Crisis Communication

•Crises are inevitable.•How an organization handles a crisis is paramount to its being able to weather the event.

Understanding the relationship of crisis in Specific organizations

• Some use crisis to their advantage– Emerge larger than before the crisis– Use the event as a “PR” image event– Maintain stable revenues

• Others crumble under the burden of crisis– Lost revenues– Loss of focus– Underestimaters of the disaster

Did you know?

• A single crisis could alter your life and career.

• How the crisis is handled or mishandled will impact individuals, company, community, and possibly the world.

Business Communication is more than effective speaking and writing

• In a crisis, managers must know their:– Audience– Goal– Message– Source– Support and information– Feedback

Audience

• Where are they?• How will you reach them?• Is a public press conference needed?• Can you contact all interested parties? Do

you have a complete, up-to-date list?• What words should you use to notify your

customers? What is their demographic composition?

Goal• Why are you communicating with the

audience? What is the purpose? Is it going to help or worsen the situation?

• Will your message clarify existing information?

• Are rumors misinforming the public?• What is your motive, if any?• Are you ready to communicate trust and

reissuance of your product or service?

Source• Who is responsible for conveying

information for your company?• Does that person possess strong, effective

communication skills? Is that person too technical? Not technical enough?

• Is the spokesperson credible?• How should the message be delivered--in

person, videoconference, other channel?• Should a two way dialogue be allowed?

Support and information

• Internal• External• Who or what does the company use to

establish a credible image or existence.

Feedback

• How did the company learn of the crisis?• How effective was their response to the internal and

external environments?• Were mistakes made in the communication process?• How were these mistakes corrected?• Who was offended, isolated, left out of the

communication loop?• Which messages were most effective, least effective?

Why?

For example…..

• Los Angeles: (during Daryl Gates reign as police chief) The LAPD’s chief responded to a media barrage because a police suspect was killed while being subdued with a choke hold. The inquiry should have centered on the questions of excessive force.

• *Rehearsal is Vital and when the responses are viewed negatively, they bring further outrage.

And the rest of the story...

• Chief Gates, in his attempt to explain why a choke hold would kill a black suspect easier than a white one, said that blacks are built differently than normal people.

• *That unfortunate comment became the story that spread nationally. The media lost interest in the original story

What not to say!

• National Law Journal– Nix Used Car Center, Columbia, SC was ordered

by a jury to pay customer Tommy Carter $73,300 because the company libeled Carter when he complained about service.

– Customer Carter, unhappy with repair service, repeatedly drove car in front of store with huge sign that read “Nix Lemon”

– Dealership: responded with a sign that read, “Carter is a faggot.”

Don’t blame us!

• Enron• Firestone• Johnson & Johnson• Gerber• Exxon Valdez• Cigarette industry

Think about...

• What should you do as the PR relations contact person?

• Do you need to contact the local media ?• Should you recall the canned food product

from stores ?• Decide on the proper memo to send your

staff, employees, customers, and stakeholders about the alleged charges?

And….

• What contingency plan should be in place for such a time?

• What resources are needed when such a crisis occurs?

• What do you tell the news media? What type of press release would you draft?

• What about your company production standards, how will you handle this problem?

Assignment

• Assignment:– Your restaurant was approached yesterday afternoon by a

local Los Angeles news station. The tv station barged into your restaurant with producer and film crew and videotaped your kitchen environment and operations. The story about your restaurant aired on the news channel last night. The tv station showed scenes of cockroach eggs and cockroaches in the supply room. There were pictures of uncovered meat lying in filthy, blood covered refrigeration units. The sinks were full of dirty, grease and scum water and food was being prepared on counter tops covered with food debris from other preparations. The floors were filthy and caked with food debris as well.

And to make matters worse...

• You discover today that the Los Angeles Times newspaper called to let you know that they will be running a story on food establishments and plan to use your restaurant as an expose piece. Now, you find out that one of your former customers claims that mice have been seen scurrying on various occasions around the dining area.

• Now, what do you do?

The Never-ending Story of Crisis Communication

• A Crisis is inevitable.• A Crisis can strike at any time: from a natural disaster to an

outraged customer who seeks vendetta. A crisis can come from a whistleblower or disgruntled employee to a corporate spy. A crisis can come from a mislabeled product or undetected surgical procedure.

• A crisis is always looming on the surface. The company must be prepared to carry out its crisis plan in an effective and efficient manner.