Author: Jonathan & Erik Bernstein

Refusing to acknowledge the power of social media is detrimental to your crisis management ability

Every year since social media first appeared on the scene, a few pundits come out to say that we’re about to see the end of it. We’ve been riding on the social media bandwagon for a long time now, and despite those doubters we see no signs of users slowing down.

You can find just about every aspect of both business and personal life being tied into social media, but if you’re still on the fence, maybe this infographic from Social Factor can help you see the truth:

Whether you like it or no, social media WILL impact your organization in a big way. Do your homework, know what you’re dealing with, then integrate that knowledge into both day to day operations and your crisis management planning. Believe us, it’s only going to continue to impact more and more areas of both business and daily life, so hop on board before you’re left in the dust.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Are organizers prepared to face potentially game-threatening conditions?

When it comes to big events here in the States, you really can’t top the Super Bowl. There will be nearly 100,000 physically attending in addition to the 100+ million watching from home.

Oh, and did we mention that this year it’s outdoors? In New Jersey. In February. For those that don’t know, that means it’s entirely possible that we could see a massive snowfall, or even a blizzard, hit on the day of the big game.

You’d better believe organizers are aware of this fact, but what are they doing about it?

To help cope with the cold weather, all fans in attendance will be handed a seat cushion, lip balm, ear muffs, hat, mittens, cup holder, scarf, tissues, a radio to listen to the game, six hand warmers and a quarterback-style hand muff. If you think about it, this is a great way to combine crisis management, marketing and PR. Sure fans SHOULD know to bring this gear, but considering the number of out-of-towners that will be in attendance, along with the amount of pre-game boozing that goes on, we’d bet these aids will end up saving the day for a good number of fans. On top of that, everyone loves to get event swag, and will almost certainly be telling pals and displaying their mementos for years to come.

How about the field itself though? Well, ever since the weather caught the media’s attention, organizers have been busy showing off their ice melting machines, salt dispensers and snow removers. As for surrounding areas, New Jersey officials are not messing around. There will be a veritable army of workers at the ready to operate some 2,400 utility trucks and snow melting machines, not to mention the 50,000+ tons of salt they’ve stockpiled.

If all of this STILL isn’t enough to let the game go on, the NFL has plans to play the game on a variety of upcoming days, and all staff and fans have been notified of the possibility.

When it comes to crisis management it pays to be thorough, and from the sounds of it the people behind Super Bowl XLVIII have taken care to put together a great defense.

Of course, we also have to hope they haven’t done anything to piss off NJ Governor Chris Christie….

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Bad behavior followed by a total lack of crisis management does not bode well for the latest politician to be caught behaving badly

New York Congressman Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) is the latest politico to lose it on camera, and it’s not pretty. In an interview for New York’s NY1 News just after the recent State of the Union address, Rep. Grimm answers a couple of questions, then quickly gets out of the shot once reporter Michael Sotto gears up to ask him about alleged campaign finance violations from his camp.

Now here’s where it gets ugly – as soon as Sotto signs off with a, “back to you” for the studio, the Congressman stalks back in and gets in Sotto’s face, telling him, “Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again and I’ll throw you off this f#%@!ing balcony.” They trade a few more words, then Grimm threatens Sotto once again, shouting, “You’re not man enough, you’re not man enough. I’ll break you in half. Like a boy!”

The cameraman, a true pro, kept rolling through the whole thing, producing indisputable evidence of the incident.

What crisis management tactic would Grimm employ? Well…none apparently. Here’s his quite unapologetic statement explaining what happened:

“I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.”

This is not a gag, the above really is the statement issued by the Congressman after being caught threatening to maim or kill a member of the media on camera in the middle of the Capitol, which is why we don’t exactly need a crystal ball to see a bit of trouble in Grimm’s future.

Update 1/29: Grimm has reportedly apologized to Michael Sotto in a telephone call, along with releasing a new, far more politically correct, statement. NY1 reports:

Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm has apologized to NY1 political reporter Michael Scotto a day after physically threatening him at the conclusion of an interview in the Capitol Rotunda following the president’s State of the Union address.

Grimm called Scotto Wednesday morning and offered the verbal apology saying he “overreacted.”

Scotto tells NY1 he accepted the apology and believes that it was sincere.

Grimm also released a written apology following the phone call.

It reads, “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have allowed my emotions to get the better of me and lose my cool. I have apologized to Michael Scotto, which he graciously accepted, and will be scheduling a lunch soon. In the weeks and months ahead I’ll be working hard for my constituents on issues like flood insurance that is so desperately needed in my district post Sandy.”

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Never rely on your first option working out perfectly

So, you’ve put together a killer crisis management plan, heck you’ve even actually practiced it! Good to go, right?

Not so fast. As a wise man once said, sh*t happens, and you’d better believe it can, and will, happen when you’re already fighting to keep your head above water. What can you do, then, to help prevent things from falling into chaos should your original plan fail? Integrated Media Strategies’ Norman Smit summed it up using a fantastic analogy:

Always have a Plan B

Skydivers plan a recovery strategy if things go wrong during a jump. Many will have an altimeter on their wrist and an audible altimeter in their helmet that signals when it’s time to deploy a canopy. They have a reserve canopy in case the main malfunctions. Many have an automatic opening device that will deploy their reserve in the event of unconsciousness. By comparison, how prepared is your organization? Have you run through a range of scenarios that are critical to your organization and planned for what to do if something goes wrong? While working in broadcasting as a news Executive Producer, I always had an extra story in the line-up in the event a satellite feed to a live event went down, or, back in the day, the tape machine ate the tape. And it isn’t enough to have a Plan B on paper. Can your number two person use the software to issue the media release under pressure or access Hootsuite to post to social media if the number one person is in hospital with appendicitis? Have they been trained on what to do and can they demonstrate what they were shown eight months or a year later?

