Crisis Communication on Social Networks

. ,
National School of Commerce
and Management in Kenitra
MASTER MARKETING AND COMMERCIAL STRATEGY
Research: Crisis communication on social networks
(The Moroccan Boycott)
Elaborated By:
Tarik TAKHSAITI

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Academic Year 2017 - 2018
‘’Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.’’
Benjamin Franklin

3
« This work comes after the economic crisis April 20, 2018 that some of the
largest Moroccan companies suffered from. The latter was the opportunity for me to
apply my knowledge in the fields of marketing and economics. Thus, this project is
the result of a university research for 5 months after the boycott, a research that
neither support nor represent any Orientation or belief in any way.

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Thanks
I dedicate you this humble work! Yes, to you who read this book!
To those who have not finished reading for whatever reason,
For the consumer, you are the narrator
For Marketers, the story is yours
For companies, you are The Story
to a friend who has never left me, called curiosity
to the darkness of my room,
to my broken computer, yet he still resists with me
To my dear father, to my heart. God prolonged his life,
To the one who gave the pleasure of her liver all the tender, to the one who was
patient for everything, The one who nurtured me and was Cindy in adversity, and her
suit to me, she followed me step by step
In my work, to whom I rested whenever I remembered her smile at me spring of
tenderness, my mother dearest angel .
To those who wished me success and to all who supported me and to everyone who
wished me good and success, my family, my friends and colleagues ...

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General Introduction
In light of emergencies in Morocco or abroad, it is clear that citizens - anxious
to collect or disseminate information quickly and directly - are increasingly using
social media.
Social media is introducing a new paradigm of communication and
information exchange. Many millions of people are now interconnected and can
discuss an infinite number of topics. Businesses are not exempt from these
exchanges.
Communication can no longer be without immediate feedback. Many
discussions around brands come from blogs, wikis and social networks and can be a
source of notoriety or play on the brand image and reputation of companies, this is
the whole issue of these new social platforms.
If companies could decide the relevance of their presence on the net a few
years ago, this is not the case today. With the birth of the Web, 2.0 everyone wants
to express themselves on a subject and publish content on the net.
Feedback from Internet users, comments, blogs, posts on Facebook and
Whatsapp are now as much useful information but dreaded by companies who can
no longer ignore the changes they are subject.

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A boycott campaign launched in Morocco on April 20 on social networks is very
popular among citizens. It concerns three major brands of local consumer products:
milk, water, and a service station sign. This boycott, which aims to denounce the
alleged monopoly situation of these companies, aims to push these companies to
lower their prices.
The issue raised in this Project is, therefore:
 How to manage a crisis on social networks?
 This kind of crisis Is it The first in the history of consumption in Morocco?
 The analysis of the Moroccan boycott and the crisis that followed this
campaign via social networks?
 How was the marketing before and during the crisis?
 How have companies affected by the crisis reacted?
 Analyze the different opinions of people about the crisis.
This research project will try to provide some answers to these questions.
To do this, we will try in the first part of this report to address the theoretical aspects,
highlight the issues of presence on social networks, and define the key concepts of
crisis communication on social networks based on certain previous statistics.
In the second part, we will make a documentary, quantitative study that will allow us
first of all to:
 The importance of communication in social networks for the Moroccan
consumer.
 Analyze the different opinions of consumers on the crisis.

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 Analysis of the Moroccan boycott and the crisis that followed this
campaign via social networks.
 Conclude with a global definition of the Moroccan boycott after its
analysis.
 The analysis of the situation of companies during the crisis, and the
reactions that exacerbated this crisis. The comparison of e-marketing
companies that they are profiting from the mistakes of other
companies in crisis.
 How to prevent and recover from these crises when they occur?
 Summary, suggestions and mistakes that should be avoided in the future.
.

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FIRST PART :
Foreword on the subject,
Past Crises and Future Expectations

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Introduction
With 68% of individuals registered on social networks, the company has strongly
digitized. In addition, 42% of the world's population is present on the Internet, or more than
3.96 billion people according to (Internet Live Stats, 2018), this is a major change in the
consumer and behavioural society that has been achieved through the democratization of
the Internet. Internet users, each day more numerous and more knowledgeable, require
instantaneous requests, information and answers. It is then that social networks can
become a real competitive advantage for the company (very responsive, delivering rich
content and adapted to its target), but also a threat present every day, sometimes a source
of tension within the company itself. the company in its organization. These crises can lead
to profound changes in communication (both in the brand image and in its prosperity and
turnover), the tone used, the content shared, the interaction with Internet users, but also
sometimes the whole branding, as was the case for Volkswagen with its slogan "Das Auto"
removed in the wake of the scandal on its engine performance.
Each company must adapt to these new markets, and to new digital targets, such as baby
boomers1
or millennials2
because if it fails to apprehend them, it is all its reputation and its
durability. that will be challenged through digital crises, sometimes disastrous. These crises,
however, have warning signs, and it is, therefore, crucial today to study both its
environment and best practices to anticipate and manage these crises on social networks.
Thus, it is important to consider hiring staff internally or externally to manage the
company's image, taking into account these new stakeholders and associated issues.
1
Baby boomers are the demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The Baby
Boom generation is most often defined as those individuals born between 1946 and 1964.
2
Millennials, also known as Generation Y (or simply Gen Y), are the demographic cohort following Generation X and
preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s
to early 2000s as ending birth years, with 1981 to 1996 a widely accepted definition.

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CHAPITRE I: Foreword on the subject
A. The history of different social networking sites
Since the first mail sent in 1971 by researchers, the Internet has evolved, and the methods
of use with. But it is only almost 20 years later, in 1989, that the Word Wide Web will see
the light of day. Designed by CERN3
's Tim BernersLee, the computer engineer wanted to
propose a tool to distribute information in a new way among scientists using the Center's
particle accelerator.
In 1994, Justin Hall decided to connect to the outside world, publishing on his page for 11
years. His site, Justin's Links from the Underground, is considered the first personal blog.
The following year, Classmates will be created. This first social network
allowed to find his former classmates. Will follow Meetup.com and Friendster, then the
massive advent of social networks in 2003 with the creation of Myspace, WordPress and
LinkedIn. The messages go faster, the whole world is connected, the professional and
personal spheres are confused. The list continues to add each year and behaviors evolve
over the years and trends, including via The Facebook which will later become Facebook,
the social network par excellence valued at 2.2 billion monthly active users according to
(Coëffé, 2018) On Q1 2018 :
 In Europe: 377 million
 In North America: 241 million
 In Asia: 873 million
 In the rest of the world: 705 million
 In Morocco: 16 million users (Hootsuite, 2018)
3
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, is a European research organization that operates the
largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, the organization is based in a northwest suburb
of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border and has 23 member states. Israel is the only non-European country granted full
membership. CERN is an official United Nations Observer.

