The Levick Strategic Communications desktop reference instantly assists C-Suites, boards, and counsel during the first moments of a crisis. It discusses what happens next after a crisis first occurs, the ongoing communications risks involved, and the steps to take to minimize and, in some cases, transform the crisis into opportunity.
The Crisis Communications Desktop Reference is fully searchable and downloadable, rich in best practices and tips for two-dozen diverse crisis and litigation challenges, from bet-the-company lawsuits to wholesale blog assaults on corporate reputations.
The Desktop Reference is available for download on the Levick website: http://www.levick.com/crisis_communications_desktop_reference/
When meat processor Cargill recently found itself in the middle of one of the largest recalls in U.S. history, the company’s VP-corporate affairs, Mike Fernandez, picked up the phone to call Margery Kraus, CEO of crisis firm APCO Worldwide.
But he didn’t ask APCO to help stem the mounting tide of negative blog mentions about salmonella-tainted turkey, or craft a company line for Cargill to deliver to media. Rather, Mr. Fernandez told Ms. Kraus he wanted the communications consulting giant to train press-shy staffers at various levels within the company, with one focus being manufacturing employees.
“I needed them to help us prepare individuals who had not normally stood before a camera and weren’t used to being interviewed by reporters,” he said.
While empowering employees to speak up in the midst of a media firestorm is the opposite of most large companies’ knee-jerk reaction — telling staff to zip their lips is a more likely standard response — more firms are coming around to this approach. “What’s new is that more manufacturing companies, whether in food processing or auto and steel, are having their foremen and other people media trained,” observed Gene Grabowski, senior VP and crisis expert at Levick Strategic Communications.
Two key reasons to offer non-marketing employees media training? To make sure they are prepared in the event reporters circumvent established media-relations channels, and to put a human face on the brand in the midst of a crisis.
A few months ago in early February, a Congressman attended a meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee. At a little after 2PM, he cast a vote on an issue before the committee. Just shy of a half hour later, the Web site Gawker posted a shirtless photograph of the married Congressman that was itself posted to Craig’s List in correspondence with a woman who had placed an ad under the category of “Women Seeking Men”. In response to inquiries, there was a statement that it was believed that the Congressman’s account had been hacked. At a little after 2:30, I saw the story posted on Facebook. By 3:30, approached by media about the matter the Congressman was quoted as saying that he needed to speak with his wife. By 5 PM, just less than three hours after casting his last vote and only 2 and a half hours after the story appeared on the Internet, the Congressman was no longer a Congressman. In a breathtaking span of less than three hours, a crisis unfolded on the Internet and consumed a Congressional career in the speed of its path. In short, crisis communications is not the crisis communications of your father – not even of your older brother. In only 5 years, social media has changed crisis communications entirely.
The Case of the Shirtless Congressman is dramatic. Many crises are less so, but they do not necessarily have to be. In fact, under the circumstances, there is perhaps little that could have been done to mitigate the damage from this virtual tsunami. This one just represents how much things of changed. But it also says something about the need for involvement.
A voice on the telephone is often the first impression a future customer, potential client or stakeholder has of a company or organization. The tone, pleasantness and politeness of the individuals in their telephone communications are responsible for the image the company projects to the public.
No company wants the reputation of being arrogant, rude or uncaring, yet many do because of the way employees handle telephone calls. But how many CEOs ever assess the way calls are handled in their organizations? Some organizations even block public access by not listing telephone, fax or e-mail addresses on the letterhead of some corporate executives. This practice only exacerbates problems and speaks volumes about the company’s attitude.
John B. DeFrancesco, co-founder of DeFrancesco-Goodfriend Associates, Chicago, which is now a part of L. C. Williams & Associates, believes business telephone etiquette is an important and often overlooked marketing public relations tool. He asks: “Are your employees guilty of ignoring courteous telephone procedure? If so, you could be losing valuable business. Most executives know the importance of making a good first impression. Poor telephone manners can result in prospects or disgruntled customers going somewhere else when they are treated rudely on the phone.”
In a poll conducted by his firm several years ago, 40 percent of business executives are either “usually dissatisfied” or “sometimes dissatisfied” with the way their calls are handled by a receptionist or secretary. Less than half were “usually satisfied” and only 16 percent “sometimes satisfied.” DeFrancesco cites the following as a short list of major offenses cited by survey participants:
- *Placed on hold too long” is by far the most exasperating phone discourtesy, noted by 76 percent.
