Every business is vulnerable in some way, to some thing.
When confronted with an PR crisis, how you respond will determine how well you withstand the impact. Your words and actions will influence the duration of the crisis, and the severity of the damage to your brand and reputation.
A crisis can take any number of forms. For example, it might stem from a data security breach, a criminal investigation, a product recall, or a workplace accident.
Whatever the issue, whatever your business, when disaster strikes, it is imperative that you seek and accept advice from experienced PR pros.
Ignoring the issue is unlikely to make it go away. In fact, it will probably make things worse.
We asked some PR pals to each offer one piece of advice for businesses that are confronted with a crisis. Here’s what they had to say.
The buck stops at the top
Viv Hardy, Managing Director, CallidusPR
Reputation is fragile. What takes years to build up can be lost in a matter of hours. For most organisations, the buck stops at the top. It’s the board’s responsibility to ensure that there is an effective crisis management plan in place that has been robustly stress tested, complete with ‘black swan’* events. In fact, we have seen recently a black swan event in the resources sector that has claimed the scalp of both the CEO and the chairman. The bottom line is if a board is committed to surviving a major crisis it must bring in the senior management team – including the public affairs professionals –at the very onset as only they have the thorough knowledge of the details and the expertise to guide it through this treacherous process.
* A black swan is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. Black swan events are characterised by their extreme rarity, severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight. (Credit: Investopedia)
Show concern and open a dialogue
Louise Nealon, Founder and CEO, Louise Nealon PR
While your lawyers will advise you not to apologise, or accept liability, you can still find a way to show concern for the people or places affected, and it’s important to do this as soon as possible. It helps to get the CEO or Chair involved in this decision-making process and work with them and the legal team to see what you can communicate.
Open a dialogue by sharing what details you can and update these facts as more information comes to light. Create a way for people to air their grievances or worries and commit to improving systems or policies. This shouldn’t affect your legal standing but allows you and your organisation to stand up, own the situation and start to take effective action.
Planning is key
Jo Stone, PR and Communications Specialist, Sticks and Stones PR and It’s PR Darlings podcast co-host
The best thing you can do when you are faced with a crisis is refer to your crisis management plan and so often that plan hasn’t been done, which can cause a crisis of its own! A crisis management plan should be high on the “To Do” list for all companies. Without a plan you are scrambling and good decisions are very rarely made on the run. Your plan also needs to be regularly updated so when you need it you have all the right contacts including correct phone numbers, updated names of response staff and job descriptions to make sure all bases are covered. Even if the scenarios in your crisis plan don’t match what you are facing now, you can adapt and pivot where necessary because you will have a solid base to work from. Planning is key to surviving a crisis in business.
Know the facts first
Nicholas Owens, Director, Sefiani Communications Group
Know all the facts before communicating. There’s nothing worse than issuing a comment only to have to backtrack later. Credibility is everything in a crisis response and once gone, it’s hard to regain.
Crisis response is a 360-degree exercise. Media are important but so are employees, customers, partners, and regulators. Factor them all in but assume anything said will find its way to media.
With media, stick to written statements as the best way to control what is attributed to your brand. If the situation builds your lead spokesperson may have to face media, but usually not.
Don’t overcommunicate. Address the issue at hand and leave out extraneous information. For media, this is a feeding frenzy and it’s your brand on the menu. The more material you provide, the more oxygen the story has. Eventually media move on – you want to get to that point as quickly as possible.
Think about your communications as a whole
Emma Murphy, Director, Quill PR
When required, the crisis communications team convenes to become the communications epicentre, liaising with other parts of the business; stakeholders (such as customers, regulators, police); and the media. All incoming and external communications should be managed and monitored by the team. If it’s a serious issue, communicate regularly and let the media know when to expect the next communique. You don’t have to take every call straight away. Keep a log of all media enquiries, it’s fine to take a journalist’s details and call them back. It’s important that your social media team know what’s happening, and if applicable pull inappropriate social media posts. Similarly, the customer services team – what customers are being told by you should marry with what you’re saying online or in the media.
The tone of communications should demonstrate your concern, but avoid meaningless statements such as “We’re working very hard to…” Your publics would expect nothing less.
Ask ‘What would Jacinda do?’
Greer Quinn, Managing Director, Forward Communications and It’s PR Darlings podcast co-host
During a crisis, human values need to be at the top list. It’s about doing the right thing – not just saying the right thing. Show genuine empathy to those who’ve been impacted – including friends, family, co-workers, but also other groups that may feel marginalised or triggered by the event. The New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, provided masterclass in an humanitarian approach to crisis management following the Christchurch massacre and then again after the White Island volcanic eruption. Asking, “What would Jacinda do” will set your compass in the right direction when dealing with the unimaginable. Accountability is important too. If you’ve made a mistake, it’s best to own up to it quickly and show that you’ve learnt from it and what you’re going to do to fix it. If you make a promise amidst a crisis, be sure to keep it, otherwise that’ll erode your credibility and make any earlier displayed compassion appear insincere.
Sometimes saying nothing is the best option
Paul McKeon, Account Director, Mave
Your most important audience is probably not the media. In the heat of an issue, when every minute counts and reporters are baying for the organisation to make a comment, remember you first have an obligation to your people, your customers, and your shareholders. If you have something to say, do so to them first. In the commercial sphere, at least, no-one is under an obligation to give an interview to a reporter.
Sometimes saying nothing IS the best choice. It can mean making a strategic decision to allow a negative piece to run without your comment or resisting the urge to ‘set the record straight’ with a long and detailed response. Journalists are not judges to be convinced of a point of view. Effective issues management means accepting that some negative coverage is par for the course. The goal is to minimise the volume, frequency, duration, and impact of the crisis.
Prepare well in advance for cyber events
Hugo Shanahan, Director, Shanahan Group
Make sure your leadership team has contributed to the review and development of your cyber crisis play book. Because of the time pressures and often incomplete nature of information available during the early stages of a cyber event, maintaining confidence through factual and timely information demands plenty of careful planning and preparation. At least one cyber scenario training module must be on the agenda in 2021.
Monitor, update and learn from your mistakes
Jacqueline (Jaci) Burns, Chief Marketing Officer, Market Expertise
Early in my career, I had to develop a crisis management plan for a global financial services firm. Back then, there was no internet, no widespread use of email. News was monitored daily, not in real time the way it is now. There was no social media, no ‘comments section’ at the bottom of the page. If you wanted to express an opinion about something, you penned (and then mailed) a letter to the editor.
The crisis management plan I produced would now be mostly redundant. Even the risks have dramatically altered – cyberthreats didn’t even exist.
Make sure you periodically review and update your crisis management plan. That includes conducting simulated training of your core team at least biennially.
Additionally, because every crisis is different, every crisis will provide you with an opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Debrief after every event and take the necessary steps to address any weaknesses or gaps in your processes or plan.
