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What do you do when your brand’s on fire?
By Justin Goldsborough | July 13th, 2010
If we’ve learned anything from the BP and Toyota debacles of the last few months, it’s that neither organization was prepared to deal publicly with the crisis that ensued. And my guess is they are not alone, just the unlucky organizations that got caught.
Why does this happen? BP and Toyota aren’t the first. Maybe it’s another example of the “it won’t happen to me” virus. So many companies have it. I’ve actually heard C-suite level execs utter that phrase before. And in a tough economy, it’s an easy virus to catch. My budget has already been cut, why spend it on a preventative measure that I may not even need? Well, I’m pretty sure BP and Toyota could tell you why. But that leads to another question. What should that “preventative measure” a company might buy or have its PR team facilitate actually look like?
How about a crisis fire drill? The concept is something with which we’re all familiar. Remember when your school and your family used to make you walk through the steps you would take if a “real” fire ever happened and you needed to get to safety? This would be the same thing, only designed for companies that need help getting to safety when their brand catches on fire.
I’ve been thinking lately about what a “fire drill” crisis product for companies should include. Here are my initial thoughts, but I’d be interested to hear you perspectives in the comments:
- Governance meeting. One of the biggest delays when a crisis hits comes from companies not knowing who all the players should be…yes, companies do in fact have silos. Any fire drill product should answer those questions for a company and get all the players at the table together.
- Crisis plan. This is a component some companies actually do have. But it’s likely in a drawer and hasn’t been dusted off in months, if not years. This deliverable would ensure all the parties who attend the governance meeting know their roles when an issue strikes. Ideally, it would be a living electronic document — maybe a wiki — that the folks who come to the table for the governance meeting have an opportunity to update anytime.
- Practice. How many times did you line up single file to walk out of the school? Or have a conversation with your parents about your exit strategy if the house caught on fire? Companies never do this. I have yet to find a company that has actually done a walk through of who does what what in a crisis situation. Why not partner with your clients, or within your own communications team, and organize a mock crisis? Get the aforementioned governance team to take a full day away from their jobs — it will be ok, I swear — and create a hypothetical incident. Put everyone together in a war room setting and walk/talk through how different scenarios should be handled. The reward at the end of the day — piece of mind. And a chance to be one of the few companies that actually has it.
- Media/Blogger strategy. Who’s going to manage key messaging and journalist/blogger relations? One easy time saver here would be to create as many of the necessary documents as possible before a crisis happens. And how about spokesperson training? This may be the most important aspect of this role. As BP found out, during a crisis, no one cares if you’d “like to get back to your real life.” Mistakes like that take a long time from which to recover. When issues arise, people lose composure. We’re human, it happens. Ironically, we forget that the people we’re talking to are human as well. Nobody wants to be talked to in key messages during a crisis. Somebody needs to sign up to ensure the spokespeople, specifically members of the C-Suite, don’t forget that.
- Digital strategy. There are many components to this piece — listening and engaging via social media, website updates, e-mail marketing, SEM/SEO, mobile alerts, etc. But the most important component is one any company can start on before a crisis takes place…building community and goodwill. Remember the one thing BP and Toyota had in common? Neither was prepared to respond to a crisis when it happened. Ask Dominos how prepared they were when the two employees made the video that will live in imphany. Or ask Motrin if they had a plan in place when the deluge of #motrinmoms tweets came calling. The best preparation is reputation. And companies need to build one and nurture it when times are good so they have a leg to stand on when the going gets rough. That leg is a program to listen and engage online on behalf of the brand where applicable conversations are taking place.
If you can only get your clients to follow through on one of these steps, it’s got to be No. 5. Step away from the technology for a second. When something bad happens to a friend you know and trust, how do you respond? Do you stick up for them? Give them the benefit of the doubt? Now try a person you’ve never met. Ever piled on someone because of a rumor? Don’t feel bad, it’s human nature. And our job as PR pros is to understand human nature, react and prepare our clients to deal with it.
- So what did I leave out?
- Do you agree that No. 5 is the most important step?
- Do you know any companies that actually do crisis fire drills?
Let’s continue the conversation in the comments…
July 13th, 2010 at 6:01 am
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