MSLGROUP Crisis Network is a global network of 50+ MSLGROUP crisis experts, with deep vertical expertise across industries and geographies, connected to each other by our proprietary People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform. For more, see: http://crisis.mslgroup.com

2. MSLGROUP Crisis Network is a global network of 50+ MSLGROUP crisis experts,
with deep vertical expertise across industries and geographies, connected to each
other by our proprietary People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform. Our experts can not
only tap into each others insights in real time, but also leverage our proprietary crisis
toolkit including our crisis planning framework and our crisis simulation workshop
-- to help our clients plan for and respond to crisis situations effectively.
2

3. Foreword
Olivier Fleurot
Chief Executive Officer, MSLGROUP
As the world prepares for what could be a prolonged recession, business leaders also need to
prepare for a “new normal”, or a fundamental reset in the dynamics between individuals, influencers
and institutions around trust, power, risk and crisis.
I am delighted to present to you our report on managing risk in a world where every crisis is global,
social and viral. The report is a collection of insights and foresights from the MSLGROUP Crisis
Network, a global network of 50+ MSLGROUP crisis experts, with deep vertical expertise across
industries and geographies, connected to each other by our proprietary People’s Lab crowdsourcing
platform. Our experts can not only tap into each other’s insights in real time, but also leverage our
proprietary crisis toolkit to help our clients plan for and respond to crisis situations effectively.
In the end, however, managing risk in the “new normal” is less about saying the right things and
more about doing the right things. Corporations that are rooted in a shared purpose and have fully
integrated corporate citizenship into their strategy are more likely to respond to a crisis situation with
authenticity, transforming a potential crisis into an opportunity to reconnect with its stakeholders. So,
in many ways, what you do before a crisis happens is more important than what you do when a crisis
happens.
I hope that you’ll find value in both the insights and foresights in this report as well as in the
innovative model of the MSLGROUP Crisis Network.
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

4. Introduction:
Every Crisis is Global, Social
and Viral
Pascal Beucler Gaurav Mishra
SVP and Chief Strategy Officer, Asia Director of Social Media,
MSLGROUP MSLGROUP
The End of Trust
The decade has witnessed a profound erosion of trust in all types of institutions,
including governments and corporations.
Even as North America and Europe prepare for a prolonged double dip financial
crisis, we have seen social unrest in France, UK, Spain and Greece; a grassroots
movement to occupy public spaces across the United States to protest against
capitalism; right wing terrorist attacks in peaceful Norway; disclosure of state
secrets by Wikileaks; a series of regime changes across the Arab world; and a sex
scandal disgracing the IMF.
Even in the buoyant emerging economies of India, China and Brazil, the hitherto
silent middle class is beginning to raise its voice and take to the streets to protest
against chronic corruption that disproportionately rewards the entrenched elite
at the cost of the other 99%; and the low quality of life that persists in spite of
increased prosperity.
Trust in corporations, too, is at an all-time low, as a result of astronomical
executive salaries paid by banks and auto companies, even as they were being
bailed out by public funds; BP’s inability to either control the Gulf of Mexico oil
spill for almost nine months, or take full responsibility for it; and perceptions of
greenwashing by corporations, brought in sharp focus a series of viral campaigns
by Greenpeace.
We are also seeing anger against the inability of governments and corporations
to show the will to solve our most pressing problems: the short-sighted
dependence on fossil fuels that threatens to undermine our planet’s ecosystem;
the tradeoffs between economic progress and the good life, like urban pollution
and lifestyle diseases; and the barriers to achieve the full human potential, with
more than half the world’s population still struggling with poverty, malnutrition,
disease and illiteracy.
4

5. Crisis management in
today’s fragile world is
intrinsically interlinked
with global shifts
in trust and power
between individuals,
influencers and
institutions.
Phto by mugley on flickr
5
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

6. Power to the People
At the same time, people have new sources of power, as
individuals and communities.
First, people are beginning to believe that governments and
corporations have failed them and only they themselves can
come up with innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing
problems.
Second, people are leveraging social media platforms to create
new public spaces for discourse and dissent that are irrevocably
reshaping the global news ecosystem; organize themselves into
distributed communities with a shared purpose and a shared vision
for a better future; co-create new social innovation solutions and
sustainable business models; and collaborate across continents to
coordinate participation and action and act as catalysts for change.
Third, people are demanding that governments become
both more transparent and less intrusive with their citizens;
that government and corporations work together to create an
ecosystem that enables civic participation; that corporations not
only rediscover their social purpose but also put it at the core
of how they engage with people, as employees, consumers and
citizens.
Facebook’s Marc Zuckerberg underlined these shifts during the
recent “e-G8” we organized in Paris: “People being empowered
is the trend for the next decade: that’s the core social dynamics…
People have the ability to voice their opinion, and it changes the
world, as it rewires it from the ground up”.
Unilever’s Paul Polman has also pointed to the new risks such
power creates for corporations: “If [social media activists] can bring
down the Egyptian regime in a few weeks, they can bring us down
in nanoseconds.”
Every Crisis is Global, Social and Viral
The social web is playing an important role in these shifts around
trust, power, risk and crisis.
Specifically, we need to master three interplays shaping crisis in
the “new normal”: the interplay between mainstream media and
social media, the interplay between local and global dynamics,
and the interplay between crisis planning and response.
First, the boundaries between mainstream media and social media
are blurring as online influencers are linking to media stories and
news organizations are quoting online influencers.
Second, no crisis is truly local in our interconnected world, as
memes or hashtags can spread globally in seconds on the social
web, yet local considerations must be factored into crisis planning
and response.
Third, it’s critical to plan and prepare for crisis scenarios, but it’s
even more important to respond to emergent crisis situations
authentically, without over-reliance on scripted messages and
workflows.
6

