BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

In case you were wondering whether words matter, consider the term "swine flu."

Pigs can' t contract the H1N1 virus that causes the illness that bears their name. Nor can humans catch the flu from contact with pigs or from eating pork. But the name "swine flu" persists, and pork producers around the world are now being forced to defend their products against allegations that they harbor a deadly virus.

Despite considerable effort to substitute "H1N1" for "swine flu" in media coverage and public discussion, the original name has stuck - and with it, the unfortunate misperception that swine flu has something to do with pigs and, more important, pork.

Fortunately for the pork industry, this latest swine flu scare seems to be fizzling out as quickly as similar scares in the past. While more than 50 people across the Western Hemisphere have died as a result of the exotic new flu bug that sparked global fear of a pandemic, it turns out that the H1N1 virus is not as serious as the familiar seasonal flu that kills as many as 500,000 people worldwide each year.

But of course, when it comes to public health concerns, leaving an industry' s fate to luck is hardly sufficient. And while the pork industry did take steps to publicize the more appropriate H1N1 label, the virus will likely always be called swine flu - simply because of the sheer speed with which the term travelled the globe.

What the travails of pork producers teach us is that in today' s fast moving and increasingly fragmented media environment, there is no substitute for careful listening and quick action. Companies need to closely monitor digital and traditional media for the words that describe their brands and, if a problem develops, act quickly to define the terms of the conversation in a way that doesn' t unfairly or incorrectly implicate their products.

From the very first mention of swine flu in the blogs or newspapers - or even from the first Centers for Disease Control and Prevention press briefing on April 23 - pork producers could have begun working with the government and the media to push the H1N1 label. Had they done so, rather than wait for pork futures to take a serious hit just under a week later, the reputational damage inflicted could have been limited and the term might not have caught on the way that it did.

Remember, as in just about any other corporate communications situation, whoever defines the terms first usually wins the debate.