Category: Organization Development

CDC spreads message with unique announcement

The Center for Disease Control’s “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse” campaign has been a major success, with its creatively designed badge (seen below) popping up on sites across the Web.

Perhaps motivated by the fact that many members of the public pay little heed to standard preparedness advice involving crises like floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes, the CDC launched the attention-grabbing zombie campaign, which attracted a flood of visitors to its Emergency Preparedness and Response website.

It’s the more mundane crises that truly pose a threat though, and for those, as with the zombie apocalypse, it’s crisis prevention planning that will ensure your business survives.

If you choose to ignore it you could get lucky…but it only takes one look at the headlines of this past year to see what the cost is for being wrong. Besides, in most cases, the cost of the entire crisis prevention process is a minute fraction of the losses that could be incurred as a result of facing crises with inadequate preparation.

Nearly as bad as not having one at all, a common mistake is to overlook the plan in the heat of the moment. For example, it’s a frequent cause of crisis to have the wrong person make what become public statements simply because that’s who the press chose to brace in the company parking lot.

Crisis simulations help greatly to expose weakness and find solutions as well, and can be scaled from a pen and paper exercise to full-on walkthroughs complete with local officials and business associates.

Whatever your business, create a crisis prevention plan will allow you to keep working while you resolve the crisis, test it, and follow through when the time comes.

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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.]

Is it an oxymoron?

We consistently pound on the fact that the best way to handle a crisis is to confront it head on by admitting the mistakes that caused it. The thing is, this advice often clashes with the advice your insurance company would issue after say, a car crash involving a company vehicle.

What do you do then, when your need to act with transparency and honesty clashes with someone else’s bottom line? That was the question posed by “Mr. Media Training,” Brad Phillips, in a recent article. A quote:

Let’s be clear. Insurance companies care primarily about two things: reducing payouts and increasing profits.

On the other hand, crisis communications professionals care about your company’s long-term reputation, your personal reputation, employee morale, your ability to attract and retain employees, your professional relationships with vendors and lenders, and the long-term financial consequences of the crisis.

So what are you supposed to do when you know you should apologize and move on, but can’t out of fear that your insurance contracts will be voided? Here are three ideas:

1. Find an Insurance Company That “Gets It”

Jonathan Bernstein, President of Bernstein Crisis Management, says there are some far-sighted companies out there: “AIG (surprisingly) is one of the more progressive insurance companies in this regard.”

Bernstein adds, “In my experience, more and more insurance companies are aware that settlements tend to be lower, even when an organization is factually liable, if the court of public opinion is engaged in accordance with crisis management best practices.”

2. Find a Carrier That Offers a Crisis Management Policy

According to Bob Sobel, Vice President of Sales for Oxford Insurance, “There are some errors and omissions insurance contracts that have a crisis management component. The insurance companies would normally send you to one of their own pre-approved crisis management vendors.”

Still, analyze the language in your policy carefully. Although some plans may allow you to use a crisis management firm to help you notify customers of a breach of credit card information, for example, they may not allow you to admit responsibility for other types of crises.

3. Go It Alone

If the potential payout is relatively low but the risk of inaction is high, you might consider going it alone. Read your policy to see whether this would void the contract altogether, or whether the insurance company would void it only for that one event. This decision is risky, so consult a professional before making your final choice.

All of these solutions have something in common – they seek ways to avoid sacrificing your integrity as an organization while maintaining the insurance that’s required to run a business.

Remember, your associates’ behavior reflects on you as a company as well. Make sure those that provide a service to you are on the same page in terms of ethics and behavior, or risk a reputation crisis.

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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.]

Given the explosion of social media for networking, relationship-building, communication and awareness, I’ve been surprised at how few social enterprises seem to be using it specifically to attract and retain customers. The good news is that this is changing, and, well, the more I look the more ventures I come across taking advantage of these new opportunities. Here are some more examples (see also my blog on this topic on 3/12/11):

Continue reading “Using social media to sell stuff (Part II)”

I recently gave this presentation entitled “Being on a Board: What’s It All About?” at the Grant Professionals MidAtlantic Conference and I am sharing the slides with you here. I was asked to give this presentation because many grant professionals get asked to be on a Board and some would like to be on a Board for professional development.

Being on a Board is a serious responsibility and commitment and should be considered thoughtfully. It also can be a major personal growth experience and be an important career enhancing experience. The slides are posted on slideshare for downloading and you can view them here.

