Tylenol Recall - Deja Crisis Management

The Tylenol brand is no stranger so recall crisis management - their handling of the so called "Tylenol Murders," in 1982, wherein an unknown person inserted poisoned capsules into store bottles, is still upheld as an example of how to handle a crisis response and product recall successfully - and it certainly showed when reports of a strange smell coming from one of their products began to trickle in. A post on the Reputation Management Online blog reports:

Johnson & Johnson is doing what a company should be doing during a crisis. The top brass have decided to voluntarily recall the Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets due to complaints of moldy smell that can cause nausea and sickness.

The Food and Drug Administration is a strict watchdog when it comes to complaints. The website has “Report a problem” tabs where anyone can make a complaint. If anyone’s on the watch it’s the FDA and so a company like J&J wouldn’t want these complaints to snowball into a reputation management nightmare.

The company has taken all of the necessary steps, including fully publicizing the recall and assuring the public that there is no great danger. If they continue as they have, their reputation could actually be enhanced by what could otherwise have been a damaging crisis.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Service Outage Creates a Crisis

In today's tech-fueled world, service outages can cause a crisis faster than you can possibly imagine as disgruntled users turn to social media and other highly visible outlets to voice their frustrations. The makers of the BlackBerry, RIM, are no strangers to this issue, having suffered through several high profile outages before, but they rarely put much effort into crisis management for the situation, as a recent PC World article explained:

RIM doesn't have a flawless track record for responding to outages. In 2007, it took the company a few days to explain a day-long outage, causing outrage among users. Crisis management consultants said RIM should've communicated early and often, even if the company didn't fully grasp on what went wrong.

RIM has apparently learned something from their previous mistakes, as they kept the press updated during the most recent outage, but with only a belated public mea culpa.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Transparency

Crises can strike quickly and vary widely in both scope and type, but there are some general rules that hold fast for nearly every case. An article, posted today on suite101.com, a marketing and PR site, discusses some of these steps, including one which I consider to be vital to success, transparency:

The message could express integrity, transparency of the process, openness, accountability, mission statement, community-based, long standing established partnerships, etc. Give as much relevant and accurate information as possible about how the company is responding. This builds public and media trust!

Winning over the public and media means that they will be much more accepting of any messages you wish to convey, making crisis management significantly easier.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Bad Programming

HP computers are racist?  Who knew?  In a humorous video that went viral on YouTube over the weekend, two sales associates point out a flaw in HP's facial recognition software, which apparently fails to recognize black people.

While the video's creators, Wanda Zamen and Desi Cryer, say they originally made the video with the intention of being funny, it's accumulated over 750,000 views on YouTube -- probably not the best-case scenario for the folks over at HP.

This quote from a post on HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog demonstrates the power that a video which goes viral, even one from a non-malicious poster, can carry. The two minute YouTube spot, created mostly for their own amusement by two Texas sales clerks, demonstrates a bug in the Hewlett-Packard webcam software which causes it to have trouble tracking anyone with dark skin.

HP's crisis management got off to a slow start, with the first response coming almost a full week after the video's popularity skyrocketed, but other than that has been solid, with well-thought responses on all major social media networks as well as in the traditional media.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Averting A Crisis

Last summer, the American branch of Mensa faced one of the biggest crises in their history when news organizations latched onto the fact that the man responsible for a Washington, D.C. shooting had briefly been a member. An article was recently posted on the The Center for Association Leadership website that features a first hand account of the entire crisis management process right from its dramatic start:

At our office, it was a typical day. We were working through member and media relations, with preparation for our national convention mixed in. When the news originally broke, all anyone knew was the shooter’s age. We were listening to the story unfold when I received a voicemail from The Washington Post wanting to verify a member. The pieces clicked together, and, suddenly, I realized that we had a potential crisis on our hands.

The effectiveness of Mensa's response speaks volumes for the power of prior planning. Within minutes of being connected to the story, they had put their crisis response plan into action and released statements to their members and the media which served to distance them from this story and the shooter. Within hours, the media began reporting that the man was not a Mensa member and had not been for many years - crisis averted.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Social Crisis Management

Prevention is the most effective form of crisis management because, if executed well, it can stop a situation from becoming a crisis at all. Social media can be very useful in this role, as this quote from the FreshNetworks blog demonstrates:

I have a client who once said to me: “We want to use social media to attract more complaints”. This may seem an odd thing to say, all too often attracting complaints is a reason people cite for being anxious about using social media. But this client knew that one part of their service didn’t always perform as well as they might hope. They also knew that nobody ever really complained to them. They must be complaining somewhere, they thought, and we’d like them to be complaining to us.

