The document provides a crisis communication plan for Guess Inc. that includes [1] forming a crisis communication team and contact sheet, [2] developing a response process in 8 steps, and [3] templates for press statements and media responses. The plan aims to provide structure and coordination in responding to potential crises.

1. Crisis
Communication
Plan
for ​Guess​ Inc
​Prepared by Diana Coardos
Last update : 1/20/2015
Crisis Communication 1

2. Table of Contents
1) Overview___________________________________________________3.
2) Acknowledgments ____________________________________________4.
3) Instructions __________________________________________________5.
4) Plan Review Chart _____________________________________________6.
5) Crisis Communication Policy _____________________________________7.
6) Crisis Communication Self­Audit _________________________________8­9.
7) Step One: Attend Crisis Communication Media Training________________10.
8) Step Two: Formulate a Crisis Communication Team and Plan____________10.
a) Crisis Communication Team / Contact Sheet ________________11­13.
b) People who can be contacted by Media_____________________13.
9) Step Three : Understand the Crisis ______________________________14.
10) Step Four: Activate Crisis Communication Team __________________14­15.
a) List of Media_________________________________________16.
11) Step Five: Assess the Situation _______________________________17.
12)Step Six : Develop a Response _______________________________18­19.
13)Step Seven: Communicate with Audiences_______________________20.
a) How To Prepare the Message ___________________________20.
b) Media Tips__________________________________________21.
c) Guideline Media Has to Follow_________________________22­23.
d) Press Statements __________________________________23­24.
e) Press Statements Template ___________________________25.
14) Step Eight: Re­evaluate Conditions __________________________26.
15) Step Nine : Recovery Plan _________________________________26.
16)Stakeholders ____________________________________________27.
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3.
​Overview
Guess?, Inc. (GUESS?) designs, markets, distributes and licenses apparel and
accessories for men, women and children. The Company operates in five: Europe,
North American Retail, Asia, North American Wholesale and Licensing. The Company’s
products are sold through retail, wholesale, e­commerce and licensing distribution
channels. The lines include full collections of clothing, including jeans, pants, skirts,
dresses, shorts, blouses, shirts, jackets, knitwear and intimate apparel. It also grant
licenses to manufactures and distributes a range of products, including eyewear,
watches, handbags, footwear, kids' and infants' apparel, leather apparel, swimwear,
fragrance, jewelry and other fashion accessories.
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4.
Acknowledgements
This crisis communication plan is based on the research of GUESS Inc and GUESS
Communications Department ran by Operations Manager Diana Coardos.
It was reviewed and adapted to fit the requirements of GUESS Store at Old Orchard
Mall, store number 552 by the Regional Operations Manager Adrian Bu and store
manager Katherine Herr collaborating with Emergency Response and Crisis
Management Plan; the North Shore Safety and Health Administration’s office of public
affairs for input on mining crisis communication planning and response; and to the
National North Shore Association’s safety and communications committees and staff
directors, Adam Sachzman and Cammy Ron, for their guidance on this project.
This plan will contain checklists, contact information, a draft for a news release, talking
points, templates and other reference materials . This plan will assign a leader and
spokesperson in case a crisis occurs. Members/ Employees of the store are
responsible to know the designated people and inform them of a potential crisis.
This plan will be in effect from 9/01/2014 to 9/01/2015 and minor things may be subject
to change .
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5.
Instructions
Guess Old Orchard ​will keep a copy of this plan in the doors of the front counter, in the
back as well as in the district and corporate office.
A copy of the plan will also exist electronically. It is the responsibility of the crisis
communication leader to ensure that a copy of the plan is available to each team
member, other employers and key emergency response people for use in the event of a
crisis. It is also the responsibility of the communication team leader to ensure that the
plan is kept up­to­date and that the employers as well as assistant managers and
managers have read the plan and understand its contents.
​Review
The crisis communication team will go over this plan every year to check that:
➢ Contact information lists are up to date.
➢ Communications policies, practices or procedures are up­to­day.
* Changes to the plan will be present on the Plan Review Chart.
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6.
Plan Review Chart
Revision
Date :
Revised by : Approved by: Notes
*​ If changes not approved DO NOT take in consideration and let the store manager
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7. know.
CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS POLICY
1. All crises should be reported to the supervisor or store manager immediately.
2. Only spokesperson is authorized to release information to the media and to the
public. If spokesperson not available the store manager is in charge to deliver the
message.
3. There should be one designated crisis management lead person managing the
messages and the media.
4. All comments should be made in a professional way without compromising the
company.
5. Personnel matters are to remain confidential.
6. When possible, responses should be proactive, responsive, and action­oriented.
Crisis Communication 7

