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Crisis & Online Communications

International SchoolOf Communication

Introductions

• Media trainer, consultant and former journalist

• Keen social media advocate

• Worked as correspondent for Nikkei Business Publications, CNet, ZDNet and Newsbytes

About you

• Do you currently manage any of your company’s social media channels ?

• Have you any experience handling a crisis?

• What do you hope to take away from Day 5?

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Crisis communications:A turning point?

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“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it,” Warren Buffett

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1. One bad interview can ruin your company’s reputation

Former BP CEO Tony Hayward made a series of gaffes during Gulf oil spill

2. Perception matters -- media visibility affects the bottom line

Takata shares plunge as Honda drops supplier

BP profits slump after

huge oil spill charge

Uber hits back at claims of thousands of rape and sexual assault complaints

Jury Orders J&J to Pay $72M in Ovarian Cancer Talcum Powder Case

Volkswagen Shares Dive

on New Emissions Woes

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Company CrisisShare price

loss

Union

Carbide Bhopal 35%

Texaco Discrimination 10%

Coca-ColaBelgium recall

after children ill22%

Firestone High tyre failure

in Ford Explorer 40%

BP Gulf spill 50%

ArlaOffensive

cartoons 50%

Toyota Recalls 50%

A crisis can destroy stock value

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3. Social media is growing in reach and influence

• 1.39b monthly active users

• Malaysia: >18 million

• 396m users• Malaysia: > 2m

• 1b unique users/month• 4b views/day• 100hrs of video uploaded/1 min

• 307m monthly active users• Malaysia: > 2m

Sources: Statista(Q1, 2016), Socialbakers.com, DMR

• 1b monthly active users• Malaysia: 75% penetration

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4. Media diet has changed

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5. You are already a brand ambassador(so you need to know how to promote your company’s

agenda 24/7/365 to traditional and new media)

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Case study: LRT danger

Group MD tweets1.19pm Nov 23

1.21pm Nov 23

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Facebook post Tweet @MyRapidKL

Re-tweet media tweets

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Case study: LRT 2012 Old pic from 2006 posted as new

1. Be ready to act fast 2. Get ahead of the rumour mill

3. Appoint professionals

Case study: Paradigm MallPoor replies to issues on

FB

Case study: Worms in Lipton lemon green tea

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What does this mean for companies, brands, spokespersons?

• Social-media savvy activists, detractors, brand terrorists can easily organize against your brand

• Your messaging must be consistent – internally, externally, online and offline. But you can no longer control the conversations and reactions.

• Transparency, Integrity, Accountability: The virtues of corporate governance must be embraced – all across the board

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Risk assessment and issues mapping

International SchoolOf Communication

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DefinitionsA crisis is an event or series of events which can severely damage the reputation of an organisation. It can interrupt normal workflow and threaten the organisation’s very existence.

Crisis communications is a responsible programme to minimize damage to a company’s reputation through active engagement and communications with employees, stakeholders, the public and the media

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Types of crises

• Financial: Bank run, hostile takeover, government-forced merger, sovereign defaults, stock crash, bubbles, currency crises

• Corporate/legal: Lawsuits, anti-trust, copyright infringement. Eg. Microsoft.

• Brand terrorism: product tampering, malicious rumours, corporate espionage, hacking. Eg. Tylenol.

• Medical: Mass hysteria, flu outbreak, H1N1, SARS

• Natural disasters: Tsunami, landslides, flash floods, freak storms.

• Accidents: Vehicle crash, explosions, careless handling of hazardous material, fire

• Product/service failure: Product recalls, faulty service. Eg. Firestone.

• Organizational misdeeds: Management misconduct, deception, financial fudging, stock manipulation, kickbacks. Eg. Enron, Satyam, VW

• Workplace issues: Violence, sexual harassment, discrimination

• Technological crises: eg: phishing scam, skimming, systems crash, data loss, software failure, blackouts. Eg. KLSE crash.

