• by Shankar Gupta , October 9, 2006

For the last five years, Coca-Cola's public relations department has battled charges that the company is responsible for improper anti-union tactics in bottling plants in Colombia. Now, the company has started using another tool in its public relations arsenal: search engine marketing.

Last week, a U.S. federal court dismissed a claim filed by Sinaltrainal, a Colombian labor union, stating that the accusations were too vague. Since 2001, some union activists have charged in court that Coca-Cola conspired to intimidate--and in some cases, assassinate--union leaders in Colombia. Coca-Cola always denied the charges, but the anti-Coke campaign gained traction at U.S. colleges. Around a dozen colleges--including New York University--banned the sale and marketing of the beverage company's products.

To get the word out about its court victory, Coca-Cola purchased keyword ads on terms related to the controversy, including "Killer Coke"--a phrase contained in the url of the protesters' Web site, KillerCoke.org. The ad copy reads: "Coke Lawsuit Dismissed: Suit against Coca-Cola bottlers in Colombia dismissed. Read more," and users who click on the link are taken to a Coke Web site with more information. The ad also appears on political sites that have discussed the issue, including some sites that virulently attacked the company, such as DemocraticUnderground.com.

Coca-Cola isn't the only company to use paid search to help manage its reputation, said Josh Stylman, managing partner at Reprise Media. "Marketers are starting to realize that search doesn't just give marketers the opportunity to connect with buyers," he said. "It helps them connect with people who are researching for any topic that interests them," he said.

One of the draws, Stylman said, is that search campaigns are cheap and easy to set up. "Companies spend lots of money on PR to make sure that the way their brand comes across is the way they want it to come across," he said. "Search seems like the low-hanging fruit for that," he said.

Coca-Cola did not return calls for comment.