Our Playbook for Digital
Crisis & Issue
Management 3.0
A Preview
Understanding and Planning
for a Crisis in the Social Media Age
Rachel Caggiano | Senior Vice President
May 2013

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Table of Contents
Purpose ……………………………………………………………………………
A New Approach………………………………….………………………………..
Crises Today: A Primer ….………….…………………….……………………....
Five Trends in Crisis Management Today…..……………….………………….
Framework and Apps for a New Approach...……………………………………
Case Studies for a New Approach..…...………………………………………....
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Crisis Response Has Changed
Social media has changed how information is spread and how people form
opinions. It has changed how brands communicate with stakeholders, and how
those stakeholders communicate with each other. Social media has also
changed how brands manage their reputations – every day, but especially
during times of crisis.
Because of these factors, social media has fundamentally changed crisis
management.
In order to effectively help a brand through a crisis – or, more importantly,
prevent a crisis – today’s marketers, communicators and public relations
practitioners must also be experts in the social space.
Social@Ogilvy has developed a detailed Playbook designed to articulate a new
approach to crisis: one that marries established crisis practices with the most
evolved thinking in social media marketing and social business practices. It’s
also designed to be highly practical – providing checklists, templates and other
tools that can be quickly downloaded, should a crisis hit.
This document offers a preview of that “how-to,” born from our global experience
preparing for and responding to brand and corporate crises.
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Purpose of this Playbook
Social media crises are
steadily on the rise – up
from 1 in 2001 to 10 in
2011 – but, even worse,
76% of them were
preventable, had the
organizations invested in
proper training.
–Altimeter, Social Business
Readiness, August 2011

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A New Approach
Why do we need a new approach?
There is a growing risk for brands and corporations. While crises have
occurred since humans started making mistakes, the growth of social media
now makes these mistakes visible to mass audiences in real time.
Social media has given groups and individuals an even playing field. It has
elevated the “vocal minority,” powered the consumer watchdog, and given
huge impact to “hacktivists” and socialized groups like Greenpeace
and PETA.
It has revolutionized the news cycle. The citizen journalist now feeds
traditional media, and vice versa. A local story quickly becomes a global
story on the Internet. Meanwhile, search engines favor the fresh and viral,
and consumers turn there first for information on an emerging issue.
Social media has evolved the art of storytelling and the use of content
online. Stories are core to human belief, and social media gives brands new
ways to demonstrate their values and earn belief. Emotional and visual
storytelling techniques matter more, but detractors skillfully wield these
same techniques.
Understanding these trends and knowing how to employ techniques around
stakeholder engagement, community management and content activation
give today’s experts a new, complete framework to understand and plan for
a crisis in the social media age.

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Social-Savvy Hacktivists More Impactful Than Ever
Greenpeace and The
Yes Men launch
elaborate hoax poking
fun at Shell’s Artic
drilling plans.
Activism against
brands can now go
viral and be amplified
via social media.

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Social Feeds a Crisis Cycle at Web Speed
A “United Breaks
Guitars” video goes
viral, causing a major
drop in brand equity.
The world can now
tweet their troubles
with brands — with
higher expectations for
swift justice.

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Social Breeds a Million Forensics Experts
Tesco promises to
install cameras along
supply chain after
horsemeat-scandal.
Social gives consumer
watchdogs stronger
tools for fact-checking,
and fuels greater
demand for
transparency.

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Social Fuels Search and Search Favors the Viral
Driving international
buzz, more than 8
million people turn to
YouTube to watch Red
Bull’s Stratos event.
Amidst buzz,
consumers turn to
search first for
information, giving viral
news great impact.

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Social Allows Emotional, Visual Stories to Break Through
In aftermath of a brake
pedal scandal, Toyota
turns to consumer
stories of safety.
Social now gives
brands a more
personal, more direct
way to connect with
consumers.

