Black PR is the intentional actions aimed at damaging the reputation of a company or an individual. By actions, I mean information actions, of course. For example, intentionally setting something up incorrectly in production that would ultimately harm the company is not black PR, but going and telling someone that “Vasya” said that there was a defect in production, and that they decided to put it on the shelves is exactly what we will be talking about – black PR!
In other words, black PR is an information war. You can achieve a lot by spreading rumors! Rumors can destroy a company, or they can glorify a company that you shouldn’t even approach, not to mention that it’s dangerous! Proper dissemination of information can do a lot! For example, I like to work with financial structures (banks, brokers, exchanges, regulators, exchangers, hype, wallets, etc.), I know how to put any of these companies on the blacklist on many sites and forums in a relatively short period. Yes, that’s the power of information. By the way, it’s very easy to put a company on the blacklist, but it’s very difficult, sometimes impossible, to get it out of there.
Who orders black PR?
Why do people order black PR? There may be many reasons, but they all boil down to one thing – to harm the image! But why would someone want to harm the image of another company?
As always, it’s simple! Company “A” cannot show how it is better than companies “B”, “C”, “D” …, as it is not better than any of them. It has no unique feature, is not unique in any way, and there is nothing good about it. But company “A” can show how others are worse.
For example, company “A” ordered negative advertising about companies “B”, “C”, and “D”, with the task of telling everyone that their company had to raise prices on their product because the ingredients had become more expensive. However, the company became afraid that customers would not like the price increase and they would lose them. Therefore, it was decided that the price would remain the same, but the quality or quantity would decrease.
By the way, have you noticed that previously, milk, kefir, yogurt, juice, peas… almost everything, was packaged in 0.5 liters (kg) or 1 liter (kg). And now? What used to be 0.5 is now 0.4…0.45 liters (kg), and what used to be 1 liter is now 900 or 950 grams. Why? Because a price increase of 10%…20% is very noticeable, but a decrease in the weight of the product is not immediately noticeable.
So, let’s return to company “A”, which ordered negative advertising about companies “B”, “C”, and “D”, but that doesn’t mean that company “A” is not doing the same thing, it’s just that no one talks about it.
There are many similar examples, but the essence of all of them is “look how bad they are!”
So, what does it mean if negative information appears somewhere? Does it mean that negative advertising was ordered against the company? No, not necessarily. The company may actually have problems that people are writing real reviews about. But can you tell the difference between real reviews and fake ones?
It is possible to tell, but not everyone can do it. Brand-UP.TOP offers a “reputation audit” service! Thanks to this service, an investigation is conducted, one of the goals of which is to determine if a company is being targeted by negative advertising, including black PR. The probability of detecting reputation management work is high.
The fact of conducting a smear campaign is evident, what should be done?
First and foremost, it’s worth considering who could have started the information war and asking them to stop. Otherwise, measures will be taken. However, as a rule, it is very difficult to determine the customer. So the only option left is to defend oneself against attacks. This can be done independently, but it usually looks very poor, and the effectiveness is low.
What will really help is to order PR that will counter negative attacks with subsequent displacement of negativity. But I will immediately say that the better the company’s business reputation, the easier it is to fend off smear campaigns. If there is something for the smear campaign to cling to, it becomes more difficult to get rid of it.
Many people wonder what is easier – to drown out competitors or to promote their own company? Self-promotion is expensive, and there is no guarantee that tomorrow negative comments won’t be directed towards us. However, it is easy to drown others – a schoolchild can write a couple of negative reviews and that’s it.
Well, it’s not quite like that. Firstly, black PR is a serious tool that also needs to be managed. Secondly, my opinion has always been that business should be conducted honestly.
Don’t order negative comments on others, promote yourself! If there is a leak of information (which is always likely when ordering cheap PR), and everyone finds out that you ordered a smear campaign against someone, they will stop respecting you. It’s even worse if you are accused of promoting yourself. When promoting your company, we also do not recommend writing things that are not true, you should always tell the truth. Moreover, you need to know not only what to write but also where to place it. The best option if you want to promote yourself is to turn to specialists, or at least consult with them.
Be honest, respect your customers and competitors, and everything will work out for you. And if something doesn’t work out, or you want to do something even better in terms of your image, contact the company Brand-UP.TOP, we will help you!
