Everyday PR

When Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords woke up on Saturday, I’m confident it didn’t occur to her, her staff, area law enforcement and local media that she and others would be fighting for their lives in a matter of hours, with some losing that battle.  The tragic event prompts us to question many things, and for public relations professionals, one question should be whether or not our crisis management plans are current.

What kind of crisis communications plan does your organization and/or clients have?  This isn’t a “yes” or “no” question – it’s a question of depth of preparedness to act expediently, responsibly and accurately – a component that vacillated all day in Saturday’s media reports.  And this question is no longer about the fundamentals – it’s about the ability to be able to communicate and disseminate information with today’s technology that has likely advanced since you last worked on your plan.

Review the following checklist. If you can answer “yes” to most, if not all, of the statements, then you’re ahead of the curve. If you can’t check “yes” to most of the statements, then do something about that.  As Saturday’s tragedy shows, nobody is immune to a crisis.   

____  We have identified potential crisis situations within our organization, and we have developed a communications strategy for responding to each.

____  In the event of a crisis, we are prepared to quickly communicate with all our target audiences, including but not limited to, staff, volunteers, consumers, constituents, donors, shareholders, elected officials, media and the general public.

 ____  We have established a crisis team and a formal notification plan to key audiences.

____  We have secured domains reflecting or related to our organization’s name (such as UPDATE @ NAME OF ORGANIZATION) to activate in the event of a crisis, as well as other potential communications tools like a designated web page for media use.

____  We have accounts with appropriate social media tools to use for crisis communications purposes as necessary.

 ___   Our management team and key board members/stakeholders/decision makers are familiar with the crisis communications plan. 

____  At any hour of the day, our crisis team knows how to contact each other. 

____  Each member of our crisis team has a copy of the crisis communications plan at home and at the office. 

____ If an incident occurs, we are confident the employee or volunteer on duty will know what to do to alert the crisis team.

____ Our plan defines our communications boundaries.  We understand when we speak as an organization; we understand when other entities such as law enforcement, medical personnel, expert leaders, etc., are to speak on behalf of the situation, and we continually communicate among all parties during a crisis to ensure consistency and accuracy of information.

____ Our organization has established a formal communications policy on providing the media with full and accurate information in a timely manner.

____ We have a current media policy that specifics designated spokespersons and how employees should respond if questioned by media.

____ The spokesperson for our organization has received professional media training and is an integral part of our management team.

____  We have an ongoing communications effort in place to maintain a foundation of goodwill in our community BEFORE any crisis occurs.

How many can you confidently and positively answer? What else would you add?

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While Domino’s Pizza continues to recover from a tasteless YouTube video, companies should take a clue and think about how to preserve their brand in today’s cyberspace world.  Domino’s learned the hard way – its failure to anticipate the negative ramifications of social media caused much reactive, costly and time-consuming activities.

Fortunately, there are ways to avoid or at least minimize cyber victimization before it turns into a verb as in “Hey, man, don’t Dominos my food.”   While large, longtime companies are likely to survive brand damage, small and mid-size organizations are much more vulnerable to the power of social media. Marketing experts believe some businesses are only a click away from a crisis premiering in the public domain.  Even bleaker is this reality: the absolute worst time to try to build relationships or to start establishing effective communications tools is during the crisis.

Wayne Hill, president of Ohio-based Edward Howard, says the most important first step is a change of mindset.  “Many companies suffer from ‘magical thinking’.  They simply believe they are immune to a crisis,” said Hill.  “If businesspeople took the time to really think about everything that could possibly go wrong – not so much operationally, but more technologically – then their mindset couldn’t help but change.” 

Once that shift in thinking occurs, other steps that a company can do to protect its reputation include:

• Know what’s being said – good and bad – about your organization. Surround yourself with people (in-house or outsourced) who have a working knowledge and application of all forms of social media to monitor your organization and to immediately activate communications, including live, as needed.
• Take small steps, such as Internet news alerts, establishing social media accounts or developing a dark web page.
• Ensure that your organization has most, if not all, of the basics of a crisis communications plan, no matter how remedial.
• Develop a crisis communications plan that includes social media elements, media training and messaging. If in-house resources aren’t available, look for a reputable service provider with both crisis management and social media experience.

“People may think they can’t afford to do something about their branding in today’s warp speed travel of cyber news and viral media,” said Hill.  “The reality is that people can’t afford not to be prepared, and the basic steps are more affordable than they realize.  With today’s 24/7 news coverage, combined with online avenues, information is continuously recycled.  Technology lasts forever (see www.digg.com), but every day, companies may see their reputations damaged in minutes.”