7. Photo by Ben Chau on flickr
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

8. MSLGROUP Crisis Network
In a world where every crisis is global, social and viral, it’s critical to tap into
the tools and insights from across our global network, in real time.
MSLGROUP Crisis Network is a global network of 50+ MSLGROUP crisis
experts, with deep vertical expertise across industries and geographies,
connected to each other by our proprietary People’s Lab crowdsourcing
platform. Our experts can not only tap into each other’s insights in real time,
but also leverage our proprietary crisis toolkit – including our crisis planning
framework and our crisis simulation workshop -- to help our clients plan for
and respond to crisis situations effectively.
In a world where every crisis is global, social and viral, here’s a roadmap to
think about the interconnections between trust, power, risk and crisis, from
our experts at the MSLGROUP Crisis Network.
In the first section, we explore how social media is changing trust, power, risk
and crisis. We start by looking at the role of social media in societal upheavals
in the West, including the terrorist attack in Norway, the riots in London and
the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US. Then, we move to the East and
look at how social media is changing the news ecosystem in China, eroding
the wasta system of personal influence in the Middle East and uniting the
Indian middle class in a grassroots movement against corruption.
In the second section, we outline how corporations can leverage social media
to manage risk and reputation. We outline how social media can play a role at
each stage in the crisis curve, describe the art and science of crisis simulation,
recommend engaging third party influencers in crisis planning, share lessons
from managing the global Crisis Command Center for BP, provide a playbook
for handling a crisis on Facebook and end with tips and tricks on crisis
management from our network of senior trusted advisors.
In summary, here are the most important tips from our global network of
crisis experts that you will see across this report:
1. Proactively work on crisis preparedness, including crisis simulation
workshops, crisis manuals, crisis collaboration wikis and dark crisis
websites.
2. Create local crisis plans in collaboration with key influencers, instead of
merely localizing global crisis plans.
3. Train staff, including the C-suite, on the new news ecosystem and
guidelines for social media engagement, before a crisis hits.
4. Specifically plan for communicating with all key influencers, including
employees, as part of crisis planning.
5. Build trust assets, including the reputation of being rooted in a shared
purpose, strong relationships with key influencers, and strong owned
media channels like blogs and microblogs, before the crisis.
6. Respond to the crisis with authenticity, integrity and the will to do the right
thing, not only say the right thing.
We sincerely hope that the insights and foresights we are bringing here will
be useful to you. To know more about the MSLGROUP Crisis Network, or to
subscribe to receive similar insights and foresights in the form of a quarterly
newsletter, please visit
http://crisis.mslgroup.com.
8

9. In a world where every
crisis is global, social
and viral, it’s critical to
tap into the tools and
insights from across
our global network, in
real time.
Photo by alancleaver_2000 on flickr
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

10. Photo by h.koppdelaney on flickr
10

11. Index
12 SECTION 1
How Social Media is Changing Trust, Power and Crisis
14 Power to the People: When Main Street Occupies Wall Street
PASCAL BEUCLER
16 The Norway Attacks and Social Media: Lessons in Crisis Management for
Governments and Corporations
JOHN INGE OGLAEND
19 Lessons in Social Media and Crisis Management from the UK Riots
GARETH DAVIES
24 How the Great Indian Middle Class Used Social Media to Create a Grassroots
Anti-Corruption Movement
JAIDEEP SHERGILL
28 How Social Media is Changing the News Ecosystem in China
BENJAMIN TAN
30 Wasta: How Power and Influence are Changing in the Middle East
FRAN MCELWAINE
32 SECTION 2
How to Leverage Social Media for Managing Risk and Reputation
34 How Social Media is Changing News and Crisis: The Crisis Curve Framework
GAURAV MISHRA
37 Crisis Simulation, Experiencing a Crisis First Hand, Before it Happens
ERIK NILSSON
39 Engaging Third Party influencers in Crisis Planning
JACK YEO
44 Managing a Crisis Command Center in the Social Media Age: Lessons from BP
STEVE MARINO
46 The Role of the Community Manager in Managing the Crisis on Facebook
DIMITRI GRANGER, ROMAIN VEZIRIAN
48 In Summary: Being Trusted Advisors in a Turbulent World
ANDERS KEMPE
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
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12. 12

13. SECTION 1
How Social Media
is Changing Trust,
Power, Risk and
Crisis
In this section, we explore how social
media is changing trust, power and crisis.
We start by looking at the role of social
media in societal upheavals in the West,
including the terrorist attack in Norway,
the riots in London and the Occupy Wall
Street movement that started in the US.
Then, we move to the East and look at
how social media is changing the news
ecosystem in China, eroding the wasta
system of personal influence in the
Middle East and uniting the Indian middle
class in a grassroots movement against
corruption.
Occupy Wall Street
Pascal Beucler, Chief Strategy Officer of
MSLGROUP, outlines how the Occupy
Wall Street protests have grown into a
global movement of the “indignants”, or
“the other 99%”, against the excesses
of capitalism, especially financial
institutions.
Norway Attacks
John Inge Oglaend from JKLGROUP
Norway outlines social media’s role in
the recent terrorist attacks in Norway.
John specifically focuses on how Prime
Minister Jens Stoltenberg and journalist
Rune Thomas Ege effectively used social
media to engage with the public with
empathy in the aftermath of the attacks.
UK Riots
Gareth Davies from MSL London talks
about the role of social media during
the recent London riots and argues that
“there is no best practice for governments
to use social media in such protests;
instead, if you engage with communities
and influencers on an ongoing basis, they
will be more inclined to listen to you and
to stand up for you in time of crisis”.
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
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14. Power to the People: When Main Street
Occupies Wall Street
Pascal Beucler
SVP & Chief Strategy Officer,
MSLGROUP
Occupy Wall Street Even if mistrust of governments and The movement started in Southern
As we get used to the idea that the corporations has been developing Europe, particularly in Greece and
financial crisis is here to stay, it’s over the past decade (Enron, the Spain. Then the USA joined the
worth analyzing what’s happening burst of the high-tech bubble, 9/11 movement, dubbed Occupy Wall
in various European countries, etc.), the continued financial crisis, in Street. Hundreds of Americans
and now in the USA, where the combination with the emergence of have been camping there for weeks,
crowds of “indignés” (the indignant, a new mindset, in a context of social and thousands are following their
the angry) are growing every day media explosion, has dramatically example across the country, from
and occupying public spaces. It’s transformed public opinion. And, in Boston and Chicago, to Houston
amazing to see how fast the game fact, far beyond public opinion, we and San Francisco. The protesters
has changed within a few months: should probably start questioning are using social networks, blogs
from celebrating regime changes in the “public acceptance” of our socio- and websites -- such as Occupy
the Middle East, the West has had political and economic systems, Wall Street, Occupy Together and
to deal with a series of revolutions and be prepared to deal with bigger Ad Busters -- to connect people all
at home, many of them triggered by crises in the coming times. around the country.
the continuation of the crisis.
Photo by Nessy du Loch 2011 on flickr
14

