Damaging Myths: How to Survive
by Terry Hemeyer
A leading consumer products company donates portions of their earnings to the church of Satan and the president of the company appeared on a national television show and announced himself as a Satan follower. Did you ever hear that? Or that popular brand of lip balm contains glass that tears your lips, causing people to use it continually? If you have heard these stories or others, you are one of millions exposed to negative myths companies and brands face everyday.
Companies deal with a multitude of problems when myths run amok - they can be good or bad, beneficial or detrimental. Sometimes they are caused by competitors spreading inaccurate information. Other times, we do not know how myths begin. What we do know is that they can have very negative effects.
Personally, I had to handle three myths first hand. First, there was a leading motor oil company that was sabotaged by a competitor’s sales staff. They were telling stores who stock the leading oil that it would ruin engines because the oil had gunk in it. The story ran like wild fire by word of mouth and sales plummeted. Then, there was a top imported beer whose competitor, a domestic beer company, ran ads claiming the imported beer was stale and that their beer was fresh tasting. Again, sales plummeted. Finally, a national restaurant chain was thrown into the media spotlight when a rumor spread that a harmful foreign object was found in a diner’s mashed potatoes. This myth spread throughout the local media, causing the restaurants’ business to decline.
All of these situations were difficult to handle, but we got through it because we knew how to find a solution.
If your company or brand is under attack, these steps will help you come out on top:
1) Action—quick and continual action is necessary in order to take control and change the negative myth. Don’t let the myth get carried away!
2) Research—you need to prove the myth is untrue, and if necessary, bring in experts and hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions. There are multiple new and traditional media systems to help you quickly research the extent of the problem and who is saying what.
3) Q&A’s—develop them for internal and external use based on your research. They will help you examine how the situation was handled, give you ways to debunk the myth and serve as a guide should the situation arise again.
4) Communicate—communication with employees is crucial and critical; they should know the facts because they will be valuable tools in your path to dispel the myth.
5) Preparation—you must be prepared to get positive messages out using multiple platforms to reach various publics. You need to be prepared to use face to face, tweeting, social networks, texting, blogs and good ol’ traditional earned media. Also, consider advertising online with Google ad words.
6) Watch your back for competitors and their aggressive tactics — be ready for an attack at anytime.
These steps helped us successfully navigate each of the examples above. If your brand is ever faced with debunking a myth, keep them in mind.