Brand Sleaze and the Buyersphere

Watching the story of Damian McBride and the smear email scandal unfold, I was delighted - as I'm sure you were - to see the Westminster spin merchants get a taste of their own medicine. But it's a salutary tale for us all.

You see, in this digital age, the truth will out. And whether you are dealing with political rumour or your own brand reputation, the sheer democracy of the internet makes it difficult to pull the wool over anyone's eyes - whether customer or constituent.

There was a time when the only people with a political soapbox were the journalists. And they were of course employed by large, established media groups with strong financial reasons for distributing certain messages. Similarly, in the good old days before the Buyersphere, the only place for a B2B buyer to get information about a brand was from the brand owner, or affiliated spokespeople, usually in the form of advertising.

But now everyone gets a chance. Guido Fawkes is just a blogger, but he was still able to blow the whistle on Mr McBride's dirty secrets. And there are so many people making their views known on the web that no secret is safe (and in the great online meritocracy, it is the blogs that are most consistently believable that are the most read and therefore the most powerful).

So if there is a weakness in your brand, admit it and show you are willing to do something about it. Don't try to pretend there is not a problem by repeatedly telling a lie. In the Buyersphere, spin doesn't work.