15. The Occupy Wall Street
movement is a really
interesting hybrid of
The way Occupy Wall Street defines working at all. We are getting nothing
itself is insightful. Occupy Wall while the other 1 percent is getting “traditional” and social
Street calls itself “a horizontally everything. We are the 99 percent.” media, “real” and
organized resistance movement virtual gatherings.
employing the revolutionary Arab In terms of beliefs and values,
Spring tactic to restore democracy whether American, Spanish or
in America”. It relies on an approach French, in my view these young
3. They demand purpose, and shared
it calls a “people’s assembly” to people have three things in
value. Financial institutions,
“facilitate collective decision making common:
like other corporations, need to
in an open, participatory and non-
not only rediscover their social
binding manner” and welcomes 1. They don’t trust institutions
purpose but also put it at the core
people from all colors, genders and anymore. Trust in corporations
of how they engage with their
beliefs to attend its daily assemblies. is at an all-time low across
stakeholders. There is no value
It has also published a “quick guide the world. The destruction of
creation without solid profits. But
on group dynamics in people’s wealth is rarely lethal. But the
profits cannot be the only criteria
assemblies“ for others who wish to destruction of confidence, brand
of value creation. The “corporate”
start their own people’s assemblies equity and reputation among
side of organizations is more and
to “organize local communities to financial institutions and public
more important. People expect
fight back against social injustice.” bodies is terribly damaging. In a
companies, brands, institutions,
world where banks and financial
to commit to core values, among
companies are seen as reckless,
Never have the ancient Agora which transparency, sustainability
fraudulent and disconnected
(physical assembly, here and now) and accountability are central.
from reality, whilst governments
and the digital one (each and every Value for All is the new mantra,
around the world are blamed
social network, as well as the sum of everywhere.
for their inaction, we shouldn’t
all of them) been so closely inter- be surprised to see more and
connected. The Occupy Wall Street more social outrage. Never have
movement is a really interesting corporate reputations been so
hybrid of “traditional” and social precious, and so fragile.
media, “real” and virtual gatherings.
2. They have new power, and they
We are the 99% know how to use it. They are in
If the first “indignés” were activists, control. And the more it goes, the
most of the newcomers are young more they realize the power they
employees and graduates. It looks have in their hands. Like Marc
like a whole generation is joining Zuckerberg underlined it, during
a deep and wide “value-for-all” the recent “e-G8” we organized in
movement here, best expressed by Paris, “People being empowered
the “we are the 99%” group: “We are is the trend for the next decade:
the 99 percent. We are getting kicked that’s the core social dynamics…
out of our homes. We are forced to People have the ability to voice
choose between groceries and rent. their opinion, and it changes When he published his short essay
We are denied quality medical care. the world, as it rewires it from Indignez-vous!, could Holocaust
the ground up”. As a matter of survivor and French resistance
We are suffering from environmental
fact, what the crowds of people leader Stéphane Hessel imagine the
pollution. We are working long hours
gathering in San Francisco said power of his call?
for little pay and no rights, if we’re
is exactly that: “We just want our
voice to be heard”.
15
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
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16. The Norway Attacks and Social Media:
Lessons in Crisis Management for
Governments and Corporations
John Inge Oglaend
Senior Advisor, JKL GROUP Norway
Leadership in the time of iPad looking at his newsfeed. The For corporations, obvious lessons
crisis entire press corps has praised his can be drawn. If you do not have a
On the day of the Norway attacks, leadership and his approval ratings social presence, and you encounter
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg have gone through the roof. a crisis, you will miss out on most
tweeted the following message: of the conversations about your
“Today, we have been hit by two Mr. Stoltenberg’s seasoned use company.
savage and cowardly attacks. of Twitter shows not only that
Tonight, we all stand together, taking leadership begins at the top but also A Journalist’s Social
care of each other”. In another how critical honesty, transparency Influence
tweet, he acknowledged Russian and timeliness are in crisis situations. It’s been amazing to watch the
President Vladimir Medvedev who Moreover, we can see how important intersection of social media and
had expressed his support of the social networks have become. This traditional media in recent months.
Norwegian people. A few days crisis intersects social media from all For his part, Rune Thomas Ege, a
after the attacks, Mr. Stoltenberg angles: from the killer’s motives to journalist at VG, Norway’s largest
also posted a picture of himself on people’s attempts to save lives and newspaper, was among the first
Facebook: it showed him with his remember those who perished. to tweet eyewitness reports of
Social Media: Another angle to the Norway Story
Following the Norway attacks, Journalist Rune Thomas Ege tweeted and gave interviews on the
growing number of people using social media to share information.
16

17. Elected officials, the police, corporations, activists and
everyday people can all use social media for good---
when they chose to do so. Photo by OwlLens on flickr
the attack. He was tweeting in Tweeting “Do Not Call Eyewitness Accounts and
Norwegian, but was soon asked People on Utøya” Support Groups
by people in different countries to The first signs that something was Only one day after the killing on
tweet in English. Upon doing so, he truly wrong on Utøya, where 69 Utøya the first eyewitness accounts
soon gathered more than 3,500 new people were assassinated, came on appeared on blogs. Prableen Kaurs,
followers. Twitter. People on the island used the 18–year-old deputy leader
Twitter, Facebook and SMS to inform of the Oslo Labour Party youth
The websites of several foreign their loved ones about the shooting organization, wrote about the “Hell
newspapers picked up Rune’s tweets as it happened. As it became at Utøya”. Such blog posts gave
in their Twitter feeds. Even though he clear what was going on, people people the possibility to share
had been at the bombsite he quickly started to call their loved ones on thoughts, feelings and analysis—a
moved to Utøya and continued to Utøya. The people on the island critical activity for crisis recovery,
tweet from there, while writing for tweeted, pleading for people not according to Psychologist Anders
the newspaper. Due to his tweets to call, because it would attract the Skuterud in several media interviews.
he was soon contacted by news attention of the killer, and reveal the
services from all over the world to places where people were hiding. In just a few days, people used
give comments and report on TV. Others followed up and spread the social media to organize gatherings
It can be argued that Rune, by his message: “Do not call people on and memorials, such as rose
use of social media, set the agenda Utøya, they are hiding”. So action marches in numerous towns across
for many of the world’s leading created counter-action in the social Norway. Online support groups
news agencies; He was used as a media sphere. were established for victims who
reporter for news organizations in survived; even the killer’s mother
14 countries, including BBC World, and his lawyers got their own support
SKY, ABC, CBS, and as far as way as groups. In the immediate aftermath,
Australia and Chile. the group “Light a candle for the
Photo credit: Twitter
17
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

18. Photo by OwlLens on flickr
dead and injured after the tragedies have also been criticized for not Moreover, due to pressure to
in Oslo and Utøya” got 500 new participating in discussions on social produce articles and be the first with
members per minute. networks. They have relied on the new story angles, some journalists
traditional media and used press used any pictures they could get
Two Sides of the Coin statements and press conferences their hands on without thinking that
While those are positive examples, to communicate, thereby avoiding a some of them were coming form the
hate groups also formed. On the two-way dialogue with the public. murderer himself. Some journalists
morning of 23 July more than 70 unwittingly published photos that he
such groups appeared on Facebook, The extensive use of social media as himself wanted published.
with one totaling almost 12,000 a source for reporting isn’t without
members. Many of the groups problems. As argued by journalist Nevertheless, we can all learn from
named the killer and posted pictures Emanuel Karsten in SVTV Debat, what happened. Elected officials,
taken from his profile on Facebook, the media acted as useful idiots the police, corporations, activists
now removed. for a calculating mass murderer. and everyday people can all use
Furthermore, when journalists social media for good---when they
Much of the criticism of how the received the manifesto via email they chose to do so. Like I said, it comes
police have handled the situation, in were surprised to learn that it had down to honesty, transparency, and
particular debates about how long been available on Twitter for a long timeliness. It’s what we all want to
it should have taken to get to the time and had a massive circulation see from people in a crisis.
island and by what means, has also already. He achieved his goal of
taken place in social media. Many circulating photos and manifesto to
prominent politicians remained quiet a large audience by the use of social
for a long time, possibly sensing the media.
strong emotions on the issue and
fearing how people would react to
their public statements. The police
Photo credit: Youtube
18

