The Good. Book of. Badvo cacy

The Good Book of Badvo cacy

The Good Book of Badvo cacy

01 02 03 04 Introduction A Brief History of Badvocacy The Power of Badvocacy Deflating Badvocacy

Intro duction

6 Today's World is Filled with Advocates...

...people who talk or act on behalf of companies, organisations, issues, brands, causes and products. Sometimes quietly and sometimes loudly. They do it among friends and families. They do it at work. They do it in chat rooms and on blogs. They do it in their communities. Some have broad-reaching platforms; some are reaching just their own circle of friends. And some Advocates are simply BADVOCATES people who passionately criticise or detract from companies, brands or products in all the above ways.

The Good Book of Badvocacy is a brief compilation of what we at Weber Shandwick have learned about BADVOCACY. We firmly believe that companies and organisations should be sharply attuned to their BADVOCATES who are enthusiasts driven to influence others.

The purpose of The Good Book is to provide background and context on Badvocacy. By calling attention to this new and spreading phenomenon, we want to help readers looking for guidance on protecting their good names from BADVOCATES. 9

A Brief History of Badvocacy

...people had limited power to make their unhappiness with a company, product or service known. Nor did they have many options for evaluating the reputation of a company, product or service before making a purchase. People became easily frustrated and often felt they had no recourse when products or services disappointed them. Their voices often went unheard. 14

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...the internet came along and changed everything. In the beginning, people went to websites to research products, services and organisations. In time, websites evolved to allow visitors to rate products and services they bought and used. Customers could now scan the internet to find the best prices. 19

People soon realised they had influence like never before. 20 Source: Weber Shandwick s The New Wave of Advocacy study conducted with KRC Research

Consumers have more power to influence company success or failure... It is easier to make my opinion heard today... Consumers have greater say in what companies sell now... It is easier to make informed decisions... Consumers ha more power to influence company success or failure... It is easier to make my opinion heard today... Consumers have more power to influence company suc failure... Consumers have greater say in what companies sell now... It is ea make informed decisions... Consumers have more power to influence company or failure... It is easier to make my opinion heard today... Consumers have m power to influence company success or failure... It is easier to make my opinio today... It is easier to make informed decisions... Consumers have greater sa companies sell Now... It is easier to make informed decisions... It is easier to more informed decisions"... It is easier to make my opinion heard today... C have more power to influence company success or failure... It is easier to make my opinion heard today... It is easier to make informed decisions... Consume have greater say in what companies sell now... It is easier to make informed decisions... Consumers have more power to influence company success or... Consumers have more power to influence company success or failure... I heard today... It is easier to make informed decisions... Consumers have gr in what companies sell now... It is easier to make informed decisions... Consu have more power to influence company success or failure... It is easier to ma opinion heard today... Consumers have more power to influence company suc failure... It is easier to make my opinion heard today... It is easier to make inf decisions... Consumers have greater say in what companies sell now... It is ea make informed decisions... Consumers have more power to influence company or failure... It is easier to make my opinion heard today... Consumers 21 have m power to influence company success or failure... It is easier to make my opinio

Consumers newly found voices helped accelerate the use of online social media, where they could, with enormous detail and emotion, describe their positive and negative experiences and opinions while reaching mass audiences worldwide. People could act on their strongest beliefs and join others with similar convictions. 22 Unprecedented power had been put into the hands of the consumer and the world was forever changed. & Both Advocates Badvocates Were unleashed.

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The Power of Bad vocacy

We define Badvocates as people who stand on a virtual soapbox to criticise or detract from companies, brands or products. They represent a considerable segment of the global online adult population (20 per cent). They are passionate enough to share opinions. Their influence reaches far and wide on average, they tell 14 other people about a bad experience. 26 Source: Weber Shandwick s The New Wave of Advocacy study conducted with KRC Research

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Badvocacy comes in many forms

...from personal conversations to petitions to rallies...from old fashioned boycotts to blogs...from calling in to radio shows to creating podcasts...from wearing a T-shirt denouncing a company to discontinuing loyalty to a brand. 29

Just as Advocates find each other easily and quickly online, Badvocacy is now fuelled by this new technology. 30

The pitchforks and axe-handles of the day are BlackBerries and iphones. Advertising Age, March 18, 2008 31

"It's not the actual complaints, comments or blog posts that hurt the most. It's the lingering Google search results that represent real death by a thousand cuts." canada.com, February 7, 2008 32

Badvocacy Has Staying Power 33

34 Badvocates are often feared

Nearly four in 10 global executives fear that a dissatisfied customer or critic will launch an online campaign against their company. Source: Weber Shandwick s Risky Business: Reputations Online study conducted with the Economist Intelligence Unit, 2009 35

"Armed with little more than a Web connection and a keyboard, these detractors can do everything from irritate, via a scathing review, to causing serious business problems by using message boards to reveal company secrets or spread rumors of unethical behavior." The New York Times, October 4, 2007 36

