Startup rivals tap social media to push negative posts

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Negative marketing on social media through paid posts is on the rise as many small- and mid-sized startups seek to put down rivals, industry experts said. Such marketing can be of various types, although campaigns orchestrated through paid social media posts are most common, several marketing executives told Mint.

This includes highlighting a rival’s drawbacks by bringing out its weak points. Premkumar Iyer, chief operating officer of online reputation agency Hawk (Gozoop Group), said online slander has grown since brands rarely take the troublesome legal route to bring the perpetrators to justice. These campaigns are random, disorganized and mostly done on an ad hoc basis, mostly to manage crises, he added.

Also read | Customers vs influencers: User content is changing brands' marketing mix An influencer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed to have been approached by a social media agency to post online about the poor quality of a consumer company’s products. “This happened some months ago. I refused to collaborate because the intention was poor," the influencer said, adding the contents of the post seemed to suggest it could be from a rival.

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines, which cover social media influencers, forbid unfair attack or discrediting of rival brands directly or by implication. “Paid publicity is unfortunately on the rise, not just during IPOs (initial public offerings), but also in reputation and crisis management situations. It will rise further with more startups going public," said Aditya Gurwara, co-founder of influencer marketing agency Qoruz.