8.
Crisis Self­Audit ( Answer each of these questions)
Yes No
1. Are events/ situations that can be considered a crisis
for your industry defined?
2. Is there a designated person or team authorized to
implement and oversee an industry response?
3. Are members of the team/industry trained in all
provisions of the response?
4. Is there legal counsel that represents your industry?
5. Is there a crisis communication plan in place to
provide the structure for a coordinated response?
6. Are the emergency response personnel, as well as
media included in the plan?
7. Are members of the team assigned with specific
duties in the crisis plan?
8. Are key messages developed from the priority
issue(s) defined?
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9. 9. Are procedures for responding to incidents included
in the plan?
10. Is there a recovery strategy in the plan?
11. Are templates of news releases and other media tools
incorporated into the plan?
12. Is the plan and content information periodically
reviewed and updated?
Completed on :__________________________________________________
By: ____________________________________________________________
Approved by: _________________________________________________
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10.
Step One: Attend Crisis Communication Media
Training
➢ Training personnel before a crisis happens is essential for the rapid response
that is necessary to limit negative impacts to the industry.
Training should be conducted annually .
The store manager is responsible of making sure every employee gets a
brochure with the main points on what to do during a crisis.
Step Two: Formulate a Crisis Communication Team
and Plan
➢ Defining a qualified team and designation of a primary spokesperson to deal with
a crisis is an essential first step. A crisis communication plan developed in
advance of a crisis will provide the structure for the coordinated response and
recovery of the industry.
➢ Individual(s) who are contacted with or encounter an issue that could provide a
potential crisis for the industry should gather as much information as possible to
clearly define the issue and alert an authorized member of the crisis
communication team for GUESS Inc.
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11.
Crisis Communication Team
Develop a team of trained individual contacts within your store to manage the crisis and
have their contacts available for everyone working in the store.
Authorized decision maker/ Store Manager
Name​​​​___________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
Work phone_______________________________________________________
Cell phone________________________________________________________
Home phone______________________________________________________
Work E­mail______________________________________________________
Personal E­mail____________________________________________________
Spokesperson
Name​​​​___________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
Work phone_______________________________________________________
Cell phone________________________________________________________
Home phone______________________________________________________
Work E­mail______________________________________________________
Personal E­mail____________________________________________________
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12.
Guess Corporate representative
Name​​​​___________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
Work phone_______________________________________________________
Cell phone________________________________________________________
Home phone______________________________________________________
Work E­mail______________________________________________________
Personal E­mail____________________________________________________
Guess Consultants/ Old Orchard Consultants
Name​​​​___________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
Work phone_______________________________________________________
Cell phone________________________________________________________
Home phone______________________________________________________
Work E­mail______________________________________________________
Personal E­mail____________________________________________________
Safety representative
Name​​​​___________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
Work phone_______________________________________________________
Cell phone________________________________________________________
Home phone______________________________________________________
Work E-mail______________________________________________________
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13. Personal E-mail____________________________________________________
Mall Security
Phone_______________________________________________________
Emergency phone________________________________________________________
Home phone______________________________________________________
E-mail______________________________________________________
*The Store manager needs to have this contact sheet printed and posted on the posting
board, easy to access.
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14.
List of People Media can Contact
➢ Create a Crisis Contacts for Media contact list that you can send out to media.
Store Manager
Name​​​​___________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
Work phone_______________________________________________________
Work E­mail______________________________________________________
Spoke Person
Name​​​​___________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
Work phone_______________________________________________________
Work E­mail______________________________________________________
Crisis Communication 14

15.
Step Three: Understand the Crisis
First Signs of a Crisis :
➢ Consumer complaints.
➢ Notification of a legal issue
➢ Contact from a news media outlet.
➢ Contact from a supplier (i.e. retailer,shipper)
➢ Publication of a negative news report.
Gathering as much of a factual summary of the event/situation along with contacts and
a timeline will be very useful into determining the impact of the crisis and how to
respond to it.
In order to do so you need to :
➢ Verify the situation.
➢ Get the facts from the people affected as well as the employees.
➢ Obtain information from additional sources to put the incident in perspective.
➢ Determine whether the information is consistent with other sources.
Step Four: Activate Crisis Communication Team
➢ Having a central notification location and/or media center that houses contact
information for the industry’s authorized crisis communication team members will
allow for quick activation. Once the designees are contacted, the crisis
communication team will follow the protocol outlined in the crisis communication
plan.
Crisis Communication 15