19. Lessons in Social Media and
Crisis Management From the UK Riots
Gareth Davies
Head of Social Media, MSL London
Deconstructing the Role of many have called out social media you ask much younger generations
Social Media in the UK Riots as a key factor in enabling the they will simply say it is the focus
Since the London riots we’ve widespread, coordinated chaos many for blame because many still don’t
seen many individuals, groups, of us witnessed firsthand over the understand its usage or potential.
organizations and the media summer.
dissecting every detail to understand But either way, whilst you can’t
where it all went wrong and what Whether it is right or wrong to blame blame individual trees for a forest
drove so many people to “revolt”. social media will never be decided, fire, neither can you call out social
Amidst the many discussions and as it really depends on whom you media as the key “reason” that these
debates there has been much ask. Pose the questions to politicians riots happened in the first place.
finger pointing and unfortunately and lawmakers and they may say
technology is at fault, whereas if
Photo by mastermaq on flickr
19
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

20. Looking at recent history, in So how should we look to “better Being Social and Trustworthy in
particular the uprisings in Iran, Egypt manage” the usage of social Times of Non-Crisis, Like Lady Gaga
and Tunisia, these revolutions were media in a time where protests In my opinion, the true answer lies
formed on the back of a desire to and demonstrations are becoming in how governments and relevant
make a change. Whilst social media increasingly prevalent across the organizations use social media
didn’t create such desire, it did show world? in times of “non-crisis”. David
disparate groups and individuals that Cameron has sung the praises of
they were not alone whilst helping The answer is that there is no best the new e-reform system allowing
them act “as one”. It enabled them practice in how to use social media UK citizens to propose new
to coordinate and deploy a much in such situations. Restricting access legislation and even Gordon Brown’s
wider, far-reaching effort. in times of chaos is simply a knee- government got No. 10 Downing
jerk reaction that needs extensive Street on Twitter. But how much
This, at its heart, is what has helped consideration. Both Twitter and of this is just show? How many
social media become so widespread Facebook provide real-time, always- politicians can readily say that they
so quickly - the ability to connect on dialogue. If you switch off access understand and regularly use social
with like-minded individuals over in one country or region, others media? Even Barack Obama, who set
shared goals and interests. But would find out and that in turn would the rules on how to use social media
more important is the fact that until create a crisis for the government for electioneering, is limited in how
governments and organizations or organization enforcing the shut much content he himself actually
understand this point, we will see down. publishes versus a team of publicists
many more knee-jerk reactions. who have the time to do it for him.
Photo by renaissancechambara on flickr
20

21. Being Social and Trustworthy in Times of Non-Crisis, Like
Lady Gaga. The true answer lies in how governments and
relevant organizations use social media in times of “non-
crisis”.
Photo by JohnLucas1983 on flickr
In the social media space, credibility We’re not recommending that Think how different things could
and transparency are your greatest Britain’s public officials use social be if the government had used
assets you have to play. They can media channels to broadcast more– social media to listen to the growing
make or break a politician or an they need to use social media for concerns of the “disaffected youth”
organization just as they can make better engagement, for igniting that they blamed for fuelling the
or break a brand. But you need to critical conversations with people anger and aggression that was at the
be engaged with social media to who matter: people in communities heart of the riots. Think of how things
understand its power. that are highly active online; could have changed had the UK
commentators with the influence to and London governments created a
Lady Gaga is considered one of the affect policy and legislation; people rallying cry to local communities via
most influential people in the world who represent the voiceless and social media to help stop or at least
– simply because of the size of her those who have no inclination to better manage those individuals
online, virtual following. Imagine if a interact with government (based on causing the chaos.
politician applied the same rules to many factors but trust and credibility
his/her own personal “MP” brand? probably being the most prevalent). When plugged in, governments
She can call upon and rely upon her gain greater visibility and a better
fans to support her in whatever she By spending time building up understanding of what is happening
does simply because she has taken credibility and acting in a transparent at the grass roots. Subsequently they
a journey with them. She regularly manner, governments will develop will be better informed and more
posts, she answers questions (by positive relationships with online able to react in a way that benefits
herself and not via a publicist) and influencers who will be willing to all those involved. It’s clear that our
she shares content and access to speak and act on the government’s government needs to connect with
her life that has proved to be of real behalf simply because they believe. their “Little Monsters”.
value to her fans. Subsequently she
has an “army” who will stand by her
side.
21
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
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22. 22

23. India’s Anti-Corruption
Movement
Jaideep Shergill, CEO of
Hanmer MSL in India, draws
crisis communications lessons
from the anti-corruption
protests in India, led by 74-
year old Gandhian activist
Anna Hazare. Specifically, he
highlights the importance of
creating your campaign around
an idea that resonates with
people and using powerful
symbolism and imagery to
move people.
China’s New Media
Ecosystem
Benjamin Tan, Client
Engagement Director for
MSLGROUP Greater China,
talks about how social media,
especially microblogging
service Sina Weibo, is changing
how news stories and crisis
situations spread in China’s
government controlled news
environment. Benjamin says
that citizens trust mainstream
media for business-related
crisis situations, but turn to
social media for government-
related crisis situations, like
the recent train crash in
Wenzhou.
Middle East, Jasmine
Revolution and Wasta
Fran McElwaine, Managing
Director of Capital MSL in
Dubai, says that social media
is changing how governments
and businesses manage crisis
situations in the Middle East,
as “wasta”, which means
using your power to influence
outcomes, does not work on
social media. Fran says that
social media has an invaluable
role to play in financial
communication, especially in
situations that are time critical,
like crisis situations and
quarterly results.
23
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

24. How the Great Indian Middle Class
Used Social Media to Create a Grassroots
Anti-Corruption Movement
Jaideep Shergill
CEO of Hanmer MSL India
India’s Anti-Corruption As the government resisted, Indians social media (Facebook, Twitter,
Movement across geographies and communities YouTube, apps), news media,
For over a week in August 2011, rallied in support of Hazare and television and mobile telephony.
New Delhi’s Ramlila ground took forced Parliament to relent.
on the air of Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The “Social” Revolution
Revolution was in the air. What was astonishing about The lessons were clear: A good
the movement, which began in product generates its own PR.
The agitation for a strong anti- January, was the exceptional Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill satisfies
corruption law and an independent use of public relations tools and the need to reduce corruption.
authority that would investigate techniques without the help of a Clear messaging and use of the
charges against ministers and the communications agency. right communication tools for our
bureaucracy – launched by 74-year- age (it was a social media-fueled
old Gandhian, Anna Hazare – had The campaign made impressive use stir, which is why it had such a
reached a crescendo. of symbolism (fasts and meditation), large youth participation) made it
Photo by ssoosay on flickr
24

