Lies and slander are not pleasant things. This is especially painful in financial transactions. Things are even worse in modern business: misinformation, slander, and falsehood harm corporations, brands, and markets. What will help reduce the harmful effects of misinformation? What are the ways to successfully deal with it? Let's find out.
Definition
Misinformation is deliberately distorted or false information that creates a deceptive impression. The goal is to mislead someone by providing him with incorrect information. This can lead to manipulation of the object, because disinformation pushes to action or inaction. Many companies resort to this way of doing things, since disinformation helps to radically change the prevailing opinion about the opponent.
Relevance
In May of this year, a fake video appeared on the Web with the speaker of the US House of Congress, Nancy Pelosi. The video was so slow that it seemed as if she was drunk or had a serious speech impediment. Later, the original recording on which Nancy utters words quite normally was found and published, but think about this: doesn’t this downplay the chances of politicians for successful political campaigns?
As you can see, misinformation is served not only in news feeds. Realistic fake videos can now be created - fakes in which people say or do things that they never said or did not do.
Here's another example of misinformation: Twitter posts with the Starbucks logo claimed the coffee shop chain was holding a rally that offered free drinks to illegal immigrants. After a while, the company was forced to issue reports that such records were untrue.
Despite the fact that such misrepresentation is becoming more common, it is possible to reduce the negative impact. What can corporations do to protect their brands? The following are six ways to combat misinformation.
Listen to public opinion
Successful understanding of their market and customers, as well as good communication with partners reduce the influence of disinformation to almost zero. The company needs to understand how their brand or product is perceived on social networks - either using its own methods, or through the involvement of third-party consultants. In this way, firms may receive a preliminary warning about an individual or group attempting to spread brand misinformation. It’s good when companies create verified accounts in the main social networks and regularly use them for trusting relationships with their customers. Then buyers, before they believe another “newspaper duck,” will turn to your account to clarify or refute the information.
Deep introspection
Misinformation attacks can be designed to do maximum damage to the brand and benefit the attacker. Mergers, acquisitions, large investments and product launches - all this can be the goal of a false impact on the minds of customers. The following is a case of similar misinformation.
In October last year, after the world-famous Broadcom Corporation announced its intention to acquire CA Technologies for $ 19 billion, a memorandum appeared that was drawn up as if it came from the US Department of Defense.The paper said the US government would consider the deal for potential threats to national security. What was the result? Broadcom shares fell significantly, although the memorandum was later exposed and called false.
In order to prepare for such attacks and not incur losses, corporations should deeply analyze their weak or potential places for such actions. Responsible persons should think: “What upcoming events carry the greatest risk? Are there any aspects of the business that are most vulnerable to attacks? Which messages will have the greatest resonance in society?” Honest inventories will help control property values and assets. Moreover, such timely action will protect corporations from harmful information.
Training
We all know the popular phrase: "forewarned - means armed." In fact, in anticipating such events, corporations must be prepared to act quickly and efficiently. It is not enough to make efforts after disinformation attacks: then it may already be too late.
Firms need to take this as seriously as hacker attacks. They should conduct employee disaster response exercises and empower certain members of their companies (e.g., Director of Information Technology, Head of Communications, and General Counselor).
Quick interaction
If a corporation takes appropriate measures to combat false information, it will be able to detect such an attack at an early stage. How is this useful? The company will be able to react before the situation gets out of control. What needs to be done? As soon as it becomes known what happened, it is necessary to identify the accounts of users who disseminate misinformation.
What should be done next? In order to block such accounts of intruders, the company should contact the social networks that are used to distribute offensive content and prepare evidence to show how their rights and terms of service are violated. Law firms can help with this.
Communication
Sometimes the best way to deal with disinformation is to get in touch with customers. Corporations must communicate directly with their customers, the media and the public in order to expose fake messages.
Remember the above case with Starbucks coffee company? After fake promotions began to spread, the firm contacted directly with Twitter users who posted fake advertisements. It was a kind of disinformation vaccine.
Trial
Finally, another way to combat false information is to go to court. Corporations may sue fake news providers. Enterprises are not at all defenseless when their brands are exposed to slanderous attacks or manipulations.
Possible claims include defamation lawsuits, economic abuse and trademark infringement for those who use the company logo in their fake communications. Companies will want to consider the facts of each situation, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of a lawsuit, and discuss the situation with a lawyer before filing a lawsuit.
Keep in mind: these steps may not always be equally effective, but they will strengthen sustainability and reduce the damage that disinformation can do to a company's reputation and values.