Yesterday an issue, today a crisis
When does an issue become a crisis? Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between the two, but usually it’s when an on-going but manageable issue becomes the subject of intense – usually negative – attention. The catalyst for this can be a regulatory investigation, a new report, consumer protest and, often, media attention. Day seven of our month long snapshot of organisations in crisis management mode includes several organisations whose issues have today become crises:
Tripadvisor: online travel site; legal action re unfair/inaccurate reviews
Pro-Tect Systems: UK Taser distributor; withdrawal of licence
Segway: technology/transport; safety – report reveals increasing number of accidents [This is a developing crisis following the death of the Segway's inventor earlier this week]
Easyjet, Eurostar and others: various; Which report alleges ”rip off” charges for use of credit and debit cards
The process of on-going issues management relies on ensuring that organisational behaviour aligns with stakeholder expectations. When this fails to happen and a situation explodes, it’s time to put the issues management strategy away, and dust off the crisis management plan. That’s what the organisations listed above will be doing today.
Wednesday 29 September 2010
In a crisis, the Scouts are right: Be Prepared!
PR people looked on as two of the world’s most admired companies – BP and Toyota – suffered terrible crises this year, and wondered “could we be next?”. Hopefully many have now moved on to considering what they could do in the light of these catastrophes to reduce their potential for reputational damage. An earlier posting identified denial as the first common factor in the BP and Toyota crises. The second – and inter-related factor – was an inability to mobilise a swift and comprehensive crisis response.
Now that it is fully developed, BP’s online crisis communication hub is an excellent resource: indeed it could be viewed as a template for others to follow. But it took too long to construct and launch, and as a consequence BP’s social media response was too slow (for example, its first YouTube video appeared a full month after the rig exploded).
In Toyota’s case, President Akio Toyoda was criticised for being invisible in the early stages of its crisis. It’s therefore no surprise that in both situations the companies failed to seize early control of the communication agenda. As a consequence they ended up reacting to events and were seen to be uncaring or ignorant of the growing crisis.
Actions for communicators to avoid this:
Be prepared – have thorough plans, processes and materials prepared beforehand. It’s obvious – but frequently ignored until it’s too late.
Train and test - a crisis is a communicator’s World Cup final: maximum pressure and intense attention means it’s the ultimate test. Success is far more likely if each team member has trained hard so they are confident in the plan and their role in it.
Create online communication platforms – social and online communication channels get your messages to stakeholders quickly. But only if you’ve prepared the channels, assigned the human resource and agreed the approval process beforehand
Speed of response has always been important in a crisis: today it is critical, and the benchmark for speedy has ratcheted up several notches. Having the crisis management infrastructure in place, with a tested plan and a trained team breeds confidence and a greater ability to exert control.
A further posting will take a look at the third and final element common to BP and Toyota, and consider the central role that communicators can play in addressing it.
PR people looked on as two of the world’s most admired companies – BP and Toyota – suffered terrible crises this year, and wondered “could we be next?”. Hopefully many have now moved on to considering what they could do in the light of these catastrophes to reduce their potential for reputational damage. An earlier posting identified denial as the first common factor in the BP and Toyota crises. The second – and inter-related factor – was an inability to mobilise a swift and comprehensive crisis response.
Now that it is fully developed, BP’s online crisis communication hub is an excellent resource: indeed it could be viewed as a template for others to follow. But it took too long to construct and launch, and as a consequence BP’s social media response was too slow (for example, its first YouTube video appeared a full month after the rig exploded).
In Toyota’s case, President Akio Toyoda was criticised for being invisible in the early stages of its crisis. It’s therefore no surprise that in both situations the companies failed to seize early control of the communication agenda. As a consequence they ended up reacting to events and were seen to be uncaring or ignorant of the growing crisis.
Actions for communicators to avoid this:
Be prepared – have thorough plans, processes and materials prepared beforehand. It’s obvious – but frequently ignored until it’s too late.
Train and test - a crisis is a communicator’s World Cup final: maximum pressure and intense attention means it’s the ultimate test. Success is far more likely if each team member has trained hard so they are confident in the plan and their role in it.
