Marketers should never forget the Internet's dark, ugly downside

December 4, 2000

BY MICHAEL KRAUSS

I suppose most technology marketers are optimists; we see the Internet and the new mobile technologies as boons for our customers and companies. But there are risks, and a recent conversation with Eric Dezenhall, crisis communications specialist and cofounder of Washington-based Nicholas-Dezenhall, reminded me of the darker side.

Dezenhall, author of nail ‘em! Confronting High-Profile Attacks on Celebrities and Businesses, a book assessing high-profile attacks, faxed me a May 1999 Forbes article titled, "Tampon Terrorism" New technique in marketing: Using the Web to spread lies about your competition." He also sent me a copy of the e-mail, "Extremely Scary Tampon Information," which he says was issued by a competitor in the tampon business in an attempt to discredit the established brands.

Back at business school, we talked about a lot of consumer promotion techniques, but we never discussed writing scary letters to a competitor’s customers "or what to do if your brand was threatened by such a wicked promotional device. A few days later, reading ComputerWorld, I saw an article, "Companies Fight Back Against Internet Attacks," about how businesses are hiring investigators like Denzenhall to identify cybercritics, and how the Yahoo! message boards were used by short-sellers to allegedly manipulate a company’s stock. The article went on to offer sites that could help with Internet monitoring, including CyberAlert Inc. (www.cyberalert. com); Cyveilance Inc. (www.cyveillance. com); Ewatch, part of PR Newswire Inc. (www.ewatch.com); and NetCurrents Inc. (www.netcurrents.com). And ComputerWorld provided three sites for Internet investigations: Decision Strategies Fairfax International (www.dsfx.com); InternetCrimes Group Inc. (www.internetcrimesgroup.com); and Kroll Associates (www.krollworldwide.com).

When I was a product manager, my compatriots and I used to ask one another what we’d do if the competitor’s sales force started something unsavory. Over beers, the question was, "What would you do if the competitor’s sales team started punching small holes in your packages, making your food product stale?" I doubted any established competitor would stoop to such tactics. I also assumed the intermediary, the grocery store, would catch on to such acts. Unfortunately, the Internet lets any competitor punch holes in your package, and in its drive for efficiency, the Internet disintermediates the middleman who might have helped assure quality.

Says Dezenhall, "The Internet has made everybody with a grievance an expert and everybody with a modem a reporter. So that is the challenge of it." We used to say the best form of advertising was word-of-mouth. Of course, we assumed the word-of-mouth communication would be fair and unbiased, that the speakers would share our values and be on the side of the angels. And the problem is more than a lack of editors and intermediaries. "There is a tendency in our culture to write off everything to miscommunications," Dezenhall adds. But, "You might bedealing with a hostile attacker who wants to destroy you," or at least, take advantage of you. "Deterrence is defined as having capability and credibility," he says. "Capability is the wherewithal to stop an attack. Credibility is the knowledge that you’re going to do it. Send the message that ‘not only can we find you (the cyberterrorist), but when we find you, we will hurt you.’"

He acknowledges that that advice runs counterto everything public relations has taught companies since the 1970s, but he says, "I want people to know if you are corrupt, you will be found and you will pay."While I’m glad there are communications shock troops around, my view is we have a short-term problem. The Internet is still a new communications channel, and as with any new communications tool, it’s likely to be misused and exploited in the short run. Over time, individual consumers will figure out when they’re being manipulated. Reputable sites like Yahoo! will take steps to police their message boards. And for those difficult situations, people like Eric Dezenhall will shine the light of day and expose the bad guys. But then again, I’m an optimist.

Michael Krauss is a partner with DiamondCluster International in Chicago.
He can be reached at news@ama.org.