Public Relations During Times of Crisis

Crisis is . . .

“A nonroutine event that risks undesired visibility that in turn threatens significant reputational damage”

Credit: Doorley & Garcia, p. 328

4 Types of Crises

• Meteor• Predator• Breakdown• Lingering

Credit: Shel Holtz @ http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/crisis_communication_fundamentals/ Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittymeetsgoat/1373562566/

Sparks of a Crisis

• Environmental• Technological• Terroristic• Criminal Misconduct• Managerial• Accidental

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/liberato/2521884271/

Benefits of Planning

• Reduce Stress• Demonstrates Goodwill• Flow of Information• Involves Stakeholders• Business Continuity

1. A list of the members of the crisis management team

2. Contact information for key officers, spokespeople, and crisis management team members

3. Fact sheets on the company, each division, each physical location, and each product offered.

4. Profiles and biographies for each key manager in your company

Credit: Don Crowther at http://www.globalprblogweek.com/archives/7_musthave_elements_.php

7 Must Have Elements in Your Crisis Communication Kit

7 Must Have Elements in Your Crisis Communication Kit, cont’d

5. Copies of your company, division and product logos, your press release format and the scanned in signature of your CEO on disk

6. Pre-written scripts answering key questions that you have generated through your crisis scenario analysis

7. Contact information for each of your key media contacts both locally, nationally, and if appropriate, key financial press and analysts.

Credit: Don Crowther at http://www.globalprblogweek.com/archives/7_musthave_elements_.php

Environmental Scan: Search for the Negative

• Google Alerts• search.twitter.com• For-fee services like

Radian6 & CustomScoop

From Brian Solis: http://www.briansolis.com/2008/11/reinventing-crisis-communications-for.html

The “Suck OR Die” Factor

• “product+sucks”• “company+sucks”• “die+company”• “i+hate+company”

From Brian Solis: http://www.briansolis.com/2008/11/reinventing-crisis-communications-for.html

3 Rs of Crisis Communication

ResearchResponseRecovery

Photo by Christopher.Woo, Flickr

RESEARCH

• Relationship Building• Environmental Scan• Emergency Personnel• Notification Procedures• Communication Procedures• Practice

Building Relationshipswith Stakeholders

Emergency Personnel Team

• Spokesperson (1-2)• Phone team• Researcher and writer• Business continuity• Decision maker• Legal council, if applicable

Notification Procedures1. Emergency Personnel Team2. Board of Directors3. Employees4. Members5. Other Stakeholders

Communication Procedures

1. Platform2. Priority3. Policy

Spokespersons

• Interest and Empathy• Honesty and Authenticity• Responsive and Proactive• Open to Criticism

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/presta/142795058/

Bridging• Don’t Know: I don’t know, but I can tell you…• Time: That may have been the case in the

past. Now we are…• Importance: That once was important. What

is most important now is…• Completing: I think you would have a more

complete picture if you considered…• Yes and No: No, let me explain. Yes, and

furthermore…

RESPONSE

• Emergency Notification• Gathering Information• Releasing Information• Stages of Crisis

4 Stages of a Crisis

Heroic Honeymoon

Disillusionment Reconstruction

From Communication Overtones

Notification

Gathering Information

Releasing Information

Tell It

• Tell it all• Tell it fast• Tell them what you’re

doing about it• Tell them when it’s over• Get back to work

Credit: Doorley & Garcia, p. 336

RECOVERY

• Follow up• Proactive storytelling• Solidify relationships• Adjust plan

YOUR TURN

Measuring “Success”

• Power of the Impact– How hard

• Breadth of the Impact– How long

• Depth of the Impact– How isolated

Credit: Ike Pigott

Kami Watson Huyse, APRPhone: (713) 568-5750

E-mail: kami@myprpro.comBlog: Communication Overtones

Web site: www.myprpro.com

Used with PermissionCopyright August 2008 © all rights reserved

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Prepare at Work,American Red Cross

• “Now is Too Late,” by Gerald R. Baron• CrisisBlogger• 7 Must-Have Elements for Crisis Planning• Crisis Communication Articles• Emergency Procedures Flowcharts• Doorley, J., & Garcia, H. F. (2007). Reputation

management: The key to successful public relations and corporate communications. New York: Routledge.

Barbara B. Nixon, Ph.D. (ABD)Public Relations Faculty MemberSoutheastern University

E-mail: bbnixon@seuniversity.eduTwitter: barbaranixonSkype: barbara.b.nixonBlog: Public Relations Matters

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