• Confrontational: Boycotts, picketing, sit-ins, strikes, blockade or occupation of buildings

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Types of crises

High business impact

Low business impact

Low probability High probability

Hostile takeover

Product incidents

Boycott

Class-action

lawsuit

Environmental catastrophe Accident

on premises

Financial crisis Management mistakes

Sabotage

Dismissals

Corruption

Sexual

harassment

Pressure group actions

Strikes

IP copyright

infringement

RetrenchmentTrade sanctions

Exercise: Determine which crises are highly probable and will likely impact your organisation

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Every crisis is an opportunity

• A crisis thrusts an organisation into the spotlight

• An organisation that responds well can improve its reputation in the long term

• Communication is crucial. It is not enough to respond well: you must also be seen to respond well

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Best pro-active practices: Crisis communications

• Formulate a crisis communications plan

• Role-play crisis scenarios

• Update crisis plans regularly

• Train staff on crisis communications

• Meet and cultivate the media

• Engage and connect with online communities

• Use online tracking tools to monitor and flag possible crisis situations

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1. Prevention/preparation

2. Detection

3. Damage control

4. Recovery

5. Learning

Five states in a crisis

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1. Prevention/ preparation• Media queries are always

responded to promptly and reliably

• Management trained to be media-savvy, have credible voice online

• Open and transparent processes in place

• Employees are vigilant and always communicating with customers, stakeholders, management, online community

• Infrastructure and resources are always serviced and up-to-date

• Crisis communications plan is constantly updated

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2a. Detection: Online

Example warning signs:• Rise in customer service

complaints online

• High criticism of services in social

media

• Negative sentiment of organisation

in online monitoring and tracking

tools

• Online media critical of inaction

• Unusual staff turnover, employee

discontent reflected in social

networks

• Infrastructure starting to break

down

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2b. Detection: Management issues

• Little or no innovation or any emphasis on R & D, training or re-training

• Exorbitant executive salary of top management

• A frenzy of redundant meetings and overlapping tasks, projects and sub-committees

• Relying on the past and shackled to sticking to the knitting mentality

• Management has lost touch with stakeholders, markets, customers, and do not fully embrace change of any kind

• *Active inertia: Taking small measures which aren’t focused, measurable, and internalized by whole organization

*Ref: Don Sull, Revival of the Fittest

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3. Damage control• Crisis strikes

• Crisis communications plans kicks in

• CEO, board notified

• Activate crisis comms team and the media centre (ensure communications set-up is working) and light up dark site if necessary

• Inform authorities concerned of situation• Action initiated, resources mobilized, safety and security

prioritized

• Media, public, community, stakeholders kept informed• CEO or designate conducts first briefing• Detail the FACTS of the event (5Ws) to draft out initial

press statement.• Follow up with media as promised.

• Resolution provided

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4. Recovery

• Restore public confidence through action, public clean-up or third-party expert vouching safety

• “Business as usual” statement

• Compensation or free samples offered

• Thanking parties involved in resolution

• Media provided with tour

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5. Learning

• Did media carry your messages?

• Was spokesperson credible?

• Did public empathize with company?

• Was dissemination of resolution via website, emails, press releases, video effective?

• Were briefings, conferences conducted smoothly?

• Was there enough backup and support?

• Can you benchmark event as case study?

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• What happened?

• When and where did it happen?

• Who is dead, injured or affected?

• What is the extent of damage?

• What parties were involved?

• What are you doing about it?

• When will it be resolved?

• Who is in charge?

• Why did it happen?

• How did it happen?

• Has it happened before?

• What was the ‘real’ cause?

• Will it happen again?

• Who is responsible?

• Who is to blame?

What the media wants in a crisis

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Crisis Spokesperson: Regret, Reason, Remedy

1. REGRET: • Show genuine concern for victims, express regret,

apologize if necessary but be specific• Say what needs to be said to victims and their families• Who can the people affected call?