Marion Conway

http://marionconwaynonprofitconsultant.blogspot.com

How do you cope when your brand gets hijacked?

Today’s news includes the story of a hoax launched as an attack on coal company Peabody Energy. In short, an activist group calling itself Coal is Killing Kids developed a false campaign including a news release, a Coal Cares website and a Twitter account. The campaign positions itself as a Peabody Energy sponsored initiative (it’s not) to provide free inhalers and discounts for asthma medication for children living within 200 miles of a coal plant.

This quote, from a post by Marijean Jaggers on the Jaggers Communication blog, brings to light an interesting and dangerous crisis. Simply due to the nature of their industry, a large number of businesses are guaranteed to upset people, and this impostor method can be devastating to an already-precarious reputation.

Missouri-based Peabody Energy has been slow to respond, which makes its problem all the worse, choosing to issue a stodgy traditional statement on its website which, not surprisingly, major news outlets “failed to notice” when crafting their own stories on the issue.

In order to save face, Peabody will have to go digital, engaging stakeholders in the same places they found the false campaign via Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Through all of this, the energy company will have to go above and beyond to show that it is doing its best to run a safe and environmentally responsible program while promoting the large role that coal plays in our economy. With sufficient effort the current smear campaign will pass, and Peabody will be stronger against the inevitable ones to come.

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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.]

P&G PR lead shares learnings from 2010 crisis

Last year, Proctor & Gamble was plunged into crisis management as a result of negative backlash from the launch of a new diaper that gathered enough attention to spill over from social media to the mainstream. Luckily for us, analyzing the mistakes of others is perhaps one of the finest ways to learn how to better yourself, and it especially helps when those responsible for the mistakes are helpful enough to do that analysis themselves.

In this quote from a iMediaConnection article by Lori Luecthefeld, Bryan McCleary, director of public relations for Proctor & Gamble baby care, gives his personal insights into mistakes P&G made, and how it could have done better:

Don’t default to an apology
After the crisis broke, interactive gurus called on P&G to apologize to consumers, McClearly said. But that’s the one thing the company couldn’t do. It had to maintain that the product was safe.

That said, there are different ways of communicating safety, McCleary added. And the company’s first tactic — insisting that there were no examples to support allegations — came off as a guilty response. Quickly, the company shifted course. Its representatives communicated with parents on a personal level — as parents themselves. They noted that, as moms and dads, they’d be the first people to pull a product from the shelf if they believed there was any danger to their children.

Arm your front lines
Make sure your consumer relations staff has the resources it needs to respond. P&G was slow to do that, McClearly noted. Early responses came off as robotic, which only fueled the fires.

Try to change the narrative
The Pampers situation was irresistible to mainstream media: Pampers vs. moms. Thus, the company had to shift the story line by bringing parents and mom bloggers onto its side as well.

Track, track, track
Know where you stand, McClearly advised. Track consumer awareness and willingness to purchase throughout the process so you know if — and when — the conversations begin to turn.

Repeat the Serenity Prayer to yourself regularly
Know what you can influence. Know what you can’t influence. And have the wisdom to know the difference. For a company like P&G, which prides itself on remaining in control at all times, that posed a challenge, McClearly noted.

Accentuate the positive
Don’t exist entirely in a defensive stance, if possible. In the case of Pampers, the brand found it was useful to find something that it could apologize for: its initial corporate response to the allegations. And with that, the brand was able to turn the focus to education.

 

Be human
Consumers expect corporate-speak from a company the size of P&G — so Pampers had to break that perception. Instead, the brand engaged in a two-way dialogue and sought to put a human face on the people behind its product.

What’s the underlying message behind all of this? Communicate.

Communicate with the media, communicate with your staff, communicate with supporters, fans, critics and yes, communicate with the opposition. The turning point of this crisis was when P&G reached out to the concerned parties, in this case angry “mommy bloggers,” and involved them in fixing the problem. Not only did this remove the juicy angle the media was attracted to, but also gave P&G a reputation boost, demonstrating the company’s willingness to cooperate and learn from adversity.

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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.]

Not just a branding tool

Your company’s blog is one of its most valuable assets, serving as a tool for marketing, customer service, and, of most interest to us here, crisis management. With some forethought, your blog can become the focal point for information distribution in times of crisis, getting the story you want to the media and keeping both employees and stakeholders informed 24/7, even when nobody’s in the office.

