CRISIS COMMUNICATION

All Organizations are likely to face crisis at any time. They need to handle the situation effectively in order to survive. A crisis is an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty. It is usually caused by an event or threat that is related to range of circumstances such as product recalls, equipment failure or accidents. Crises typically have a strong human aspect to them which means they can become the focus of intensive media scrutiny. Having plans in place to manage the information that is given to the public and the media - appointed spokespeople, contingency plans, and key messages - is called ‘crisis management’.

Crisis affects a large number of people. The occurrence is unpredictable. The different types of crises range from a customer relations or product problem through to a prolonged strike or disruptions to business caused by a bushfire. Some of the possible crises are:
· Natural disasters – flood, storm, earthquake, bushfire, etc.
· Customer Relations – Product failure, product recall, service complaints, etc.
· Management Issues – plant closure, layoffs and class action.

Characteristics of Crisis:

· Element of surprise – Pepsi learning reports of syringe found in Pepsi can.
· Insufficient Information – Perrier sparkling water taking a week to figure out what was
going on after reports of benzene in the water.
· Quick pace of events
· Intense scrutiny.

Planning for and developing techniques to handle crises is now becoming a normal operational consideration for many organizations. It can mean the difference between a company emerging from a crisis with reputation and customer loyalty largely intact, and fighting for survivaA public relations consultancy can identify issues or potential crises, develop strategies to deal with them, and help manage them as they occur. Too often management hopes that the issues will simply not develop - or that they will go away. It is not uncommon to leave them for the competitors to handle.

Principles to positive Corporate response to a crisis:

1. Preparation is key.

Think of a Crisis Communication Plan as an insurance policy for your corporate reputation. With such a plan in place, if a crisis hits, you can spend crucial time implementing the plan rather than trying to figure out where to start. Preparedness can include developing a crisis plan, creating media materials, media training for key executives and forming a crisis team.


2. Make sure you have all the facts.

Gather information about the situation as quickly as possible. Talk with your legal counsel and PR adviser to see what information can be released.

3. Take immediate action to minimise danger to human life.

If people are at risk, be sure to immediately address those concerns. Negligence with human life is unforgivable.

4. Tell the truth.

Sounds obvious but amazingly, it is not unheard of for some people to tell half-truths or even out-an-out lies in a crisis. Be sure that any information you release to the media or the public is utterly truthful. If something you say is false, your credibility will be irreparably damaged.

5. Show you care.

Do your best to understand what the public's concerns will be and address those concerns directly. Put yourself in the shoes of people who are adversely affected. You may not be the only ones suffering.

Preparation for Crisis:

· Assess the risk for your organization.
· Plan for crises
· Determine effect on constituencies
· Set communication objectives for potential crises
· Analyze Channel choice
· Assign a different team to each crisis
· Plan for centralization
· What to include in the formal plan?
· List of whom to notify in an emergency
· An approach to media relations
· A strategy for notifying employees
· A location to serve as crisis headquarters
· A description of the plan

Communicating during a crisis:

· Get control of the situation
· Gather as much information as possible
· Set up a centralized crisis management center
· Communicate early and possible
· Understand the media’s mission during a crisis
· Communicate directly with affected constituents.
· Remember that the business must continue
· Make plans to avoid another crisis immediately.

Let’s have a look at the example of Telstra. Telstra made a marketing mistake in August when it sent a message to its 3.4 million mobile phone customers by the most obvious means - voice mail message.

The only problem was that the marketing people appeared to overlook the fact that this transmission would be free to Telstra whereas each recipient would be charged. (Or did they simply ignore the consequences?).

From the sidelines it looks like a problem that PR people often face in the marketing arena - staff with a sales-only focus can occasionally get a little too clever or overlook the public consequences.

Or, as seems to be increasingly the case, the ‘silos’ that marketing staff often work in today means that there can be a lack of adequate senior marketing management supervision to pick up these ‘indiscretions’.

Whatever the cause, the PR people are then called in to redress the resulting situation - internal staff if they exist or, if not, the organisation’s PR agency.

Within hours there was a public outcry. It was a great media story.
In this situation, Telstra’s PR response was ‘textbook’. Within a few hours of the media running it as another ‘bash Telstra’ story they admitted the mistake, essentially said they had been stupid and began crediting customers.

It left the media with nowhere to go. Within a day the story had vanished. Publicly Telstra had escaped as best they could expect with only minimal, short-term damage to their corporate reputation (what went on inside Telstra can only be imagined).

For an organization that gets more than its fair share of brickbats, credit should be given to Telstra for its handling of a short-term marketing crisis.

Reference:

Corporate Communication, Paul. A. Argenti, Fourth Edition.

Links:

http://www.prinfluences.com.au/index.php?theParent=10&pagMan=1
http://www.prinfluences.com.au/index.php?theParent=10&pagMan=1