2. REASON• How and why it happened. (Just the facts, do NOT

speculate). If you do not know say you don’t know –pending investigations

3. REMEDY:• What are you doing to fix it?• What resources have been allocated?• Is the environment secure now? Is the public still at risk?

Is it safe to go there?• How long is the remedial action going to take?• When can we hear from you again?

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When the media calls

1.“We know and here are the facts.” (Holding statement)

2.“We don’t know everything at this time. Here’s what we know. We’ll find out more and let you know by XX:00 time.”

3.“This is first we have heard of it - but we’ll find out more and get back to you.”

Note: Do not hang up or say no comment!

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Tools for responding to media in a crisis

Traditional

• Holding statement

• Press release

• Fact sheet

• Q & A or F.A.Q.

• Press conference

• Memo or letter

• Advertisement

• One-on-one interview

• 24-hour hotline

Social media

• Light up dark site

• Fill with hourly/daily updates on Facebook or Twitter

• Video on YouTube

• Set up a blog or feedback forum (*be prepared to monitor)

• Crowd-sourced survivor lists

• 5-digit SMS hotline

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Who does what in crisis communications

Crisis Management Team Leader:• Collect all relevant information and get it to

communications• In almost all circumstances, the incident

commander/crisis manager is main spokesperson on the ground

Communications:• Develop holding statements/Q&A/FAQ for use with

media• Get spokesperson prepared, rehearse statement.• Monitor news coverage• Develop internal communications strategy/materials.• Counsel the next course of actions for

communications

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• Within two hours• Holding statement• Update online media

(post content on dark site)• Inform staff

• Within six hours• Press statement• Press conference (if necessary)• Produce sound clip/ TV footage • Set up crisis hotline

• Within 24 hours• Arrange interviews • Gather third-party statements

• Within a few days• Detailed discussions with journalists• Personal discussions with media and key opinion leaders• Internal media• Place ads

All about speed

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Holding statement: eg. Fire• Provides the media with an initial statement of

facts that can be used immediately when crisis breaks

• Answer the four Ws: Who, What, When, Where.Explain WHAT the incident is. Identify WHO is involved, tell WHERE and WHEN the incident occurred, explain WHAT action is being taken to respond to the incident.

• Do not speculate on the How, How Much or Whyif you do not know the answer yet. When in doubt leave out.

• DO NOT disclose any names of dead or injured until next-of-kin is informed. (Reporters may get names from police or hospital. When you are ready to release names, appeal to media to respect the privacy of family and relatives in their time of bereavement.)

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Example: Holding statement

At approximately 9am today, March 18, 2016, a fire occurred at _____________.

All our employees evacuated the building safely. The local police and fire services were alerted and the situation is now contained.

Our immediate concerns are for the safety and well-being of our staff and the public and to minimize the impact to the surrounding area.

We will keep you updated as more details become available. (Please check our website/blog or call the hotline_____________)

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Follow-up statement• State whether fire is put out, any people injured

and surrounding community is secure.

• Show empathy, regret and appropriate concern for victims, their families and those affected.

• State that the safety and security of your customers and employees is always your highest priority.

• Name the agencies you are working with – eg. police, hospital, local council, fire department, hazmat, search and rescue, enforcement – who are responding to this incident.

• State whether investigations and related follow-up activities are on-going.

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Case study: KFC employee attacks customer

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Social media amplifies crisis

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KFC statements

Feb 7, 2012 Feb 9, 2012

Feb 8, 2012

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Resolution

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Do the right thing!

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A few things to remember…• You are not the only source – police, fire emergency

responders, bystanders are often a larger part of the story.

• All or nothing on info – you can’t choose what you want to talk about and what you do. Sticking to key messages in your statement is often your best bet.

• Media needs conflict. If one side is making noise and the other is not, the story dies out quickly. “Fighting” often makes stories longer.

• Internal messages can go external. Just one click and it goes viral. Make sure it is consistent withexternal messaging.

