#brandvandals: Beware the Dirty Clicks

PR has long been a weapon of choice for protestors and activists looking to draw attention to a cause or lobby for change.

Before the internet age, that could mean a rooftop protest, a march, tampering with billboards or a naked stunt. Unsurprisingly, such action often attracted headlines.

In today’s hyper-connected world of two-way media, the internet has become the protest platform of choice. Brands and their audiences are a click away, and keyboards can easily be used to mount an attack. But it’s not just the worst detractors at work here: it could be customers with a complaint, consumers wanting a laugh at the brand’s expenses or even its own employees with a point to prove.

These risks, unseen threats and a new level of communication sophistication required to tackle them are topics covered by #brandvandals, a book I co-wrote that has recently gone on sale in the US. I’m spending next week in several US cities talking to brand managers, CMOs, PR heads and a broad array of industry contacts about the implications, and what to consider when building better defences against reputation wreckers.

#brandvandals has attracted critical acclaim, along with some fair criticism and comment, since it was released in the UK last October. A central piece of advice it gives is that engagement is a necessity not an option, while also showing that a high-degree of transparency is becoming inevitable. So I’ve heeded my own words in titling the book with a hashtag – search under #brandvandals and you can see how people have engaged around the book, and how I’ve tried to be transparent about its contents and the issues it raises.

Plus it’s the world’s first book with a hashtag as the title. Never miss a PR opportunity.

These days, there’s really nowhere for a brand to hide. Risks from #brandvandals are ever-present, but taking smart steps to be less of a target is completely feasible.

Too much, of course, to cover in a short blog post, but there will be more insight here in the coming days. Or you could always invest a few dollars on an addition to the bookshelf. Comments welcome via #brandvandals.