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(Coëffé, 2018)
Index of the evolution of the use of Facebook in the world Quarterly:
Users share moments of life and follow the adventures of their friends and family. Then,
Twitter allows instant dissemination of messages and information. Highly used by
journalists and influencers, 23% of crises hatch or are relayed on Twitter.
(Vanderbiest, 2017)
Sources of electronic crises

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‘’ Customers can’t always tell you what they want. But they can always tell you what’s
wrong’’
Carly Fiorina
YouTube and Pinterest are two platforms for them to share for one of the videos, and for
the other photos. YouTube offers different user content: tutorials, movies, interviews, ads,
and more. while Pinterest is more dedicated to finding inspiration primarily in decorating
and cooking.
Thanks to these numerous networks, everyone has access to content created by other
Internet users from around the world, at any time. This trend was accentuated by the
arrival in 2011 of Snapchat. Members can, from their application, share photos and videos
of their lives, and take advantage of exclusive filters widely relayed on social networks. The
brands then seized it to broadcast to a young clientele videos of muses or even shoots. By
evolving at the same time as society, social networks have multiplied and diversified. Some
sites such as 9Gag or Reddit have a strong international community, engaged in both humor
and in the denunciations of unscrupulous brands, including Nescafe which will be explained
later.
(AVERTY, 2015)
The type of application used by Moroccans on smartphones

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B. The definition of community has changed over time
According to the Larousse, a community is "Set of people united by links of interests,
common habits, opinions or common characteristics". Today, the word "community" more
broadly refers to a collective, a movement, bringing together people without particular
resemblances from an outside point of view, who interact with each other around a
common interest.
As early as 1993, Howard Rheingold defined virtual communities as "discussions for quite a
while, with enough heart for human relations networks to weave within the cyberspace
socio-cultural groupings that emerge from the network when a sufficient number of
individuals participate in these. (RHEINGOLD, 1993).
Nevertheless, this use of the term "virtual" is questionable, because these communities are
reflected by a very "real" anchoring, with discussions and repercussions that go beyond the
virtual.
In the book Influence and Reputation on the Internet: Communities, Crisis and Strategy, the
authors add this relationship to reality by defining it as groups sharing a common interest, a
network of presences, an opportunity to weigh in a decision-making process, and an
economic production capacity. This is where the threat capacity of such real and virtual
groups and the influence they can exert on brands and policies are highlighted. (Violet-
Surcouf, 2013)
These communities that evolve on the Internet are centered around several social
generations, tending to reduce the differences between them. There are three major
generations of Internet users: baby boomers, born before 1964, generation X, born
between 1965 and 1982, and finally generation Y, or millennials, born between 1982 and
2000. The first generation is composed of baby boomers, people between 54 years and 72
years in 2018, born after the second world war. They use a desktop computer to go on the
Internet, they follow global economic and political news while following the news of their
family through social networks and especially Facebook. They are fond of images and
videos, for the most part, more than 25%.
The second-generation X, therefore, includes people aged 38 to 53 in 2018. They are
particularly active in the evening on the Internet. They are quite open to the novelty and go
where their family is to keep themselves informed: Facebook especially, but also Twitter or
Snapchat. They buy less on the Internet than Generation Y, but with larger amounts
(CEFRIO, Fiche LA GÉNÉRATION X (35 À 44 ANS), 2013), with an equivalent of 2,948 MAD
(CEFRIO, Fiche LA GÉNÉRATION Y (18 À 34 ANS), 2013) per month on average for the
generation X, against 1,950 MAD for the generation Y which will follow.
The third generation, Generation Y, is between 18 and 40 years old in 2018. Millennials
have a smart phone and sometimes a tablet. These people connect to the Internet every
day, and are online shoppers. If we look at some statistics, 67% of these people go to social

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networks (POUGET, 2009) And 64% of this generation use it to find a job. Here we note
that these social networks, created for interaction, extended to the professional field as
well. Generation Y members are very connected and open to the world. Digital reputation is
at the heart of this generation's issues.
It should be noted that a new generation is appearing on the net and soon the job market,
the generation Z. Born with social networks, it is common for them to have grown up with a
tablet and rely on Internet and all social networks available to interact with the world:
Facebook history, Instagram and Snapchat implanted, new Periscope and Peach.
‘’The way you can understand all of the Social Media is as the creation of a new kind of
public space.’’
Danah Boyd
Nescafé found itself targeted by a community 9Gag humorous site in 2011. The brand
organized a video contest based on the number of "likes" entries via its Facebook page. A
9Gag user asked the community to vote for his video about his disabled brother by birth
and recorded more than 47,000 likes in a few hours. The publication was then considered
fraudulent and disqualified. Thousands of comments are then dumped on the Facebook
page Nescafé Hungary then Nescafé Worldwide to fold the mark, a dedicated Facebook
page is even created and has more than 25,000 members. Le mouvement a continué de
prendre de l’ampleur, si bien que Nescafé a du se justifier sur les conditions de vote et a
annoncé avoir appelé l’internaute. Finalement, elle donnera le montant du lot (55 438
MAD) à un institut s’occupant de l’enfant handicapé et a informé qu’il recevra un
traitement particulier. (ANTHONY, 2011)
This example shows that an isolated problem can quickly turn into a real movement, and be
very harmful to the brand image, and its reputation on the Internet. Netizens could see the
massive comments and so can join the movement too, and people without any common
point other than the 9Gag site have joined forces for the same cause.
Brands will be judged on their publications and reactions, or even on their image or concept
in general. Shared content needs to be thought through, as there will always be a
community of people who will criticize part or all of the publication. These communities
have really gained importance thanks to the participatory Internet, or "Web 2.0", which has
allowed them to express themselves much more easily and quickly, and the brand must
take this into account by quickly adapting its communication, the shared content, but also
the tone.

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C. Crises before web 2.0 and after (Example : Décathlon Kenitra)
It is in this society of instantaneousness that brands must interact and find their
place and their audience. The year 2003 marked a turning point with the appearance of
"Web 2.0". With it, users share opinions and opinions through comments and blogs.
The media entities also value the Facebook pages, which are very popular with
Internet users as regards the online press, because they often stop at the title appearing
directly on their newsfeed. Since then, the Internet is more interactive and responsive, and
Internet users no longer hesitate to share their discontent. Brands are studied and
scrutinized by the largest number, and the slightest misstep can turn into a real crisis of
image or economic for the company.
Before the Internet and especially before this shift undertaken in 2003, the brand
exercised a controlled unilateral communication, targeting individuals directly known by the
brand. Opinions arose from groups of experts, then were picked up by journalists before
reaching a public opinion. Thus, for there to be a crisis, the problem had to reach the
journalists of the press and the television to see an article or a report in the following days
or weeks. Readers and viewers would then talk to those around them if the problem was
important enough.
But from now on, to reach the opinion, it is necessary to use the different social
networks available to the company to express itself and to make its communication. The
traditional media and this "Web 2.0" are intertwined in the fabric of opinion, added to the
content created by Internet users. The information is spreading much faster, and reaching a
population that can be much larger. Between product recalls, criticized advertisements and
keen competition, it has become essential to be present and to express oneself on social
networks. An in-store note or TV report is no longer enough, because it is on social media
that communities will criticize, and things could get worse on their own as a result of noise
amplification.
‘’People don't believe what you tell them. They rarely believe what you show them. They
often believe what their friends tell them. They always believe what they tell themselves.’’
Seth Godin
In general, brands have less control over what is said, and by whom. With the
participatory web, the target of the company has broadened to non-consumers, consumer
associations or lobbying groups. Each stakeholder requires particular attention, even his
communication strategy, because, in the event of a discrepancy between the brand and the
opinion of Internet users, it is a crisis that can start and, through a phenomenon of
contamination, affect each other. sphere of targets.
Some businesses in Kenitra City have almost been boycotted by their clients. The
French group Décathlon of large distribution specialized in the articles of sport and leisure