25. Photo credit: Indiaagainstcorruption.org
a mass movement. In contrast, the the bureaucracy, the judiciary and it filled a media vacuum. Team
government goofed up repeatedly in even the prime minister was an Anna made sure the campaign
its crisis communications. idea whose time had come. was centrestage in the media all
the time. Hazare himself refused
A team of IT experts ran the India 2. Create symbols, icons: Every to leave Tihar Jail after his arrest.
Against Corruption campaign’s main timeless brand has its symbols – This created a larger impact than
website along with 14 city-centric Nike and its swoosh, for instance. any media interview could have
websites round-the-clock. They also They also have their icons – Steve had. There was another critical
monitored TV channels and posted Jobs at Apple, for example. aspect: the campaign had only
videos on the internet to create a Similarly, Hazare and the Gandhi three or four people speaking
buzz across the globe. cap became the icon and symbol to the media. This was smart
respectively of the anti-corruption thinking. The fewer the voices, the
Another team ensured that the fight. The movement’s slogan, “I less scope there was for distortion
latest information about Hazare was am Anna Hazare”, internalized the of the message.
posted on social networking sites struggle for millions of people. It
such as Facebook (nearly 514,000 made individuals want to act. 5. Use the right imagery: The image
likes by early September) and Twitter of Hazare meditating at Rajghat
@janlokpal, (more than 140,000 by 3. Create a compelling experience: (where Gandhi was cremated)
early September). His video from Hazare chose the Ramlila ground or of him lying down at Ramlila
Tihar jail has had 163,000 views. for its size, allowing thousands to ground and clapping along to
take in the atmosphere. Having devotional songs proved to be
What Hazare Taught Us experienced their own power, iconic. With a giant image of
1. Have an idea that connects: the people began to believe they Mahatma Gandhi in the backdrop,
Rocked by five major scams over could change things. the message was not lost on
the past year, India was angry with anybody – “here is a frail 74-year-
the government for its seeming 4. Make a media plan: The campaign old taking on the establishment,
lack of will to tackle corruption. was timed perfectly. Launched much as another frail old man had
A strong, independent agency between the cricket World Cup done in the 1930s and 1940s, and
that could investigate ministers, and the Indian Premier League, he deserves your support.”
25
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

26. Photo credit: Youtube
How the government got it corruption law, showing that it 2. It arrested Hazare: If arresting
wrong was out of touch with the nation’s Hazare was ill-advised, taking
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mood. Reeling from a wave of him to Tihar jail was a PR disaster.
used to be known as the architect of corruption scandals, it would have Tihar is where those accused of
India’s economic reforms. Today, he’s done better to start the process some of the worst corruption in
the face of a discredited government. for framing an effective law. As a recent times were lodged. As a
result, a perception was created result, Hazare turned his arrest
1. It kept the blinkers on: The that the government was trying into victory by refusing to leave
government steadfastly refused to stall an effort to cleanse the jail, even when allowed to, until his
to accept the need for an anti- country. demands were met. This shamed
the government.
26

27. Photo credit: Facebook
3. It failed to communicate: Top in July. A publicity blitzkrieg In summary, the India Against
leaders stubbornly refused to would have done wonders for Corruption movement is an
engage with the media. This its reputation, especially with important case study, both on
allowed the anti-graft crusaders young middle-class Indians who combining traditional control on
drive the debate. Singh’s silence benefited most from the reforms. messaging with the virality of new
gave the impression that he wasn’t It is these people who heeded media tools and on responding
really in charge. Silence makes Hazare’s call. to crisis situations catalyzed by
you look guilty. The government grassroots dissent on social media.
should have been honest about 4. It sent out the wrong message: While Indian politicians have surely
its misgivings and communicated When he did speak, Prime learned much from the experience,
like crazy. As a result, Team Anna Minister Manmohan Singh said there’s much that corporations in
pushed its point of view, but there all the wrong things: “There is no India and elsewhere can learn from
was no counter, cementing the magic wand to curb corruption.” it too.
national mood. The government He should have declared that
should have seized the initiative the battle against corruption was
by moving aggressively on the integral to the reforms process.
unfinished economic reforms As a result, people thought that
agenda, but it did not even Singh was not serious about
celebrate 20 years of reforms battling corruption.
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

28. How Social Media is Changing the News
Ecosystem in China
Benjamin Tan
Client Engagement Director,
MSLGROUP Greater China
Microblogging is shaping a on each. Many journalists are also affecting personal safety, personal
new public space in China present in social media, and they grievances and perceived negligence
The prominence of social media, often publish their stories on Weibo. by authorities. One can see this in the
specifically on Weibo, the cases involving the milk scare, the
microblogging service similar to While Chinese netizens pay train crash in Wenzhou, in eastern
Twitter, which is blocked in China, considerable attention to corporate China, and the scam with a furniture
is playing a huge role in how news and non-profit scandals such as the chain, whose Chinese owners
spreads in China. All the main one with China Red Cross (a man claimed that China-made goods
internet players in China, including with ties to the organization funded were imported from Italy.
Sina, Sohu and Tencent have weibos his girlfriend’s lavish lifestyle), such
with more than 100 million users issues pale in comparison to crises
Photo by davesamuel.20091965 on flickr
In general, for crisis situations involving public authorities,
people trust social media and ignore traditional media,
especially if the government is clamping down on part of
the story.
28

