The articles below offer planning advice so communications professionals will be prepared if a crisis in their organization does emerge.
See online: What Do Your Brand Values Have to do With Your Crisis Communications?, by Melissa Agnes via www.melissaagnescrisismanagement.com
The answer is just about everything!
Let me put it this way: your brand’s values are what connect you to your stakeholders. It’s upon these shared values that relationships are built, bonds are formed and credibility is earned.
In a crisis, it’s easy to get swayed, lose track of these values and succumb to peer-pressure and end up losing your way. The result of this is often long-term repercussions on your brand’s reputation and bottom line (think Susan G. Komen). Why? Because once this mistake is made, once you go back on the values that connected you to your stakeholders, it’s hard – almost impossible in fact – to pick up the pieces and recover those relationships and your brand’s reputation.
How can you protect your organization from losing sight of your brand’s values in a crisis?
1- Define your brand values
First and foremost, define what your brand’s values are (if you haven’t already) and write them down. Usually this is done at the launch of a brand, but can easily be forgotten when you’re years down the road and in a high-profile crisis situation – especially when faced with incidents where you’re being bullied on social media.
Read: When the Court of Public Opinion Becomes the Bully
2- Remember them always
Make sure that every member of your team, along with all of your marketing campaigns and brand messaging are always – and I mean always – in-line with your val
ues. Especially in a crisis.
3- Plan for a crisis in advance
Develop a crisis management plan prior to experiencing a crisis, and train your staff and crisis team. Your crisis plan is your step-by-step guide to proper and efficient crisis management. It’s created to make sure that, come a crisis, you regain control as quickly as possible and that you suffer the least amount of brand damage. Consider it your insurance that a misguided mistake won’t be made under high-profile pressure.
Have you defined your brand values and are they engraved into the core of every one of your business decisions and message points? If you have any doubt, I recommend getting on it asap.
See online: 5 Media Relations Tips to Memorize During a Crisis, by Lucia Davis via prnewsonline.com
Crises happen when you least expect it, and, when they do, it can be tempting to run around panicking, shouting "Danger, Will Robinson!" and eventually collapsing into a heap. Don't do that.
Instead, learn from Cynthia Martinez, director of global corporate communications at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., who picked up these five crisis management tactics from her experience managing the fallout after a fire broke out onboard the cruise ship, Grandeur of the Seas.
1. Have a strategic, coordinated and rehearsed social media plan. As soon as the company learned about the fire, it established a three-pronged goal to manage the crisis: Become the main source of information on the fire; provide a steady stream of information and own the conversation and the visuals.
2. Communicate within minutes and stay engaged. Speak first, speak clearly and speak often.
3. Communicate with a unified voice. Make sure everyone in your company is equally equipped to become an ambassador.
4. Control the visual. In addition to pictures of the fire damage, Royal Caribbean also tweeted out pictures of its president and CEO, Adam Goldstein, onboard the ship, assessing the damage and meeting with guests. ?Major media outlets used those photos in their stories.
5. Put a company face front and center. People speak louder than logos.