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Spokesperson: Ambush interview

• Be calm

• Don’t take it personally

• Don’t get angry or lash out

• Do not guess or speculate

• Get name and phone number of individual reporter

• Offer to be accessible as soon as you know the facts

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Ambush interview responses• “Yes, I was informed. Let me

begin by saying that ABC Sdn Bhd considers the safety and well-being of its employees its utmost priority. This is what we know so far: No 1, No 2, No 3…..”

• “I do not know anything beyond what has been speculated in the papers. We consider this a very serious issue and an emergency board meeting will be held at 2pm, to discuss this urgent matter.”

• “This is the first I heard of it. Let me get to my office and get all the facts before I respond. May I have your number please?”

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Exercise

• Break out into groups

• Determine the lessons learnt from the case studies your group have been given

• What did the company do right?

• What did the company do wrong?

• What lessons from this case study can you incorporate in your organisation?

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Crisis case studies

International SchoolOf Communication

Dealing with hoaxes, rumours,

false news, brand terrorism

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Emails you don’t want to receive

Dear Maybank Customer,Serious security treat in your account. Follow below reference to reactivate now.http://www.maybank2u.com.my/active.asp.html

Yahoo! Mail gives members random cash prizes. Today, your account is randomly selected as one of 5 top winners

I AM PRINCE DESMOND OKOTIEBOR ETETE. THE NEXT HEIR TO THE THRONE OF THE OIL RICH KINGDOM OF THE OGONI COMMUNITY. I HAVE A HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY PRESENTLY IN THE PALACE.THE FUNDS WERE REALISED FROM OIL ROYALTIES THAT WAS PAID TO MY LATE FATHER. I NEED YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE IN TRANSFERRING THE SUM OF US$330 MILLION IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR ACCOUNT.

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Verifying information

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Hoax: Ericsson free phone offer

• An email promising a free handphone from Swedish telco giant Ericsson

• Those who forwarded the email to 8 friends would receive a free Ericsson T18 handphonewithin two weeks. If forwarded to 20 friends, senders were promised "a brand new Ericsson R320 WAP phone."

• Reminded the recipient to send a copy to Anna.Swelund@ericsson.com of Ericsson Marketing.

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• Contacted Peter Bodor, PR manager of Ericsson Mobile Communications who confirmed the chain mail is hoax. No person named Anna Swelund in company.

• The company has received about 1,000 emails,mainly from Europe, and also from the US and Asia. Did not crash its server.

• This was not the first time Ericsson was hit by such chain letters, and that other companies like Nokia, Microsoft and Disney were similarly affected.

• Ericsson posted a notice on its website advising people to discontinue forwarding the email and apologized for the inconvenience.

• Link: http://www.trinetizen.com/archive/?p=113

How to kill a hoax

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Tommy Hilfiger – a rumour of racism?

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The problem with Internet rumours

• Difficult to identify source.

• Can’t tell how widespread.

• If you choose to ignore, it may go viral.

• If you choose to fight it, it may attract more attention.

• If partly true – “where there is smoke there is fire” – a denial may seem insincere and fan the flames.

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Samsung phone easily broken?

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YouTube video taken down

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Strategies for fighting rumours

1. LOW-KEY: If source identifiable: disgruntled employee, irate customer, jealous competitor, then deal with it internally without publicity, if possible.

2. F2F: Engage and neutralize face-to-face: Often those hostile online, can be less prone to spread rumours once confronted.

3. COUNTER: If it can cause serious damage and has already gained traction publicly -- even if source is not identified -- it’s best to get your side of the story and facts out.

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The radio silence strategy

+ve• The best crisis case studies are the ones you

never hear about.• Time may resolve the problem on its own without

your intervention.• Sometimes a little goodwill can go a long way.

-ve• Doing nothing is always highly risky. You never

know when a rumour may become viral online.• Critics with long memories may point out how you

were silent before.• A lack of information fuels anxiety rather than

defuses it.