Some Badvocates cause considerable material harm to a company's reputation and bottom line. 37

psssssssst the most dangerous Badvocates can sometimes be your employees. 38

Employees talk about their work. They have an opinion on your business, your management, your bra your products and services. When you were last at a bar, a function or barbeque, what did you talk abo Did many people bag their work places or companies? Did many people recommend their company s services or products? Nudge Marketing Blog, Employees Advocates or Badvocates, June 5, 20 More than one third of global executives know of a colleague who has written something negative abo their company Employees online. Source: talk Weber about Shandwick s their Risky work. Business: They Reputations have Online an study condu with the Economist Intelligence Unit, 2008. Employees talk about their work. They have an opinion on opinion on your business, your management, your your business, your management, your brand, your products and services. When you were last at a bar function or barbeque, brand, what your did you products talk about? and Did many services. people bag When their work you places were or companies? many people recommend their company s services or products? Nudge Marketing Blog, Employe Advocates or Badvocates, last at a bar, June a 5, 2007. function More than or one barbeque, third of global what executives did know you of a colleague has written something negative about their company online. Source: Weber Shandwick s Risky Busin Reputations Online talk about? study conducted Did many with the people Economist bag Intelligence their Unit, work 2008. places Employees talk ab their work. They have opinion on your business, your management, your brand, your products and s or companies? Did many people recommend their When you were last at a bar, a function or barbeque, what did you talk about? Did many people bag th work places or company s companies? Did services many people or recommend products? their company s services or products? Nu Marketing Blog, Employees Advocates or Badvocates, June 5, 2007. More than one third of global executives know of a colleague who has written something negative about their company online. So Nudge Marketing Blog, Employees Weber Shandwick s Risky Business: Reputations Online study conducted with the Economist Intellig Advocates or Badvocates, June 5, 2007 Unit, 2008. Employees talk about their work. They have an opinion on your business, your manageme brand, your products and services. When you were last at a bar, a function or barbeque, what did you t about? Did many people bag their work places or companies? Did many people recommend their com services or products? Nudge Marketing Blog, Employees Advocates or Badvocates, June 5, 20 More than one More third of than global executives one third know of of global a colleague executives who has written know something of negative abo their company online. Source: Weber Shandwick s Risky Business: Reputations Online study condu with the Economist a colleague Intelligence who Unit, 2008. has Employees written talk something about their work. negative They have an opinion on your business, your management, your brand, your products and services. When you were last at a bar function or barbeque, about what their did company you talk about? online. Did many people bag their work places or companies? many people recommend their company s services or products? Nudge Marketing Blog, Employe Advocates or Badvocates, June 5, 2007. More than Source: one Weber third of Shandwick s global executives Risky Business: know of a colleague has written something negative about their company Reputations online. Source: Online Weber study Shandwick s conducted Risky Busin Reputations Online study conducted with the Economist with the Economist Intelligence Intelligence Unit, 2008. Unit, Employees 2009 talk ab their work. They have an opinion on your business, your management, your brand, your products and s When you were last at a bar, a function or barbeque, what did you talk about? Did many people bag th work places or companies? Did many people recommend their company s services or products? Nu Marketing Blog, Employees Advocates or Badvocates, June 5, 2007. More than one third of 39global executives know of a colleague who has written something negative about their company online. So

Badvocacy against countries is increasing due to globalisation backlash. 41

It did not take long for French pundits to elevate the Société Générale trader allegedly responsible for billions of fake transactions, Jérôme Kerviel, to the status of anti-capitalist folk hero. 42 The Economist, February 2, 2008

Some enterprising Badvocates find ways to use humour to draw attention to troublesome news. 43

REMINDER: Badvocates can also make a difference for the greater good. 45

But companies have little time to waste in curbing Badvocacy against their brands and products. On average, nearly one out of two global adults (45 per cent) take one week or less to express their dissatisfaction. 46 Source: Weber Shandwick s The New Wave of Advocacy study conducted with KRC Research

New consumer opinion gets posted about every five seconds. Rob Crumpler, chief executive of BuzzLogic 47

Deflat ing Bad vocacy

Companies now accept the harsh reality of Badvocacy and are developing strategies to counter and leverage it to their advantage. Here is our advice on what needs to happen. 50

6actions companies can take now Be prepared Defend yourself Embrace dissatisfaction Apologise Don t ignore Inoculate 51

Be Prepared Establish processes to minimise threats Monitor comments about your company Leverage SEO (search engine optimisation) Establish employee guidelines for social media Register e-mail addresses and gripe domain names Trademark your company name 52

Don t wait around for Badvocacy to strike your company, organisation or brand. 53

Defend Yourself Stand up to Badvocates, but do it in a well-planned and non-combative or threatening manner. Hire reputation managers Respond rapidly Disclose communications with Badvocates Make the facts available Address myths head-on Enlist your fans 54

Embrace Dissatisfaction

Open your virtual doors to the public, allowing Badvocates to comment directly. Invite transparent dialogue Ask Badvocates to step outside host face-to-face events with senior executives Ask for ideas Solve problems together Respond thoughtfully 57

Apologise Admit when you re wrong, hard as it is Don t email or comment on a negative blog posting, pick up the telephone Establish an advisory council of Badvocates 58

If warranted, apologise directly to badvocates and seek a mutual solution. 59

Don t Ⅴ Ignore Ignore Badvocates at your own peril. Unacceptable excuses... We didn t know about the criticism They ll go away eventually They just want publicity We don t respond to bloggers 60

Inoculate6 Ensuring a loyal fan base helps protect your company from Badvocacy. Identify your Advocates Recruit your Advocates Reward your Advocates 63

For more info on Badvocacy, or any of Weber Shandwick s Advocacy services, please contact : goodbookinfo@webershandwick.com 2009 Weber Shandwick