Life is simply too chaotic and unpredictable to put all your eggs in one basket. For example, if at all possible, every person in the crisis team should have a understudy who should be able to, if not flawlessly execute, at least cover the main responsibilities of their role. In a pinch, perhaps when you have limited resources, it’s okay to cross-train multiple people for multiple roles, but keep in mind even the best-intentioned of employees has a limit to how much they can handle at one time.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Will the uproar from NASA and the family of astronauts on the mission force the singer to change her song?

We all know pop stars like to use shock value to pump up the sales, but a song from Beyonce’s latest album has crossed the line, and ticked a lot of people off in the process.

Current and former NASA astronauts, family members of those lost in the explosion, and members of the public (at least those old enough to realize the sound bite is from a real-life event) were outraged to hear that Beyonce’s new release, “XO”, includes audio of a NASA public affairs officer speaking as the Challenger explosion unfolded.

The space organization itself, which rarely comments on public matters, felt moved to issue the following statement:

“The Challenger accident is an important part of our history, a tragic reminder that space exploration is risky and should never be trivialized. NASA works every day to honor the legacy of our fallen astronauts as we carry out our mission to reach for new heights and explore the universe.”

Many are calling for Beyonce to remove the clip, but for now it looks like her camp is leaning on a not-quite apology as crisis management for the situation. Here’s what she had to say:

“My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song ‘XO’ was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you. The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.”

We don’t like to use the term “spin doctoring,” but if anything fits that description, then this is it. In the end, considering Beyonce’s rabid fanbase doesn’t seem too fazed by the soundbite, she’ll probably manage to get away with what is (at least in our eyes) an indisputably unethical move either way.

Of course, she could always do the right thing and replace the clip with something less hurtful, but that would involve actually being the caring person she claims to be.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Competent, confident, and compassionate – the Three C’s of Crisis Communications

Renown Regional Medical Center was the scene of a tragic shooting incident last month when a man calmly walked into a doctor’s office and fired, killing two and wounding two more. As the scene of the crime, and a large area service provider, Renown had a duty to deliver information to its stakeholders regarding the incident. Problem is, while Renown did well in appearing confident and competent, two of the Three C’s of Crisis Communication, it utterly failed to convey the third, and perhaps most important, C – compassion.

While the first two can be done simply by laying out the facts, compassion requires a bit more thought, and thus seems to slip off the radar of an incredible number of organizations. This is clearly what happened at Renown, which put out the following robot-esque statement on its website hours after the shooting:

We can confirm that there was a shooting in a professional office building located on the northeast corner of the Renown Regional Medical Center campus. The police have secured the campus, and we are cooperating fully with the investigation. We will provide more details as they become available.

After law enforcement was on the scene and had evaluated the danger, Renown got another chance, but failed once again to include a single drop of compassion:

Renown Regional Medical Center has returned to normal business operations. People are able to come and go as needed. However, everyone is encouraged to avoid the NE corner of the hospital campus. We continue to work with the Reno Police Department on their investigation.

These days, stakeholders want to know that you care, and the way you show that is through compassion. A simple expression of understanding for the fear and sadness the local community was surely feeling would have gone a long way to help with crisis management for the situation, but instead Renown simply put up a couple of bullet points and went back to business as usual.

Is this the type of mistake that will put you out of business? Well, honestly, no. Is this the type of mistake that will slowly poison public opinion against you until you wake up one morning wondering why all of the chatter about your organization seems to be negative? Absolutely.

Include compassion in every message you put out, and you’ll suddenly find a lot more people are willing to listen.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Could false reviews be hurting your business?

A new study is shedding light on the shady world of Yelp review fraud, a topic that’s coming up more and more frequently as the importance of online reputation works its way into mainstream thinking. Harvard Business School’s Michael Luca and Boston University School of Management’s Georgios Zervas found that at least 16% of all published Yelp reviews are fake, as determined by the site’s own filtering algorithm. Of course, as any Yelp regular would probably testify, it’s pretty obvious to the human eye that quite a few unfiltered reviews reek of fake as well, meaning the real percentage is likely even higher.

In addition, researchers confirmed that false reviews were often either misguided attempts at crisis management meant to combat poor reviews left by real customers, or aimed at establishing a strong initial reputation for new or unreviewed businesses.

The study also confirmed a suspicion held by many business owners – namely that competitors do sometimes post fake negative reviews to boost their own business. Luca and Zervas report that, for the average business, being in direct competition for the same niche results in a sustained 3% increase in one-star reviews each month, causing what they call a “statistically significant, economically substantive impact.”

Is this going to crush your organization if it’s otherwise raking in the five-star ratings? Probably not. However, a buildup of one-star reviews can hurt your online reputation management efforts if left unchecked. Because of how difficult it is to prove, you typically have to turn to a private online forensics expert to determine who the culprit is, but if you’re losing enough money, or risking a deeper crisis, as a result of what you believe to be false reviews, it can often be worth the cost.

Simply put, the sudden, intense spike in competition for online reputation has led some organizations to employ unethical tactics. While those who choose this route can produce some short-term benefits, in the long run they’re only setting up for a crisis management catastrophe as users learn to spot fakers on their own and review sites, immersed in their own battle to hold the title of “most credible,” up punishments for those who break the rules.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]