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Their shop was almost to boycott In 2017 For their immoral behaviour, Their shop pollutes
the forest area neighbour, That angered the population and the customers, leading to An
attempt to boycott Decathlon products The Community Manager of the company
intervened on Facebook to stop a real crisis for the company.
(Page Facebook: Decathlon Kénitra, 2017)
(Page Facebook: Decathlon Kénitra, 2017)

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CHAPITRE II: The emergence and spread of the crisis and the adoption of
necessary measures
D. Emergence, the spread of the crisis and some statistics
To be considered a crisis according to the "propagation chain" published by the
Visibrain watch platform, a negative event must be relayed on social networks, spotted by
expert bloggers and then taken up by the online press. The event can finally be relayed on
radio and television. This schema is particularly true for X and Y generations, which are very
connected.
(Vanderbiest, 2017) The crisis spread chain of the present era.
It must be kept in mind that this chain of propagation is effective in the case of a crisis that
emerges directly from social networks. Other chains of propaganda exist for crises that
emerge from traditional media such as television or the press.
Reputation crises erupted in 2017. The decline of the phenomenon is
confirmed, for the first time, the number of cases falls below the 2014
mark. (Vanderbiest, 2017)
Crises come from the communication and marketing departments.
These two departments are the most vulnerable. Indeed, 46% of
crises originate in the communication department and 36% in the
102
83%

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marketing department of companies. (Vanderbiest, 2017)
Are due to a communication problem. Either the crisis comes from a
bad communication set up by the company. Either the crisis comes
from a communication not organized by the company, but which falls
on it, like an employee who makes a mistake out of his working time.
(Vanderbiest, 2017)
E. Future Crises Expected in 2030-2035
Thinking about the future is vital but hard. Crises keep intruding, making it all but
impossible to look beyond daily headlines to what lies over the horizon. In those
circumstances, thinking “outside the box,” to use the cliché, too often loses out to
keeping up with the inbox. That is why every four years the National Intelligence
Council (NIC) undertakes a major assessment of the forces and choices shaping the
world before us over the next two decades.
Financial crises, the erosion of the middle class, and greater public awareness of
income inequality—all with roots predating the 2008 downturn—have fed sentiment
in the West that the costs of trade liberalization outweigh the gains. As a result, the
historic, 70-year run of global trade liberalization faces a major backlash,
undermining future prospects for further liberalization—and raising the risk of
greater protectionism. The world will be closely watching the United States and other
traditional supporters of trade for signs of policy retrenchment. Further
liberalization of free trade may be limited to more narrow issues or sets of partners.
(The National Intelligence Council, 2017)
Mexico’s economic and social reforms also will probably have muted political impact
within the country and region. President Pena Nieto has enacted wide-ranging
reforms in key industries—such as oil, communications, and finance—as well as
education in an effort to enhance Mexico’s competitiveness, but growth has not
increased significantly so far, and public support has soured amid corruption
allegations, persistent violence, a weakening peso, and domestic crises such as the
disappearance of 43 students at a demonstration in 2014. Major reforms, such as
opening Mexico’s oil industry to foreign investment, take time to bear fruit, but
antigovernment protests could escalate if the disappointments remain more
apparent than the benefits in the next several years. (The National Intelligence
Council, 2017)
Crises
6/10

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L’étude Global Trends 2030, réalisée par le National Intelligence Council, vise à
fournir un cadre de réflexion sur les trajectoires mondiales potentielles dans les
quinze à vingt prochaines années. Cette étude est basée sur des données publiques,
privées et académiques. (National Intelligence Council, 2015)
The researchers identified four major future trends. The first is the empowerment of
individuals in their own money and that of others. The middle class will increase,
reinforcing values such as the feeling of belonging to a national identity, insecurity or
the pressure on low-skilled workers.
Then, the life expectancy is brought to lengthen, by the fall of the contagious mortal
diseases. Some countries are therefore forced to see their population grow old and
suffer from problematic economic spin-offs. A trend towards urbanization and
immigration is also to be anticipated.
Thirdly, it is a reorganization of powers on a global scale: Asia will continue to grow in
importance, eventually overthrowing the United States.
These changes will be accompanied by technology, to turn these shifts of power into
a multi-faceted network across countries.
Finally, it is the demand for natural resources, such as water, energy and food, that
will increase between 35 and 50% compared to 2012. The question here is whether
there will be a more efficient management resource, wider use of technology, or
more appropriate governance mechanisms.
This study shows the uncertain environment that is best anticipated. Urbanization,
ageing of the population, reduction of available resources and spread of technology
to different sectors are all factors to keep in mind when drafting communication
plans and anticipating crisis warning signals.
F. Key Rules To Manage Crisis On Social Networks
All crises are different and require a specific response, adapted to communication
channels and the echo of information or misinformation. So, be careful not to amplify
a crisis yourself by poorly assessing its range and reacting too quickly. Your answer
should not only rely on the content of bad buzz but must first identify media relays.
This rule is fundamental to developing a resolution adapted to the type of crisis that
you must manage.

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The 5 rules According to (Columbo, 2017) the 5 rules According to (Columbo, 2017)
Digital Marketing Consultant. Social Media Advocate:
1- Apologize: simple enough, say your sorry and say it quickly.
2- Validate: validate the consumer experience, you do not have to take
responsibility for the event that occurs, but you must recognize the hurt or
disappointment of the customers they feel in the experience of your brand .
3- Make real changes: If these are comments that could improve the quality of
work or help your team, why not share it across the organization?
4- Don't give up: Don't lose hope to the consumer who hates your brand, you
must make an effort and communicate with him, Then you will turn him into
someone who loves your products and he will help you through word of
mouth.
5- Be a human: Make sure to change any legal communication that has arrived
with your legal team to something more attractive before posting it on social
networking sites, or you will be judged by someone who only applies and
without humanity if you act otherwise.
Crisis management is foreseen, gets ahead, it is necessary to know the good points of
contacts in the company. In its internal mechanism, crisis communication is
transversal and can affect all of the company's management (general management,
communication, marketing, press, legal, etc.). Similarly, to be able to react
immediately and without haste, it is necessary to have identified upstream, outside
the perimeter of crisis, communities at risk: the resolutions of a crisis must somehow
be already sketched before it emerges.
According to (Gaillard, 2017) Managing Director WORDING FACTORY, consulting
agency in editorial communication, 25 years of experience in editorial and corporate
communication There are 8 new rules To manage a crisis on social networks:
1- Communication in two-way
It can be scary, but it's inevitable: the public can now turn to you the same way
you talk to him. This means that your vigilance must never fall: the slightest
mistake can be spotted and gain momentum via social networks.
2- Be attentive
Consider these viral tools as a chance rather than a constraint: with the help of a
consistent watch, you will be able to identify the discontents from their
embryonic stage. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the best tools to measure
your popularity. Deal with problems at the root, responding with sincerity and
humility to even the smallest complaints.

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The king of crisis management: Twitter! It is on this platform that your messages
are most likely to be read quickly and have an impact.
Example :
The American Red Cross has had the worst nightmare of the communicator: a
private tweet has been inadvertently posted on their official account. This one
announced "Ryan found 2 packs of beer and more ... When we drink we go
thoroughly!
#onsebourrelagueule "The Red Cross reacted with humor and professionalism:
(American Red Cross, 2011)
They even went further by allowing the offending employee to confess on the Red
Cross blog and her personal Twitter account:
(Huang, 2011)
3- Stay human
Between the institutional discourse of putting and the multiplication of the
channels of communication, your voice can quickly be drowned. Remind your
audience that real people are behind your posts. Adopt a sincere and personal
course of action. Do not hide behind a slogan or logo.