29. These crisis situations can originate Corporations in China are crisis and building owned media
from a short news article and using social media for crisis assets online, so that they can be
spread to social media and back to communications deployed during a crisis. Some
traditional media, and vice versa. In As far as corporate crises are corporations have even taken to
general, for crisis situations involving concerned, the media tend to cover SEO/SEM to manage their search
public authorities, people trust social not only the actual event but also engine rankings, making sure that
media and ignore traditional media, previous issues or crises involving their name is associated as much
especially if the government is the company in question. This as possible with positive news and
clamping down on part of the story. has been made easier due to the thought leadership.
availability of historic news in the
In China, it’s not uncommon for digital space, creating a negative Specifically, B2C corporations are
government authorities to clamp long-tail effect. focusing increasingly on social
down on government-related media to mitigate crises while
crisis news by leaning on the Some corporations in China still B2B companies are still focusing
traditional, local media channels choose not to respond to crisis on traditional media to get their
-- this happened with the Wenzhou situations, hoping the situation will message across. B2C companies are
train crash. It is harder, however, for pass. When a crisis hits, they react to investing in social media monitoring
officials to stop all the news and the situation without a strategy and systems and crisis strategy, focusing
opinion-sharing on social networks, come off scared, or engage a PR on the interplay between social
as they cannot control the entire agency and go through the motions media and traditional media.
digital sphere. but in reality don’t listen to counsel
and simply use the PR firm as a In summary, gone are the days
For crisis situations not related to media buffer. when an executive could rely on
the government, the traditional news personal influence with a journalist
organizations have more leeway. However, as social media is changing and make the problem go away. The
Therefore, traditional media often the public sphere and the news Chinese netizens are less patient
provides more insights into such ecosystem in China, it is also with corporations, and less forgiving,
crisis situations (given journalists’ changing how corporations plan if they perceive any response from
investigative nature) while social for and respond to crisis situations. corporations to be insincere.
media provides more timely updates. More corporations are taking crisis
Social media also allows people to preparation seriously, by training
share their comments and concerns, their spokespeople to handle a
and in most cases, vent their
frustrations.
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

30. Wasta: How Power and Influence are
Changing in the Middle East
Fran McElwaine
Managing Director, Capital MSL
Dubai
In the Middle East, the traditional crisis containment plan in place, but managing the social conversation.
reaction to a crisis has been to it is still a long way from being the The typical response is to “shut it
keep silent and wait out the issue. accepted norm. down” with a big hammer, instead
However, the advent and fast of managing conflict in more subtle
adoption of social media among Arab Spring and the end of ways.
key influencer groups has meant Wasta
that this is an even less satisfactory The recent Arab Spring that relied Generally speaking, negative
strategy than it was a few years heavily on information-sharing sentiment and information spread
ago. Following the 2009 financial through social media is clear extremely quickly on social media.
crash, our clients are beginning to evidence of how “behind the curve” Conversely, most companies and
recognize the value of having a solid the establishment is with regard to organizations are afraid to engage
Photo by Magharebia on flickr
Unfortunately wasta does not work with social media,
where it’s more difficult to influence outcomes by using
power or personal relationships.
30

31. Photo by Magharebia on flickr
with social media, as they are crisis. Twitter is especially useful for to reassure investors, employees,
uncomfortable with the mutual alerting audiences about impending clients and partners, to maintain
two-way dialogue that such networks announcements and directing a stable stock price. Capital MSL
impose. This means that companies them to websites, blogs, videos or created an email sent to clients
are usually slow to respond to issues whitepapers with in-depth analysis. and partners, updating them on the
and lose valuable time in containing developments and reassuring them
them. For general financial of the bank’s commitment to working
communications, which are not with and serving them; relationship
There is a specific Arab word - necessarily time-sensitive, and managers called their contacts,
“wasta” - that means using your where ongoing in-depth analysis and following a message training from
power to influence outcomes. It is factual support are essential, the use Capital MSL. We also briefed the
generally considered a good thing of digital media is often constrained CEO for a townhall meeting to
to have lots of “wasta”. As most to micro-sites where there is an update and reinvigorate employees.
of the mainstream media in the opportunity to provide detailed
region are heavily self-censored, information that can be regularly As a result, the stock price stabilized
most senior individuals are used updated. within 36 hours. The messages in the
to leveraging their wasta to ensure media and marketplace were almost
there is no negative coverage of Social media engagement is very entirely positive, with neither party
them in the media. Unfortunately much the domain of the young, being criticized. Anecdotal feedback
wasta does not work with social educated and articulate in the from people in the market, investors,
media, where it’s more difficult to Middle East - all the more reason partners and employees was also
influence outcomes by using power for companies in this region to take overwhelmingly positive.
or personal relationships. Again, it seriously. The expertise here
for most organizations it requires a is considerable and we have the Today, social media will play an
cultural shift that is not comfortable. capabilities to host, design and build important role in managing all
very sophisticated social media aspects of such a crisis, from holding
Social Media and Financial engagement programs that allow townhall meetings from employees
Communications people to interact with brands and on private community platforms, to
Within the realm of financial companies. using public social media channels
communications, social media has for communicating with external
an invaluable role to play, especially As an example, when our banking stakeholders in real time.
in situations that are time critical, client started seeing signs that a
such as during the announcement of merger deal might not go through,
quarterly results and in the event of they realized that they would need
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

32. 32

33. SECTION 2
How to Leverage Social
Media for Managing Risk
and Reputation
In this section, we outline how corporations can leverage
social media to manage risk and reputation. We outline
how social media can play a role at each stage in the crisis
curve, describe the art and science of crisis simulation,
recommend engaging third party influencers in crisis
planning, share lessons from managing the global Crisis
Command Center for BP, provide a playbook for handling
a crisis on Facebook and end with tips and tricks on crisis
management from our network of senior trusted advisors.
Crisis Curve
Gaurav Mishra, Asia Director of Social Media for
MSLGROUP, shares a framework to understand how
social media is changing news and crisis. Gaurav outlines
the four stages in the crisis curve: flash point, spotlight,
blame game and resolution and highlights the role of
social media at each stage. He then describes three types
of crisis situations based on the interplay between social
media and mainstream media: real world, slow burn
and flash mob. Finally, he details a crisis planning and
response toolkit, with tactics for each type of crisis and
each stage of the crisis curve.
Crisis Simulation
Erik Nilsson from JKLGROUP Sweden believes that “that
the best way to prepare for a crisis is to go through one.”
Erik has run several crisis planning workshops with clients
across Europe using MSLGROUP’s proprietary crisis
simulation tool. The tool creates fictitious newspaper
articles, TV broadcasts, interviews, blog posts, tweets
and events etc. in a secure IT environment to stress test
the organization’s readiness to manage a crisis. Apart
from the workshops and the simulations, Erik has created
crisis manuals and even crisis war rooms to help clients
become better prepared for crisis situations.
Mapping Your Key Influencers
Jack Yeo, SVP at MSL Chicago, says that “third-
party influencers play an important role in both how
organizations prepare for crisis situations and how they
are perceived during one.” Jack uses MSLGROUP’s
proprietary IM MSL influencer mapping approach to
identify an organization’s most important influencers and
recommends that clients invite important influencers to
share their perspectives in crisis planning workshops.
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