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Coca-Cola fights myths online

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/contactus/myths_rumors/

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Case study: Dell vs Sony

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Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

By INQUIRER.net newsdesk: Wednesday 21 June 2006

An Inquirer reader attending a conference in Japan sat just feet away from a laptop computer that suddenly exploded into flames, in what could have been a deadly accident.

Gaston, our astonished reader reports: "The damn thing was on fire and produced several explosions for more than five minutes"…

For the record, this is a Dell machine," notes Gaston. "It is only a matter of time until such an incident breaks out on a plane," he suggests.

Our witness managed to catch all the action in these amazing pictures….

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Good news, get it out fast

Bad news, get it out faster*

*Caveat: Assess, verify, confirm, attribute. If in doubt, leave out.

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Dell to recall 4 million laptop batteries

CNET News.com,August 14, 2006

Dell and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission plan to recall 4.1 million notebook batteries on Tuesday, a company representative confirmed.

The recall affects certain Inspiron, Latitude and Precision mobile workstations shipped between April 2004 and July 18, 2006. Sony manufactured the batteries that are being recalled, the representative said.

This looks like the largest battery recall in the history of the electronics industry, said Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates. "The scale of it is

phenomenal."

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Sony delays response,problems deepen…

• Aug 15, 06: Dell recalls 4.1m batteries

• Aug 24, 06: Apple recalls 1.8m batteries

• Sept 15, 06: Virgin Atlantic, Qantas and Korean Air ban use of Dell and Apple laptops on board its planes, unless the battery removed.

• Sept 28, 06:Lenovo/IBM: 526,000 batteries

• Sept 29, 06:Dell increases recall to 4.2m

• Sept 29, 06:Toshiba recalls 830,000 batteries

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ThinkPad explodes in LAX airport, posting on

Gizmodo.com, Sept 16

“So we're waiting for a flight in the United lounge at LAX, this guy comes running the wrong way, pushing other passengers out of the way and quickly drops his laptop on the floor. The thing immediately flares up like a giant firework for about 15 seconds, then catches fire….”

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Charred remains of IBM notebook on terminal floor

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Crisis Escalates, Goes Viral

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Sony finally responds…

Sept 30, 2006: Sony finally announces global recall of 9.6 million PC batteries. The recall and replacement would cost as much as 50 billion yen (about US$423 million).

…but profit plunges 94 percent for July-Sept quarter

Dell’s Response Post-mortem

• Determines cause – battery supplier, executes costly remedial action with safety in mind.

• Liaises with authority: Works with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to announce global recall of 4.1 million laptop batteries.

• Used website: Sets up recall website for customers to check affected units.

• Assures safety: Guarantees replacement batteries are safe.

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'Alien' substance caused Dell notebook battery to ignite

By Julian Matthews, ZDNet Asia October 23, 2000

KUALA LUMPUR – An 'alien' substance was mixed into the production process of the battery that caused a Dell customer's notebook to burst into flames and prompted a recall last week.

"As a result of analysis, we defined the cause of the short circuit that occurred in one cell was due to mixing of an alien substance at one production process," said Yoshiyuki Arikawa, a spokesperson of battery-supplier Soft Energy Company, a unit of Japanese consumer giant Sanyo Electric Co Ltd.

In the e-mail response to ZDNet Asia, Arikawa did not define what the 'alien' substance could be or how it entered the production process…

Arikawa added, "The defect rate should be very small since it’s a specific occasion and (went through) normal inspection process after. The defect is limited only to the 27,000-set lot to Dell."

Dell Computer recalled the 27,000 batteries with a promise to replace them free of charge….

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The Concept Of

P.E.A.R

In Crisis Communications

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Safeguard People

Protect the Environment

Protect company Assets

Protect company Reputation

Response In A Crisis

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• Dell alerts customers, warns of danger, sets up website for recall & replacement

• Dell continues to work with safety authorities to monitor the situation

• Dell expresses confidence in Sony and safety of its products to customers and stakeholders

• Dell takes ownership, shows customers it cares

• P = Safeguard PEOPLE

• E = Protect ENVIRONMENT

• A = Protect ASSETS

• R = Protect

REPUTATION

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Sony execs’ bow not deep enough?