16.
List of Media
Create a list of Media to whom you can send the information.
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17.
Step Five: Assess the Situation
➢ Confirming all the information and sources gathered so far will be essential as
the crisis progresses.
➢ Answer the questions
Who?​ ______________________________________________________________
What? ​______________________________________________________________
When?​ _____________________________________________________________
Where?​ ____________________________________________________________
Why?​ ______________________________________________________________
➢ Impacts:
On the store:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
One the customers:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
On the company
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Crisis Communication 17

18. Step Six: Develop Response
➢ Determine procedures for your action plan – the steps of putting together a team,
analyzing the situation, developing messages and reacting should be finalized
within 24 to 48 hours. Formulating key messages that provide one clear message
in a timely manner should be the most important part.
When trying to come up with communication actions by gathering all the information
regarding the crisis, use these questions to build up a strong answer :
1. Define the problem briefly.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________
2. What was its cause? How did it start and when?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. Do you have concerns over the incident for this particular store? What about for the
corporation? Customers?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. Has anyone been affected personally? Any loss or damage?
______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5. Did this affect a large group of people ? About how many?
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19. ______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
6. What is your response to the problem?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
7. Is there involvement of banks or other institutions?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
8. What are the possible actions that can solve the problem? How will GUESS Old
Orchard be affected? What about GUESS Inc?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
9. Will the store change or stop what has led to the crisis? If not, why?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
10. What can be done to prevent this from happening again?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Answered by _________________________________________________
Signature _____________________________________________________
Date _____/_____
Crisis Communication 19

20. Step Seven: Communicate with Audiences
Identify and communicate to key audiences honestly, openly, and in a timely fashion.
How to Prepare the Message
Message should :
1. Express
empathy,
listening, caring or
compassion as a
first statement.
● Using personal pronouns, such as “I” “we” “our” or
“us”’
● Try to express through actions, body language and
words that you share the concerns of those affected by
events
● Acknowledge that people have been affected by this .
● Use a personal story, if appropriate to make people see
that you understand them.
2 . State briefly the
messages.
● Total number of words shouldn’t exced 40 words.
● Don’t go over 10 seconds.
● Use positive, constructive and solution­oriented words
as appropriate; and
3. State
supporting
information.
● Add two additional facts;
● Use supportive visuals
● Cite if possible credible sources of information
4. Go over the key
messages again.
● Summarize the key points
5. State future
actions.
● State what is going to happen and provide a contact
number for additional information.
Crisis Communication 20

21. Media Tips
​Something to think about before talking to the media.
Reporters will provide all sides of the story. Don’t try to change the story and only
provide concise information.
➢ Know who’s calling and Keep Record of who you Talked to
When a reporter calls, ask some questions on who they are and what they want to find
out. Make sure you write down their name, employer and phone number.
➢ Let them Know Who You Are
Don’t assume a reporter knows who you are. For more accuracy provide your name,
title, and the company your work for.
➢ Respond As Fast As You Get Chance
Return media calls promptly. If you think you are not ready to deliver the message when
the reporter calls. Tell them you’ll get back to them shorty.
Gather your thoughts, anticipate questions, plan your response and call back quickly. If
you have an appointment for an interview, be there.
➢ ​Tell the truth.
Always tell the truth and do not guess. That might haunt you later. Being truthful does
not mean telling all you know. Use good judgment.
➢ Revise your Thoughts.
Reporters will publish everything you say and it’s not appropriate to ask a reporter to not
print something after you said it.
➢ Use your​ ​Key points.
Try to keep it simple and concise. Identify your key points and develop a response that
will help get you message across.
Crisis Communication 21