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4- Grow flexibility internally
The best way to manage a crisis is to have a united and responsive team. Make
sure everyone is on the same page before expressing you, this avoids conflicting
messages that hurt your image. Enhance transparency and flexibility internally as
these are the keywords in a crisis.
5- Speak in real time
Responsiveness to a crisis is no longer considered an advantage: it is now
essential. Be the first to express yourself to counter misinformation. If you delay
speaking, it will be held against you. Attention, speed does not mean
precipitation: wait to be sure of the elements you advance before communicating.
Internally, do not give in to panic, otherwise, it will be felt in your content!
Example:
In 2013, Findus4
decided to reveal the horsemeat scandal itself, before it was
leaked by journalists or consumers. By taking the lead, and having all offending
products removed immediately, Findus' sales figures have barely suffered from
this major crisis.
6- Never say "No comments"
When you are caught by surprise, it may seem natural to refrain from speaking
until you have control of the situation. But today, not to comment is to let others
take over the case.
If you are effectively unable to make a statement on the subject, express yourself
sincerely. Without dismounting, play the transparency, saying for example "We
have just heard the news and we are examining the facts". This does not engage
you in the long run while showing that you are active.
7- Do not necessarily put the CEO forward
Before deciding who should speak for your company, there are several things to
consider. First, who is the most qualified person to talk about the problem? Does
this person have a habit of talking to the media?
4
Findus is a frozen food brand which was first sold in Sweden in 1945. Findus products include ready meals, peas and
Crispy Pancakes, the latter of which were invented in the early 1970s.

23
Besides, measure the extent and severity of the crisis before wetting the CEO. Can
this crisis be solved quickly? Keep the word of the grand chief as the last asset in
your sleeve, it will have more weight.
8- Help journalists do their job
Requests from journalists may seem exhausting. However, how you respond to
them will greatly affect the outcome of the crisis. Strive to meet the deadlines
imposed on them. This will ensure that your word is relayed before that of your
detractors.
Talk to them off: you could learn unsuspected things. Journalists often already
have a preconceived idea about the case. The sooner you react, the more you can
change your mind and tell your own story.
Finally, we must look to the source of the crisis to understand its origin. The media
and social networks are only echoes or reflections of larger elements and they do not
necessarily allow to grasp the global meaning. The answer must, therefore, be
established according to the content of the message that we want to transmit to the
different relays. As such, the rules of communications remain the same, and the
medium on which you speak is only a tool.

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Conclusion of the chapter
Social networks, in times of crisis or not, are intimately linked to emotion. The
success of crisis management through them certainly depends on a strategy in which
human feelings are taken into consideration.
That said, even if social networks are an important part of communication today, we
must not neglect the importance of other media - television - radio - blogs ... Social
networks echo traditional methods of communication.
The increasing use of social networking sites demonstrates its importance in rapid
and instant communication. We also know that the virtual world has influenced the
real world and improved the position of certain peoples, unlike other peoples who
have suffered.
I made it clear that 55% of crises came from social networking sites and 23% from
Twitter, unlike Morocco, which is known by its use of the Whatsapp application. And
the social network site Facebook. Even if the means differ, the goal is the same.
I mean here that there are two types of objectives:
The first can be a distortion of the image of the company (either by a competitor or
by a consumer or even by the employees of the company at times, the case of
Domino's Pizza (Ramox3, 2009) ), the company must intervene and respond to the
"Who does not say a word, consent!"
the second type is that the consumer wants to convey an idea, a message,
experience or suffering if that is the case. I have clarified the rules that must be
followed to deal with these types of crises.
Finally, the Security Council also stressed that crises will increase in the coming
decades, and we must listen to them, treat them, not ignoring them.

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SECOND PART :
Case Study: The Moroccan Boycott

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Introduction
The situation in Morocco it's no different from that of various neighbouring
countries (boycott of cars in Algeria ..). The widespread boycott of the brands of
three leading companies in the dairy, water and fuel sectors, namely five-month-long
Centrale, Sidi Ali and Afriquia, highlighted the flagrant lack of skills in crisis
management at the top management of the three companies. If leaders do not know
how to react to a crisis that may cause irreparable harm to their brands of choice,
what can be said of others, less wealthy in means and resources? The lack of
preparedness in the face of crises may be almost universal in almost all Moroccan
companies.
The history of Morocco teaches us that boycott campaigns are not new to the
Moroccan people. Before Independence, the National Movement had issued boycott
slogans for products manufactured and sold by colonialism, including tobacco and
cigarettes from the " Tobacco Board".
The present campaign is therefore totally atypical if one wants to compare it to the
previous one. It is exclusively conducted on the WhatsApp instant messaging
application and the social network, basically Facebook, from the two groups that
have hundreds of thousands of "fans" each.
Based on this Moroccan boycott campaign:
 How was e-marketing before and during the problem?
 How have companies affected by the crisis reacted?
 What are the poll results on the boycott of its Consumer Brands? And most
importantly, what conclusions and lessons should be learned?

27
CHAPTER I: Analysis of the Moroccan boycott (The consumer side)
A. The importance of the internet and social networks in Moroccan life
We know that the black continent is the continent least connected to the Internet,
This may be due to the weak infrastructure structure and the civil wars known to the
continent, contrary to expectations the growth of users of social networks in
Morocco is estimated at 14% year after year. According to a recent study by
(HOOTSUITE, 2018). The same source confirmed that Morocco occupies the 18th
place in the world in terms of average time spent by the individual on social
networks, estimated at two hours and twenty-four minutes per day. Most
importantly, Morocco ranks fourth globally in terms of the percentage of the
population that believes that new technologies offer more opportunities than risks.
The percentage of the population that believes that technologies offer more
opportunities than risks.
This may have been a cause of the Moroccan boycott, and so most boycotters
believed that communication with the three companies via social networks was a
way to meet their demands had been opportunities that were not available before.
The study also revealed that Morocco is one of the most used countries of the
Facebook and Whatsapp apps.

28
Platforms most used in Morocco
(Hootsuite, 2018)
As indicated, the usage rate of the Whatsapp application topped with 53%, followed
by the facebook application with a rate of 50%. this indicates that the Whatsapp and
Facebook application may have been important factors in transmitting the news of
the Moroccan boycott among the people.
"Ordinary people can spread good and bad information about brands faster than
marketers"
Ray johnson

29
26%
74%
Percentage of boycotters and No-boycotters
No Yes
B. The analysis of the boycott and the crisis that followed this
campaign
Before the analysis comes to the observation, according to my field study, a survey
(Takhsaiti, 2018) conducted online From 25 July 2018 to 1 August 2018 among a
sample of 246 respondents, Moroccan citizens living inside and outside the country,
some of the survey results were published in an electronic journal Akhbarona by (EL
wardi, 2018).
According to the survey results, 74% of respondents confirmed their support for this
campaign, 26% do not support any campaign or support counter-boycott campaigns.
This result shows that this campaign is of great importance at the national level and
will inevitably affect business profits.