Crises Today: A Primer

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Traditional Crisis Triggers
INTERNAL TRIGGERS
• Environmental Issue or Accident
• Investigation, Lawsuit, Fine, Settlement
• Poor Financials or Stock Performance
• Structure/Ownership Issue (e.g. merger)
• Management Change/Dismissal
• Incident/Allegation of Mismanagement
• Incident/Allegation of Wrongdoing
• Product Defect/Recall
• Employee Complaint/Issue
• Labor Dispute
• Workplace Injury/Fatality
EXTERNAL TRIGGERS
• Natural Disaster
• Terrorist/Criminal Threat/Incident
• Activist Issue/Protest
• Structure/Ownership Issue (e.g. hostile
takeover)
• Consumer Complaint/Issue
• Category/Industry Issue
• Competitor Threat

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Characteristics of Crises Today
What type of crises will you likely see?
The majority of crises we see are typically internally-triggered.
However, externally-triggered crises can
quickly lead to an internal crisis.
We will typically see the following types of issues
lead to crises – often accelerated via social:
• Poor customer service
• Poor marketing practices
• Poor public or influencer relations
• Poor governance

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Poor Customer Service
Attributes
Consumer service problem. Bad
response or non-response on
Facebook. Bad experience with a
brand representative offline
or online.
Potential Accelerants
Disregard for customer concerns
and questions. Tone-deaf
reaction by the brand.
Video of FedEx delivery man throwing computer monitor is
uploaded to YouTube, quickly gaining millions of views and
setting off a crisis for the brand.

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Poor Marketing Practices
Attributes
Unfavorable consumer reaction
to advertising or other
external communication.
Potential Accelerants
Failure to understand customer
sentiment or upsetting
key segments.
A poorly planned marketing tactic by McDonald’s backfires
on Twitter where consumers used the #McDStories hashtag
to highlight negative experiences with the brand.

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Poor Public Relations
Attributes
Opinion or story posted online
by angry, disgruntled or
confused customer.
Potential Accelerants
Global reach of site or blog.
Many influencers joining
together. Crossover to
traditional media.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith, aka “Silent Bob,” live tweets his
experience with Southwest Airlines alleging he was thrown off a
flight for being “too fat.”

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Poor Governance
Attributes
Evidence of brand or
representative exercising poor
judgment. Uncoordinated efforts
across organizational silos.
Potential Accelerants
Loss of life or other
tragic circumstances.
An agency employee mistakenly sends an inappropriate,
vulgar tweet from Chrysler’s official Twitter account.

Five Trends in Crisis
Management Today

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Five Trends in Crisis Management Today
Smart
SOCIAL
MEDIA
CRISIS
…is the new fast.
…is the new listening.
…is the new way to earn belief.
…are the new influencers.
…is the new key to building
relationships.
Perceiving
Story
marketing
Social
advocates
Real-time
data

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But over-reacting in haste
can fan the flames.
Today’s experts need to be smarter,
faster. They must be deliberative
and exercise judgment for the most
appropriate response.
1. Smart is the new fast.
We use search to find
what other people say
about products
Speed is critical.
Rapid decision-making and
nearly instantaneous response
are requirements in today’s world.

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2. Perceiving is the new listening.
Listening is a given.
Social media allows isolated
customer service issues to become
overnight viral hits. But simply
listening isn’t enough.
We use search to find
what other people say
about products
But data-driven, emotional
radar is the new
requirement.
Today’s experts need finely honed
emotional radar as well as keen
analytics skills to convert social data
into insights.