34. How Social Media is Changing News and
Crisis: The Crisis Curve Framework
Gaurav Mishra
Asia Director of Social Media,
MSLGROUP
Social media is playing an important stage, opinions
role in shaping news stories in general are shared and
ATTENTION
and crisis situations in particular. responsibility is
Specifically, even as social media assigned. In the
makes it easy to track an emerging archival stage, the 2 Context 3 Analysis
crisis situation, it makes it difficult to story goes off the Sharing links via Sharing opinions
hashtags via blog posts
effectively manage the crisis situation. newspaper front
page, the website
Social media and the news homepage and
1 Breaking news Archival 4
curve the evening news Sharing stories via Searching for
All news stories develop in a similar retweets stories via Google
on TV.
manner, following the news curve. TIME
The news curve has four stages: Social media
breaking news, context, analysis and is playing an
archival. The breaking news stage is important role in shaping the news even in emerging economies. During
curve. The news curve is becoming the 72-hour terrorist seize of India’s
shorter in the “breaking news” and financial capital, Twitter, Flickr and
Based on the interplay “context” stages, but longer in the blogs became important tools for
“analysis” and “archival” stages. The citizen journalists to share original
between social media news curve is also becoming more reporting, news, and opinions.
and mainstream fragmented and news stories are Social media, especially Twitter,
media in the run up to becoming more viral. Different social played an important role in shaping
media behaviors play different roles the mainstream media narrative
the crisis flash point, across the four stages of the news during the crisis, both in India and
crisis situations can be curve. News stories are now being internationally.
categorized into three broken on the official Twitter channels
of news organizations and shared Social media and the crisis
types, each needing a via retweets. Context is being added curve
different approach: real by sharing links on Twitter using a The four stages in the crisis curve
hashtag. Blogs and video blogs are
world crisis, slow burn correspond to the four stages in the
playing an important role in shaping news curve: flash point, spotlight,
crisis and flash mob opinion. Finally, search is making blame game and resolution. Like
crisis. it easier to find and share archived the news curve, the crisis curve is
stories that act as context for new becoming shorter in the “flash point”
stories. and “spotlight” stages, but longer in
concerned with questions like: what the “blame game” and “resolution”
happened, with whom and where? In The 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in stages. Like the news curve, the
the context stage, more information is 2009 is a good example of how social crisis curve is also becoming more
added, as background. In the analysis media is shaping the news ecosystem fragmented and crisis stories are
34

35. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS
Social media has a specific role to play at each stage of the crisis curve. MSLGROUP has created a crisis management
toolkit that includes workshops, tools and best practices to map out, plan for and respond to the specific demands of
the crisis situations at each stage in the crisis curve.
0 Before crisis: Map out alternate crisis scenarios in advance,
and plan for their best, worst and most likely cases, in order to
ATTENTION
respond to them effectively.
1 Flash point: Track negative social media chatter, identify
2 Spotlight 3 Blame Game
early warning signals, isolate issues, and resolve them, before
Plot heat map of Shape narrative
via owned media they turn into a crisis.
crisis flows
2 Spotlight: Plot a heat map of crisis flows between social
media and mainstream media, identify influencers who are
1 Flash Point Resolution 4 acting as hubs and focus crisis management efforts on these
Track early Optimize for hubs.
warning signals search results
3 Blame game: Shape the narrative by leveraging owned
TIME media channels like blog and YouTube to reframe the issue
0 Before Crisis more positively and avert direct blame.
Plan for crisis scenarios
4 Resolution: Optimize owned media content for search
results, so that positive and neutral stories show up alongside
negative stories on keyword searches related to the brand.
becoming more viral. As a result, even Tony Hayward’s “I want my life back” reputation for creating shared value
as social media makes it easy to track comment, and the online spoofs they did not help during the crisis. In
an emerging crisis situation, it makes inspired, did not help BP’s cause. the end, Nestlé announced that it
it difficult to effectively manage the would stop procuring from suppliers
crisis situation. In the “slow burn” crisis, social associated with deforestation.
media conversations (product
The interplay between social quality, customer support, employee Using social media to
media and mainstream media is an discontent) build up into a crisis and manage a crisis
important aspect of the crisis curve, are picked up by influential bloggers Social media has a specific role to
with online influencers linking to and even mainstream media. For play at each stage of the crisis curve.
media stories and media quoting instance, in 2005, influential blogger MSLGROUP has created a crisis
online influencers. Jeff Jarvis blogged about a series of management toolkit that includes
bad customer service experiences tools and best practices for each stage
Three types of crisis with Dell, and became the focal in the crisis cycle.
situations point of the Dell Hell crisis. Dell Hell
Based on the interplay between social forced Dell to recommit to creating a In the flash-point stage, we track
media and mainstream media in the positive customer experience and led negative social media chatter, identify
run up to the crisis flash point, crisis to several remarkable social media early warning signals, isolate issues,
situations can be categorized into initiatives including the Direct2Dell and resolve them, before they turn
three types, each needing a different blog, the Dell Ideastorm ideation into a crisis.
approach: real world crisis, slow burn community and Dell’s social media
crisis and flash mob crisis. command center. In the spotlight stage, we plot a heat
map of crisis flows between social
In the “real world” crisis, a real world In the “flash mob” crisis, a social media and mainstream media, identify
incident (oil spill, financial scam, media meme (Greenpeace campaign, influencers who are acting as hubs
sex scandal) precipitates the crisis. anti-brand hashtag, anti-brand driving these flows and focus our crisis
Mainstream media puts a spotlight on video) creates a flash mob, turns management efforts on these hubs.
the crisis while social media amplifies into a crisis, and is picked up by
the crisis. For instance, during the mainstream media. For instance, In the blame-game stage, we
protracted BP Gulf of Mexico crisis in in 2010, Greenpeace created a help clients shape the narrative by
2010, the flash point was the oil spill viral video led campaign to protest leveraging owned media channels
itself, but social media played a critical against Nestle procuring palm oil like blog and YouTube to reframe the
role in the spotlight, blame game and from Indonesian rainforests and issue more positively and avert direct
resolution stages. BP’s crisis response endangering orangutans. Protestors blame.
was a textbook case study in terms hijacked Nestle’s Facebook page and
of its scope and scale. However, a filled it with abusive comments and In the resolution stage, we optimize
series of failed attempts to control Nestle Killer profile pics. Surprisingly, owned media content for search
the oil spill over months, then-CEO Nestle’s strong corporate citizenship results, so that positive and neutral
35
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

