Perhaps you’ve heard about the Taco Bell rat invasion in New York. Or the Crest mouthwash brown spot problem. Or the Starbucks demonic icon controversy. These rumors are all products of consumer-generated media, fed by the ready availability of Web 2.0 outlets like blogs, chat rooms, YouTube and instant messaging, which provide a forum for disgruntled influencers to reach millions instantly.

Brands and brand management are under attack as social web sites like Digg and Gawker.com publish email addresses to facilitate consumer salvos of executive e-mail carpet bombs. Thanks to video sites like YouTube, the war of words has escalated, with sound and motion injecting visceral emotions into the fray. Everything gets magnified on the Web, which functions much like an echo chamber, amplifying and reiterating compliments, claims and complaints.

Consumer clout
Consumers, disenchanted with corporate corruption and pinched by tough economic times, are fighting back, flexing their muscle on micro-community sites, ratings and review sites, feedback portals, Internet discussion forums, Usenet newsgroups and consumer blogs to name just a few. They giga-gossip because they can. It’s easy, barriers to entry are low and they enjoy the heady experience of empowerment on a global scale.

This mouthy movement traces its origins to the innate human need to matter, to be heard, to connect with others in an increasingly mechanized world. On the upside, people love to share good things and evangelize for products and services that exceed expectations. In a world of airbrushing, injections and implants, where nothing is quite what it seems, electronic media afford an authentic outlet for expression.

Moved to speak
What converts the average consumer into an avid evangelist? A 2007 Nielsen study found that almost twice as many people (55%) posted to a Web site, blog or message board because they used the product and liked it, as those who used the product and either didn’t like it or wanted a refund (28%). Sometimes, they just saw a comment or posting and responded to it (27%).

When consumers read a negative story in print or see a broadcast segment, they visit the product website for additional information, segue over to Google for comprehensive coverage, then turn to Wikipedia and other consumer-generated media for a more impartial, objective point of view.

Cost and consequences
The problem with cyber contrails is that the digital footprint never disappears. It is almost impossible to completely purge a claim once it’s launched into the electronic ether. At the awareness and trial stage of a product launch, the process can be interdicted by CGM at the all-important “first moment of truth.” Conventional media coverage often bleeds over into CGM, influencing consumer perceptions before product trial.

Financial analysts now enjoy broader access to direct consumer input on company products and policies. Marketers lose control of key messages which are diluted and polluted by CGM messaging. Activists with a bone to pick and cause to promote can co-opt campaigns before they gain traction. Advertisers need to amp up spending to gain any share of voice in a cluttered media universe. Product line extensions enter the market saddled with the baggage of the core brand. Retail relationships change when bad news can’t be managed or held back until solutions are formulated.

Brand credibility
CGM has proven particularly effective in shaping brand perceptions because it embraces the six drivers of brand credibility:

• Trust
• Authenticity
• Transparency
• Affirmation
• Listening
• Responsiveness

With the goal of creating long-term customers, classic marketing efforts build from awareness through advocacy, a state of commitment where loyal consumers would encourage others to share the experience. As a result of Web influence, this traditional “referral zone” has ballooned, running full spectrum from photo sharing to Twitter to ratings and review sites.

Measure what matters
Drawing upon eight different data sources within Nielsen, Homescan BuzzFacts enables marketers to gauge Internet-driven brand performance on a number of critical metrics:

• Volume—How many comments about your brand?
• Reach—What is the depth of exposure, number of impressions viewed?
• Dispersion—What is the distribution and virality of the issue or conversation?
• Sentiment—To what extent are messages favorable or not?
• Emotion—How did consumers feel?
• Issue—What specific issues are being discussed?
• Source—Where is the conversation happening?
• Author—Is the source credible? What kind of consumer are they?

Timing is everything
When a crisis hits the Web, there is a narrow window of time to respond before brand equity gets damaged. In the case of the tainted pet food scare, brand volume dropped by 8,000 units just three weeks after the first posting. The shoppers most reactive to the postings were “speakers”, those who make their opinions known on the Web.

Companies that have encountered CGM attacks have reacted with different strategies. Yum Brands tried systematic listening and alerts to the management team. Comcast made progress with its customer service problem and reached out to influencers. Sony started a corporate blog and Web 2.0 employee training. Jet Blue posted an online video.

Control the dialogue
There are many ways to share information with consumers; the trick is understanding which media resonate with key consumers who influence other shoppers. Presently, there’s a real disconnect between the media followed by consumer affairs departments (letter, mail, telephone) and the media with a high consumer viral quotient (instant message, text message, photos, videos, e-mail links and blogs).

Companies looking to connect where consumers plug in should deploy those techniques and tactics that reside in the upper right hand quadrant of the control/acceptance grid—Contact Us, brand searches, brand/corporate blogs, on-demand video, RSS feeds, opt-in e-mail, human touch and content co-creation.

Engage the engaged
Give the curious and the committed easy access to videos that reflect the brand personality and feature real-life consumers. Invite viewers to play, to watch and to share their own videos using co-author tools like Frito-Lay did for its Super Bowl ad design contest. Keep your web site and blogs current, fresh and edgy.

Recognize that there’s a product conversation happening online, and choose to become a proactive part of it to embed the core messages that define your brand.