- Unreturned phone calls, 59 percent.
- Screening of calls, 36 percent.
- General lack of courtesy, 22 percent.
- Asking ‘who is calling,’ 22 percent.
- Background music while on hold, 18 percent.”
According to Advantage Media, Inc. of Chatsworth, California, telephone courtesy does make a difference. “When callers are treated courteously, they normally respond by treating you more pleasantly and with greater respect,” says Advantage Media. “Courtesy even helps irate or angry callers become more reasonable. … Telephone courtesy not only smoothes your relationship with callers, it also helps you become the best you can be as a professional member of your organization’s team.”
Good telephone etiquette can be taken right to the bottom line. Dr. Robert Walker, vice president of development for Texas A&M University, will not allow any of his calls to be screened and he promptly returns all calls. He also is a good listener and was well-rewarded one day by a woman asking a number of questions during a 30-minute conversation. At the end, the woman asked him to call her attorney to make arrangements for a gift of $15 million she wanted to give the university. Her first choice was another university. However, she could never get past the gate guardians to speak with anyone in authority. Even though she had no direct contacts or past experience with the university, after hanging up from her first choice, she made a blind call to the Texas A&M development office. One university’s lack of respect for callers led to a generous gift for one who did understand the benefits of telephone etiquette.
Here are tips for good telephone etiquette:
- Return all phone calls promptly.
- For whatever reason, if a call cannot be returned, have an associate respond.
- For voice mail, your greeting should include your name, the day and whether or not you are in town that day. If you plan to be out of town, let the caller know when you will return. Voice messages should be changed daily and at a minimum, once a week.
- Never have another person place a call for you.
- Be sure all employees understand the organization=s policy.
- Don’t screen any phone calls. The only possible exception might the most senior executive. Employees who work for tax-payer-supported organizations should take all calls without question.
- Always be courteous and say “please” and “thank you.”
- If you’re calling someone, give the secretary or receptionist your name. If you’re not known to the individual you’re calling, also give your title and the name of your organization.
- Identify yourself by name when you answer the phone. In large organizations it’s also a good idea to identify your department.
- If it is late in the day and calls can’t be returned because you are in a meeting, have an associate or secretary return the call and let the caller know when you will be able to return the call. If the call is important, give the caller your home number or ask the caller for his/her home number.
- It is important to let the caller know when you can return a call. An extended meeting may prevent a call from being returned one day, but let the caller know if you will be in meetings the next day or even going out of town.
- News media representatives work on tight deadlines. All news media calls should be returned promptly or immediately referred to the public relations office for response.
- Keep a log of all incoming and outgoing phone calls with day/date and time. Then you know exactly when someone called your or when you called someone else.
- Take accurate and complete messages with the name of the callers, company, time, date, and message received, action to be taken, and the name of the person taking the message.
- If you are not certain how a name is spelled, politely ask the caller to spell it for you.
Note: Rene A. Henry is vice president-public relations for Innovative Communication Corporation, a privately owned telecom and media company with operations throughout the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Belize, France, Sint Maarten, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe and Martinique. He also is the author of six books including “You’d Better Have A Hose If You Want To Put Out the Fire – the complete guide to crisis and risk communications,” “Marketing Public Relations – the hows that make it work!” and “Offsides! – Fred Wyant’s provocative look inside the National Football League.”
For years companies have sought to place their products on primetime television programs and in feature films. A few seconds of exposure on a popular drama or comedy series can be worth as much as $500,000 based on the cost of a 30-second commercial..
When actors drink Fiji Water on Friends, Will & Grace, Touched By An Angel and other programs, it was through product placement. There are two competitive publishers of legal books whose products have appeared on Ally McBeal, JAG, Philly, The Practice and other series. Ford and Coca-Cola are even producing their own programs to insure exposure for their products.
Ford Motor Company products were placed by Showcase International in 26 of the top 27 shows that use cars, according to Richard Briggs, Showcase senior managing director. The firm also placinged T-Birds and Mustangs in Spiderman. “We believe that thoughtful and seamless placement is appropriate for our client, otherwise the entertainment content begins to look like a commercial which can lead to viewer dissatisfaction and a potential turnoff to the brand,” says Briggs.