30
1. No-Boycotters Part
We note that the first reason is the lack of source for this campaign and in the
absence of source we do not know the real goals behind this campaign.
The second reason is human in the extreme, it is natural to put themselves in the
position of these workers and peasants and think that the majority of families will
perhaps be lost by the boycott. So I think that the reasons not to boycott are very
logical, but they do not serve the interests of the companies unless they check the
true source of this campaign.
46.90%
35.90%
29.70%
17.20%
10.90%
9.40%
7.80%
3.10%
20.20%
I don't know the source of the campaign
I don't want to deprive employees and peasants of their salaries
I want to preserve the business economy and therefore the national
economy
There is no reason for me to participate
I work in one of three companies
For political reasons
Prices are right for me, product prices have not changed
I have the spirit of belonging to these companies
Other
Why non-boycotters did not participate in the boycott campaign?
Percentage of responses *: 181.1%
* Multiple-choice questions

31
Sometimes it's hard to reveal something you do not want to express. But the point
here is to repair what can be repaired, Among the people who do not support the
campaign, there is a large proportion of people who are sure of the effectiveness of
the boycott, This indicates that the companies involved must find some effective and
fast solutions.
In the chart below (Page 32), the majority of no-boycotters would prefer companies
to respond to boycott requests.
56.30%
3.10%
40.60%
The opinion of No-boycotters on the impact of the campaign on
corporate profits
Yes No Certain enterprises

AcademicYear2017-2018
32
14%
3%
11%
2%
50%
13%
8%
The opinion of No-boycotters on how companies can stop this campaign
Respond to requests from boycotters.
Respond to requests from boycotters, temporarily.
Meet the demands of consumers until their
purchasing power improves
Advertising campaigns
Communicate with boycotters and reach a
satisfactory solution for both parties
Ignore the boycotters.
Other

33
The graph shows that some of the non-boycotters believe that companies will find a
solution to the crisis, therefore, the campaign will stop and another group sees the
opposite and the crisis has become more complex and therefore the campaign will
continue.
In the graph below (Page 34) We conclude that the majority of non-boycotters
indicated that businesses would return to normal. I agree with them but only if they
manage the crisis well, in case of ignorance of the boycott and the lack of solutions,
these companies will not be able to recover its consumers and thus its profits, this
which will lead to dismissal of many managers and employees and thus lead to
bankruptcy.
Yes, 42.20%
No, 57.80%
The opinion of No-boycotters in the continuation of
the boycott
Yes No

AcademicYear2017-2018
34
64.30%
14.30%
11.90%
9.60%
Profits will go down, but this loss will be compensated in the future
Les bénéfices vont baisser, mais cette
perte sera compensée à l'avenir
Going bankrupt
Companies will stay at the same level
Restructuring and unemployment of a lot
of employees

35
2. Boycotters Part
To pave the way, we will start with Percentage of the boycott of the companies
involved Out of the total boycott, the results were as follows:
the graph above shows us that the Percentage of the boycott is concentrated in the
three companies at close rates. In the foreground, the Sidi Ali mineral water company
with a rate of 92.3%, which has not yet made any real intervention to deal with the
problem of the crisis, there were three interventions that failed, I will mention it in
the next paragraph, Centrale Danone comes next with a rate of 91.2%, which made
good decisions but did not take them in time. The Afriquia company remains at the
bottom of the list with a rate of 78.6%, because not all boycotters own a personal car
for boycotting society.
Regarding the reason for the boycotters' participation in the Campaign, the results
were as follows.
92.30% 91.20%
78.60%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
Sidi Ali Centrale Danone Afriquia
Percentage of the boycott
Sidi Ali
Centrale Danone
Afriquia

36
The majority of the reasons for the boycott are mainly economic reasons followed by
political reasons. We find that the primary reason for the boycott was to reduce
prices in proportion to purchasing power, it's purely economic !!
But we also find that the second reason is the reduction of the monopoly. What
monopoly are we talking about?
The boycotters whose answer was to limit the monopoly. They intended to reduce
the economic and political monopoly with a percentage of 66.7%. So, the second
reason is political. We will develop the subject in the following paragraph.
83.50%
64.30%
51.10%
28%
13.70%
9.30%
0.50%
To reduce prices.
To limit the monopoly
Reduce the level of economic lobbies
Poor quality products
For a political purpose
I follow the wave
Other
The reason for the boycotters' participation in the Campaign
28.70%
4.70%66.70%
Percentage of monopoly types. What was the cause of the
boycott?
An economic monopoly
A Political Monopoly
both
Pourcentage de réponses* Question
choix multiple

37
In the inability of the companies concerned to resolve this crisis, they continue to
suffer extreme losses at present. According to information from the French-language
international general-interest television channel (TV5 Monde, 2018)
The Moroccan subsidiary Danone of France claims that its turnover has decreased by
50% since April 20 and that its losses amount to more than 13 million euros.
The group even decided to end some 886 contracts in interim and reduce its
purchases from producers.
Stocks of the parent companies of Afriquia and Sidi Ali suffer. The water distributor
recalls in a press release that it employs more than 2,000 people in the country.
‘’ There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company
from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.’’
Sam Walton
Thus, we explain the results described below, as most boycotters insist on continuing
the boycott in the absence of a solution.
80.80%
19.20%
The opinion of boycotters in the continuation of the boycott campaign
Yes No

38
CHAPITRE II: The analysis of the Moroccan boycott (The Business side)
A. Business Reactions to the Crisis
Before starting to analyze the reaction of companies, I recall that the boycott
campaign coincided with the holy month of Ramadan and the big football event in
which the Moroccan team participated. Football World Cup, These reasons are the
most important reasons affecting the reaction of the three companies.
1. The reaction of Afriquia company
In general, the Afriquia company did not care about the boycott campaign despite
the heavy losses suffered by the latter.
(CASABLANCA BOURCE, 2018)
The company's shares suffered losses during the first two weeks of the boycott and
tried to find new strategies, a strategy to support the national team in the World
Cup.
(Page Facebook: Afriquia, 2018)

39
and that the official page of the company became interested in sports affairs during
the World Cup period and there is no reaction to find solutions about the Moroccan
boycott.
‘’If you don’t listen to customers, who do you listen to ? Most likely, yourself’’
John Gourville
In the same period The company was hit by the bad buzz, a video (Abdelmounaïm,
2018) was posted on Facebook, The video indicates that the company tried to change
the logo of its service stations in order not to be recognized by the consumer and
therefore not to be boycotted. But this is actually a strategy pursued by the company
since 2017 before the boycott campaign According to the electronic newspaper
(Medias24, 2017) The strategy for the first three years of activity provides for the
creation of a network of 30 low -cost in the rural world. They will mobilize reduced
investments compared to so-called premium stations. Work is underway for the
installation of the first stations. The network is not developed on its own. As a result,
its extent will depend on the demand of the managers and the behavior of the brand.
The initial investment is about 150 MDH.
the company has not stated to clarify the situation and communicate with
consumers, which could further aggravate the situation and some consumers will feel
that it is an attempt to deceive them, According to my survey, the results were the
following:
78.60%
13.20%
4.40%
3.80%
The opinion of the boycotters when the company Afriquia changed
the name of some service stations by the name Moove oil
Try to deceive the consumers.
A marketing strategy for
launching a new product
just a simple change on the
company logo.
Other

