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Crisis Communications 1

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Introduction 2

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What’s a Crisis?“A crisis is unpredictable but not unexpected.” - Timothy Combs But what actually is a crisis? 3

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It’s not always an event. 4

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Historical Types of Crises  Natural disasters  Challenges (boycotts,  Malevolence strikes, lawsuits, (kidnapping, product government actions) tampering, terrorism etc. )  Megadamage (oil  Technical breakdowns spills, radioactivity)  Human breakdowns  Organ. Misdeeds  Workplace violence  Rumors 5

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Crisis Communications Sub-speciality of PR. Designed to defend. Designed to protect a reputation. 6

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OverviewPrecrisis Crisis Post - Crisis• Scanning • Detecting • Following -up• Assessing situation • Shaping• Designing Tools & • Containing memoriesSystems• Monitoring • Recovering • Assessing effectiveness Learning 7

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Proactive vs. Reactive An effective crisis communications plan should: · Define response strategies that can be implemented when a crisis occurs; · Assign crisis communications resources and responsibilities; · Enable you to reach target audiences with key messages, and · Launch public information and media relations campaigns immediately during a crisis. 8

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Pre-crisis Planning Objective - prevent or lessen the negative outcomes of a crisis and thereby protect the organization, stakeholders, and/or industry from damage  $ loss  reputation loss  identity altered 9

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Designing Tools & Systems Select Crisis Management Team (CMT) Select Spokespersons Develop Crisis Management Plan Prepare Crisis Communication System 10

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Selecting the CMT A cross-functional group who have been designated to handle ANY crisis Characteristics of a good CMT  Work together (conflict mgt)  Apply the CMP (manage stress)  Listen to others  Make the right decisions  Communicate proactively 11

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Selecting the CMT Typical roles  Legal  Security/safety  PR  Operations  Top Management (CEO)  Victim manager Make time for training (63% companies do) 12

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Selecting Spokespersons Principle - “One voice is more important than one person” Role - Manage the accuracy & consistency of the messages coming from the organization Communication should be guided by the 5 C’s: Concern, clarity, control, confidence, & competence 13

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Develop CrisisManagement Plan What is it?  A potential action plan  Used during the crisis  Focuses on “how-to” What it is not?  Overly detailed  Rigid 14

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Prepare CrisisCommunication System Physical setup Prepare tools  Intranet  Internet  Phones Prepare team 15

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Managing the Crisis A. Detecting the crisis B. Containing the crisis C. Recovering from the crisis 16

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Strategic options Full apology and corrective action - misdeeds Corrective action Ingratiation (remind audiences of the org. past good deeds) Justification - minimize or no serious problems Excuse - “no control”, “no bad intentions” Denial - no crisis exists Attack the accuser - confront, threaten, lawsuit 17

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Strategic optionsDefensive Accommodative Attack Denial Excuse Justification Ingratiation Corrective Full Accuser Action Apology Weak Crisis Strong Crisis Responsibility Responsibility Rumors Natural Disasters Malevolence Accidents Misdeeds 18

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Managing Post-Crisis Assessing effectiveness Examine records Look at phases of crisis Determine changes 19

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Learning New protocols and systems New training opportunities New personnel 20

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Questions? Thank you for the opportunity to present this lecture today. Christine@cbcreativeinc.com www.cbcreativeinc.com 21