1. Crisis and Issues
Management
in the Digital Age
James Hacking
Rachel Catanach
Vice President
SVP & Senior Partner, Managing Director
BlueCurrent Group
Fleishman Hillard
2. This presentation
I. CRISIS MYTHS & LEGENDS III. THE ‘GOLDEN’ HOUR
II. LISTEN TO YOUR AUDIENCE IV. CASE STUDIES
3. What is a Crisis?
• Any problem or
disruption that triggers
negative responses
and greater scrutiny.
• Anything that disturbs
the natural flow of
business and – if
recognized too late
and addressed
improperly – can
jeopardize an
organization’s very
existence.
4. Crisis Myths
The Court of
You can’t You can You lose
Law is more
predict or control a crisis control by
important than engaging with
prevent a by withholding
the Court of social media
crisis information
Public Opinion
5. Crisis Truths
The primary
The longer a A serious
focus in crisis
Most crises crisis goes on, problem
All crises can management
can be the more becomes a
be mitigated should be the
predicted damage it crisis once it’s
court of public
does publicized
opinion
6. The Internet is a Crisis
“Game-Changer”
One person can “light Crises play on a Pace of events
the fire” global stage accelerates
6
7. Yet the Internet Remains Poorly Understood,
Under-Utilized in a Crisis
Another
channel…
A
burden,
a
similar
to
print
media,
“necessary
evil”
television,
etc.
A
“bolt-‐on”
tool,
added
to
a
tradi;onal
communica;ons
strategy
7
9. 9.00 AM Wednesday
• Michael is a 15
year old diabetes
patient. He has a
doctor’s
appointment
today
10. 10 AM Wednesday
• Michael gets to the
doctor and it is
decided he should
get a brand new
blood glucose
monitor. It is a
MumCom monitor.
11. 10:15 AM Wednesday
• Michael gets home.
Mum leaves. He
unwraps the
packaging. He
notices something
that’s not right.
12. 10:30 AM Wednesday
• Michael text
messages Mum. He
says “OMG, u won’t
BLEVE – Earwig in
my new glucose
meter.”
• He sends along a
picture…
13. 10:45 AM Wednesday
• Mum is appalled… After a
quick call to the doctor’s
office, she takes time to
update her Facebook
status… she posts the
picture on Facebook…
“OMG, my son just
unwrapped his new
glucose monitor and
there was a dead
earwig in it. Can u
believe that?”
14. 10:45 AM Wednesday
• Doc, a prominent doctor,
specializes in pediatric
diabetes & is a member of
the online physician
community Doctors.net.hk.
• Doc goes to his computer
and poses the question –
Has anyone ever found an
earwig in a MumCom
glucose monitor, cos I did…
15. 11:00 AM Wednesday
• Several of Mum’s 217
friends comment…
• One friend asks who
made the meter?
• Mum replies “MumCom!”
16. 11:10 AM Wednesday
• Diabetic friend of Mum’s
sees this and posts on
her Twitter account
• She links it to Mum’s
Facebook page so
everyone can see the
picture.
• PLS RT -
@MICHEALSDMUM’s kid
opened MumCom
glucose meter with
earwig in it
17. 11:15 AM Wednesday
• Dad.ie– a prominent
blogger and tweeter
who follows
MumMichael’s
diabetic friend on
Twitter sees the
tweet and re-tweets
it… he has a LOT of
followers
20. How did this happen?
Investor
Investors
Message
Boards
General
Public
Investors
General
Public
Investors
General
Friends
Friends
Public
Investors
Media
Friends
General
Public
Friends
Advocacy
Blogger
General
Groups
Public
Friends
General
Mum
Blogger
Public
Blogger
More
General
Tweets
Public
Michael
Facebook
One
Blogger
Blogger
Member
Twi1er
ship
Membership
Other
docs
Professional
Doc
Socie4es
Member
ship
Other
Doctors.n docs
Member
ship
et.hk
Docs
Begin
Other
docs
Consumer
Twee4ng
Other
Groups
Membership
docs
24. Five Crisis Principles
Forget about
Planning, process
Denial is not a buying an
and practice wins
river in Egypt extinguisher after
the day
the fire starts
If you don’t supply
Use online as a
the information -
crisis tool –
now – the media
website, search
will look elsewhere
25. What are the realities for
communicators?
Sometimes
C-Suite who
difficult to see
doesn’t
Not enough the wood for
More pressure understand the
resource, the trees - not
– on 24/7 new demands
budget all bad
of the digital
comments
age
online are equal
27. "
Why spend millions building your
brand if you won’t spend a few
thousand dollars on monitoring its
reputation?"
28. Getting started
1. Assess vulnerabilities!
2. "Cover off all audiences!
3. "Create a team!
4. "Develop a process map!
5. "Pick your monitoring solution !
6. "Use all your channels!
33. Pick Your Monitoring Solution
Sentiment Positive! Negative! Total! Month on
analysis! month
change!
Forum 30! 45! 75!
comments!
Blog ! 21! 32! 53!
comments!
Product 11! 15! 36!
review sites!
Total for 62! 92! 154!
the month!
