Case Study

How a University Managed Online Harassment Directed at Their Influential Brand Ambassadors With $14+ Million Fans

A university’s marketing team was caught off guard when their brand ambassadors with 14 million followers became the targets of online trolling and harassment.

Yonder surfaced insights into the online subcultures driving the narrative, the potential impact on the brand’s reputation, and the potential risk to the influencers.

The team decided not to engage but to build resiliency around their influencer marketing program to prevent future attacks.

The Challenge

To drive new enrollments and earn trust, the university partnered with two influential student ambassadors with more than 14 million followers.

But, when narratives about the ethics of paying influencers started to spread online, the team questioned whether they should go offline for a period of time or respond in any way. They didn’t have data on who was behind the narrative or on what would happen next.

The Solution

Yonder revealed the narrative was being spread by college redditors, sports enthusiasts, right-leaning political groups, and QAnon.

The involvement of higher education groups online concerned the university but Yonder confirmed that students, parents, and other university stakeholders were not participating in the conversation. Yonder also predicted the topic would not travel to the mainstream and provided a “do not engage” recommendation.

The Result

The university determined that engaging with the narrative would make the situation worse.

Social intelligence allowed the university to protect the integrity of its program and earn more trust from the student body and the higher education community. Months later, when the same groups criticized the influencers when one announced her engagement online, the team was able to be proactive and mitigate risk before the stories spread online.