Brand disinformation—how marketers can prepare for narrative attacks

Marketers are on the front line of disinformation, defending their most valuable asset— their brand. It’s a battleground where perceptions are manipulated and brand reputation can be tarnished from a single post that goes viral and out of control. Stakes have never been higher. Disinformation is such an important problem, the World Economic Forum named it as the top global risk in 2024. Dan Lowden, CMO of Blackbird.AI, a narrative intelligence company, shares how marketers can recognize and defend against narrative attacks created by misinformation and disinformation. In 2020, Wayfair was the target of baseless conspiracy theories involving human trafficking that circulated on social media. More recently, oat milk brand Oatly pushed back against what it deemed misinformation about its ingredients. What is a narrative attack? A narrative is an assertion created by misinformation and disinformation that shapes perception about a person, place or thing in the information ecosystem. They can start with a single post that can scale quickly, causing severe financial and reputational harm. It can come out of nowhere and blindside a company or institution. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs How big is the problem, and who is at risk? Narrative attacks have never posed a higher risk to brands. Approximately $78 billion a year is lost due to perception manipulation. The estimate for publicly traded companies is $39 billion annually due to disinformation-related stock market losses. Are marketers prepared for such attacks? At an event attended by more than 450 marketing leaders from the Global Fortune 2000, most marketing executives feel their teams didn’t know how to protect and prepare themselves for an attack caused by misinformation or disinformation. Most of all, they are unsure of what to do after a narrative attack occurs. How should marketers prepare for narrative attacks? Have an internal communications and rapid response plan News travels fast, and fake news travels even faster. Having an internal communications and narrative rapid response plan is imperative. This includes establishing a crisis communications team, implementing information verification processes and creating internal and external messaging for employees as well as the board—including prepared statements and stakeholder communications. Form a response team Create an internal response team where marketing, communication, cybersecurity and risk leaders come together once a month plan for narrative attacks. The better this group works together, the better the position the company will be in to respond when they happen. What should marketers do when under attack? Identify the platforms originating and spreading disinformation Knowing the scope of the narrative across social media platforms, the dark web, and the media can help calculate potential impact and inform a company response. Is it isolated on one small media outlet? Has it spread to all major platforms? Know the cohorts that connect and further scale narratives Knowing which hyper-agenda-driven individuals or groups are behind harmful narratives and how they are connected is critical. Similar groups with similar beliefs can create an echo effect to scale the narratives even further. Knowing who these groups are and how they are connected will help inform better strategic decision-making. Understand that bots can manipulate narratives Knowing what part of the narratives are manipulated and driven by bots, which now look and act human, is important. A bot-driven attack can make it seem as if brand reputation is under assault even if its actual customers have no complaints. Knowing this can guide a brand’s response. Develop a response plan While there is no one-size-fits-all response plan, during a crisis it helps to leverage brand evangelists to counter false/negative narratives and, if it makes sense, to constructively engage with naysayers. Situations that may warrant a public response: Situations that may warrant watching and waiting: Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

Brand disinformation—how marketers can prepare for narrative attacks

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