In today’s fast-paced world, which is further fueled by social media, news and information seem to always be in excess. This can be both a blessing and a curse for organizations: on the one hand, it’s easier than ever to promote organizations and brands and share information about them, but on the other hand, it makes organizations quite vulnerable to potential crises that can affect their reputation and business performance in a matter of seconds.
Thinking About Reputation Rather Than Crisis Management
For any business, effective crisis communication starts long before the crisis occurs. This is dictated by the fundamentals of how the business is operated, how well the stakeholders are aligned, and how robust the infrastructure is before a product reaches the consumer or customer. This is manifested in the full supply chain, starting with the partners that support the product and service delivery to the customers and the quality control process, to how people at all levels in the organization are competent and prepared to deliver in the best manner possible.
When a crisis starts to unfold, brands and companies often rely on the short-lived news cycle of today, thinking that people will soon forget and find the next thing to talk or worry about. However, this is an incorrect perception, because even if the situation isn’t in the breaking news section anymore, it will still be associated with the brand every time it is mentioned in the future. Crisis communication at this point goes beyond just managing a specific situation in a time of crisis and extends to managing a brand’s reputation in the long run.
Immediate Crisis Communication Management
In general, and in any crisis scenario, companies need to move quickly and act immediately. The first few hours are the most critical and the response needs to come during or right after those first 24 hours. There needs to be a full and in-depth understanding of the situation at hand to be able to assess it correctly, and in turn, determine the appropriate and required response.
For crises on a large scale, a clear response should address the situation, provide a resolution, and come very quickly following the news of the crisis. The messaging needs to give confidence that the company cares about what happened, and that it is working towards resolving the issue.
The recommendation immediately following a crisis eruption is to issue an internal statement to make sure that all employees are aware of the situation at hand and advise everyone not to post or comment on it to anyone until further investigations are done and a clear course of action is set. Next, the company should mobilize its crisis communication team and work on rapidly classifying and analyzing the situation, and in case a statement is needed to be issued, prepare the statement and issue it.
A textbook case for effective crisis communication is Johnson & Johnson’s handling of the Tylenol crisis in 1982. What happened back then was that it was found that some of the capsules sold under its Tylenol brand were laced with cyanide, leading to several deaths. Johnson & Johnson were quick to take action by pulling all the Tylenol products from shelves, despite the huge financial drain this cost them, and communicated transparently while providing regular updates on the measures they were taking and collaborating with authorities to investigate the issue. They also introduced tamper-proof packaging to restore consumer confidence. This approach helped them maintain people’s trust and manage their reputation both on the long- and short-terms.
Brands, however, need to be advised and remember that each crisis is unique and needs to have its own course of action; this is why scenario planning is very important. It is also important to bear in mind that some crises might result in legal liability, which is why it is advisable to seek legal counsel before issuing any statements to be able to frame the messaging with the relevant accountable and legal stance.
In all crises, there needs to be only one person making public or media statements and that is the designated company spokesperson. Nobody else should make any statements to avoid inconsistent messaging. In the meantime, the company should have as part of its communication and branding function an engagement or a structured approach to reaching the relevant traditional and digital media channels to consistently share information with them and educate them, even without seeking any exposure. Such a relationship becomes instrumental during times of crisis, as it will allow for more genuine and meaningful engagement with the appropriate channels and in turn with the public at large. This also ensures minimal false information being circulated.
Depending on how a crisis situation erupts, brands can either choose to stick to their digital media channels, i.e. their social media channels and website, or in case of media inquiries and the crisis being covered, make a media statement as well. How the messaging is done depends on the type of crisis and the situation but overall, the response needs to be empathetic, clear, regular, and actionable so that people are confident that the brand is being transparent and is working towards resolving the crisis.
Building A Crisis Communication Plan
Any company should always be prepared for a crisis by having a crisis tool kit to allow for a swift diagnosis and mobilization while empowering the company to be authentic and showcase accountability.
The digital age we live in is a double-edged sword in this case because, on the one hand, it allows for a quick response where a company can easily communicate its statement or message, but it also puts a lot of pressure on companies, because the more they wait, the more the crisis is fueled by the influx of information. This means that companies need to always be prepared for crisis scenarios and have their messaging ready for each possible one in order for their response to be fast and effective.
Since quick movement is key, having a crisis communications protocol is crucial to outline clear roles and responsibilities and highlight a clear action plan to follow in such cases.
Scenario Planning An effective crisis communications plan should include a scenario planning exercise that maps out and classifies different scenarios that can occur and a clear response or course of action for each of those scenarios. This includes both external and internal communications—companies should focus on internal communications as much as external communications to ensure the engagement of all of their employees and avoid frustrations or turnover.
Governance Framework A crisis communication plan also needs to include a governance framework with clear roles and responsibilities to allow swift mobilization and a clear understanding of what each team member should do in a crisis.
Social Listening and Sentiment Analysis It is important for every company to keep its finger on the pulse of the brand sentiment in the market, and on consumer reactions (whether positive or negative) to continuously measure the brand perception, engagement, and equity being built. One tool that is very effective for consistently gauging a company’s reputation through social media channels is social listening. This can help companies gain an understanding of the discourse around the brand and its campaigns on social media, and it gives a sentiment score by analyzing the positive sentiments or comments the brand’s campaigns have received and comparing them with the negative sentiments. This also needs to be coupled with media monitoring to ensure that nothing is missed on various communication channels and to get a full perception of the discourse on the brand.
Crisis Communication Done Right
Rebuilding trust may take some time, but consistency and transparency are key, and following through on whatever course of action has been announced in response to the crisis is important to show that the brand is keen on truly setting its record straight. Showcasing the actions and measures that were taken whether connected to a specific incident or globally as a company at its different operational and production processes are vital to building confidence. Beyond public perception, an instrumental element here is to build trust among the employees of the company as they are the first frontliners of any organization.
A good example of a crisis response is from a few years ago when a series of food poisoning cases occurred after eating at a renowned Egypt-based bakery. The team swiftly issued a statement apologizing and showing empathy, understanding, and, most importantly, accountability for what happened. They then, of their own accord, closed all their branches to undergo a thorough overhaul of their operations and address the issues that caused these cases. They soon after re-opened and are going strong to this day.
Another case, quite a high-profile one, happened in 2019 when aviation giant Boeing faced a significant challenge following two tragic crashes involving its 737 MAX aircraft. As a result, regulators worldwide grounded the 737 MAX fleet, and Boeing’s reputation took a massive hit. The company faced lawsuits, government inquiries, and a massive loss of trust from airlines, regulators, and the public. Boeing responded by doing a comprehensive overhaul of its safety protocols, redesigning the faulty maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, and working closely with regulatory bodies such as the US’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to regain certification for the aircraft. The company also committed to improving transparency in its communication with pilots and airlines and introduced enhanced pilot training to ensure familiarity with the updated system. This didn’t come easily to them as they faced quite a lot of challenges along the way, but they were fast to re-adjust their strategy along the process.
In an era where reputations can be built or broken at the speed of a tweet, crisis communication is no longer optional. Companies should proactively prepare for crisis communication by investing in creating crisis communication protocols with scenario planning exercises and robust internal communication frameworks to navigate crises with speed, empathy, and credibility. By valuing transparency and consistently acting with integrity, companies can ensure that they are prepared when and if a crisis happens.