Crisis at the Speed of Light

Crisis at the speed of light….

Speed of Light: 186,000 miles per second

You can’t know precisely where crisis will come from. That’s why it’s called a crisis…

Being Prepared IS Everything…

“ If you can’t get a video of your CEO on YouTube within 3 hours, anytime of day or night, you are not ready.” Jason Baer

Paradigm shift: Spokesperson to media gatekeepers

New world order: You are not in control…

“ Technology is shifting the power away from editors, publishers, the establishment, the media elite. Now it’s the people who are in control.” Rupert Murdoch

Your Crisis Challenge…
Unexpected, unauthorized and vetted leakage
Damage by perception
Photos, comments, conversation that conflicts
Repurposed statements
Confusion

The way we were….
House fire every 30 seconds in the US…

Over $120 million in product liability lawsuits in three months…

Integrated response team
Senior management involvement
Legal counsel
Outside experts
Lives saved testimonials
Government agency support

Challenge: media analysis and interpretation…

Familiar response vehicles…
Deep background, off record interviews
Outside expert sound bites
Press conferences
Counter-offensive media – lives saved
Satellite feeds
Reports, studies, quote-able sources
Testing demonstrations

What’s changed?
Time – speed of light
Media – people-driven
Who’s in control – they are

Social Crisis Management

The evolution of how we do business…
Marketing – the talkers
Customer service – the listeners
Social media – huh?? The conversation-ers??

93% of social media users want companies to have an on-line presence…now!

Brand Trust Ladder INVASIVE Telemarketing, spam PUSH Ads, promos, direct mail AUTHENTIC Experiences Events VALIDATION Trusted Influencers Character of Customer Interaction Communication ROI Relationship Driven Transactional Tuned Out Engaged Trusted Disbelief

The “full duplex” conversation…

Social media is word of mouth on steroids
Social media can create and solve crises

If Facebook were a country it would be larger than Japan.

As of July there were 23 million users on Twitter
Three million Tweets per day

Viral communication happens…
Is today your –
Dominos
United Airlines
Motrin
Pork Board
Dell???

Social Web alters communications landscape…
Tweets on Swine Flu exceed 10,000 per hour

Crisis Constants…
Perception leads reality
Fear drives perception
Messages/images promulgate fear

Communication now in visual, verbal and video form is instantaneous, global, track-able, available 24/7 and permanent…

The new rules:
What you say IS the message…

The Good News
Your message conveyed without filter instantly, everywhere…
The Bad News
Not everyone will like it and you will hear about it…
Social Media

Caution …
Transparency: if it can be known, it will!

Social media platforms do not intersect…
It is a collection of unique city-states…

A new strategic approach …
Flashpoint Response:
Tweet to Tweet
On Facebook
Blog to Blog
Video to Video

Dominoes big disconnect: press release response to a video

Lesson #1: on-line listening now!!
Radian6
Cision
Spiral16

Lesson #2:
Fight fire with fire!!

Crisis messaging:
Humanization of leaders
Plain speaking
Empathy
Responsiveness
Honesty

It’s about conversational communication…

So how does this work?
Listen
Engage
Respond
Repeat

Your new response tool kit…
Social media platform
Video
Podcast
Blog
Links
Photo gallery
Whitepapers
Background studies
Experts and credible third parties

Your crisis infrastructure:
Web platform construction in-house
Twitter embassy
Facebook presence
Listening tools and monitoring

Your crisis team:
Strategy experts
Message makers
Content creators
Legal

Vital step: Internal media policy Parallel employee communication

Honesty is the right policy…

Bob Wheatley
Wheatley & Timmons, Inc
312-755-6200
[email_address]
Blog: brandtrailblazers.com/blog
Web: www.wheatleytimmons.com

Crisis at the Speed of Light

by Robert Wheatley, Wheatley & Timmons, Inc. on Sep 18, 2009

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