A few days ago on the “Polish internet” we noticed how a new viral spread at a dizzying speed and hit one of the fuel station brands. Of course, it refers to the now-famous footage from a police operation at an Orlen station in Rymanie, during which a woman forcefully drove into a building, while bystanders instructed the officers on what they should do. The footage landed on YouTube, where it gained enormous popularity within a few hours and resonated not only with the image of the Police but also with Orlen itself, which seems to have no idea what is happening with the Google My Business listings of its own brand. How can one lose control over a brand and one of the most important media on the internet in just one day?
Viral Footage with the “Instrybutor” and Orlen’s Image Problems
From time to time, larger brands experience an image crisis or PR blunders that do not reflect well on the entire brand. In such cases, a quick and appropriate response from the company is crucial. An example of this is mBank, which last summer mistakenly sent out test push notifications to its customers containing the string “ęśąćż.” The ensuing wave of outrage, sparked by doubts about the bank’s security, was overshadowed by a massive volume of viral content in the form of memes. The bank itself made excellent use of this mishap by turning it into a joke, even changing its logo on its social media profiles. The quick and humorous reaction alleviated the situation somewhat. However, things were different when it came to a series of serious security mishaps. In that case, the brand took decisive action—something that did not happen with Orlen and the incident featuring the now-famous “instrybutor,” which was rather met with silence.
The Orlen Group has been struggling with significant image issues for several weeks. They have faced a lot of criticism over the acquisition of Polska Press and the appointment of Daniel Obajtek as CEO. Now, an unsuccessful police operation at a fuel station in Rymanie and the footage that became the new internet hit have added their own twist. Viral content, as a phenomenon of rapid spread of exceptionally catchy and engaging material, mainly affects social media. It is hard to control, especially because the content is created “from the grassroots”—by internet creators and ordinary users who, as a joke, distribute the content or motif through various available channels. When a brand neglects a medium or simply does not actively manage its presence there, the risk of losing control over its own image is significant. This is exactly what happened with the Google My Business listings of the Orlen network.
Community of Local Guides on Google Maps
Google My Business listings are a tool based on Google Maps that allows companies to be found in local search results. By providing useful information, content, and collecting reviews, it becomes an extremely valuable medium that helps in attracting new customers and generating website traffic. It is also worth noting that business owners are not the only Google Maps users who can edit the information displayed on the maps.
Google Maps can be described as a hybrid between a business directory and a social media platform. The tool shares many features with portals such as Facebook and is constantly expanding its social functionalities. In addition to the flagship feature of reviewing any location, liking reviews and photos, Google allows users to create Local Guides accounts. Who are Local Guides, and who can be a Guide? Any Google Maps user with a Google account who actively edits various objects, adds missing information, or reviews companies. This has its ups and downs because, like every idea, it eventually meets the reality that tests the initial assumptions of its creators.
Such a user can both improve the quality and currency of the information on the maps, but they can also add false and incorrect data—often malicious and mocking. As a result, we must contend with a plague of spam on the maps, i.e., fake locations that frequently divert traffic from properly optimized Google My Business listings. Users can edit company information and change, among other things, the name or category of the business. In recent days, the Orlen network fell victim to such actions.
Google My Business Listings – What Do We Risk by Not Protecting the Brand’s Image?
As a result of the viral footage from the police operation in Rymanie, many of the network’s listings were changed by Google Maps users as a joke to the famous “instrybutor.” Several of them not only received a new name but also a new business category—thus, a police academy in Rymanie called “Instrybutor” was created, and the brand itself seems to have no idea about it.
When you type “instrybutor” in Google, a knowledge panel appears on the right side of the search results, and on it, Google My Business listings (usually when you enter a brand term or a name with an address extension). Here, simply using the mentioned keyword gives you the listing of the “instrybutor.” Within a few days, we managed to count several dozen, and more keep appearing. As a result, a user who is genuinely looking for the nearest gas station might be very surprised or simply go to the competition because they may not realize that this “instrybutor” is Orlen. How is it possible that such a large brand did not notice this problem?
The recipe is quite simple. Many locations on Google Maps are created automatically based on national databases and information provided on websites. Sometimes companies do not take any further action after their locations are added to the maps. As a result, on Google Maps, there are plenty of companies from large, well-known chains of restaurants, stores, or banks that do not have updated opening hours or phone numbers. If the owner does not take care of the quality of the information in Google My Business, they probably don’t even log in to their account and are unaware that the network’s listing names are being modified by random users.
Many companies also do not take care of what is being said about them online. Google Maps (and Google My Business listings) is one of the largest media platforms gathering reviews. The giant has introduced many improvements to the review engine over the last year, and it has ambitious plans to import reviews from other parts of the internet as well. This makes it even more surprising that some brands completely neglect the review section on Google, especially when we see a lack of response to extremely negative reviews. Orlen faces similar issues, but with a more viral character. Some listings have been flooded with mocking reviews, which significantly influence the search terms for which the company appears online.
How to Prevent Unwanted Changes in Google My Business?
First and foremost, it is important to be active on Google My Business. The tool provides us with the ability to manage locations globally, edit information, and even reject edits proposed by Local Guides. This can be done from the panel for a group of locations by rejecting updates. In this way, we maintain control over what happens with the locations we manage and can protect ourselves against such modifications or actions from competitors. Of course, not every medium has to be a priority for a brand’s marketing communication, but by neglecting an environment with such an active community of users and at the same time the largest medium for gathering reviews, we risk losing control and damaging our image. Moreover, if a customer cannot find us because the company’s name has been changed, cannot contact us because the phone number is incorrect, and if our website is not linked to the listing, it is hard to expect that someone will take the trouble to place an order or book an appointment.
