3. CRISIS COMMUNICATION
Primary Objective :
Respond QUICKLY, EFFICIENTLY, EFFECTIVELY to the crisis, taking into
confidence external and internal audience.
TELL IT ALL
TELL IT FAST
TELL THE
TRUTH
4. COMPONENTS OF CRISIS
COMMUNICATION
Audience
Technical
Message
Prioritize audience :
Employee
Shareholder
Suppliers/
Customers
Government/ Law
makers
Media
Technicalities :
Visible leadership
Face-to-face/ Social media
Integrated communication
across mediums
Components :
Cause of crisis
Brief description
Future plans -
timelines
5. STEPS OF CRISIS
COMMUNICATIONPRE-CRISIS
• Anticipate Crises
• Create and Manage a Crisis Communication Team
• Identify and Train Spokesperson
• Establish Notification & Monitoring System
• Identify and know the Stakeholders
• Develop Holding Statements
POST-CRISIS
• Asses the Crisis Situation
• Finalise and Adapt Key Messages
• Post Crisis Analyses
6. Examples where Organizations recovered quickly
In 1982, Seven people died after taking poisoned Tylenol capsules.
In 2003, High pesticide level found in Pepsi colas in India.
In 2003, Worms found in two Cadbury chocolate bars in India.
What they had in common :
1. Strong leadership commitment
2. Immediate communication across channels and sympathy.
3. Rapid action taken in public interest.
7. Organization that failed to recover
In 1989, Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of oil near Alaskan
coast.
In 2000, Firestone tyre failure.
In 2015, Maggi crises in India, loosing market worth of Rs. 210 crore.
What they had in common :
1. Delayed response of leadership team.
2. Negligible sympathy was expressed towards the consumers.
3. Slow in taking definite action and lacked transparency of resolution
process.
8. CONCLUSION
While crises begin as a negative/threat, effective crisis
communication can minimize the damage and in some case
allow an organization to emerge stronger than before the crisis.
Surviving the First 48 Hours
Post Crisis Evaluation, Follow-up
Review crisis response: internally/externally
Survey staff
Public perception
Invite feedback from partner-agencies, third parties