In my India Social Media Trends 2009 series, here's the # 2 thought, in no order of priority.
I have written about this a couple of times earlier this year - here & here - and expect this to be among the most dangerous phenomenon emerging from the social media revolution.
Brand Stalker Cometh, this year.
There are hackers & then there are 'crackers'. What makes you believe that all impact - positive or adverse - like Mortin -McNeil Consumer Healthcare - so 'painfully' realized recently with outburst by 'mommies' & 'mommy blogger' against their We Feel Your Pain campaign - see case-study here on Diva Marketing Blog - will have bonafide consumer origins like the Mortin (& so many others) example?
What if the motives of the perpetrators are malafide? What if the charges are not true? What if the victim organization has actually made a mistake and finds itself a soft-target against a seemingly above board/ hidden enemy? There could be many scenarios.
The Brand Stalker phenomenon makes guerrilla marketing seem tame. This could be just be an individual (a powerful voice), a group of individuals, it could well be an organization - and like I have said before I don't mean just the mafia - using blogs, social media tools to launch a covert or direct attack against a brand/ organization/ company with malicious intent...garnering support on the way, sometimes even from innocent participants misled - for the moment and joining the herd, realizing the impact only later. Action may last just a few hours of attack to a long drawn slow build up...
The consequences could be loss of reputation/ business, fall in stock prices (a simple motive) and more.
This year I came across three instances that had the making of this scenario. Strangely there has been a sharp rise in number of people landing on my blog, after a Google search on this keyword.
I repeat my questions from earlier...what do marketers think? What is the legal stand? What strategies would a brand need deploy to tackle something like this?
And a thought that makes me shudder: You first need to be a techie to become a 'cracker'. What are the prerequisites for a Brand Stalker...
Comments (3)
This is not a new phenomenon and organisations have a lot of experience at their disposal to deal with this 'brand stalking'.
Greenpeace for instance has been an eco-terrorist organisation for years (yes, I know that is not a popularly held opinion but their methods aren't always above board) but companies which are the targets engage at various levels over various issues with Greenpeace.
As for mommy bloggers being that brigade: well I once wrote a series of posts on typologies. I referred to an OFCOM report that calls Mom bloggers 'attention seekers'. It must have been my highest traffic day because on angry mom blogger posted a link to my article on some blog and then hundreds came. Saying nothing of value just angry at the characterisation and to many, I had to clarify that it is not _my_ characterisation but the UK Telecoms Regulator's. Not that it concerned anyone. I finally wrote a tweet saying 'Help mom bloggers are ganging up on me' and then one left me a comment, relax, we are not but the barrage stopped. Companies, I agree, may have more to lose but I think mala fide intent has to be proven, not assumed.
Posted by Shefaly | December 30, 2008 2:40 PM