Branding: How to avoid rumours

 24/02/11

Executive summary: Three researchers from Kellogg and Stanford say "rebuttals are unwise". Instead a company should put out a stream of positive messages about itself, they state according to The Economist. Coca-Cola, the world's No. 1 brand, is in trouble in the Middle East as the company try to fight "Middle East Rumours".

Edited by Peter Horn

Go Google and look for the the phrase “Middle East rumours”: The first website to pop up is not a website with conspiracy theories. "It is Coca-Cola’s website. For several years now the company has struggled to rebut ridiculous rumours about its products," writes The Economist.

Here's thew copy under the headline "Middle East Rumors" from the Coca-Cola website. Coca-Cola is the world's No., 1 brand:

"Many companies are finding themselves the subject of various rumors that attempt to draw the companies and their products into the conflict in the Middle East.

Some rumors and variations of those rumors concern The Coca-Cola Company. A few have been around for several years in one form or another and have recently had a resurgence.

Here are some rumors you may have seen or heard—and the facts.

Rumor: Boycotting Coca-Cola makes a statement against America and American (foreign) policies
Rumor: The Coca-Cola Company is a Jewish company. (Variations of this rumor suggest that the company
            is affiliated with the Mormon religion.)
Rumor: Warning not to buy Coca-Cola due to possible contamination by terrorists
Rumor: Coca-Cola contains material making it unsuitable for vegetarians and Muslims
Rumor: Coca-Cola contributes profits to Israel
Rumor: Coca-Cola runs advertising that is offensive to Muslims
Rumor: Anti-Muslim messages appear in graphics (No Mohammed, No Mecca) "

Rebuttals are unwise
As to The Economist, "the rumours are one reason why Coke does worse than Pepsi in Arab countries. Yet they are all false, as Coke’s website explains in painstaking detail.

"Such rebuttals are unwise, " associate professor Derek Rucker and doctoral candidate David Dubois, of the Kellogg School of Management, and associate professor Zakary Tormala, of Stanford business school, are quoted. The three psychologists state that  "by restating the rumours, Coke helps to propagate them".

Coca-Cola's web page is a magnet for search engines.

"(...) People who read rebuttals tend to forget the denial and remember only the rumour," says Mr Rucker.

As information is passed around, important qualifiers are lost., wirtes The Economist.  A rumour may start as “I’m not sure if this is true, but I heard that…” Then it evolves into: “I heard that…” Finally it becomes: “Did you know that…?” Even when no one intends to spread falsehoods, they spread.

In several experiments, Mr Rucker and Mr Dubois planted rumours among undergraduates. They found that with each repetition, scepticism diminished. The rumours themselves did not change; only the likelihood that the students would believe them. These findings were published in a report called “The Failure to Transmit Certainty”.

Tell the good stories
"Instead of denying false rumours, a company should put out a stream of positive messages about itself," reckon Mr Rucker and Mr Dubois. "This deprives myths of oxygen and also nudges people to doubt nasty things they may hear about the company in question."

So it's all about telling the good news and keeping away from the bad news or rumours that can badly damage the company's repoutation and brand.

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Read more:
www.economist.com
www.thecoca-colacompany.com/contactus/myths_rumors/middle_east.html

 



A Coca-Cola denial:

"Rumor: Boycotting Coca-Cola makes a statement against America and American (foreign) policies

Our Response: The Coca-Cola Company and our products are often regarded as American. But the fact is that The Coca-Cola Company is a truly international company, operating worldwide in more than 200 countries. The Coca-Cola business in each country is a local business. Coca-Cola beverages are produced, sold and distributed by authorized local bottling partners, who own and operate bottling plants and sales/distribution centers, employing one million local citizens - 90% outside the United States, and nearly all of them citizens of other countries.

For example, in the Palestinian Authority, The National Beverage Company, our Company's authorized local bottling partner, is an independent, privately held company, managed by local Palestinian businesspeople, who operate a Coca-Cola bottling facility located in Ramallah and distribution centers in Gaza, Hebron and Nablus. The National Beverage Company employs 200 local people and generates employment for hundreds of others in related industries. Throughout the Middle East we operate as a local business, run by local people and employing more than 20,000 local people, with local shareowners.

The Coca-Cola business is one of the most diverse organizations in the world, operating across a wide spectrum of economic, political and religious environments. As a business, Coca-Cola has neither the mandate to support nor an interest in supporting individual countries, governments or political or religious causes.

As everybody else, we are deeply touched by the human side of the situation in the Middle East. Given the local nature of our business, we believe that calls for boycotts of our products are not the appropriate way to further any causes, as they primarily hurt the local economy, local businesses and local citizens. Spreading such allegations is an attempt to exploit a delicate situation in the Middle East."