Create online communication platforms – social and online communication channels get your messages to stakeholders quickly. But only if you’ve prepared the channels, assigned the human resource and agreed the approval process beforehand
Speed of response has always been important in a crisis: today it is critical, and the benchmark for speedy has ratcheted up several notches. Having the crisis management infrastructure in place, with a tested plan and a trained team breeds confidence and a greater ability to exert control.
A further posting will take a look at the third and final element common to BP and Toyota, and consider the central role that communicators can play in addressing it.
Embarrassment for Volvo at “death” of crash test dummy
I’m less than a week into my month long snapshot of the diverse crises and issues affecting organisations from multiple sectors, but it’s clear that these incidents are even more common than I had originally supposed. Just as I finish writing my daily update, another crisis emerges and is added to the list! When you’re out of the eye of the storm and it’s ”business as usual”, it can feel like crises only happen to other people. But for the organisations listed below, crisis management is real and it’s happening to them, today.
BT: telecoms; now embroiled in the story re release of personal informationwhich ensnared ACS Law yesterday - this is a perfect example of a developing crisis which begins to affect more and more organisations as it evolves. BSkyB are also in crisis management mode as a result
Debt management companies: financial services; OFT investigation
Volvo: automotive; very public failure of “accident avoidance technology” results in death of crash test dummy
East Coast Mainline: travel; poor customer service results in £155 fine for passenger
Royal Bank of Scotland: financial services; job cuts
Royal Mail: postal service; 25% increase in cusomer complaints re “sorry we missed you” cards
GPs: health; 50% increase in the number of warnings issued to doctors by the General Medical Council
The magnitude of these crises and issues varies, as does the quality of the organisations’ crisis communication response. Whilst none of them will be enjoying this week’s unexpected workload, those that had prepared crisis management plans, processes and teams beforehand will find it significantly easier to cope.
I’m less than a week into my month long snapshot of the diverse crises and issues affecting organisations from multiple sectors, but it’s clear that these incidents are even more common than I had originally supposed. Just as I finish writing my daily update, another crisis emerges and is added to the list! When you’re out of the eye of the storm and it’s ”business as usual”, it can feel like crises only happen to other people. But for the organisations listed below, crisis management is real and it’s happening to them, today.
BT: telecoms; now embroiled in the story re release of personal informationwhich ensnared ACS Law yesterday - this is a perfect example of a developing crisis which begins to affect more and more organisations as it evolves. BSkyB are also in crisis management mode as a result
Debt management companies: financial services; OFT investigation
Volvo: automotive; very public failure of “accident avoidance technology” results in death of crash test dummy
East Coast Mainline: travel; poor customer service results in £155 fine for passenger
Royal Bank of Scotland: financial services; job cuts
Royal Mail: postal service; 25% increase in cusomer complaints re “sorry we missed you” cards
GPs: health; 50% increase in the number of warnings issued to doctors by the General Medical Council
The magnitude of these crises and issues varies, as does the quality of the organisations’ crisis communication response. Whilst none of them will be enjoying this week’s unexpected workload, those that had prepared crisis management plans, processes and teams beforehand will find it significantly easier to cope.
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Banks, oil companies, an airline, dead mice and a PR agency in crisis and issues management spotlight
It’s day five of our 28 day investigation into the crisis and issues management challenges facing businesses around the world, and the incidents keep coming:
ACS Law: law firm; online attack resulting in publication of private and personal information
Barclays: financial services; customer bricked up their entrance in protest against treatment of small businesses
Chevron: oil; Greenpeace protest against deepsea oil drilling
Ketchum: PR agency; vote-rigging (!!)
Premier Foods: food production; product integrity – dead mouse found in loaf of bread
Segway: technology/transport; potential safety fears following death of company founder whilst using his own product
Virgin Blue/Accenture: airline/IT consultancy; system failure causing travel chaos [With thanks to Craig Velenski for bringing this crisis to my attention]
The range of sectors and the type of crises are incredibly diverse, but they all drain management time, usually cost money and pose a real reputational risk to the organisations in question. The key to the scale of the damage caused is almost always determined not by the crisis itself, but by the way that the organisation responds to it. Being geared up to do so swiftly and professionally are pre-requisites for success.