The degree of exposure varies by network. Each has its own regulations. The FCC’s standards and practices do not allow cash transactions for product placement because it would be considered paid advertising. Companies provide the products free in exchange for a few seconds of exposure.
Now issues-oriented organizations involved with the environment, abortion, healthcare, foreign or domestic policy and other sensitive and controversial issues should be looking to Hollywood. Primetime drama and comedy programs have become a new editorial forum where the producers, directors, writers and actors advocate their own issues.
Screenwriters are taking current events and issues and quickly dramatizing them into West Wing, JAG, Law & Order, The Practice, The Agency, First Monday and other popular television series. Jay Leno even took a Katie Couric interview on The Today Show and edited it so he became the interviewer. The result was an altogether new version of what the person being interviewed actually said or meant.
Because of this, it is becoming more difficult for the viewer to separate fact from fiction and remember whether the information came from the evening news, a TV magazine show or primetime entertainment.
In fact, more people may be watching primetime series than the evening news. According to Hank Rieger, former president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, viewers of the evening news and magazine shows range from an average of 11 to 16 million depending on the network. However, more than 17 million people average watching West Wing and Law & Order.
A West Wing storyline on global warming mirrored the Clinton-Gore environmental policy. Another episode touted the Clean Air Act and it impacts asthma, breathing and lung diseases. Yet, The Practice attacked EPA in one program for not protecting children from arsenic leeching from wood playground equipment.
One of the first episodes of First Monday about the Supreme Court dealt with the pro-life, pro-choice, Roe v. Wade controversy. Future programs will feature more sensitive subjects..
If questioned, would a viewer be more apt to recall the controversy regarding U.S. military policy on female dress requirements in Saudi Arabia according to how it was reported on the news or magazine programs that featured Lt. Col. Martha McSally, or how the issue was dramatized on JAG?
Congressman Gary Condit’s wife, Carolyn, demanded an apology from the producers of Law & Order following an episode about a politician and a missing aide. The producers said the show was fictional. She lost, as did her husband in his re-election bid.
The military armed forces have long recognized the influence of television and staffed offices in the Los Angeles area to work with Hollywood to get the best possible exposure for their branch.
Knowing the power of television, following 9/11 White House Advisor Mark McKinnon met with industry leaders and asked them to reflect in storylines President Bush’s message of reassuring children and promoting tolerance.
Feature films such as A Civil Action and Erin Brockovitch have a life long after running in theaters B in primetime, pay-for-view and a multitude of cable television channels. Overload, the only Arthur Hailey novel not made into a feature film or mini-series, condemned a fictional public utility. Using a controlled media production company as a front, a public utility acquired the rights to Overload and promptly shelved it.
Just as important as getting a product hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of exposure, organizations with critical issues must build Hollywood relationships for their special interests. What’s next? Stories on religious misdeeds, airport security, oil drilling in Alaska, or price fixing at Sotheby’s? Or stories similar to Enron and Arthur Andersen?
Rene A. Henry, Fellow PRSA, is an author, consultant and member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He has judged the Primetime Emmy Awards a dozen times.
It’s that time of year when us pundits make bold predictions about upcoming trends in 2011. I had considered putting on my Nostradamus cap and making some reputation management predictions, but then I discovered my fellow reputationista Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross had already staked-out that turf!
Oh well, I’ve never been one for predictions, anyway. So, how about some certainties instead? Some solid, often unwritten, rules of reputation management that will pervade 2011–and beyond?
OK, here goes!
Law #1 – Everyone has an online reputation
We all have an online reputation to maintain. Don’t believe me, go ahead and “Google Yourself”–I promise you won’t go blind! Even if you don’t find anything written about you, then that’s still your reputation–or lack thereof. In 2011, you should make sure that what’s found in Google, Facebook, Twitter et al is something you’d be equally comfortable showing your mom or your boss!
Law #2 – Your reputation is an extension of your character
It doesn’t matter how hard you work on managing your reputation, it will only ever be as solid as your actual character. Tiger Woods had a reputation of being the greatest golfer–and a family man. His character revealed otherwise. As Abraham Lincoln once said,
“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Law #3 – Every reputation has an achilles heel
While Toyota may have spent years telling us that its cars are the most reliable in the world, sticking gas pedals told a different story. In fact, even though Toyota tried to deny the increasing incidents of sticking accelerators, its customers were the ones steering the car manufacturer’s reputation in another direction. Instead of denying the issue, Toyota should have been the first to recognize it! When you recognize and acknowledge your weaknesses, before your customers, you have the opportunity to craft a response before the public outcry. Do you know your reputation’s weakness?
