Forewarned is forearmed

Paying attention to rumors will give you a leg up in crisis management

While every business will experience crises, some are more likely to be thrust into the public eye as a result. Government contractors are certainly in that category, and as result must take extra care certain to have relatively bulletproof crisis management plans in place. In an article for Washington Technology, Bosocobel Marketing Communications CEO Joyce Boss gave some good advice for this particularly vulnerable industry:

Forewarned is forearmed. By attending government events and meetings, you may hear rumors and/or gossip, which could signal trouble ahead. When employees hear something negative, they should contact a department head and the PR office. Gossip and bad news travel fast, whether inside or outside the Beltway. The crisis communications team can address each situation to determine potential next steps.

Gossip and hearsay are eerily accurate indicators of brewing crises because they can portray public sentiment regarding your organization, especially in the oft-discussed world of government and big business. While obviously everything should be taken with a grain of salt, when reports of rumors start flooding in, it's time to take a look at yourself.

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

Responding to Social Media Complaints

Engaging in social media requires a crisis management plan

Brands are now expected to build social media communities but, especially because many are still unfamiliar with the territory, there are risks involved. One of these is the unavoidable fact that someone, somewhere, will eventually be unhappy with your organization and bring their grievance to the Web. Compounding this situation is the fact that much of your conversation will take place very much in public, and not all of those eyes are friendly. In a recent post on their blog, the experts at GenuineMedia gave some solid tips to help navigate exactly this type of issue:

• Handle the situation quickly. Even if you don’t have an answer or a solution right away acknowledge the fan’s content to let them and your community know you’re listening.
• Don’t erase a post you don’t agree with. Taking down posts without acknowledging or stating why you’re doing so may make you seem big brotheresque to your readers and fans. You’re community will know when fans are being excessively aggressive and disrespectful.
• Try to take conversation off line. Contact individual via private email on Facebook or the social media site or through their personal email that may be listed on their social media home page. Be transparent & tell your community that you’d be happy to assist them with their challenge through their email.
• Apologize when it’s necessary. The power of word of mouth is amazing. Handle the situation in one of authority, but also be compassionate as the individual is highly likely to share their experience with friends, family and co-workers, all of which could be potential customers in the future.

It's surprisingly simple, but taking these steps will defuse potentially volatile situations almost every time. Without proper crisis management, social media can get ugly. Remember to have a plan beforehand, and stick to it when it's time for action.

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

A Delicate Balance

Don't let legal concerns dominate your crisis management planning

In today's litigation-happy world, chances are you will need at least one lawyer on your crisis management team. The problem is that in a crisis, this legal influence frequently clashes with one of the main priorities of crisis managers; communication. In an excerpt from his book, "The Communicators: Leadership in the Age of Crisis," printed in the latest Crisis Manager newsletter, Levick Communications CEO Richard Levick explains the delicate balance between the need to protect your organization from legal harm while at the same time fulfilling your obligation to maintain honesty and transparency throughout communications with stakeholders and the media.

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

Online Reputation Management Checklist

When it comes to online reputation management, it pays to be prepared

Reputations are built and broken on the Web. Be prepared, and you can come out of a crisis looking stronger than ever and carrying the respect of your stakeholders to boot. Come unprepared, though, and you risk a headache that no amount of Advil is going to drive away. To this effect, BCM President Jonathan Bernstein has put together a list of questions in our Crisis Manager newsletter that will help evaluate just how ready you are for online reputation and crisis management, while exposing dangerous gaps in preparedness that could cost you big time.

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

10 Online Reputation Management Questions & Lawyers Don't Drive The Bus

Crisis management insight and advice

This week, the Crisis Manager newsletter starts off with an article, written by BCM President Jonathan Bernstein, that provides a self-exam designed to help determine whether you are prepared for online reputation and crisis management; an invaluable resource because, if your business is like most, you're nowhere near ready.

Following that is an excerpt from Levick Strategic Communications CEO Richard Levick's book, The Communicators - Leadership In the Age of Crisis, that speaks on the sometimes-cloudy role of lawyers within a crisis team.

To have the bi-monthly Crisis Manager delivered straight to your Inbox, just click here.

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

Carnival's Crisis Management

Good crisis management planning can carry you through a difficult situation

Any travel-related business holds inherent risks, it's just the nature of the industry. Political situations change, weather doesn't take requests, and even the best kept machines break down from time to time, as in the case of Carnival cruise line's ship Splendor, currently being tugged hundreds of miles back to port in San Diego after experiencing an engine fire near the Mexican Riviera.

It appears that Carnival staff has included such possibilities in its crisis management training, though, as communication painting the situation in a good light has been steadily flowing from spokespeople to the media. A quote, from ABC News:

Passengers were being entertained with acoustic music, board games, dancing, trivia contests and even a scavenger hunt for children, (Carnival spokesman) Gulliksen said.

"Overall, generally, the mood on the ship is good," he said. "The passengers have been very understanding."

Carnival's President also quickly issued an acknowledgement of sympathy and a promise to both reimburse passengers and issue vouchers for future cruises with the company. While obviously the situation is far from ideal, thanks to quality communication and the efforts of crew on board the Splendor, Carnival should come out unscathed.