What may seem like unorthodox thinking was an excellent way to cut straight to the heart of the issue and find out what the client's problems were, directly from their own customers.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Navigating Channels

The Internet is invaluable for crisis management because of the sheer number of communications channels which it provides. These channels do, however, require some planning to use effectively, as this quote from a Digital Stuffing post explains:

Crisis planning is not something that should be left to a crisis. It needs thought and preparation. In an ideal world, the plans should use ALL the available channels, whether that is getting the CEO on the TV or getting active on Twitter. The crisis team should therefore have access to everything they could possibly use – and have the training to use it. All the necessary passwords should be ready to go, so if the comms team need to use marketing channels, they are easily able to do so. They don’t have to find out who is in charge of the Facebook page, find out where they are and get them to send the passwords in, they need to be there. The same with the website – there should always be an easy way to get news and information quickly onto the site.

The longer it takes to organize and distribute the information that you've chosen, the more vulnerable you are to someone else getting their version of the story out first. In the midst of a crisis, the last thing you want to be held up by is your Facebook login.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Manage the Media

There have been at least two major structural changes in how and why the media cover companies: the first is related to the rise of shareholder coalitions, and the second is the continued advance of Internet-based communications. These two trends are catching many in top management by surprise. Organized labor, academics, and religious organizations are appealing to investors in their attacks on CEOs and boards. Blogs are succeeding in generating news coverage in the pages of major newspapers rather than vice versa. Sites like YouTube and Facebook have intensified demands for immediacy and transparency that didn’t exist even five years ago.

This quote, taken from a BNet.com article, supports something which we discuss frequently on this blog as well as stress to our clients. Although the methods taught may change, proper messaging and media training, especially learning how to control your own story, is one of the cornerstones of a winning crisis management strategy.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Media Double Standards

Often, it appears that the media has a double standard when it comes to what is deemed newsworthy. When the person involved is a celebrity, athlete, or some other polarizing figure, what would normally not even be a blip on the radar suddenly becomes the target of a media blitz. In an article for our latest Crisis Manager newsletter, Rene A. Henry discusses this issue, as well as what happens after the media gets hold of a story:

When it happens, those closest to and responsible for the image of a public figure are either not prepared or are in denial that there ever will be a crisis. An arrest for a DUI, for example, will be a media headline, but the incident would go unreported it if involved a typical next-door neighbor, and most certainly if a reporter, or publisher of the newspaper or magazine is involved.

Who are what you are plays a vital role in your vulnerability to reputation damage.  If the damage in these cases goes unchecked long enough, which can be anywhere from mere hours to days, the damage can be irreparable.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Flying off the Handle

This past week saw American Airlines suffering through a slew of bad press as a result of a stewardess, who clearly needed a mental health day, berating a passenger for asserting that he was indeed allowed to have orange juice as a part of his first class package. This quote from the watchdogs at The Consumerist sums up the situation:

Something went very wrong on American Airlines flight 614 from Sacramento to Dallas this Sunday, December 6th. An American Airlines stewardess having an extremely bad day flipped the frak out on a first class passenger for asking for a glass of OJ and gave him a written warning from the captain for, "threatening, intimidating, or interfering with a crewmember."

Time and time again we have seen huge companies forced into crisis management mode by the actions of their front line employees - by now it should be no secret that thorough PR and media training is just as important for these individuals as it is for those in the C-suite.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Tiger Costs Accenture

Tiger Wood's fall from grace has also revealed an oxymoronic weakness in technology outsourcing and consulting firm Accenture, which just dropped Woods as both its primary endorser and brand symbol.  A current Ad Age article explains:

If only the $23 billion consulting giant could have brought in outside help to help it better manage the risks involved with putting its entire brand in, um, bed with a single celebrity. Surely there must be a "risk management" expert out there it could have hired.

Oh, wait: Accenture is a risk management expert.

From the company's website: "Our risk-management solutions help organizations protect and increase economic and shareholder value by transforming the risk management function from one that operates through a series of isolated transactions to one of strategic scope and importance."

But wait.  There's more.  Accenture, some years back, was a spin-off from accounting giant Arthur Andersen, which was destroyed as a company because its actions destroyed its reputation.  You would think that Accenture, with that parentage, would have known better than to fail in properly assessing their own risk.

