Author: Jonathan & Erik Bernstein

Simple solution solves sticky situation

We’ve seen cases of rogue or accidental social media posts sending organizations into crisis, but did you know that even fully vetted updates are capable of causing a load of trouble?

In a recent post on the Mindjumpers blog, social media strategist Marlene Friis took a look at how camera manufacturer Nikon got into, and out of, a crisis on Facebook.

1 update – 3,000 comments
On September 28th, Nikon posted the following update on their Facebook page which at the moment has 846,879 fans: “A photographer is only as good as the equipment he uses, and a good lens is essential to taking good pictures! Do any of our facebook fans use any of the NIKKOR lenses? Which is your favorite and what types of situations do you use it for?”

18 hours after the post was published, a bit more than 3,000 comments were made. Most of the comments from the fans expressed negative feelings towards Nikon, since they felt the brand was implying that a photographer is only as good as his equipment. A few comments defended Nikon, though, and some might say that the offended users were overreacting.

Despite the possibility that the offended may have been overreacting, this wasn’t one or two trolls looking to get a rise, this was 3,000 potential customers. Nikon did the right thing and tackled the situation head on by posting the following statement on its wall:

“We know some of you took offense to the last post, and we apologize, as it was not our aim to insult any of our friends. Our statement was meant to be interpreted that the right equipment can help you capture amazing images. We appreciate the passion you have for photography and your gear, and know that a great picture is possible anytime and anywhere.”

An apology and clarification wrapped in one, this single post defused the quickly building crisis. Within hours there were hundreds of largely appreciative comments from fans, and by the next day, business on the Nikon Facebook page was back to normal.

What can we take away from this? I would say that the entire situation is proof that Crisis Management 101 carries through to any medium, including Facebook – if you screw up, apologize, and you’ll get results.

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

This post is a guest contribution by crisis management expert Rick Amme. Containing shocking stats and solid advice, it fits perfectly here on the Crisis Management blog. Without further ado, Rick Amme presents:

Lightning Speed – Your Reputation Life Saver

Here’s something to keep you awake at night. More than ever, you have precious little time to protect the reputation you worked hard to build for your business. Two incidents we all remember drive it home.

When Sully Sullenberger successfully crash-landed his plane in the Hudson in 2009, a single tweet relayed the first news of it within one minute. One minute. The rest of the media followed so quickly, within 15 minutes, that the hair-raising accident was known nationwide while USAirways was still determining whether an aircraft was missing. At the time I thought that was breathtakingly fast information dissemination.

Now that’s slow – compared to the flash communication of the East Coast earthquake last August. When tremors struck at 1:51pm, people near the Virginia epicenter reacted at the rate of 5500 tweets per second. Tweets reached New York City 40 seconds before the shockwaves according to SocialFlow as reported in The Wall Street Journal.

While your reputation might not go south at those speeds, it’s wise to expect dramatically less time than ever to unsnarl a knot tightening around your neck. A PR friend recently told of his crisis team strategizing while they were simultaneously reading attacks arriving on their Facebook page.

Now that I have your attention, I recommend these common sense preparations before your good name appears to be vanishing in the wind:

1. Put a crisis plan in place – First prepare a short, clear plan to mobilize the right people rapidly. Prepare other plans for specific contingencies that are either worst-case and/or reasonably likely. Avoid cumbersome generic plans that tend to bog down and be dust-collectors. Important! Include internal communications as well as external.
2. Designate and train a crisis team – A plan is only as good as the team that implements it. Also, research shows that 8 out of 10 CEO’s rely on teams more than plans. Therefore, select members carefully, crisis/media coach them now, and have them or their backups reachable 24/7. Expect that the accelerating needs of crisis communication could compel you to convene electronically because you won’t have time to meet physically.
3. Drill the team – Regular businesses can do this table-top. Organizations with hazardous materials or are people-intensive (hospitals, schools, universities, large businesses) will want full scale drills.
4. Be ready on social media – Have a presence as well as the ability to quickly convey your messages and actions through the social world (if necessary) as well as the traditional media and your website. Monitor online mentions of your company to get a heads-up on potential trouble.
5. Act fast, not stupid – You must move fast while keeping your wits about you. On the one hand, actions speak louder than words and being “too late” can be a killer. On the other, you want to avoid getting ahead of facts and rushing to judgment. Therefore, speed might be in the form of decision-making, and prudent decisions come from knowledge of crisis management, experience, and good counsel. This can be high-wire stuff and is why the education of crisis/media coaching and drills is crucial.

Ultimately, with less time than ever to make smart decisions in a crisis full of Hobson’s Choices, I believe ’tis better to err toward over-reaction because the consequences of under-reaction might be irrevocable.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Rick Amme is president of Amme & Associates, a media/crisis management company in Winston-Salem. He is also a member of the Business Journal’s Editorial Board of Contributors. Reach him via www.amme.com, rick@amme.com or (336) 631-1855.