40
We conclude from the above that the company suffered losses as a result of the
boycott campaign, in the absence of reaction, the situation is aggravated by the Bad
Buzz, The company continued to remain silent, some thought that it was an attempt
to mislead the consumer and in the absence of a spokesperson's response on the
situation and communication with the boycotters, there were statements of a
political rather than economic nature, which worsened things by the owner of the
brand Afriquia Gaz and the Secretary-General of the National Rally of Independents
and also the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and
Forests Aziz Akhannouch, according to my poll The reaction of the boycotters was the
following in a press release (Hibapress, 2018) he made on the boycott campaign:
Therefore, we conclude that in the intervention of politics in economic affairs, the
situation has become more complex.
2. The Reaction of Mineral Waters Oulmès company
The company released on May 9 which mean after the 19-day boycott campaign the
first press release (Maroc diplomatique, 2018) to respond to the boycott campaign.
However, this article did not reach all consumers who boycotted the company's
products. The proof is the number of interactions on the subject on the official
Facebook page of the Sidi Ali brand.
3.30% 3.30%
38%
48.40%
7.10%
The opinion of the boycotters in press release of the president of
Aqua Group, the owner of the Afriquia Gaz brand
I agree with him.
slip
He tried to minimize the power
of the Digital
I do not agree
Other

41
After this press release, the company was flooded by a lot of bad buzzes, among
them we find the bad buzz of the poverty of the village of Tarmelat, because of the
company of Mineral Waters Oulmes (Alyouam24, 2018) ) that did not was
commented by the company and the bad buzz about the mineral water source ( ‫خوك‬
‫,أنا‬ 2018) in which the company's response was an opportunity to clarify things to
consumer boycotts by posting on Facebook
(Page facebook: Sidi Ali, 2018)
with a video presented by company employees (Sidi ali, 2018) ) and another
published on an electronic newspaper describes the real source of water Sidi Ali
(Hibapress, 2018).
‘’ There is no advertisement as powerful as a positive reputation traveling fast’’
Brian Koslow
After that, the company of Mineral Waters of Oulmès has changed the packaging of
its bottles Sidi Ali (Sidi ali, 2018), This movement was seen by most boycotters as a
marketing strategy to approach the national team and therefore the consumer, while

42
some considered this to be an attempt to mislead the consumer, as indicated in my
results. survey:
3. The reaction of Centrale Danone company
The company Centrale Danone, which did not publish a press release until the
borders of May 2 (Centrale Danone, 2018), ), after the start of the campaign of
boycott of 12 days, this period was sufficient for the intervention of political figures
in the boycott campaign. as he said Finance Minister Mohamed Boussaid, who called
the consumers Boycotters "Mdawikh" (ALMAADI, 2018) that is to say people who do
not understand anything, or The parliamentarian Hanane Rihhab who described the
boycotters in a post on Facebook by "flock" (alyaoum24, 2018) Before she
apologizes and declare that it was a misspelling.
These political interventions will worsen the situation and shift the demands of the
campaign from economic demands to political demands.
In a lack of experience, the situation became increasingly volatile when a manager of
the company Centrale Danone came out in an interview with the press (Hespress,
2018), describing the boycotters as traitors of their country, before apologize for his
words (Hespress , 2018).
53.30%37.40%
1.60%
7.70%
The opinion of boycotters on the packaging of
bottles Sidi Ali
A strategy to get closer to the
national team and therefore the
consumer
Other
The bottles and the design are
beautiful!

43
‘’It is not enough to speak but to speak truth’’
William Shakespeare
The company announces a new offer of rapprochement with the consumer on behalf
of) ‫(#نتصالحو_خلٌنا‬ (Hespress, 2018) Who is considered by the boycotters an offer
serves only the interests of the company and just to liquidate the stock and minimize
the damage, while some consider it to be an attempt to mislead the consumer,
according to the results of my survey:
‘’ We do not satiate a camel by feeding it with a spoon. ‘’
Roger Darrobers
The experience that Centrale Danone lacked would come from the Danone
Multinational Group's Chairman and CEO, Emmanuel Faber, who has faced numerous
crises from social networking sites, including the secret marketing strategies of
Danone's poisoned baby milk. (TAMBOISE, 2015) , The Chairman and CEO respected
the opinion of boycotters and promised to communicate to find solutions to this
4.90%
73.60%
19.20%
2.30%
L'avis des boycotteurs sur l'offre # ‫خلينا‬_‫نتصالحو‬ proposée par la
société Centrale Danone
A strategy to approach the
consumer and meet his
requirements.
Just to liquidate the stock and
minimize the damage
other

44
crisis through a video (Page Facebook: Centrale Danone, 2018) which received good
feedbacks by boycotters on social networks.
But what type of communication will Emmanuel Faber communicate with the
boycotters?
This question is addressed indirectly to non-boycotters in my survey, Do you think
there are other effective ways to communication with the 3 companies better than
the boycott?
The answers were as follows:
This is already the approach that the company Central Danone will take, Because it
held meetings to communicate with the consumer "We communicate and continue"
(Page Facebook: Centrale Danone, 2018) in the different cities of the kingdom with
all parties involved in the boycott campaign including the boycotters, which was
broadcast live on the company's Facebook page to communicate with all boycotters.
What I did not like personally was the arrival of the campaign on the national
channels (2M, 2018), which gave the impression of the lack of experience of the
spokespersons of the company, indirectly contributing to Propagation of the crisis at
the national level. As indicated through the results of my survey below:
56.30%
32.80%
17.20%
17.20%
17.60%
Through the pages of social
networks of companies
By phone number 'Customer service'
By business e-mail
No
Autres
The opinion of non-boycotters in the presence of other ways to communicate
with companies without boycotting their products
Through the pages of social networks
of companies
By phone number 'Customer service'
By business e-mail
No
Autres Pourcentage de réponses*: 141. .1 %
* Question à choix multiples

45
‘’The best media are the ones you create yourself to communicate with your
customers.’’
Stef
‘’Television does not try to make the culture attractive, it seeks to make the audience’’
Alain De Greef
58.80%
41.20%
Did the opinion of the boycotters on the arrival of the
campaign for the visual media have contributed to its
spread?
Yes No
20.20%
34.10%
45.70%
If it contributes to its spread, why is it accessible to the
visual media?
It was the size of the campaign
that contributed to this?
The weakness of the corporate
spokesperson experience that
contributed to this?
Both

46
In light of the efforts made by the company Central Danone to reform the situation
and the silence of the company Afriquia Gaz and what happened to the company
Water Mineral Oulmès Badbuzz, The opinion of boycotters on how companies
communicate with the crisis on social networks, it is presented according to my
survey as follows:
B. E-marketing during the crisis
1- E-marketing of Afriquia company
Before the boycott, the Afriquia company Ads focused mainly on race cars and the
public sports personality, the car driver Mehdi Bennani because of his main area of
business is fuel distribution throughout the Kingdom.
(Afriquia, INCONNU)
63.20%
22%
7.10%
4.40% 3.30%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Very bad bad Medium Good Very good
The opinion of boycotters on how companies communicate with the
crisis on social networks
Very bad
bad
Medium
Good
Very good

47
After the boycott, the company focused its advertising on the national voter Hervé
Renard and his assistant Mustapha Hadji which is completely different from the field
of activity and which did not create the sudden and the echo that I expected.
‘’ Do something simple, memorable, enjoyable to watch and fun to read‘’
leo Burnett
My personal evaluation about The e-marketing of Afriquia Company.
.Afriquia.ma
The Advantages
The company's website is easy to access thanks to the easy-to-remember domain name.
Occupies advanced positions in SEOs.
Fast loading of the website on PC.
The website is well structured
Provide adequate information about the company.
Contact information, Official pages, Offers are available on the website.
The company application is available on the site.
Email marketing
The inconvenients
The site is available in one language only.
No job creation space.
The site is not secure.
A slow loading of the website on phones and tablets.
The site is unavailable on SEMs

48
/afriquia.officiel
The Advantages
Verified page.
Active page.
The number of likes is about 1.2 M.
Reply to comments.
The page provides all the information about the company.
The page responds to client messages.
The domain name is easy to remember.
Reactions in large numbers.
The inconvenients
there is no SMM.
/channel/UCBJLHi7I9wptzbriqD8muQQ
The Advantages
The company channel on YouTube is active.
ADs through the PPCs
The inconvenients
Unverified Channel .
The domain name is hard to remember.
The number of subscribers in the chain does not exceed 600.
The total number of views does not exceed 1M.
Absence of company information on the channel.
Comments have been disabled.

