Three companies faced crises and responded differently: Eurostar broke down, leaving passengers stranded with no social media plan. BP's oil spill had no employees on social media to respond. Blackberry's outage was made worse by a slow response. Companies must be ready to respond on social media in a crisis with the right messages and spokespeople. An honest and transparent response is needed to mitigate reputational damage and regain customer trust.

1. CRISIS MANAGEMENT
DISASTER RECOVERY COMMS

2. WRECKS
WORST PRACTICE EXAMPLES

3. EUROSTAR
The Challenge:
Five Eurostar trains suffered electrical breakdowns in the
channel tunnel, leaving passengers stuck on trains in very
unpleasant conditions, and even more were left stranded as
services were cancelled.
The Campaign:
In the aftermath of the crisis Eurostar admitted that their social
media programs – focused narrowly on push marketing
activities – were of limited use to communicate with customers
during the crisis.
Learning from this:
Relying on existing care lines to cope with the sudden influx of
queries is out of the question. Companies need to be ready to
quickly put the right contact solutions in place when a critical
situation arises.
VIDEO ON NEXT SLIDE

4. BP
The Challenge:
An explosion at BP‟s Gulf of Mexico oil rig Deepwater Horizon
killed 11 people and resulted in 4.9m barrels of oil being
discharged, threatening marine life and hundreds of miles of
coastline. While multiple organisations were responsible for
the maintenance of the platform, BP took an enormous
reputation hit being the only consumer brand involved.
The Campaign:
Sponsored local tourism drives and used employees living in
the area as ambassadors for BP‟s clean up initiatives.
However because they had no social media resource set up,
angry campaigners took it upon themselves to set up a spoof
account.
Learning from this:
Train up and use employees as a way to disseminate
information within their own social circles to help stimulate a
grass roots positivity towards the brand.
VIDEO ON NEXT SLIDE

5. BLACKBERRY
The Challenge:
An internet blackout that was caused by a complex
series of hardware and software failings at RIM left
Blackberry users around the world without service
for more than three days.
The Campaign:
After mixed messages from the (uninformed) mobile
operators and a vague acknowledgement of the
outage from RIM on Twitter, RIM founder Mike
Lazaridis left it until the service was on the road to
recovery before issuing an apology.
Learning from this:
The real damage was done by allowing the
competitors to communicate before Blackberry did.
VIDEO ON NEXT SLIDE

6. TOYOTA
The Challenge:
Toyota announced that it would be recalling more than 420,000
vehicles in the U.S. due to reported problems with the steering.
The Campaign:
Toyota ran a campaign across print (in 20 of America‟s largest
newspapers) and TV as well as social media. They also put the
president-chief operating officer, Jim Lentz, on the “Today” show.
A dedicated website about the recall provided clear information
about why Toyota halted production and sales. However, once
again, they came under fire for failing to respond quickly enough.
Learning from this:
A strong straightforward offensive with an apologetic but
reassuring tone need to be put in place as quickly as possible.

7. SUCCESSES
BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES

8. BRITISH AIRWAYS
The Challenge:
In March 2008, cancelled flights, baggage delays and a
temporary suspension in check-in blighted the opening day of
Heathrow's new £4.3bn Terminal 5. At this time British Airways
had sole use of the terminal.
The Campaign:
BA cut right to the chase with the tagline 'Terminal 5 is working'.
The campaign adopts a documentary style and emphasises how
key aspects of the airport experience - such as going through
security, flight punctuality and baggage handling, which were
some of the core issues effecting the terminal launch - are now
working smoothly.
Learning from this:
A raw, behind the scenes look at the company offers an honest
and human base from which to have a conversation.

9. DOMINOS PIZZA
The Challenge:
An employee posted a video on YouTube showing a
staff member abusing food in the kitchen of a branch
of Dominos.
The Campaign:
Once the employees were reprimanded and the store
was thoroughly cleaned, Dominos dealt with the
bigger problem; their product was not good. They
used this incident to re-evaluate their brand –
reinventing their entire product whilst demonstrating
humanness and transparency via a documentary.
Learning from this:
Dominos put its money where its mouth was by
listening to its consumers and not shying away from
their negative statements.
VIDEO ON NEXT SLIDE

10. TESCO
The Challenge:
On the 15th January, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland
(FSAI) found that a number of beef products, including
frozen beef burgers sold by Tesco, contained horse DNA.
The Campaign:
Tesco immediately withdrew from sale all the products in
question and issued a statement. This was followed by a
full-page ad in national newspapers as an apology to UK
consumers.
Learning from this:
With crisis communications, the critical realisation is that
perception (of the media, of the public, of your customers) is
the reality – regardless of your handling of the events
themselves.

11. NATWEST
The Challenge:
On the 21st June 2012, The RBS group suffrered a computer
failure which knocked out much of the bank group‟s ability to
process payments through their computer system. The problem
lasted almost a week, in which time over 11 million NatWest
customers were affected.
The Campaign:
The plan was simple and the timing was quick. The NatWest
team and agency worked closely to understand what the brand
could deliver, this message was then communicated through
clear mass media in order to alleviate negative sentiments.
Learning from this:
Tweets directed at NatWest were sorted into “Shouldn‟t”, “Could”
and “Must” (be addressed) so that they could gauge the level of
resources required.

12. APPLE
The Challenge:
iPhone 4 users experienced reception issues
caused by the phone's exterior-antenna design.
The Campaign:
Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage at Apple's
headquarters to announce that all iPhone 4 users
would be receiving a free case designed to solve
the issue. They changed the way they displayed
signal strength to give users more confidence in
the accuracy of the signal and admitted to
Learning from this:
The free cases solved Apple‟s image problem
without significant expense or damage to Apple‟s
reputation. A strong figurehead admitting to the
problem ultimately creates more trust in the brand
rather than denying it or shifting the blame.

13. SO GOOD SOY MILK
The Challenge:
So Good was the clear market leader with a 52%
market share but in June 1998 they received an
anonymous threat that their beverages had been
purposefully contaminated.
The Campaign:
The strategy was to let people know exactly what was
happening and when it was happening, creating an
open-book scenario with each of their consumers. They
communicated simple messages encouraging their
customers to switch back to So Good once the product
was back on the shelves.
Learning from this:
The issue may not trail for as long as the word „crisis‟
would imply. So Good recovered its share of market
within eight weeks of the initial recall.

14. KEY POINTS
A SUMMARY

15. CRISIS ‘HOT SEAT’ FACTORS
Speed of response
15 minutes on Twitter
1 hour on Facebook
Visibility – it‟s all playing out in the public eye
Unpredictability – You‟re dealing with the public and don‟t always know
what their agenda is
Lack of control
Social media is still a very young industry – everything is being
scrutinised
The boomerang effect – When you‟re trying to be creative and push the
boundaries it can come back on you

16. AVOIDANCE TACTICS
Plan for a crisis
Decide what constitutes a crisis
Boycott page, media response
Ensure all related agencies work especially closely
Monitor social media when campaign breaks
Accept criticism
Know when to walk away
Know when to take action
Make sure that the product is up to it

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