22. Guidelines Media has to Follow
➢ ​ The Guess Spokesperson and Office of Marketing & Communications will
respond as fast as possible with information for media during a crisis.
➢ If media initiates contact prior to a crisis decision being made, the Office of
Marketing & Communications will neither confirm nor deny the incident/issue; but
will investigate and return the call.
➢ The Office of Marketing & Communications will always attempt to coordinate
release of information with responding emergency agencies—so both parties
release the same information.
➢ The designated spokesperson should be constantly updated on status of the
incident.
➢ If the incident appears to be of short duration, an approved follow­up
statement will be issued, including a summary of the incident.
➢ If it appears to be a major, prolonged incident, the Guess Spokesperson and
Office of Marketing & Communications will arrange for regularly scheduled media
update briefings. At each briefing there will be a recap of the incident and any
new information provided.
➢ If there is important new information, it will be shared with the media as
quickly as possible by phone, fax and/or special media briefing.
➢ If possible, coordinate with television/radio stations to come up with a
mutually acceptable plan for interviews that will allow live coverage to be carried
without giving preferential treatment.
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23.
➢ Clearly state at the beginning of initial briefing that all verified information that
the crisis team has will be passed on and there will be no information given off
the record. All information will be provided at the press gathering.
➢ Guess inc will prohibit release of an individual’s name who has been involved
in an injury or fatality until his/her family has been notified.
➢ Guess will not allow the media to access the families of anyone injured or
killed, unless the families want to do so
➢ Refer to Spokesperson guidelines for further information.
Press Statements
The press statement is likely the first communication you will have with the media
following an emergency or crisis. Even if you don’t have every detail, it’s important to
release a statement with what you do know so people feel informed and updated on the
incident. Often, you’ll send out more than one press statement, depending on how often
you are able to provide additional updates. Depending on your comfort level and the
nature of the event, your press statement could be a written document or a verbal
statement by your spokesperson.
To get your press statement used, it has to be well written and newsworthy. The better
a press statement is, the more likely it will be used.
Crisis Communication 23

24. A good press statement:
➢ Gives your organization’s views on the issue
➢ Has an attention grabbing headline and first paragraph
➢ Includes all the necessary facts about the situation or issue – who, what, when,
where,why and how
➢ Is so well written it could be used almost directly as is
➢ Is accurate
➢ Gives information about what action your organization intends taking around the
issue
➢ Invites the media to contact your organization for further information
➢ Gives a contact person and their telephone number
➢ Gets distributed effectively – (local, regional, state or national media, where
appropriate)
➢ Should indicate when an update will be given
Things to Avoid
Do not issue a press statement if:
➢ It does not have all the necessary information
➢ It does not have the correct facts
➢ It is based on guessing
➢ It is not clear
➢ The media cannot contact your organization’s media contact person
➢ It has not been checked for accuracy, spelling and grammar
➢ It hasn’t been approved
Crisis Communication 24

25. Template Press Statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
➢ Contact Name ___________________________________
➢ Phone number ___________________________________
➢ Date of release: __________________________________
Two­three sentences describing what happened and expressing empathy on the
situation.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Two­three sentences describing what is currently happening in response to the incident.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Two­three sentences listing protective actions customers and actions that will be taken
in the future.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Contact information, ways to get more information and other resources.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Crisis Communication 25

26.
Step Eight: Re­evaluate Conditions
➢ As new information emerges, changes in your messages or outreach to different
audiences and/or the industry’s defined role should be continuously re­evaluated
and should evolve to reflect the most up­to­date information.
➢ Conduct Evaluation
➢ Obtain Feedback and Conduct Crisis Evaluation
➢ Evaluation of the store’s response
➢ Analyze media coverage.
➢ Share results within Guess Corporate
➢ Determine if there is any need to change the plan.
➢ Revise the plan and the policies.
Step Nine: Come up with a Recovery PLAN
➢ Once the crisis is resolved, a plan that addresses the reason for the crisis and
any changes in procedures or protocol should be created and include
communication
Crisis Communication 26

27.
Stakeholders
Stakeholders are people or organizations with a special connection to you, your
involvement in the emergency and the communities you serve. While stakeholders may
not have a role in the crisis event, they will need information from you. Anticipate and
assess the incident from the stakeholders’ perspective. It could be as simple as
information released through the media or a Web site, or as complex as in­person
meetings with key organization officials.
Use this worksheet to identify your stakeholders. Stakeholders are people or
organizations with a special connection to you and your involvement in the emergency.
Stakeholders will fall into three categories based on their responses to you in a crisis:
advocates, opinion leaders and others. You may consider creating separate lists of
stakeholders based on different potential crisis events.
People who will be important stakeholders during an emergency or crisis situation:
Organization Contact____________________________________________
Phone Number _________________________________________________
E­mail________________________________________________________
Organization Contact____________________________________________
Phone Number _________________________________________________
E­mail________________________________________________________
Organization Contact____________________________________________
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28. Phone Number _________________________________________________
E­mail________________________________________________________
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29.
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30.
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31.
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