36. THE NEWS CURVE AND THE CRISIS CURVE
All news stories develop in a similar manner, creating a news curve, with four stages: breaking news, context, analysis
and archival.
The four stages in the crisis curve correspond to these: flash point, spotlight, blame game and resolution.
Social media plays an important role in shaping them, making it more difficult to control a crisis.
1 What happened? With whom? Where?
Sharing stories via retweets
ATTENTION
2 Who is involved? Has it happened before?
Sharing links via hashtags
2 Spotlight 3 Blame Game
3 Why did it happen? Who is responsible?
More Sharing opinions via blog posts
fragmented,
but more viral 4 Off the front page and the evening news.
1 Flash Point Resolution 4
Searching for stories via Google
TIME
Shorter head Longer tail
stories show up alongside negative This toolkit include a workshop the right things and more about doing
stories on keyword searches related to for scenario, keyword, influencer, the right things. So, corporations
the brand. spokesperson and message mapping, that are rooted in purpose are likely
and platforms like a wiki-based war to respond to crisis situations with
Most importantly, it’s critical to map room for crisis collaboration and authenticity, and overcompensate
out and plan for crisis scenarios a CMS-based dark site for crisis for mistakes, transforming potential
in advance, in order to respond to response. crises into opportunities to reconnect
them effectively. We have created with their stakeholders.
a toolkit for mapping out alternate In the end, however, managing any
crisis scenarios and planning for their crisis successfully, including a crisis
best, worst and most likely cases. on social media, is less about saying
THREE TYPES OF CRISIS SITUATIONS
The interplay between social media and mainstream shapes the crisis curve, with online influencers linking to or
sharing media stories and media quoting online influencers.
Based on this interplay in the run up to the crisis flash point, crisis situations can be categorized into three types – real
world, slow burn and flash mob -- each needing a different approach.
1 The ‘real world’ crisis
A real world incident (oil spill, financial scam, sex scandal)
ATTENTION
precipitates the crisis. Mainstream media puts a spotlight on
the crisis while social media amplifies the crisis. Example: BP
Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
2 3
2 The ‘slow burn’ crisis
Social media conversations (product quality, customer support,
employee discontent) build up into a crisis and are picked up
by influential bloggers and even mainstream media. Example:
1 4 Dell Hell.
3 The ‘flash mob’ crisis
A social media meme (Greenpeace video, anti-brand hashtag,
TIME anti-brand video) creates a flash mob, turns into a crisis, and is
Newspapers/ Blogs/ Twitter/ picked up by mainstream media. Example: Nestle Kit Kat
Television YouTube Facebook
Greenpeace video.
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social media.
The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.
36

37. Crisis Simulation, Experiencing a Crisis First
Hand, Before it Happens
Erik Nilsson
Crisis Management, JKL GROUP
Sweden
I wish I knew then what I spreads around the world in mere Bringing Realism to Crisis
know now seconds these days, more and more Simulation
At JKL GROUP, our simulations are companies and their top executives The key to a successful simulation
based on the belief that the best way are requesting programs to help lies in the realism of the case. Our
to prepare for a crisis is to go through them prepare for and avert crisis simulation system allows for any
one. Indeed, after going through a situations. Most executives today type of organization to go through a
real crisis, our clients often say to us: know the risks that come with highly realistic scenario to prepare
“I wish I knew then what I know now.” unprepared organizations. In our for a future event, such as a crisis,
experience, what separates good major business transaction, bad
With the rise of social media, crisis management from bad crisis financial news or even an executive
increased media and consumer management is mostly how well kidnapping for companies working in
scrutiny and the fact that news prepared the organizations are. volatile parts of the world.
We have also built a unique crisis system that allows for
fake articles, broadcasts, interviews, blogs, tweets, and
events to occur in a secure IT environment housed on our
client’s servers.
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Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011

38. Client’s Crisis Management Team Simulation Management - JKL The training itself usually lasts
between 2-3 hours, followed
News by an hour or so of feedback
Portal
and assessment of the team’s
performance.
Defining and Evaluating
Success
CMT GROUP JKL monitors The follow-up covers all aspects
works together CMT and manage
with the crisis in development of
of the simulation, and is given on
their normal the case in both an individual and group basis.
crisis situation real time Feedback areas include:
room » How did the crisis management
group function as a team, did
everyone have a designated role?
During the simulation, participants from the Was there any expertise missing
CMT can be interviewed live in the group, or anyone that was
not needed?
» To what extent did the group use
Since the fall of 2009, we have might not even read the short one, to manuals, policies and directives?
developed crisis-preparation be honest.) Should they be changed in any
plans and media simulations way?
for investment banks, financial In addition, the “war room” at the » Did the group reach out to all
institutions, law firms, and energy company is where all relevant relevant stakeholders? Internal
and infrastructure companies. individuals would gather to handle audiences? Politicians?
Together with the client, we invent the fictitious crisis during the training » How did the group handle the
a realistic crisis situation. In fact, and during an actual crisis. The room crisis situation? Did they get off
several of the situations we have needs to have business equipment to a good start, what could have
“invented” have occurred later on. such as phones with conference been done differently?
capability, high-speed and wi-fi » Did the group have sufficient
We have also built a unique crisis Internet connection, paper and pens, information for decision-making?
system that allows for fake articles, and a printer. Did they initiate all the relevant
broadcasts, interviews, blogs, tweets, internal processes?
and events to occur in a secure IT Of course, the people and
environment housed on our client’s departments that need to be at the A crisis simulation is a great way
servers. ready include legal, operations, to stress-test your organization’s
PR, HR etc. This process allows readiness, to identify areas of
Once a client asks us for the us to develop deep insight improvement and to prepare the
training, we take between one to about the client’s organization, crisis team for a real crisis situation.
three months to develop all the issues, opportunities and level of In short, it’s an exercise that will put
materials, including: information preparedness. your organization through a crisis,
and background on the fictitious but on your terms.
crisis; scripts and key messages for
all spokespeople; pre-recorded TV
How do we win readers? How do we win readers?
broadcasts or fake articles, blogs
and tweets about the crisis; and crisis Media Team 1 Competition Media Team 2
response content such as press Client team 1 Client team 2
releases, tweets, and Facebook
updates.
Building Crisis Preparedness
We also do a review of the company
in question to assess if corporate Simulation Management
decision-makers have the tools and
people in place to handle a crisis. Business Event
These tools include a crisis manual,
which in our view should be very How to act?
short because in a real crisis no one
Communication Management
will read a long document. (They
Client team 3
38

39. Engaging Third Party influencers in Crisis
Planning
Jack Yeo
SVP, MSL Chicago
The Power of Influencers initiated a better working relationship Mapping Your Influencers
I once orchestrated a crisis between the agency and my client So who is an influencer? Third-
simulation for a meat-processing going forward. This relationship party influencers are high-profile
client to help the decision- later proved to be invaluable when a individuals or organizations with
makers prepare for a potential separate and different strain of H1N1 the ability to change the perception
H1N1 outbreak. We asked the U.S. first appeared in the United States a of your company, organization or
Department of Agriculture’s Animal year later. product, or affect the debate or
and Plant Health Inspection Service policy around a particular issue.
to review the scenario created for Just goes to show that you can Influencers can be regulators,
the simulation exercise and invited never underestimate the power of government officials, industry
the agency to participate in the drill. influencers who can speak for you leaders, academics, associations,
The agency’s input and feedback when times get tough. NGO groups or members of
made the session more realistic and the media. They are regularly
Photo by Danilo Prates on flickr
Mapping out, building relationships with and engaging
influencers can play a critical role in both crisis planning
and response.
39
Every Crisis is Global, Social, Viral
NOVEMBER 2011