Attack of the Customers Biznology Webinar with Paul Gillin

20 Jun 2014 · 35 min
35:03

In this 30‑minute Biznology webinar, host Frank Reed introduces speaker Paul Gillin, author of Attack of the Customers, who explains how social‑media critics can launch damaging attacks on brands and how companies can defend themselves. Gillin walks through several high‑profile case studies – the Pampers DryMax diaper controversy, the pink‑slime (lean finely textured beef) scandal, and the Bank of America debit‑fee protest – illustrating how consumer complaints spread via Facebook groups, Change.org petitions, and mainstream media, often outpacing corporate response. He categorises attackers into four archetypes (casual complainers, extortionists, committed crusaders, irritable influencers) and outlines distinct tactics for each. The webinar then presents practical tools for early detection (Google Alerts, Twitter trends, industry‑specific keyword monitoring) and a response playbook emphasizing proactive community engagement, transparent education, customer‑focused policies, empathy over apologies, and constant communication. Gillin stresses that smaller businesses are actually more vulnerable because review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor can dramatically affect revenue. In the Q&A, he advises brands to keep Facebook pages open for two‑way conversation and reiterates that both large and small firms must prepare for rapid, real‑time crises. The session concludes with a reminder to update crisis plans regularly and to prioritize listening, empathy, and factual communication.

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