Accenture has some serious work ahead to repair the reputation and financial damage their poor planning may have caused. 

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Tiger's Mistakes

Tiger Wood's crisis management, or lack thereof, has been the subject of intense scrutiny and criticism since his car accident early November 27. Since then he has mostly allowed others to control his story, and, as we often tell our readers, that is one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make. An AP article today featured interviews with several public relations professionals, including BCM President Jonathan Bernstein.  The article concluded that:

When Tiger Woods' break from golf ends, he's unlikely to regain his crown as one of the world's most valuable pitchmen, even if he gets back to winning tournaments and convinces people he's changed.

We're not ready to reach that conclusion ourselves - yet -- but Tiger's reputation will take time, patience, honesty and humility to be fully repaired.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Preparing for the Unpredictable

Regardless of whether your organization is a small business or a multi-national corporation, planning how to prevent and respond to crises can greatly reduce their impact. An article from the O&P Business News which prominently quotes Bernstein Crisis Management President Jonathan Bernstein, has more to say on the subject:

Preparing for the unpredictable is essential for all businesses. The principles by which a business protects itself from threats that may harm their reputation or bottom line are the same, no matter the size of the business.

As the article makes clear, crisis management starts long before trouble rears its ugly head. With the advantage of prior planning, your reaction is far more likely to be swift and effective.


The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Major Bimbos

Merrie Spaeth's Bimbo Awards are always good for a look at what not to do when you find yourself in need of some crisis management, and this month she found some real doozies in the media, including this one, which she (very appropriately) placed in her "Wrong Things to Say" section:

Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, gave a long interview to The New York Times to defend his bank’s role, or lack of role in his view, in the financial mess. He said that as a banker, he is just “doing God’s work.” (Can he be serious? Apparently with all their money, Goldman can’t buy itself a good communication strategy. The interview – a must read – drips with arrogance and sets a new record for being tone deaf...)

A banker comparing their job to "God's work" is a sure-fire way to draw fire from the public, especially when that comment is then featured in a major New York Times article which goes on to expose their very minimal public contributions to the world.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Tunnel Vision

While the onset of a crisis can be devastating, it will only hurt your business further if you develop tunnel vision and put a halt to everything in order to handle the issue. This quote from part three of a five-part blog series by The Wordmonger, a professional PR group, explains why:

Communication is key to the crisis management process – but so is the safety of your employees, customers and the community, operating within the law, making sure your business still does business, guaranteeing your suppliers and staff are paid and ensuring your records and data are safe.

In order to be successful, crisis management should serve the best interests of the entire business, not only one aspect.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Moms vs Target

Recently, Mary Martinez was told that it was illegal to breastfeed her baby by security guards inside of a Michigan Target store. When she refused to leave, store security called the local police, who confirmed that what the woman was doing was 100% legal. While both of these acts were certainly inappropriate and offensive, an article from One Penny Sheet sums up the actions that led to this story getting national coverage:

When contacted by Detroit’s Fox affiliate, Target’s corporate headquarters said that breast-feeding is allowed in their stores, but “This specific situation escalated to a point where we were concerned for the safety of our guests, so law enforcement was called.” Are you kidding me? How on earth does feeding a baby “escalate” to a safety issue for other customers? Target’s corporate spokesperson does understand that when you give a quote to a media outlet, other people will end up hearing it, right? And also that words mean things?

With a little bit of smart crisis management by the corporate office, this story could have been kept at an entirely local level. Now, because of a poor response, it's snowballed into a national spectacle.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Technology in Crisis Management

Technology has an ever-growing presence in crisis management, making it possible to take control of situations in ways never before imagined. The cell phone has been key in greatly enhancing communications, but if you are not properly prepared then the expectation that anyone, anywhere can be contacted at a moments notice can present problems. Luckily, satellite phones present a viable solution to that issue, as an article by Mark Sheldon explains:

Unlike traditional mobile phones, Satellite phones use a network of satellites that orbit the earth and relay signals back to handsets on the ground. This is ideal for remote locations such as deserts that have a direct line of sight back to the satellites without any interference, however in some locations, such as dense jungles signal can become weak or even lost.

The beauty of the Satellite phone however is that it doesn't rely on local cell towers, so you can be out at sea or in a vast open space and communication can be made with anyone else on the planet, either with another satellite phone handset or a traditional landline or mobile (within a signal area).