Treat the media right

In the world of crisis management and public relations, the media is a double-edged sword. With the right treatment, you can turn the media into your greatest tool and ally. Piss them off, though, and you’ll have a monster on your hands.

In order to help prevent that, here’s a list of “5 bad PR practices that will frustrate journalists,” from a PR Daily article by Gil Rudawsky:

1. No one home. Sending out a media release and then not having a spokesperson prepped and available to talk about it.
2. Spinning the news. A common example of this is how some companies disguise terrible earnings by highlighting one piece of good news, even if it is irrelevant.
3. Flat-out lying. Remember, some reporters will actually make follow-up calls to check out information.
4. No homework. Following up on a story pitch or idea that already ran in the media outlet. It’s an easy rule, and it takes several minutes.
5. Sly pitching. Pitching a story to two reporters at the same outlet and not letting either know about it. Trust me, they will find out about it, and good luck getting them to return your calls afterward.

Reporters, whether professional or amateur, are doing their job just as we’re trying to do ours. Standard professional courtesy goes a long way. Often, responding to requests for interviews or details in a crisis case can lead to favorably placed articles when you’ve got more positive events to announce. Provide solid information to a journalist and you’ve got a lasting connection that benefits both parties.

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

The story’s about you, take control!

We say it all the time, “own your message,” but what does that mean, and how do you take it from concept to reality? In a post on the IMRE BuildIQ blog, McGavok Edwards shared some solid advice:

Own the message – With planning behind you, you have a playbook and you’re able to focus on the situation at hand. Don’t let internal conflict or differences of opinion hold you at bay. But don’t move ahead with knee-jerk reactions like Rupert Murdoch seemed to do last month when faced with the News Corp crisis mentioned here. This can cause more speculation and then rumors, instead of the facts, begin to take control. Armed with the facts and key messages, put your spokespeople to work and own the message – first to key stakeholders and then others. Only you can speak confidently about your organization and your products. So own it. Fast.

So really, owning the message means that you guide stories about yourself. The media and stakeholders get their information from you, and that information is shared with the general public. So long as you share legit information, you should continue to be the primary source.

As the quote says, without facts, rumors creep in to fill the void, and in crisis situations rumors are rarely positive. This extends the crisis, leads to reputation damage and, usually, financial damage as well.

This is already difficult, but doing it on the fly is like walking a trapeze with no net. Make sure your spokespeople are media trained and ready to go, because at some point you will be the focus of media attention, and when you are, you need to own it.

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

Be in position to help your community

Regardless of whether your organization is a hospital, school, police station, church, or something entirely different, if you serve your community then you can expect them to turn to you for information and guidance in the event of a disaster.

A bit of preparation can make you one of the greatest resources they have, and, quite literally, save lives. In a recent post on his iamreedsmith blog, social media expert Reed Smith offered this advice that, while aimed at hospitals, applies to nearly every community pillar:

1. Make sure someone is designated to monitor social as part of your disaster plan. In these cases the most up to date and credible information is coming from those on the ground. Think CNN iReport. People are tweeting, taking pictures/video, and posting on Facebook in realtime. Ask on your social channels for people to submit content to you though an email address or social platform.
2. Make sure someone at your disaster control post is providing information though the social channels. Many follow your organization online. Make sure you don’t go dark during this time.
3. Identify and follow official social accounts of news, disaster, and local agencies. This will allow you to repost relevant resources to your online community.

Assisting your community during difficult times is not only a good thing to do, but a smart business move. The more helpful you are, the more reputation brownie points you gather, but in order to be an effective aid during a crisis you’ve got to have your networking done and the communication channels already established, so get to it!

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

Learning crisis patterns can help you prepare for the future

Crisis communications is marked by increased stakeholder expectations of accountability mixed with a whole lot of uncertainty. We see three distinct phases in every crisis; the breaking phase, the maintenance phase and the resolution phase. The challenges of the breaking phase are to focus on speed while maintaining information accuracy, as well as demonstrating organizational accountability in controlling the hazards. In the maintenance phase the organization must contextualize risks, acknowledge and respond to feedback, and dispel rumours in a timely manner. The resolution phase requires an organization to honestly examine mishaps and commit openly to changes in policy or procedures.

This quote, from a Corpen Group blog post by Greg Vanier, helps to explain the distinct phases that every crisis goes through. Breaking it down to this very basic explanation is helpful because it allows one to see that, while the virtual maze of communication that makes up each stage can be confusing to an outsider, the actual steps involved are relatively simple.

This predictable pattern is what allows you to prepare for the unpredictable as well. The fact that you know, for example, that you will need to rapidly disperse information at the beginning of any crisis, means that, regardless of what the crisis may be, you should be prepared and have communications channels in place with employees trained to man them.