33
34. Asian Vs US Centric
Language matters!
Asia
Centric
5,000
conversations
US
Centric
60
Conversations
35. Human Vs Machine
Automated sentiment scoring can be very inaccurate. !
You can’t always replace a person!
Posi;ve
Nega;ve
Nega;ve
Posi;ve
Nega;ve
Posi;ve
Nega;ve
36. What Can You Digest?
Ideal
issues
monitoring
report
size
38. Use all your Channels
Visuals Youtube
B-roll Website/darksite/microsite
Search / paid ads Infographics
Traditional media relations Third parties
Be Transparent and Ask Questions
39. Readiness Checklist.
1. Do you have an accurate sentiment analysis tool? (machine/ human?) !
2. Do you have a plan for organizational education?!
3. Is there a process map for issue escalation?!
4. Do you have the roles and responsibilities in place for issues management?!
5. Who is part of your issues/ crisis response team?!
6. Have you run an issue or crisis fire-drill in the last 3 months?!
41. The The ‘Golden’ Hour
Crisis “Golden” Hour
• Ensure all appropriate functions are informed and present in
the crisis planning – Legal, HR, operations, communications –
based on the nature of the crisis
• Find out the facts of the situation as they are known – use the
5Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How) to guide the
discussion
• Work out your current position and initial response
• Begin/ramp up monitoring (traditional and social media)
• Determine what is the intended result:
– Six months from now, when this crisis is in the rear-view mirror,
what do you want investors, customers, employees and
stakeholders to say about the company? How does your values
statement/credo/mission statement inform this answer?
42. The The ‘Golden’ Hour
Crisis “Golden” Hour
• Reach agreement on an initial action plan:
– Identify all relevant audiences, external and internal
– Identify external allies and champions as well as
opponents or enemies
– Identify the best conduits for reaching each audience
– Determine who will be the “face” speaking to those
audiences
– Determine how and when interactions with internal and
external audiences will occur
– Consider appropriateness of BAU marketing activities and
Senior Executive appearances
– Determine the materials necessary to support the
communication: FAQs, fact sheet and holding statement at
a minimum. Think PESO (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned)
43. The Crisis “Golden” Hour
The ‘Golden’ Hour
• Have a frank discussion about the hurdles or
roadblocks to implementing the plan and the
best way to overcome them
• Determine what channels, discussions need
to be monitored and how to respond to what
monitoring finds
• Create a system for interaction and for rapid
approval of plans and materials (a war room)
– responses within an hour
• Determine how best to measure progress
and ultimately success
44. The Crisis “Golden” Hour
The ‘Golden’ Hour
• When it comes to social media think about
the following:
– Set up notification systems: create a portal or set
up a crisis webpage to deliver immediate,
authorized news from the official source
– Identify spokespersons: Designate social media
specialists to represent the company and respond
to specific social media channels
– Keep your messages simple: No matter how
complex the situation, reduce the message to
about four points and address it in few words so it
can be carried across platforms
45. The Crisis “Golden” Hour
The ‘Golden’ Hour
– Have a flexible editorial calendar and think about
delivery: Schedule all social communications in
advance and deliver messages with a sincere
tone appropriate for the channel
– Keep social media channels open: never delete
comments or shut down pages as that can
exacerbate the situation
– Keep updating ‘normal’ posts on social media
platforms to show external audiences that
business is as usual
– Engage an agency: The issue may be bigger than
your own available experience or resources
47. Kryptonite
A regular pen + a viral video + 10 days = USD $10 million product recall
real cost ignoring social media
48. Kryptonite
Blogs and Search Engine results continue to damage the reputation
long after the crisis is resolved!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8XxcOj3Seo
50. Toyota crisis – taking the official line
Paid Search ads Paid Search ads
based on bid based on bid
price price
Organic SEO
listings
Toyota Recall “Toyota
Takes Care of its
Customers. Read the
FAQs at Toyota.com”
51. Toyota crisis – competitor
strategies in Search
• Competitors respond with generic ads
Paid Search ads
May the Best car Win “On
New GMC Models, Assurance
Comes Standard. Get Details
Here.”
May the Best car Win “See
How Buick Stacks Up to the
Competition. May the Best Car
Win.”
52. Toyota crisis – competitor
strategies in Search
• Competitors respond where it hurts,
emphasizing reliability of their brands vs.
Toyota
Paid Search ads
Consider a New Mazda
“Check out the reliable
vehicles from Mazda and find
a great deal.”
Ford Vehicles “Drive Safe and
Reliable Ford Cars.
Browse Large Inventories
Today.”
53. Toyota crisis – other strategies in
Search
• Lawyers inflame the situation
Paid Search ads
Toyota Recall 2010 Update
“Sudden acceleration danger.
Free case review for injured.”
Toyota Accident Victims
“Toyota Sudden Acceleration
Recall. Free Evaluation,
1-866-***-****”
54. Interesting
• Toyota did not rely much on PPC ads to its strong dealership
network
• Toyota covered main keywords but missed the long tail searches like
“Toyota sucks”, “Toyota gas pedal”, “Toyota investigation”
