A while ago, a fast-spreading video appeared on the Polish internet which drew attention to one of the petrol station brands. It was about a video of a police incident that happened at the Orlen station in Ryman. The video went viral on the YouTube platform, becoming very popular in a very short time. This incident not only affected the image of the Polish Police, but also the Orlen company, which seems to have been unaware of what was happening to its Profile on Google. This caused the company to lose control of its brand and online reputation in a very short time.
The Orlen example shows that large companies can sometimes face image crises and PR difficulties that can negatively affect their brand. It is important for a company to respond quickly and effectively in such cases. For example, mBank in the past sent a test push message to its customers with the text ‘ęśąćż’, which caused doubts about the security of the brand’s banking. Nevertheless, the bank responded to the situation in a playful manner, even changing the logo on its social profiles. This response helped to calm the situation down somewhat. Orlen, on the other hand, seems to have failed to take decisive action in the case of the Ryman petrol station incident.
The Orlen company had previously struggled with image problems related to the takeover of Polska Press and the election of Daniel Obajtek as CEO. It has now worsened its image crisis following an incident at a petrol station in Ryman and a viral video.
Viral is a phenomenon that spreads quickly on the Internet, often involving social media material. It is difficult to keep this type of content under control, especially as it is often created by independent online creators and random users who spread it across different platforms. For brands that neglect their social media or fail to engage with it, they risk losing control of their image. This is what happened to Orlen in the context of Google Company Profiles.
A Google Company Profile, or so-called ‘business card’, is a tool based on Google Maps that allows users to find local businesses in search results. Valuable information, reviews and accurate company details help to attract new customers and increase traffic to a business’ website. However, it is worth understanding that not only business owners have access to edit information on Google Maps. Any Map user can suggest their own changes i.e. opening hours, change of address or name. Such changes are often very authentic to Google and approved. It is the owner’s job to reject such suggestions so that his Profile is truthful.
Google Business Profiles functions as both business contacts and social media. The tool continues to develop its social features and allows users to actively participate. One example is Local Guides, which can edit and rate businesses on maps. While they can help improve the quality of the information, they can also make incorrect or damaging changes, sometimes maliciously. This is what happened in the case of Orlen.
A lot of companies are unaware of what people are saying about them online, and Google Maps is one of the main places where reviews are collected. Orlen has experienced a wave of ridiculous comments on its Profile, which has affected the phrases displayed related to the company.
As a result of the video of the police action in Ryman, which went viral, many Google Maps users decided to playfully rename the network’s business cards to the famous ‘inspenser’. Several of these business cards were given a new name and a changed category of activity, thus creating a Police School in Ryman called ‘Instrybutor’. It seems that the brand was not aware of these changes.
For example, when typing ‘instrybutor’ into Google, a so-called ‘knowledge panel’ appears on the right-hand side of the search results, which includes the Google Profile. There are business cards of various ‘instrybutors’, some of which have been created more recently. For users searching for the nearest service station, this may be surprising, as they may not notice that these ‘instrybutors’ are in fact Orlen stations. How is it possible that such a large company has not noticed these alterations?
The reason is quite simple. Many locations on Google Maps are automatically created from publicly available national databases and information found on company websites. Sometimes companies, once they have added their location to the maps, do not take further action to manage it. As a result, Google Maps is filled with the locations of well-known restaurant chains, shops or banks, but without up-to-date data such as opening hours or telephone number. If the owner does not care about the quality of the information in the Google Business Profile, he or she is often not even aware of the changes made by casual users.
Find out more about keeping Google business cards for corporations and franchise chains by following this link.
Many companies also pay little attention to what is being said about them online. Google Maps, including the reviews section, is one of the main sources for collecting reviews and opinions about companies. Google has made many improvements to its reviews management over the past year and has plans to import reviews from other sources on the web. It is therefore particularly surprising that some companies skip this section altogether, especially in the face of negative reviews. Orlen is also struggling, but they are more viral in nature. Some business cards have been inundated with ridiculous reviews, affecting the company’s visibility in search results.
First of all, it is essential to stay active in the Google Business Profile tool. This tool offers the ability to globally manage locations, edit information and reject proposed changes made by Local Guides. This control can be obtained through the location group management panel, where suggestions for updates can be rejected. This enables us to control what happens at the locations we serve and protect ourselves against such changes or actions by competitors.
Obviously, not every medium has to be a priority in a brand’s marketing communications, but by disregarding the environment with such an active user community and also the most important source of opinion, we risk losing control of our image and damaging our reputation. Moreover, if a customer is unable to find us because of a changed company name, is unable to contact us because of an incorrect phone number, and we do not have a website linked to our business card, it is difficult to expect someone to make the extra effort to use our services or place an order.