In a recent Ragan.com article, Jeff Domansky gave an excellent list of ways to make the best use of your blog during a crisis, here are a couple of my favorites:

Updates

Quick, timely updates through your blog can be invaluable in keeping employees, customers, regulators, fire and safety officials, the media and the public informed of developments. Remember, your updates can be very brief and factual. It’s important to show that even if you have not yet resolved the crisis, you’re working to solve it.

BP attempted to use a blog for Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup updates, but it received pointed criticism for its attempts to paint the recovery unrealistically. BP has since shuttered this blog and removed the posts, demonstrating how transparent and objective you must be for success.

Media relations

It may be difficult to reach media outlets in the heat of a crisis. Your blog can provide essential media information as well as links to press releases, fact sheets, FAQs, photos, video and everything else reporters might need if they can’t reach a spokesperson. Make sure to provide your blog address and 24-hour phone contacts.

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark’s blog, craigconnects, has a simple press page that works well.

Blogs are incredibly flexible communications platforms and, especially since the explosion in popularity of social media, very easy to promote. For low-cost campaigns, simply create social media accounts and echo or link to blog postings while responding to any stakeholder questions or comments. Do that regularly and you will have the base on which to build your crisis management effort on when the need arises.

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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.]

Weak start to communications hinders crisis management

Last week, Sony’s “Playstation Network” suffered one of the largest breaches of confidential user information in history. With over 75 million users affected, to say that Sony has a crisis management case on its hands would be an understatement.

The electronics giant put itself in a bad place due to dishonest communication from the start, at first painting the issue as a mere outage before finally admitting that hackers had broken into the PSN service and stolen customer information, including (possibly) financial data. In another necessary but customer-angering move, Sony’s PC gaming service Qriocity was taken down just yesterday, likely due to having the same security flaw as the PSN.

The entire issue leaves many questions unanswered, and Sony is not stepping up to fill this role as it should. As a result, it’s been left up to members of the media, such as PCWorld’s Matt Peckham, to fill the gap with quotes like this one:

What sort of compensation will Sony provide Qriocity and PSN members (note that many pay $50 a year for PlayStation Plus premium membership)? Has Sony identified the parties involved? Does the presumably criminal activity constitute a serious enough felony (or series of felonies) to involve the FBI? What sort of security measures is Sony taking to ensure an attack like this–or worse–won’t happen again? How will it convey that to its over 75 million PSN members and convince them not to jump ship?

All good questions, and ones that Sony has a responsibility to answer. Until it goes just that, those millions of customers are at risk of jumping ship. Tech fans are fickle, and an error left uncorrected for long will see their dollars invested in products from a rival company.

Sony has begun in the right direction, linking its own official timeline and explanation via social media, but it will take much more comprehensive communication to come out ahead on this one.

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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.]

Airline learns from crisis management mistakes

Southwest Airlines is no stranger to crisis management, just earlier this month coping with a messy communication situation after a flight was forced to make an emergency landing due to a a ruptured fuselage, so when a landing flight not only slid off of a runway in Chicago, but was photographed seemingly pointed directly at a nearby White Castle burger joint, the airline leapt into action.

PR Daily has more details:

Southwest Airlines’ crisis PR team is working overtime.

Today they are responding to media calls and posting on social media outlets about a flight that skidded off the runway at Chicago’s Midway Airport and into a patch of mud. No injuries were reported in the incident, but it worked its way into the top news story on websites and television.

The Chicago Tribune posted a video of the plane sitting at the end of runway, its nose pointing at a White Castle drive-thru restaurant across the street.

Almost immediately following today’s report, Southwest put out a statement confirming that the plane slid off the end of the runway and none of the passengers were injured. The airline pointed out that there were reports of heavy rain in the area at the time the aircraft landed.

 

 

 

Southwest’s statement on the incident was posted on its Facebook page shortly after it occurred, and it drew a whopping 128 “likes” and 170 comments. Most backed up the airlines and lay the blame on Midway and the weather.

Southwest not only addressed the situation on Facebook, but Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, Gowalla, FourSquare, and its company blog. Once again it’s been proven that simple, honest communication pays off, as Southwest’s approach resulted in the crisis quickly moving from story of the day to a non-incident overnight.

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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 way you hear some social enterprisers talk, you’d think it’s an inherently good thing to lose money, or if you have to make a profit, keep it small. For example, the new Low-Profit Limited Liability (L3C) corporate structure, which allows an SE to have social objectives and attract investors, has that low profit mentality built into its name.

Continue reading “Low/no profit is not a virtue”