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

Doing the right thing helps the bottom line

It happens from time to time – organizations mess up. Whether it’s problems with new technology, lack of disaster preparedness, or just sending the wrong message, it’s how they recover that distinguishes the cream of the crop.

While there are multiple steps to a good apology, one that is both crucial and oft overlooked was pointed out in a recent post on the Yes That Jill Communications blog:

Accept blame. Look, no one wants to be wrong. But everyone is wrong at least once in their lives. Your time is now and this is going to be easier if you admit it.

Great example: We’re sorry our actions offended our customers. We greatly value your opinions.

Bad example: We’re sorry you feel that way.*

*Tip! You can’t apologize for other people’s feelings. You need to apologize for your role in causing those feelings.

Awful, terrible, no good example: If you didn’t like the ad, you’re obviously not our target demographic. You just don’t understand our art.**

 

 

 

 

 

**This response is even more offensive than the original problem. If you say something like this, expect the incident to get much, much worse. Even if the objecting group isn’t your target demographic, you won’t win friends stomping on other groups.

Reality is, you can completely resolve the crisis itself, but without accepting blame the public is highly unlikely to move forward. If they can’t move forward, then your organization won’t be either, so suck it up, take responsibility, and get on with your lives.

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

Be prepared to solve crises

By now it’s an accepted fact that organizations of all kinds need crisis management plans in place. Where some encounter trouble is the fact that you need to be ready and able to actually execute these plans. In a recent blog post on MeetContent.com, Georgy Cohen offered these bits of wisdom:

• Know their roles
  The crisis team should be operating from a common playbook. When a crisis hits, there should be a process in place for convening available team members and assigning roles. This should be a well-rehearsed process, and there should be no surprises—there is no time for surprises.
• Be empowered to fulfill them
  This means everything from being fully trained to having administrative access to the blog to knowing that in the absence of approval from Stakeholder A and Stakeholder B, she can go ahead and hit “send” on the big message. Empowerment and knowledge mitigate uncertainty and inaction.

Seems obvious, right? Yet you would be stunned at the number of CEO’s that don’t have, for example, the passwords for their own organization’s social media accounts. One rogue late-night Tweet and your reputation is on the line until you can wake the right person. Talk about a crisis waiting to happen!

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

Make the most of Twitter in a crisis situation

We’re constantly looking at ways that companies use Twitter for crisis management, but beneath those complex strategies there are some basics that everyone entering the social media arena should know.

Luckily we have power users like Lynn Miller, who shared her “Essential Twitter Tips for Crisis Communications” in a 4GreenPS blog post.

A quote:

Know Your 40404: Learn (or Re-Learn) How to Tweet via Text

When emergencies hit, cell phone and landline networks are often overloaded. WiFi and mobile web can be hard to access, just like voice services. Text messages over Twitter are more reliable. But most people now access Twitter solely via its many web-based interfaces. If you had to send a text Tweet…NOW, could you?

Here’s how to text tweet from the U.S.:

1. Send a text message with START to 40404.
   
2. Twitter will respond with your username.
3. Send your username in response.
4. When asked for your password, respond, being mindful of CaSe SensiTiVIty.
   
5. When asked to send OK, do so.
6. To receive tweets, turn on mobile updates for those tweets you wish to see.

If you didn’t know this, you’d better head on over to Lynn’s article.

Twitter is valuable because of its extreme flexibility and reach. Without the proper knowledge, you’re wasting potential, and possibly putting your organization and employees at risk.

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

A new type of crisis

Flash mobs have recently gained national attention, not for the wacky dance craze that’s been spotlighted in commercials and movies, but for groups that are coming together to cause violence or disrupt services. Services like Twitter and Blackberry messenger have evolved to act as crisis management tools in times of danger and disaster, but that very same functionality is now being used to organize some bad stuff.

While officials are looking at solutions, including the shutdown of various services, the reality is that these types of “flash” events will still have a presence, so what can you do? A recent Dix & Eaton blog post shared some advice:

• Create and communicate a “flash mob” policy. Define what is acceptable vs. unacceptable behavior regarding crowds and how participants will be handled if a situation is perceived as an imminent threat. Consider posting this “flash mob” policy to preclude events before they occur.
• Partner with authorities. Decide when and how to act in alignment with applicable laws of the municipality and/or policies of the location to disperse a violent flash mob.
• Monitor social networks. Dedicate resources to stay ahead of online flash mob organization efforts.
• Create an “online neighborhood watch.” Engage in dialogue with customers/citizens, law enforcement agencies and city governments.

Much of this can be accomplished by expanding existing social media activities. For example, change keyword searches to include not only your business name and address, but that of others around your location. Join that “neighborhood watch” by hooking up with neighbors and local services via Facebook, LinkedIn, and a few old fashioned phone calls.

As with all crisis management, the effort you put out beforehand is nothing compared to the potential cost of facing a crisis unprepared.

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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, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]