“We want to put this

behind us. I take this

problem seriously and

I want to finish the

replacement program

as quickly as possible

for the sake of our

users and corporate

customers,”Corporate Executive Officer

Yutaka Nakagawa, Oct 24,

2006

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Social Media Listening Command Center

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Tips: Detection and Prevention

1. Have planned responses, holding statements ready

2. Go public on your website with denial if required

3. Cultivate strong relationships with editors, influencers

4. Keep employees informed: nip rumours in the bud on one-to-one basis

Establishing your own social media listening posts

• Resources: Internally monitor keywords via search engines, alerts, dashboards, analytics

• Externally use an media monitoring agency to measure mentions, sentiment, manage social media channels, monitor keywords, competitors, issues

• Build relationships with key influencers by engaging with them online

• Build a social media response chart and assign staff to monitor and take action where necessary

• Get management buy-in, draw up social media policy and guidelines for staff engagement

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Measuring sentiment on social media

• Presence: Followers, fans, mentions, likes, reactions, reach, inbound links, blog subscribers

• Engagement: Retweets, social shares, comments, referral traffic

• Influence: Share of voice, net promoter (vs detractor), sentiment, number of influencers, post reach, potential reach, video views

• Action and ROI: Conversions, click-thru-rate, sales revs, issues resolved, costs per lead, lead conversion rate, customer lifetime value

Source: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-kpis-key-performance-indicators/

Social media analytics

• Google Analytics

• Facebook Insights

• Twitter Analytics

• Buffer

• Hootsuite

• Kissmetrics

• Sprout Social

• Meltwater

• Quintly

• Klout

• Socialbakers

• Moz Pro

Bonus: http://simplymeasured.com/freebies#/

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Real-time support on Twitter

Crisis communications reactions

POORDefensive – take it

personally

Decline to comment

Deny or lie

Deflect – taichi, play

blame game

Downplay

BETTERAccept – that it has

happened

Acknowledge – to those affected, media, public

Assure – show you care, calm fears

Apologize (if you have to) and be specific, express regret, suggest remedy

ACT – assess your allies, plan your action, act out your plan

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Consider People, Environment, Assets, Reputation

• Set up crisis management unit: role-play strategies for dealing with crisis scenarios involving digital media – blogging, online video, viral emails, rogue websites.

• Act quickly, search for details, verify allegations, launch investigation

• Assess allies, call in your experts; notify affected parties, authorities and higher ups

• Openly and quickly share the facts with the public online

• Show you care, don’t over-react or take it personally

• Accept responsibility when you are at fault

• Prepare a statement and stand by it; when in doubt, leave out

• Tell the truth and be confident

Social Media Crisis Summary

Exercise

• Write a holding statement for a crisis provided

• Write three key messages you would share with the media

• Write an opening statement in a press conference for that crisis

• Anticipate questions and defend your statement

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Crisis planning & preparation

International SchoolOf Communication

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Key objectives for crisis planning

• Enable efficient response

• Overcome decision-making

paralysis

• Seize the golden hour

• Establish self immediately as go-to

source of information

• Make voice heard before others fill

the vacuum

• Fast communication conveys

control and competence. Silence is

interpreted as guilt

“When a crisis hits,

the fundamental issue

becomes the need to

strike a balance between the instincts

of human compassion; the demands

of public relations; and the dictates of

corporate survival.” (Source: New York Times, 14 December 1994)

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• To establish guidelines on how to deal with various crises

• To coordinate communications internally and externally

• To provide a quick check list to assess the situation and how to respond to it

Why a crisis communications plan?

To factually assess the damage and determine necessary or appropriate response.

Identify parties that will be informed of situation

Gather and communicate facts of the situation

Counter or minimise rumours

Restore order and regain public confidence

Plan’s objective

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Questions to ask:

• WHAT do you want people to know?