Law #4 – Listen twice, act once
OK, so I’ve plagiarized this from the saying “measure twice, cut once,” but it’s appropriate, when it comes to listening to your customers. I tell our customers at Trackur that they should spend twice as much effort on listening as they do responding. It’s too easy to simply jump in and reply to that tweet or Facebook post–without fixing the underlying problem. Instead, you should spend time actively listening to the feedback you’re collecting about your reputation. Listen for trends. Listen for opportunities. Listen, listen, listen–ok, that was three listens, but you get my point. When you actually take onboard what your stakeholders are saying about your reputation, you do more than just fix a problem, you make sure you fix the underlying issue that created the problem in the first place! GAP’s customers weren’t so much angry that the company’s logo was changed, they were mad that the company hadn’t initially thought to listen to their feedback–a decision the apparel company quickly reversed!
With the end of 2011 almost upon us, it’s an opportune time to look back at the worst PR moves of the year. There were many mishandling of crisis PR situations this year – reputations were trashed, careers and brands forever changed amidst a slew of PR blunders.
As Warren Buffett has said “It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
The worst handling of a crisis PR situation:
Herman Cain: With Herman Cain dropping out of the race this weekend, we saw a complete disintegration of all of the basic rules surrounding crisis PR. Cain never addressed the various sexual allegations in a clear manner, rather, he dodged reporters, cameras and questions.
Cain believed that the issue would go away and the media would stop asking questions merely because he asked them not to. He never told the story, nor did he get out in front of the story and tell the truth. But the story never went away – and his initial reaction to these allegations was that of a “deer in headlights.” Cain looked lost and confused – and now is a lost and confused private citizen rather than a frontrunner candidate for President of the USA.
Anthony Weiner: Another political scandal takes the cake, that of disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner – once regarded as the leading candidate for Mayor of NYC — Weiner’s reputation was tarnished due to a sexting scandal. Had Weiner told the truth from Day 1, the story may have been limited and not exploded — his wife stood by him, he didn’t break any laws and his issue may have passed. Instead, the formerly brash, outspoken Weiner appeared broken before our eyes in the media. Broken for lying and dumb activities.
Penn State: For evil to succeed, good people stand on the side and allow evil to happen. At Penn State, a blind eye to child molestation went on for years. Watching the reaction of the university leadership and community one saw warped values at Penn State which I believe will harm the brand for many years to come. “WE ARE PENN STATE” has long been the university slogan – that slogan has now been changed to “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” as it relates to the (at least) 8 children who were raped and molested by Jerry Sandusky, the assistant football coach at Penn State.
In the eyes of many, the crisis was compounded by student reaction at Penn State – as they rioted in support of head coach Joe Paterno after he was fired. They flipped over trucks, brought down light posts, set off firecrackers and clashed with police amidst chants of “Hell no, JoePa won’t go!” and “We are Penn State!” They make it quite clear he’s a winner on the football field and don’t care that he never called the police – and Sandusky visited his locker room very regularly.
All businesses are vulnerable to crises. You can’t serve any population without being subjected to situations involving lawsuits, accusations of impropriety, sudden changes in company ownership or management, and other volatile situations on which your audiences — and the media that serves them — often focus.
The cheapest way to turn experience into future profits is to learn from others’ mistakes. With that in mind, I hope that the following examples of inappropriate crisis communications policies, culled from real-life situations, will provide a tongue-in-cheek guide about what NOT to do when your organization is faced with a crisis.
To ensure that your crisis will flourish and grow, you should:
Play ostrich
Hope that no one learns about it. Cater to whoever is advising you to say nothing, do nothing.
Assume you’ll have time to react when and if necessary, with little or no preparation time. And while you’re playing ostrich, with your head buried firmly in the sand, don’t think about the part that’s still hanging out.
Only start to work on a potential crisis situation after it’s public!
This is closely related to item 1, of course. Even if you have decided you won’t play ostrich, you can still foster your developing crisis by deciding not to do any advance preparation.