49
/afriquia_officiel/
The Advantages
The domain name easy to remember.
verified page.
Active page.
The inconvenients
The absence of reactions.
The absence of comments.
The number of subscribers does not exceed 4500.
there is no SMM
/company/afriquia-smdc/
The Advantages
The page provides all the information about the company
The inconvenients
Do not answer the comments.
The number of reactions is low.
The number of publications does not exceed 12.
there is no SMM

50
l'application Mobile Afriquia
The Advantages
Easy to use.
Different search criteria (current positioning, desired service ...)
View the history of purchases and transactions.
Find the nearest stations.
Available from Android version 2.2.3.
The inconvenients
Difficulty completing the profile.
Large size 32 MB.
Difficulty recovering the password from the account.
My overall evaluation
The e-marketing of Afriquia Company
N.B: Reviews were conducted with the help of Similarweb.com and Google
PageSpeed Insights.

51
the evaluation of boycotters according to my survey:
2-The E-marketing of Mineral water of Oulmès company
The ads of the company Eaux Minerals of Oulmes was strongly present by its brand
Ain Atlas on television Through the director and animal scientist Kevin Richardson
(Sidi Ali, 2012) ) or by its brand Leader Sidi Ali Through the director and the
Australian visual effects director Michal Gracey (Partizan Official, 2016). But in e-
marketing The company is completely absent from the arena of advertising before
and after the campaign.
My personal evaluation about The E-marketing of des Eaux Minérales d'Oulmès Company.
leseauxmineralesdoulmes.ma
The Advantages
The website is well structured
The company's website is easy to access thanks to the easy-to-remember domain name.
Occupies advanced positions in SEOs 74/100 on PC and 67/100 on Mobile.
Fast loading of the website on PC and Mobile.
46
81
33
13
9
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
I do not know Very bad bad Medium good Very good
The evaluation of boycotts about the e-marketing
of Afriquia company
By the number of evaluations and not the percentage

52
Provide adequate information about the company.
The official pages are available on the website.
Career Space available.
The inconvenients
The site is available in one language only.
Contact information is weak.
Offers are unavailable on the website.
No company-specific application is available.
Lack of Email Marketing.
The site is not secure.
The site is unavailable on SEMs.
/pg/leseauxmineralesdoulmes
The Advantages
The inconvenients
Unverified page.
The page is not active.
The number of likes does not exceed 2000.
The page does not respond to comments.
The page does not respond to customer messages
there is no SMM

53
/user/EauxMineralesOulmes
The Advantages
Comments are available.
The inconvenients
The company channel on YouTube is not active.
Lack of publicity through PPCs
Unverified Channel.
The number of subscribers in the chain does not exceed 48.
The total number of views does not exceed 33 K.
@LEMO_officiel
The Advantages
Active page.
unverified page.
The inconvenients
The number of Followers does not exceed 1.5 K.
there is no SMM.
unverified page.

54
/company/les-eaux-minerales-doulmes/
The Advantages
The inconvenients
Do not answer the comments.
there are no posts.
there is no SMM
the mobile application of Mineral Waters of Oulmes unavailable
about The e-marketing
of Mineral Waters, Oulmes Company
PageSpeed Insights.

55
3- The E-marketing of Centrale Danone company .
The Central Danone Ads was very strong on Moroccan television or the Internet,
especially in the month of Ramadan through its different brands. But lately, the level
of their E-marketing has decreased. This is probably due to the campaign.
‘’A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.’’
Thomas Jefferson
My personal evaluation about The E-marketing of Centrale Danone Company.
centraledanone.com/
The inconvenients
The site does not work
38
58
40
30
12
4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
I don't know Very bad Bad Medium Good Very Good
The evaluation of boycotts about the e-marketing
of Mineral Waters, Oulmes Company

56
/GroupeCentraleDanone/
The Advantages
Verified page.
Active page.
The number of Followers is about 177 K.
Reply to comments.
Reactions in large numbers.
there is SMM
The inconvenients
The page does not respond to customer messages.
/user/centralelaitierema
The Advantages
Comments are available.
The company channel on YouTube is active.
ADs through the PPCs.
The inconvenients
Unverified Channel
The number of subscribers in invisible.
The total number of views does not exceed 3M.

57
@CentraleDanone_
The Advantages
Verified page.
Active page.
The inconvenients
The number of Followers does not exceed 400.
there is no SMM.
/company/centrale-laitiere/
The Advantages
The number of subscribers 27 K exceeds.
Reply to comments.
The inconvenients
there is no SMM.
The number of publications does not exceed 7.
There is no application for Centrale Danone products

58
about The e-marketing
of Centrale Danone Company
PageSpeed Insights.
34
68
33
30
12
5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
I don't know Very bad Bad Medium Good Très Bonne
The evaluation of boycotts about the e-marketing of
Centrale Danone Company

59
C. Who benefits from the crisis?
‘’Good news for one person can be bad news for another.’’
Al-Mutanabbi
1- When The Challenger Becomes The Market Leader Example '' Jaouda ''
After seven weeks of boycotting its products, Centrale Danone has given up its rank
of the market leader. In its latest press release (Centrale Danone, 2018), the
company recognizes a 50% decline in consolidated sales over the period from April
20 to June 4. This results in losses of market share for its competitors.
Copag is the new leader in the milk market with 33% market share. A position he
occupies following the collapse of Centrale Danone due to the boycott.
(Kantar world panel, 2018)
The winner is unquestionably Copag who has taken over for more than a month
ensuring the supply of the market in sufficient quantities, especially during the
month of Ramadan where the consumption of food products, including milk,

60
increases significantly.
It is, therefore, a redistribution of the cards on the milk market that has taken place
without having an impact on the overall availability of this consumer product.
2- There are those who know how to turn the situation in their favor Example '' Decathlon Morocco ''.
The company was exposed to a lot of bad buzzes and its products were almost
boycotted. Under the pretext of its customers, some of its products bore the
name of God '' Allah '' at the bottom (Benalarabi, 2018) The company has to
communicate with its customers to solve the problem on its Facebook page,
Decathlon decided to withdraw its product from the Moroccan market before
the problem worsens, But more than that, she knew how the situation turned
in her favor.
As stated in the publication below:
(Page facebook: Decathlon Maroc, 2018)