Issues like this can be sought out and provided for before they ever occur by using both crisis simulations and vulnerability audits to explore the best ways for your organization to react to crises.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

Crisis at the White House - Party Crashers

[Here's a guest commentary from Andrew Gilman, President & CEO, CommCore Consulting]

The nearly-famous (will they soon become infamous?) Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the Virginia reality-TV aspiring couple who crashed the White House state dinner last week, present crisis communications challenges for a number of parties (sic).

Start with, but we can’t end with, the Secret Service. They have been candid and forthright saying that they were at fault: "Bottom-line: We're responsible. It could have been very easy to make a phone call or get on a radio and verify if someone was on a list. This is still our responsibility as we've said from the beginning," said Secret Service spokesperson Edwin Donavan.

If you made a mistake, direct and rapid acceptance of blame, works.  According to media reports, the security breach occurred when Secret Service personnel at a first check point thought that the Salahi names would be checked at a second check point. Playing the game of "Alphonse and Gaston" with security -- even with a crush of well dressed party goers -- is not acceptable.

Crisis response is also about what did you learn? Assume that there is a rapid analysis among the President’s protective detail and much tighter controls for anyone getting into the White House for any occasion.  .

The White House Social Office is probably in a higher state of Crisis Response.  Reportedly, in the Bush administration there would have been a staffer at every entrance with the social list (and perhaps photos of guests) comparing notes with the Secret Service.  At the entrance used by the Salahi’s, reportedly there was no one from the social office double checking the names on the invite list.

As to the Salahi’s, aka "Facebraggers" for using Facebook to post their photos, we still don’t know where their saga will end.  The Washington press has been replete with stories about their personal lives, efforts at social climbing, family feuds and debts.  They are vehemently claiming that they were invited to the ball.  And the MO is all about  playing the American celebrity game and trying to get paid for their appearances in the news to tell their story.  Stay tuned, PT Barnum will probably raise his head and there will be a media sucker who can’t resist the habit for the "exclusive."  Then we’ll have the crisis of the press that pounds on the media that gets the exclusive (and bemoans the ratings hit).  Staying in the limelight might or might not work for the Salahi’s, and is not the recommended course for most of our clients.

The BCM Blogging Team
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Brand Disasters

One important lesson for crisis managers is that the news media demand a "shorthand" way of identifying any story, and a company brand is a very convenient option, especially in a crisis. Witness the "BP Texas Fire", the "Tylenol disaster", the "Intel Pentium chip" failure, and the "Firestone tyre" scandal. Each of these, and many more, have entered into the public conscience and the brand will always be associated with the crisis.

In a guest article for our Crisis Manager newsletter, Tony Jaques reflects on this concept, talking about some famous examples whose namesakes have learned this lesson the hard way:


The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

The H1N1 Effect

In the first two years after the term "Swine Flu" was used to describe the illness that mutated and jumped to humans from pigs, the U.S. Pork Industry suffered losses estimated to be in excess of $5 billion.  This despite the reality that what came to be known more frequently as H1N1 - partially as a result of the outcries from farmers - cannot be contracted from eating pork.

This quote, taken from BCM President Jonathan Bernstein's feature article in our latest Crisis Manager newsletter, describes what he calls "The H1N1 Effect," which is when consumers make purchasing decisions based on fear, conjecture and media hype rather than looking at the facts to determine the real risk level.

Because of the damage this phenomenon can cause, it is crucial that businesses involved with products that could impact consumer safety include the possibility in their crisis management planning.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

New Crisis Manager Newsletter

We've just uploaded a brand new Crisis Manager newsletter to our website! This issue features an article by BCM President Jonathan Bernstein, which uses the negative effects swine flu has had on businesses as a launching point to discuss ways to prevent consumers making decisions about your product based on fear or conjecture. We also have a guest article from Melbourne, Australia-based Tony Jaques, who presents a crisis management case history which demonstrates the ways that brand identification interacts with media attention during troubling times.

In case you hadn't heard, the email version of Crisis Manager is now being distributed in full-color HTML! Just click here to sign up.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

My Take on Tiger Reported Accurately in Toronto Star

Toronto Star sports columnist Dave Feechuk did a nice job of getting a cross-section of perspectives on Tiger Woods' driving mishap in a piece today called "Tiger Hurt by Bunker Mentality."  Quoted me accurately, too (thanks Dave, always appreciated!).

One of my comments that didn't make the cut for the story was that it appears Mr. Wood's sense of privacy overcame his common sense with regard to effective crisis management.

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com