Social Media and Crisis Communications (Revisited)

Social Media and Crisis Communications (Revisited) Shel Holtz, ABC April 27, 2009

Baseline: What is a PR crisis?
An unanticipated event or disclosure that threatens your organization’s/client’s reputation

The conundrum
Nothing’s changed
Crisis principles remain unaffected
Everything’s changed
Solution: Apply crisis basics to Web 2.0 crises

Crisis basics
The public is risk-averse
The public attaches little credibility to business advocates
Media’s role is based on conflict
Advocacy groups will exploit your crisis to their own ends
Emotion, not logic, is at issue
If you engage in debate, you’ll be seen as defensive
Crises are characterized by symbols

Exxon Valdez

Ford Explorer/Firestone Tires

Key crisis goals
Survive the crisis
Present/maintain positive image
Maintain constituent support
Monitor / listen (a given)
Address misperceptions and misinformation
Eliminate or alter the symbols

Tylenol (at first)

Tylenol (long-term)

Strategies
Respond quickly, accurately, professionally, with care
Be transparent and accessible
Treat perceptions as fact
Acknowledge mistakes
Tailor messages to address the “angry” party
Note other side’s concerns
Make no public confrontations
Emphasize existing relationships

The reality of crises today
Erupt with unprecedented speed
An insatiable thirst for news
Anyone can break news
Porous boundaries between social & mainstream media

How fast does news break?

What is news?
Not just major announcements or milestones
Instead: Frequent, regular updates
We’re in meetings discussing it
New information is emerging
These updates will drive the 140-character news cycle
Without them, other content will

Original Blog Post or Tweet ReTweet Blog Post Video Delicious Digg Blog Post ReTweet ReTweet Blog Post Video Delicious Digg Blog Post ReTweet ReTweet Blog Post Video Delicious Digg Blog Post ReTweet ReTweet Blog Post Video Delicious Digg Blog Post ReTweet ReTweet Video Delicious Digg Blog Post ReTweet ReTweet Blog Post Video Delicious Digg Blog Post ReTweet Blog Post Mainstream Media

Three case studies
MotrinMoms
AmazonFAIL
Domino’s Pizza

Motrin video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmykFKjNpdY

MotrinMoms

Motrin parody video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpqpAGLS2t4

AmazonFAIL
Began with a single blog post

Why Amazon failed
No apology
Insisted it was just a “glitch”
Never acknowledged aggrieved parties

Domino’s

Domino’s preliminary response
AdAge: Don’t add fuel to the fire
Ragan.com: It hasn’t spread to mainstream media

Is the Dominos symbol changing?

Why use social media in a crisis?
It’s where people increasingly go for information
Online social interaction centers around the "emergency period" of an event – University of Colorado at Boulder
Instant updating
Human voice
Accommodates public’s emotional response
Produce a record
Two-way communication is more credible

Richard Edelman and the Trust Barometer on “FIR Live:” http://tinyurl.com/asq52d

Why a blog is a prerequisite
Media follows them
Your critical publics read them

Engage!

138 total tweets to 32,000-plus

Release assets into the wild
Core facts
Photos on Flickr
Videos on YouTube
Documents on Scribd
Presentations on SlideShare

Leverage your existing relationships

Acknowledge mistakes

How about right now?

Don’t: Filter the Negative
The 100% illusion
of our publics are happy with us of the time

Key things I didn’t have time for…
Use your employees
Drill!
The key: Stick to your values

Questions?
Shel Holtz, ABC
Phone: 415.367.3820
Email: [email_address]
Web: www.holtz.com
Blog: blog.holtz.com
Podcast: www.forimmediaterelease.biz
Skype: shelholtz
Twitter: www.twitter.com/shel
2 nd Life: Shel Witte
Friendfeed: shelholtz
Copyright applies to this document – some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-non commercial-share alike 3.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

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Social Media and Crisis Communications (Revisited)

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Social Media and Crisis Communications (Revisited) — Presentation Transcript