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But story marketing is the
new way to earn attention
and advocacy.
Today’s experts must be master
storytellers who know how to
market content to build belief and
drive action.
3. Story marketing is the new way to earn belief.
Anyone can publish
content.
Hacktivism is the new form of social
protest, and parody content is the
new social currency.
We use search to find
what other people say
about products

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But orchestrating
community and content to
scale advocacy is key.
Today’s experts must be master
relationship managers, knowing how
to drive advocacy while carefully
managing detractor voices.
4. Social advocates are the new influencers.
Engagement with fans and
detractors alike is
expected.
Entering into co-creation with fans is
one of the deepest forms of
engagement, but can leave brands
vulnerable to vocal critics.
We use search to find
what other people say
about products

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5. Real-time data is the new way to build relationships.
But social and search
intelligence can fuel
actions that build
relationships.
Today’s experts know how to build
relationships by converting social
data into a deep knowledge and
understanding of their audience.
The focus group is dead.
Marketers can no longer rely on
intermittent research to find out how
their customers feel.
We use search to find
what other people say
about products

Framework & Apps
for a New Approach

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A New Framework for Crisis Management
Readiness
Team & Protocols
Radar
Listening & Detection
Response
Issues & Crises
Recovery
Reporting & Rebuild
Readiness
CRISIS
Response
Radar
Recovery

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Our Suite of Crisis Apps
Readiness Radar Response Recovery
Listening
Post Plus
Team
Finder
Crisis Path Planner
Threat Level
Scorecard
Conversation Criteria
Worksheet
Response
Matrix
Crisis Content
Calendar
Community
Management
Playbook
Conversation Impact
Report
Three-Level
Response
Plan
Social Platform
Checklist
Social + Search
Ad Plan
Proactive
Content
Calendar
Post-Mortem
Learning
Report

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Method for identifying threats and assessing risk triggered by internal and
external events.
Framework for assessing the severity of the message and messenger(s) to
determine appropriate escalation and response actions.
Pre-determined action plan for three main risk scenarios: Red Flag, Yellow
Flag and Green Flag.
Monitoring report that distills social data into actionable insights to inform crisis
response.
The Apps: Defined
Crisis Path Planner
Threat Level Scorecard
Three-Level Response Plan
Listening Post Plus
Contact matrix collecting the information needed to mobilize the new crisis
team and activate across social channels in real-time.
Team Finder

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Method for documenting evolving keyword lists, hashtags and conversation
trends to optimize listening efforts.
The Apps: Defined
Conversation Criteria
Worksheet
Framework for organizing approved response messaging for multiple
stakeholders across traditional Response Matrix and social channels.
Editorial calendar to organize and set cadence for crisis messaging across
Crisis Content Calendar traditional and social platforms.
Set of specifications to ensure all social platforms are optimized for crisis
Social Platform Checklist messaging and content activation.
Guidelines and best practices for conversation and relationship management
to ensure community managers are coordinated in crisis response.
Community Management
Playbook

Combines social advertising, search marketing and other paid media to amplify
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The Apps: Defined
Social + Search Ad Plan crisis messaging and extend the reach to the right stakeholders.
Analysis of social data to measure the impact of crisis response activities and
deliver insights to Conversation Impact Report optimize response tactics.
Editorial calendar to organize and set cadence for transitioning from crisis to
proactive messaging across traditional and social platforms.
Proactive Content Calendar
Measures the impact of response methods and captures recommendations for
refining processes, tools and policies for improved crisis readiness.
Post-Mortem Learning
Report

Case Studies

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Mexico:
Telling Mexico’s Untold
Story

BP:
Using Social Media To
Demonstrate Actions

Experience in social
media will help you
respond fast … and
appropriately
Moleskine:
Responding to Foster
Conversations With
Concerned customers.

Experience in social
media will help you
respond fast … and
appropriately
UPS:
Using Courage to
Engage with
“Maddened” Fans

KFC Malaysia:
Using Social to Quell a
Viral Mess

Experience in social
media will help you
respond fast … and
appropriately
Qantas:
Using Crisis to
Reinforce Values

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Connect with us
Rachel Caggiano
Senior Vice President | Social@Ogilvy
Email: rachel.caggiano@ogilvy.com
Twitter: @rcaggiano
Linkedin: linkedin.com/rachelkennedycaggiano
John Bell
Global Managing Director | Social@Ogilvy
Email: john.bell@ogilvy.com
Twitter: @jbell99
Linkedin: linkedin.com/johnhamiltonbell