Communicating in a Crisis -- Choose Wisely

We do a fair amount of crisis management work for our healthcare and consumer products clients. You never know when a crisis is going to hit, and you never know what twists and turns it might take. No matter what your industry, crisis preparedness and a plan for a disciplined response are a necessity. How your organization behaves and communicates during a crisis can be crucial to your future.

With many organizations that we’ve consulted with over the past several years, especially recently, we have highlighted and planned for the use of social media – Twitter and Facebook predominantly – as prominent communication vehicles within their crisis communication plans.

The temptation by many organizations is to rely on those very useful and quite effective social media tools exclusively for communication. But every crisis is different, and all audiences are not created equal.

Case in point, the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010.

While Twitter was an incredibly useful tool in communicating from Haiti to the rest of the outside world, a new study by the Knight Foundation reminds us that sometimes we have to think on a more basic level. The study concludes that radio – yes, radio – was the “most effective tool for serving the public,” just as it had been with the Indian Ocean tsunami and other recent natural disasters.

My point here is simply this: Don’t ignore the obvious when it comes to communicating in a crisis. In the case of Haiti, getting the word out to the widest audience – an audience without many modern tools, and one in which a good deal of people were illiterate – was the number one priority. And good old fashioned radio was the best tool to get the word out.

As the old expression goes, “horses for courses.” It isn’t necessarily the vehicle you need to focus on, but the environment in which your message needs to be delivered.

Words of Wisdom from the Oracle of Omaha

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to lose it." - Warren Buffett

No matter what your industry, crisis preparedness and a plan for a disciplined response is a necessity. How your organization behaves and communicates during a crisis can be crucial to your future. And it’s not enough to simply anticipate a crisis. You must contend with the actual issue or problem, and – in a world where news and internet rumors can reach around the globe in seconds – the fallout if the situation is not addressed swiftly and effectively.

Do you have an updated crisis communications plan for your company?

The News Never Changes, It Just Happens to Different People

I'm often asked for my opinion of the very best example of crisis management. Everyone expects me to cite the Tylenol product tampering case of 1982.

In what is now a legend in crisis management circles, Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Tylenol, came out of the crisis even stronger, through an unprecedented and extraordinarily aggressive campaign that was marked by the speed with which they responded, the candor with which they communicated, and the profit-be-damned commitment to public safety that they demonstrated at every turn.

Unlike the Exxon Valdez oil disaster, or the Firestone tire fiasco, Johnson & Johnson didn't think first about lost profits. The reason that J&J was able to rescue a high-profit product that at the time commanded a whopping 35% of the OTC analgesic market, was that they immediately ordered a massive recall of more than 31 million bottles (with a retail value of more than $100 million), which assured the public that J&J had put the public's health and best interest first.

But surprisingly, the Tylenol product tampering case is not what I consider the "best" example of crisis management.

The best crisis management cases are the ones you never hear about.

Mostly, the reason you never hear about them is that the company (and most likely their PR agency) realized that a crisis can happen to anybody, at just about any time, and they prepared for how to act and respond when it inevitably does happen.

Here is the short version of what you and your company should be doing NOW, in advance of the inevitable chaos and scramble that a crisis will bring on:

1. First and foremost, agree that managing your organization's reputation is always "Job One." Hold close to your heart the admonition of Warren Buffet who once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to lose it.”

2. Conduct a "Vulnerability Assessment." What are your greatest risks? (make a list). Ask your CEO what keeps him or her awake at night? Identify and prioritize worst case scenarios.

3. Then fix what you can in advance.

4. Assign responsibilities and contingency accountabilities now, while cool heads can prevail, and outside of the glaring spotlight. Hash out any potential differences now with lawyers (who often want to immediately take over and stonewall the media -- which is almost always disastrous). Remember that somebody has to keep flying the plane (in other words, you still need to be able to do business while the crisis unfolds). Make sure you that you have someone at a high enough level whose job it is to NOT be immersed in the crisis, but to make sure that business continues as normally as possible.

5. Identify your media spokesperson, and have a back-up in case that person is unavailable. Then make sure they are professionally trained in how to best communicate with and through the media. (I often say that dealing with the media is a lot like playing golf. Virtually ANYBODY can do it, but it takes a fair amount of talent and a good deal of practice to shoot under par.)

6. Develop a briefing book with background materials and "talking points" for potential problems.

7. Like it or not, your employees are front line – get them ready. Publish policies that proscribe their speaking about the company with the media, but also put measures in place to communicate with your staff, giving them as much information as you can.

Almost all crises have consistent elements, which you can -- and should -- plan for in advance. In today's world, the media cycle is down to seconds. The Internet has made widespread communication almost instantaneous. Blogs allow rumors spread by your competitors.

Remember the old saying, "The news never changes, it just happens to different people." A crisis can happen any time and to any company. If you aren't prepared to tell your story, it is entirely probable that someone else will do it for you. Can you really afford NOT to be prepared?