Before the situation becomes public, you still have some proactive options available. You could, for example, thrash out and even test some planned key messages, but that would probably mean that you will communicate promptly and credibly when the crisis breaks publicly, and you don’t want to do that, do you?
So, in order to allow your crisis to gain a strong foothold in the public’s mind, make sure you address all issues from a defensive posture — something much easier to do when you don’t plan ahead. Shoot from the hip, and give off the cuff, unrehearsed remarks.
Let your reputation speak for you
“Doesn’t anybody know how important we think we are?” you complain. You: big business Goliath. Me: member of public who doesn’t trust big business. You lose.
Trust the media like the enemy
By all means, tell a reporter that you think he/she has done such a bad job of reporting on you that you’ll never talk to him/her again. Or badmouth him/her in a public forum. Send nasty faxes. Then sit back and have a good time while:
- The reporter gets angry and directs that energy into REALLY going after your organization.
- The reporter laughs at what he/she sees as validation that you’re really up to no good in some way.
Get stuck in reaction mode, rather than get proactive
A negative story suddenly breaks about your organization, quoting various sources. You respond with a statement. There’s a follow-up story. You make another statement.
Suddenly you have a public debate, a lose/lose situation. Good work! Instead of looking at methods that could turn the situation into one where you initiate activity that precipitates news coverage, putting you in the driver’s seat and letting others react to what you say, you continue to look as if you’re the guilty party defending yourself.
Use language your audience doesn’t understand
Jargon and arcane acronyms are but two of the ways you can be sure to confuse your audiences, a surefire way to make most crises worse. Let’s check out a few of these taken-from-real-situations gems:
“The rate went up 10 basis points.”
“We’re considering development of a SNFF or a CCRC.”
“We ask that you submit exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.”
“The material has less than 0.65 ppm benzene as measured by the TCLP.”
To the average member of the public, and to most of the media who serve them other than specialists in a particular subject, the general reaction to such statements is “HUH?”
Assume that truth will triumph over all
You have the facts on your side, by golly, and you know the American public will eventually come around and realize that. Disregard the proven concept that perception is as damaging as reality — sometimes more so.
Address only issues and ignore feelings
“The green goo which spilled on our property is absolutely harmless to humans.”
“Our development plans are all in accordance with appropriate regulations.”
“The lawsuit is totally without merit.”
So what if people are scared? Angry? You’re a businessman, not a psychologist — right?
Make only written statements
Face it, it’s a lot easier to communicate via written statements only. No fear of looking or sounding foolish. Less chance of being misquoted. Sure, it’s impersonal and some people think it means you’re hiding and afraid, but you know they’re wrong and that’s what’s important.
Use ‘best guess’ methods of assessing damage
“Oh my God, we’re the front page (negative) story, we’re ruined!”
Congratulations — you may have just made a mountain out of a molehill….OK, maybe you only made a small building out of a molehill. Helpful hint: you can make the situation worse by refusing to spend a little time or money quietly surveying your most important audiences to see what THEY think and if it matches the perception created by the media.
Do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results!
The last time you had negative news coverage you just ignored media calls, perhaps at the advice of legal counsel or simply because you felt that no matter what you said, the media would get it wrong. The result was a lot of concern amongst all of your audiences, internal and external, and the aftermath took quite a while to fade away.
So, the next time you have a crisis, you’re going to do the same thing, right? Because “stuff happens” and you can’t improve the situation by attempting to improve communications — can you?
© Jonathan Bernstein. All Rights Reserved.
Veteran crisis management professional Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Communications, Inc. and publisher of Crisis Manager, an award-winning free email newsletter written for “those who are crisis managers whether they want to be or not.”
Jonathan has also written several important manuals and reports. For more information visit TheCrisisManager.
All of the meat processing companies have been slow to grapple with the growing pink-slime hullabaloo, even though there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that their products are particularly unhealthy, said Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in food safety and food poisoning cases.”My only complaint about this product is I think they could have been more up-front with the public,” Marler said. “When companies are not open about what their product is and what it contains, positive and negative, people get concerned and assume the worst.”
The meat industry failed itself by not staying abreast of social media and online forums for signs of trouble, said Jonathan Bernstein of Bernstein Crisis Management in Sierra Madre.
“They lost control of the message,” he said. “Perception is everything. If enough people perceive that something is wrong, it’s wrong. Reassurances that something’s safe from groups that are now distrusted are useless at this point.”
