Ford Motor Co. took a hit last week when a federal judge ruled that rogue Web publisher blueovalnews.com was not breaking the law when it posted proprietary Ford documents on its Web site, which caters to auto enthusiasts. As the news surfaced, corporate PR execs around the country cringed empathetically for Ford, fearing they too might one day suffer similar repercussions from botched dealings with gadfly Web operators.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the industry, cyber spies such as New York-based eWatch and Arlington, Va.-based Cyveillance, Inc., held quiet - albeit jubilant - celebrations, given that the judge's ruling will likely yield even greater business opportunities for Web monitoring services that track customer flak online.
"The PR issues created by the Internet aren't new issues," notes Diane Perlman, director of marketing for Cyveillance, which describes its specialty as "e-business intelligence."
Reputation management still hinges on controlling age-old problems like leaked trade secrets and libelous statements.
"The difference is the Internet amplifies each situation. It's the soapbox of the world," she says. A disgruntled employee badmouthing his company may have posed a negligible threat in the old days. But today, with the Web as a microphone, he's a force to be reckoned with.
The Wild West
Savvy corporations have been quick to mine the Web for revenue opportunities, and they're doing it well. What they haven't yet mastered is how to pick and choose their battles on the new frontier. Corporations accustomed to bullying small-time opponents with lawsuits are learning the hard way that this tactic can have a devastating effect on corporate reputation online - particularly when the opponents are lone Internet snipers.
"[A lawsuit] creates a David-and-Goliath situation and automatically becomes the perfect media story," says Reid Walker, director of media relations and PR for the Arlington, Va.-based Web service provider PSINet. "This scenario immediately plays into the hands of the person who has created the anti-corporate site."
While it's hard for corporations to resist the temptation to retaliate against Web arsonists who've torched their reputations, the better solution is to try to establish dialog with the renegade operator, Walker says. Independent Webzines often can offer useful critiques that corporations can leverage to improve their brand-building initiatives, customer service practices or dealings with regulatory bodies.
"It's good to look at these sites not in an adversarial way at first," he says.
But Corporate America can be hot-headed when it comes to Web skirmishes. The current tendency in dealing with Web gossip is extremely reactive, says Perlman.
"Companies get calls from angry customers and concerned parents alerting them to these [negative] sites, and they take a shotgun approach to dealing with them," she says. "The problem is they may be putting all their resources behind one issue when there's another one lurking in another corner of the Web that they don't even know about." Too many companies blow their budgets at the first signs of trouble, and are unprepared when the big one hits.
Don't Get Even; Get Information
Corporations whose trigger fingers suffer from a chronic litigious itch might do well to implement mandatory waiting periods before taking action against rogue Web operators. Better to cool off and conduct a strategic assessment of each situation before jumping the gun.
One logical question that many executive communicators fail to ask first is, "Why is the rogue Web site there to begin with?" says Tom Gable, chairman and CEO of the Gable Group in San Diego. "Where are the roots of the problem? Some renegade Web operators take a serial approach and target one business after another. Some are formed by angry ex-employees who were fired for whatever reason. Some are launched by consumer activists like Ralph Nader," he says. Understanding the motivation behind the negativity is an important step in determining the best course of action.
Subsequent tactics may involve communications with any combination of stakeholders. "If you're a publicly traded company like Ford and someone is casting aspersions on your business practices, you might think about how that's going to influence the investment community," Gable says. "They might think your stock needs to be shorted."
"If [as in the Ford case] confidential internal documents have gotten into an outsider's hands, there are concerns about internal leaks that need to be addressed," Walker adds.
Ignorance Ain't Bliss
Of course, any efforts at strategic planning are contingent on knowing that the online scuttlebutt exists in the first place. That's why clients like Bell Atlantic, Levi Strauss, WashingtonPost.com and Dell Computers are shelling out anywhere between $30,000 to a cool $1 million to Cyveillance in exchange for regular reports about online rumors, unauthorized licensing claims and newsgroup gripes about their products and services. Better to know as much as there is to know about your corporate reputation - even if the best solution is not to act on it.
Of course, agencies are jumping to pick up the baton, offering electronic strategy for corporations whose hard-earned reputations are now being ravaged by open-mike night on the Web.
Like most car manufacturers, Ford has enjoyed the opportunity to market its products to Web-savvy customers. Ford just didn't count on other voices chiming into the fray.
And although the car-maker filed its lawsuit only after other compromise efforts failed, its litigious scrambling is now causing fallout on the PR front. The New York Times reported last week that blueovalnews.com hired as its attorney C. Mark Pickrell, a former defense attorney for Big Tobacco. A consummate chameleon, Pickrell is now likening the interests of Ford's SUV lines to those of cigarette manufacturers.
Score: David 2. Goliath 0.
(The Gable Group, 619/234-9502; Cyveillance, 703/312-1221; PSINet, 703/375-1103)
Assessment Is The Best Policy
In dealing with negative PR on the Web, a strategic approach is better than a reactionary one. Tom Gable, chairman & CEO of the Gable Group, maps out a plan for handling bad e-vibes.
- Origin of Species
Identify the roots of the problem.
- Internal Audit
How does management feel about the situation? What are the dangers?
- External Audit
What are the opinions of your constituencies?
- Situation Analysis
What are the dynamics of the situation? What kind
of momentum exists and what is driving it?
- Potential Actions
Do nothing? Respond diplomatically? Challenge the opposition party?
- Strategic Planning
Where does reputation management come in? Is there a crisis communications
plan in place?
- Implementation
Direct contact? Legal action? Public relations? Media
relations? Community relations? Ongoing research?
- Factual Blitzkrieg
Consider measures involving web site, paid advertising, 800 number, email,
snail mail, phone, fax, speaking engagements, interviews.
- Counter Attack
Organize allies? Offer rebuttals? Sue?
- Measurable Results
Gauge media coverage, image, awareness, and any changes in stakeholder
behavior.