• WHO is the audience you are trying to reach?

• HOW do you intend to communicate the message?

• WHEN do your messages need to be disseminated?

Formulating a crisis plan

• List out potential vulnerabilities, issues and crises

• Outline the possible response plans

• Set up a crisis communications team & assign roles

• Build a comprehensive contact detail list of crisis team members

• Determine the locale of your crisis operations centre or media centre

• Create a repository of response to the media complete with fact sheets, background statements, FAQs.

• Determine timeline to release the information

• Create a checklist

• Keep a log of communication with stakeholders

Key considerations - 1

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• Analyse your internal audience

• Analyse your external audience

• Evaluate the impact of the situation on your corporate image

• Determine if there are any possible regulatory or political ramifications related to the situation (and to your potential response)

• Check if there are any legal consequences to your communications response

Key considerations - 2

Crisis team

• Legal

• Finance

• HR

• External advisors

• Manage operational recovery

• CEO

• Board

Top management

Crisis management

team

Other keyplayers

Key priorities:• Head of comms

reports to CEO • Head of comms

liaises with all other teams

• Efficient information flow in all directions

Head of comms

Media team

Online team

Internal team

Stakeholder team

CrisisCommunication

Team

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Red bookProtocols Contacts Materials

• Crisis management

rules and procedures

• Declaration of crisis-

cascade

• Responsibilities of

individuals, teams and

department

• Decision making

• Information flow

• Fact gathering

resources and

responsibilities

• Spokespeople

• Office, mobile and

home contact details

• Crisis team

• Key contacts in all

departments

• Key media

• Key external

stakeholders

• “Fill-in-the-blanks

templates for likely

crisis scenarios

• Messages

• Regret-reason-

remedy

• Press releases

• Holding statements

• Q&A documents

• Talking points

• Factsheets

• Briefing documents

• Visuals

Make your Red Book available in hard copy, online, and on USB to be carried by key team members so its available wherever and whenever needed.

Crisis room: Physical resources• Dedicated ‘’war room’’ for

crisis comms

• Multiple landlines and

exchange to handle

high volume of calls

• Fast, reliable internet

• Hard copies of all printed crisis resources (including media

and internal contact list)

• Spare mobiles and chargers

• Whiteboards, flipcharts

• TV and radio

• Refreshments

• Press conference venue nearby

• Have an off-site alternative location

• High capacity printer/copier for urgent resources (eg. press

kits)

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Crisis media management systems

• Log all calls using a contact record

sheet

• Ensure every enquiry is answered

• Create and maintain a “rolling brief’’

• Regularly update documents with

the latest position and facts

Dark site and social media

• A crisis ready section of website:

Activated when needed

Often replacing website front page

Background materials, pictures,

biographies, contacts etc.

Platform for real-time news provision

• Social media: Integrate Facebook,

Twitter and YouTube in your response

plan

• Who has account passwords?

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Internal communication in a crisis

Inform early and keep updating

• Better for them to hear it from you than

to read it in the newspaper

• The longer you wait, the harder to

correct opinions (especially based on

media reports)

Prepare mass system

• e.g. company-wide SMS updates

Stakeholder engagement in a crisis

• Also engage in direct communication

with key stakeholders e.g.

Customers

Suppliers

Partners

Communities

Government

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Preparing and rehearsing skills

• Ensure everyone on same page

• Understand their responsibilities

• Can execute their role effectively

• CEO and a deputy

• Local/ regional GMs/MDs

• Six-monthly refresher

• ‘’Set-piece’’ crisis rehearsals

• Involve all teams and departments

• Partner organizations if appropriate

• Access performance and fine tune

Training for comms team

Media training for spokespeople

Simulation for all teams

• A crisis communications plan offers guided response.

• But it must be adjusted according to the situation or how the crisis escalates.

• More importantly its how your response is perceived by your stakeholders:-Acknowledge the problem,

Accept responsibility,

Assure victims, public, media

Take appropriate Action

Apologise when necessary

Summary