61
CHAPITRE III: The concept of the boycott, its mistakes and lessons learned
A. The concept of the Moroccan boycott
The Moroccan boycott is the first boycott of its kind with which a wide range of
Moroccan society to interact via social networks, the boycott was essentially
economic, as boycotters were eager to demand a price cut on commodities in the life
of the Moroccan consumer to adapt to their purchasing power. In the absence of
intervention by the companies concerned and wasting an opportunity to
communicate with the social media boycott consumers quickly and to cope with the
crisis, politicians intervened to repress this campaign which led to the emergence of
other political demands, aimed mainly at reducing the political and economic
monopoly. The economic demands turned into political and economic demands,
increasing tensions between companies and their boycotting consumers, in which
they suffered heavy losses on their shares on the Casablanca Stock Exchange for the
first two weeks.
B. We learn from the mistake
In this paragraph, we will learn from the mistakes of the Moroccan boycott that led
to the crisis, and will be presented as rules to follow.
Crisis prevention rules on social networks:
Rule # 01: Take advantage of the battlefield.
I mean, take care of your official business pages, and seek to create a large audience
on its sites, whether through continuous communication with your consumer, which
is the best way or by SMM. You will take advantage of the virtual world as a
battlefield to face any mediator seeking to disrupt your relationship with your
consumers.
Rule # 02: The community manager is the best friend of your consumer
To prevent the crisis, community animators or CMs should be set up to deal with
crises, through communication with the consumer and deny any false information

62
and concern for the convenience and requirements of the consumer and the
improvement of the produced according to the views of consumers. Therefore, the
product will be designed, colour, quality and price by the consumer and to the
satisfaction of the consumer according to the means of the company.
Rule # 03: the integration between the virtual world and the real world.
Concentrate on creative advertising in the virtual world to enhance the company's
image, incorporating hot topics into your ads or the issues that affect the consumer
in his daily life as the latest example of the zain brand (Zain, 2018). thus, the
consumer will feel that the company has common humanitarian objectives with it
and not just profitability goals.
Rule # 04: The humanitarian aspect is more important than marketing.
The company's involvement in social initiatives and humanitarian aid will bring the
consumer closer to the company and increase customer loyalty, even when the price
of the product rises in times of crisis.
The rules to follow during crises on social networks:
Rule # 05: Follow the Key Rules To Manage Crisis On Social Networks (Page No: 20)
Rule # 06: Do not let anyone interfere with your relationship with your client
Do not let anyone interfere in your relationship with your client by publishing official
press releases and falsifying false news.
Rule # 07: Try to solve the problem in their occurrence
When you make a press release on TV or radio, you contribute to the indirect spread
of the crisis, trying to keep the problem as much as possible on social networks.
Rule N ° 08: the launch of a new offer during the crisis

63
During the crisis, do not try to trick your consumer with deals just to get out of the
crisis.
When launching any product or serious offer on the market during the crisis, the
offer must be clearly indicated to consumers, To avoid any misunderstanding that
may occur with consumers, so that the consumer does not think that the company
wants to deceive (example page 45: the offer # ‫خلٌنا‬_‫نتصالحو‬ proposed by the
company Centrale Danone).
C. Some proposed solutions
If I was a marketing manager facing this boycott. What approach will I pursue?
Crisis Management
The problem Now it's not just related to the business for the solution to be 100%
resident to the business. the problem is socio-politico-economic or the state is the
second part of the solution. But I know that the first lesson in marketing is that the
customer is king, I will excuse the consumers and make a clear study on the cost after
second I will work on Digital communication especially in the same way as the
Danone representative to follow but to approach the consumer while taking into
account the demands of the citizens (lower prices, quality etc .......) in the last place
we can think of lowering the price but it Be aware that this is not a decision of the
company only but also competitors and the state.
Crisis Communication
As I mentioned in the previous paragraphs of this report Most Moroccan ads lack
human nature and do not support the issues of Moroccan society in general and
most Moroccan Advertisements support the Moroccan national football team or
advertising of artists, whether musicians or actors in most cases and the majority of
these ideas are copied from one company to another in the absence of creativity.
Here is an example of what I mean:
The advertising of the company (Always, 2014): An advertisement that supports the
ambition and the will of the girls.
The advertising of the company (Amazon, 2016): An advertisement that promotes
relationships with other celestial religions.
The advertising of the company (Zain, 2017): An advertisement that denounces
terrorism in the name of the Islamic religion

64
Unfortunately, we lack this type of advertising with motivational ideas that bring us
closer to the consumer and share the challenges of life.
In this situation, the consumer will remain convinced that Moroccan companies are
only looking for money.

65
General conclusion
The global society has strongly digitized in recent years, and with it, social
networks have multiplied. Their use is daily for most Internet users, and this
instantaneously creates a threat of e-reputation for the company.
the brand or company must adapt its mode of operation and its communication
according to the crisis and its importance. Thus, she must demonstrate her
seriousness and empathy while remaining transparent about events. The
company must also communicate in the long term, keeping a close eye on the
information disseminated and their accuracy, while ensuring the coherence of the
speech and especially its continuity and regularity.
This dissertation also demonstrated the lack of knowledge about crisis
management in large Moroccan companies, leading to a need for training. This
must be done in both small and large companies because the entire sustainability
of the company can be put into play during a crisis.
It is not wrong to make mistakes in the face of crises, whether in the digital or real
world, but the disadvantage is to ignore them and not take advantage of our
mistakes, especially as many international organizations warned of economic crises
in several countries in the future, especially those linked to the depletion of many
natural resources, which are the engine of the world economy and not only the
national economy.
In the end, I also insist on the fact that this crisis is only a small lesson in an
environment of major crises that are exposed to various countries of the world
between them, Considering the economic power of the state as its peaceful and
alternative weapon of military power.

66
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70
Summary
Thanks....................................................................................................................................................................4
General Introduction .......................................................................................................................................5
FIRST PART : Foreword on the subject,Past Crises and Future Expectations .......................................................8
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................9
CHAPITRE I: Foreword on the subject ........................................................................................................... 10
A. The history of different social networking sites ............................................................................ 10
B. The definition of community has changed over time................................................................... 13
C. Crises before web 2.0 and after (Example : Décathlon Kenitra)................................................ 15
CHAPITRE II: The emergence and spread of the crisis and the adoption of necessary measures .................... 17
D. Emergence, the spread of the crisis and some statistics ............................................................ 17
E. Future Crises Expected in 2030-2035............................................................................................. 18
F. Key Rules To Manage Crisis On Social Networks ......................................................................... 20
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 24
DEUXIEME PARTIE : Case Study: The Moroccan Boycott.................................................................................... 25
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 26
CHAPITRE I: Analysis of the Moroccan boycott (The consumer side) ..................................................... 27
A. The importance of the internet and social networks in Moroccan life ............................................... 27
B. The analysis of the boycott and the crisis that followed this campaign ................................................ 29
1. No-Boycotters Part...................................................................................................................... 30
2. Boycotters Part............................................................................................................................ 35
CHAPITRE II: The analysis of the Moroccan boycott (The Business side)................................................ 38
A. Business Reactions to the Crisis.......................................................................................................... 38
B. E-marketing during the crisis.............................................................................................................. 46
C. Who benefits from the crisis? ............................................................................................................ 59
CHAPITRE III: The concept of the boycott, its mistakes and lessons learned ....................................... 61
A. The concept of the Moroccan boycott ............................................................................................. 61
B. We learn from the mistake ................................................................................................................ 61
C. Some proposed solutions................................................................................................................... 63
Conclusion Génétale ........................................................................................................................................ 65
Bibliographie...................................................................................................................................................... 66

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