of word of mouth. For this reason, understanding and managing what I term “determined detractors” becomes increasingly important.
Determined detractors are critics, competitors and even peers who are, for one reason or another, bent on causing a company harm or hindering its success through a focused, negative voice. Three basic types of determined detractors exist.
The first type is what I call the “Hear Me’s.” They want or need to be acknowledged. They’re people who quickly can escalate an issue if they feel their requests, complaints or problems are ignored. For instance, if someone called a cable TV company to report a problem several times and then, after receiving no response or an unsatisfactory response, started to write critical letters to company management, newspaper editors and consumer trade organizations, that person would exemplify a Hear Me.
The second type of determined detractor is a “Reputation Terrorist.” Unlike Hear Me’s, who create noise because they have a grievance with one particular issue but not an agenda with a particular party, Reputation Terrorists have a vested interest in publicly criticizing a company or brand. And unlike a Hear Me, the primary goal of a Reputation Terrorist is to cause a change by maligning and changing the perception of a company’s reputation. For example, a disgruntled fired employee who used blogs to reveal sensitive internal information about a company in an attempt to embarrass it would qualify as a Reputation Terrorist.
The third type of determined detractor can be even more dangerous. Moving one level beyond Reputation Terrorists, “Competitive Destroyers” look to create a negative situation for a company or spotlight potentially damaging information, such as financial concerns, legal issues or product recalls. And their goal is not simply to damage a company’s reputation; it’s to put a company out of business.
As insidious as these determined detractors may seem, however, companies can take several steps to prepare for and protect themselves against this negative word of mouth. The first step involves simply making the facts available when any event threatens to turn into a public controversy. Disclosing as much information as possible through an appropriate word-of-mouth channel will neutralize any ammunition a determined detractor potentially could use later.
Second, a company should be proactive in understanding and building relationships with the word-of-mouth community in which it thrives. In this way, a company can establish a basis of credibility and familiarity, determine if its brand or product is being talked about, understand what bloggers and writers are the most influential, and spot market needs and opportunities.
Third, a company should put a crisis-watch program in place to monitor, assess and anticipate regularly what is coming through the word-of-mouth pipeline. Knowing when and where a flame ignites is crucial in containing it and extinguishing it before it becomes a full-blown fire. For instance, if word of mouth suggests detractors may use an annual meeting to protest an issue, the company can take steps to prepare for such activism, especially with matters that might spark media coverage.
A case in point of why a crisis-watch program is critical is the episode that occurred with Dell and blogger Jeff Jarvis this summer. Jarvis began writing in his personal blog, BuzzMachine, about his lengthy quest to fix a $1,600 computer, an ordeal he said included countless e-mails, some unanswered, and phone calls to Dell's customer-service line. When the PC overheated and malfunctioned, he was told to send it in. When it still wasn't working when it came back, he launched a series of attacks on Dell, including an Aug. 17 open letter to CEO Michael Dell. He ended up getting a refund and, by the end of the episode, attracting more than 10,000 daily visits to his blog. As a result, Dell was embarrassingly forced to add more customer-service representatives and improve their training.
Big brands and big thinkers attended the WOMMA conference, putting their heads together to explore the best ways to harness the power of word of mouth credibly and further establish this new field as a powerful form of communication. It’s increasingly clear that word of mouth and its participants are maturing and evolving. Ketchum is proud to be a part of this initiative and looks forward to continuing to help define word of mouth and provide a greater understanding of it to our clients, colleagues and peers.
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