Narrative Warfare 2025: What’s New and Next

It starts with just one post, one tweet that takes off, fueled by bot networks and an engaged audience ready to act. A Fortune 500 company could face calls for boycotts, media scrutiny, and a plummeting stock price within days. And the worst part? They never saw it coming.

A brand’s reputation can unravel in real time, not because of a single misstep but due to a coordinated effort to manipulate public perception. What begins as online chatter can escalate into a full-scale crisis with real financial and operational consequences. Companies are left scrambling, trying to control a narrative that has already spiraled beyond their reach.

WATCH: Narrative Warfare 2025: What’s New & Next

Narrative attacks are not just PR nightmares: They drive real-world consequences. Stock prices drop. Executives resign. Regulatory scrutiny increases. What if you could see these threats forming before they explode?

In Blackbird.AI’s latest Lunch & Learn, Jess Terry and Mollie Macdougal, Director of Product, take you inside the anatomy of these attacks. Using real-world case studies, they show how a simple rumor can escalate into a full-scale crisis and how companies can fight back with AI-powered intelligence.

What Makes Narrative Attacks So Effective?

• “A narrative attack doesn’t have to be true to be effective,” says Jess Terry. “It must be believable, emotionally charged, and strategically amplified.”
• Jess walks through a real-world case study where a well-known brand was targeted with false claims, rapidly spiraling into a reputational and financial crisis.

How Attacks Spread and Evolve

• The attack begins with a single misleading post that catches traction.
• Bot networks artificially inflate engagement, making it appear more significant.
• Ideological groups hijack the conversation, amplifying the narrative and forcing the brand into a crisis response.
• “By the time the company realized what was happening, they were already in damage control mode,” says Jess. “That’s the danger; speed and scale make these attacks hard to contain.”

The Future Capabilities of Blackbird.AI

• Narrative Pulse, Blackbird.AI’s newest (unreleased- coming soon) AI tool for detecting high-risk narratives before they escalate. 
• “Think of it as an early warning system for information threats,” explains Mollie Macdougal. “You don’t have to wait until you’re trending for the wrong reasons; you can see the storm forming and act before it lands.”

How Narrative Pulse Works

• Instantly detect and rank emerging narratives by risk level.
• Identify key influencers, both authentic and inauthentic, driving the conversation.
• Get clear, concise intelligence without the need for deep technical expertise.
• “We built Narrative Pulse for teams who don’t have the luxury of time,” says Mollie. “If you’re sorting through thousands of posts manually, you’re already behind.”

THE WAY FORWARD – What Happens If You Ignore The Threat

Narrative attacks are getting faster, more sophisticated, and more damaging in organizations today. Companies that don’t have a proactive strategy will be forced into reaction mode, and the damage will be done by then.

• You lose control of your narrative before you even realize it.
• Your brand takes a reputational and financial hit that could take years to repair.
• You scramble for answers instead of having a strategy before the attack begins.

You can’t stop what you can’t see. But with the right intelligence, you don’t have to be caught off guard.

Watch the Lunch & Learn on demand HERE and see how Blackbird.AI is changing how organizations fight against narrative attacks.

• To receive a complimentary copy of The Forrester External Threat Intelligence Landscape 2025 Report, visit here.
• To learn more about how Blackbird.AI can help you in these situations, book a demo.