"Welcome to Cold Call, the podcast where we dive deep into the stories behind groundbreaking Harvard Business School case studies. What do United Airlines, Bud Light, Target, and Dove have in common? They all share the jarring experience of watching their brand reputation and share value spiral due to viral social media. In an era where billions of people engage across multiple platforms, online conversations shape trust, reputation, and ultimately business performance. Today's case looks at how brands operate at the intersection of AI-powered automation and human judgment, navigating viral controversies, customer engagement, and the delicate balance between free expression and brand protection. The case highlights the dilemma around how much to moderate and how brands should respond in moments of crisis."
"Julian De Freitas' research looks at how customers interact with AI, how firms can create value and assess risks associated with AI. Jenny Wolfram and Vesa Rikkinen are the co-founders of BrandBastion and the central figures in today's case. Welcome, everybody."
Viral social media can rapidly erode brand reputation and share value, as seen with United Airlines, Bud Light, Target, and Dove. Brands must manage online communities where billions interact across multiple platforms. Effective management sits at the intersection of AI-powered automation and human judgment, requiring systems that combine scalable automated moderation with nuanced human oversight. Firms must decide how much to moderate, when to intervene, and how to respond in crises while balancing free expression and brand protection. BrandBastion exemplifies a business offering moderated community management, highlighting operational and ethical trade-offs in AI-driven content moderation.
Read at Harvard Business Review
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