Nat Ives of The NY Times describes “determined detractors” as persistent critics of a company or product that mount their own public relations offensive, often online. They have roiled corporate plans at least since Ralph Nader famously attacked the Chevrolet Corvair and other cars in his 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, which prompted General Motors to hire a private detective to investigate him.
Determined Detractor #1, Morgan Spurlock, sacrificing his body for the cause.
But worrieth not corporate America. BuzzMetrics, a New York-based specialist in word-of-mouth marketing, has developed proprietary software to scoop up information on trendsetters and potential influencers as they travel the internet, posting messages on bulletin board sites, updating personal Web pages and sharing information through e-mail mailing lists.
“For brand managers, the big challenge is to predict trouble on the horizon,” said Jonathan Carson, head of BuzzMetrics. “When they see a detractor they have to figure out whether it’s a single disgruntled customer or an actual smoldering crisis that could explode.”
