Reputations at stake, companies try to alter word of mouth online

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Marketing firms hawk on the Web to influence opinion

The booming economy of online reviews and product recommendations by everyday 'schmos' on web sites and social networks is anything but what meets the eye.

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And all of that explains why an Arlington County company named New Media Strategies reached out last year to a popular Brooklyn blogger named Aly Walansky. Founded 11 years ago by former political pollster Pete Snyder, NMS was one of the earliest digital PR firms to focus on word of mouth. NMS employees, most in their late 20s or early 30s, sit wired and caffeinated in a newsroom-like setting, tapping away at computers with double monitors to contact bloggers and Tweeters so they can offer everything from behind-the-scenes access to clients to free stuff. NMS represents, among other corporate giants, Chrysler, NBC, Intel, Sony Pictures and Domino's.

Last year, Domino's launched a new recipe for its pizza. To help the company, NMS identified hundreds of bloggers who influence what people eat and offered many of them coupons so they could try the new pizza for free. Snyder says there was no quid pro quo: Bloggers could say whatever they wanted about the product. Walansky, who often reviews food and beauty products, liked the new recipe -- as did almost every blogger the company contacted. NMS also offered Walansky a Domino's gift card so she could run a giveaway contest on her blog.

"To all my pizza lovers out there: Domino's has a new pizza recipe, and it's delicious!" Walansky wrote on her blog. "Everything has been upgraded -- the dough, the sauce, even the cheese, and we are grateful." Walansky's endorsement and contest got nearly 200 readers to add their own comments.

Disclosure guidelines

The Federal Trade Commission released guidelines last year about online product recommendations, saying that bloggers should disclose any connections to companies they write about. Walansky's giveaway included no such disclaimer. She said in an interview that such notice was not necessary because the free gift card made the connection to Domino's obvious.

Snyder said NMS "explicitly requests that the blogger disclose" any connection to a client's product.

NMS employees have posted offers from client companies on Twitter. But although NMS lists its employees and links to their Twitter accounts on its Web site, some tweets appear without any indication that the author is promoting clients. One employee recently posted on his Twitter account an offer to win a free Jeep: "RT @NMSosphere Win a #Jeep Wrangler Islander via Twitter!" To discern the connection between the tweeter and Jeep, a reader would have to find a news release on the NMS site announcing that the firm represents Chrysler, which makes Jeep trucks.

Snyder said that if "even 0.05 percent" of 150,000 tweets by his employees in the past year "failed to disclose a client interest, that's simply not good enough."

NMS says it follows ethical guidelines set by the FTC and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. "Never have we lived in a more transparent society," Snyder said. "Everything we put out there is verifiable, and it is truthful."

"There has always been a risk of manipulation online," said Pete Blackshaw, co-founder of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and an executive at the Nielsen ratings company. "This is a huge concern for a lot of people."

NMS is far from alone. Dozens of companies, with names like BzzAgent, Brickfish and Ammo Marketing, offer to help shape the online conversation. The Zocalo Group, in Chicago, categorizes commenters as "hear-MEs," "reputation terrorists" or "competitive destroyers." On its site, Zocalo promises to "relentlessly monitor online conversations to ensure your brand is talked about in the right ways." When it's not, the firm jumps into the conversation or recruits supporters to "go to bat for you."

Paul Rand, Zocalo's president, said: "What every brand is trying to get to is this: How do I become engaged with my consumers and my influencers in a way that hopefully secures me at an ongoing level and blocks out my competitors?"

Researchers who study online recommendations say most consumers don't realize that marketing firms are working to influence what they read online. Nor do they realize, unless they read some fine print, that sites such as Yelp let businesses that advertise on the site list their favorite review first, regardless of how recently that comment was posted. Only after clicking a blue link above the review would a user see this disclaimer: "Yelp sponsors can highlight one of their favorite reviews at the top of their business page."

Said Blackshaw, the Neilsen executive: "Any instance where there's a high likelihood of consumer confusion regarding who's behind the message is problematic. If discovered, it erodes trust, and trust is the currency of effective advertising."

Even when there is clear disclosure -- or perhaps because of it -- there can be unintended consequences.

A Zocalo employee, attempting to clear up misunderstandings about Cricket Wireless coverage in the Charlotte area, recently jumped into a conversation on a popular discussion board. He signed his note, "Best, Ryan, on behalf of Cricket." In response, "djiim" wrote: "Is this a prank? Seriously?" The next poster, "nTranced," wrote, "Great, now [Cricket's] goons are on here snooping around."