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

What'd He Say??

Using corporate jargon is guaranteed to alienate stakeholders

“There’s tremendous turbulence in the ecosystem, of course, in mobility. And that’s sort of an obvious thing, but also there’s tremendous architectural contention at play. And so I’m going to really frame our mobile architectural distinction. We’ve taken two fundamentally different approaches in their causalness,” said Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Research In Motion (RIM), to Bloomberg Businessweek editors as he introduced the BlackBerry PlayBook – RIM’s answer to the iPad.

I would venture to guess that the first thing most of you said after reading this quote, taken from Merrie Spaeth's list of BIMBO awards for the month, was "what?!" When seeking to communicate, whether it be for crisis management or, in this case, marketing, it's crucial that your audience is able to understand what in the world you are talking about. Remember, your general stakeholders are very unlikely to understand the jargon used within your business, even if it seems commonplace to you, and if the message presented is unintelligible it's simply human nature to ignore it and move on, which is the last thing anyone wants when trying to get their message across.

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

SHUT UP and Say Something!

Communication can make or break your crisis management efforts

When it comes to communication, everyone needs a reality check from time to time. In the latest Crisis Manager newsletter, we featured an excerpt from heralded communications coach Karen Friedman's book, SHUT UP and Say Something, that explains how to do just that. A quote:

Being straight with people is probably more important than it's ever been. Thanks to an insatiable demand for information and such ease at instantly sharing that information with people across the globe, I believe the average citizen has forced big business to change. Information such as compensation that was once private is now public. For many companies, the days of lavish golf outings and pricey gifts to prospects are over. People can spot spin almost quickly as Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins can steal a base. Inability to recognize and accept this can spell the difference between success and failure.

Blatant dishonesty is one of the fastest ways to throw the public into a frenzy, and send your organization running for its crisis management team. Except for in very rare cases, the best way to navigate a difficult situation is to maintain the highest level of honest transparency possible. If it is clear to stakeholders and the media that any possible issues are being resolved, then negative interest dissolves and you are free to move on.

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

Mayor's Interview Turns Heads

Bad interviews are the bane of crisis management pros everywhere

The election of Mayor Rob Ford has caused a major stir in Toronto's political scene because of his boisterous campaign and the fact that his views are polar opposites of his predecessors. With solid public support behind him, it appeared that Ford was on his way to a happy four years, but less than a day after the vote was made official, the Mayor stuck his newly-elected foot in his mouth via an interview on popular Canadian current affairs radio show "As It Happens," creating work for members of his crisis management team earlier than they had probably expected. 

Apparently the Mayor, who volunteers time coaching a high school football team, decided that the best time to give what was obviously an important interview was during his team's practice while he stood on the sidelines. A quote from the transcript, provided by Torontoist.com:

Carol Off: Okay, so you’re at football practice, then.

Rob Ford: Yes.

Carol Off: Alright well, okay, we’ll continue then. What is it that you think drew so much support to your campaign?

Rob Ford: Yeah, it’s just people are sick and tired of the wasteful spending. People are sick and tired of wasteful spending, that’s the bottom line, that’s what it comes down.

Carol Off: Well there—

Rob Ford: You know, I’m the only one that can go down there [Inaudible, then, yelling:] Just go get changed! Go! Out! And get changed! Don’t worry about the water right now. [Pause.] Sorry.

Carol Off: Uh-huh—

Rob Ford: So, um, yeah, no, people are just fed up with, uh, with, you know, uh, politicians squandering, uh, hard-earned tax dollars, and they know that I’m gonna get rid of the sixty-dollar car registration tax and the land transfer tax.

Carol Off: Well you know that your campaign has been compared to Mike Harris’s Common Sense Revolution, to the Tea Party movement, do you see those comparisons?

Rob Ford: I don’t see [inaudible] comparisons [inaudible] what, I don’t care [laughs]. I just, I just know, know the taxpayers, uh, want, uh, you know, the gravy train to come to an end, and that, uh, Rob Ford’s the guy to do it, and uh [inaudible]—

Ford went on interrupting the interviewer for the duration of the questioning, finally cutting her off when pressed repeatedly for more in-depth explanations of his plans. It's rather shocking that a media-savvy politician would give an interview this bad, especially directly on the heels of a winning campaign. Ford is surely not ignorant of the potential implications of his behavior, and even more so his communications team should have been all over the situation. As a result of their combined lapse in judgement, both Ford and his director of communications, Adrienne Batra, have become the focus of media scrutiny and provided material to pundits and comics across their nation.

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

Crisis Manager Newsletter

Crisis communications and a sticky situation

We've got two excellent guest articles in our latest Crisis Manager newsletter, now posted to the Bernstein Crisis Management website. First off, an excerpt from frequent contributor and world-class communications professional Karen Friedman's book, SHUT UP and Say Something, that will help readers to give themselves a reality check when it comes to crisis communications planning. Following that, we have crisis management consultant Mike Naylor's analysis of the sticky situation Verizon has landed itself in after refusing to rectify overcharge issues with literally millions of their "valued" customers.

Missed a newsletter, or just want more crisis management insight? The Crisis Manager archive is always open!

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