It’s day five of our 28 day investigation into the crisis and issues management challenges facing businesses around the world, and the incidents keep coming:
ACS Law: law firm; online attack resulting in publication of private and personal information
Barclays: financial services; customer bricked up their entrance in protest against treatment of small businesses
Chevron: oil; Greenpeace protest against deepsea oil drilling
Ketchum: PR agency; vote-rigging (!!)
Premier Foods: food production; product integrity – dead mouse found in loaf of bread
Segway: technology/transport; potential safety fears following death of company founder whilst using his own product
Virgin Blue/Accenture: airline/IT consultancy; system failure causing travel chaos [With thanks to Craig Velenski for bringing this crisis to my attention]
The range of sectors and the type of crises are incredibly diverse, but they all drain management time, usually cost money and pose a real reputational risk to the organisations in question. The key to the scale of the damage caused is almost always determined not by the crisis itself, but by the way that the organisation responds to it. Being geared up to do so swiftly and professionally are pre-requisites for success.
Monday 27 September 2010
Another week, another crisis…
We all get that Monday morning feeling, but it’s much more intense when you’re beginning the week with a bout of crisis management. So, hats off to the communication teams at the following organisations who are doing exactly that right now:
Hyundai: automotive; product recall
BT: telecoms; allegedly at fault for an explosion which injured 11 people
British Gas: utility: unfair treatment of small businesses
South Korea Grand Prix: sports event; logistical problems
This posting marks day four of a 28 day campaign to highlight the scale and scope of issues and crises affecting all kinds of organisations every day. My objective is to illustrate that crises are not always as dramatic or high profile as those faced by Toyota and BP, but they are happening all the time and they are costing substantial amounts of time, money and reputational value. Being well prepared with a thorough crisis communication plan is the best way of minimising these costs – or maybe avoiding them altogether.
We all get that Monday morning feeling, but it’s much more intense when you’re beginning the week with a bout of crisis management. So, hats off to the communication teams at the following organisations who are doing exactly that right now:
Hyundai: automotive; product recall
BT: telecoms; allegedly at fault for an explosion which injured 11 people
British Gas: utility: unfair treatment of small businesses
South Korea Grand Prix: sports event; logistical problems
This posting marks day four of a 28 day campaign to highlight the scale and scope of issues and crises affecting all kinds of organisations every day. My objective is to illustrate that crises are not always as dramatic or high profile as those faced by Toyota and BP, but they are happening all the time and they are costing substantial amounts of time, money and reputational value. Being well prepared with a thorough crisis communication plan is the best way of minimising these costs – or maybe avoiding them altogether.
Sunday 26 September 2010
No day of rest when you’re managing an issue or crisis
Sunday’s the day for reading the papers, washing the car, taking the dog for a walk or maybe enjoying a convivial roast dinner at the local pub. But not if you’re in the middle of managing an issue or crisis. Like the following organisations:
The Commonwealth Games: sports event; logistical challenges and security concerns (please click on this link for a fascinating article by Reuters on how the Games’ organisers are dealing with reputational risk and this one for an insight into how the Games’ troubles poses reputational challenges for the whole of India)
Easydate: online dating; legal dispute
Betfair: bookmaker; Inland Revenue investigation
Tesco: retail; controversy over the sale of “Nazi helmets”
Crises and issues are happening around us the whole time, and they don’t stop for the weekend. Taking steps to prepare for a crisis – whatever sector a business operates in – is essential if organisations are to be confident of reputation protection.
Sunday’s the day for reading the papers, washing the car, taking the dog for a walk or maybe enjoying a convivial roast dinner at the local pub. But not if you’re in the middle of managing an issue or crisis. Like the following organisations:
The Commonwealth Games: sports event; logistical challenges and security concerns (please click on this link for a fascinating article by Reuters on how the Games’ organisers are dealing with reputational risk and this one for an insight into how the Games’ troubles poses reputational challenges for the whole of India)
Easydate: online dating; legal dispute
Betfair: bookmaker; Inland Revenue investigation
Tesco: retail; controversy over the sale of “Nazi helmets”
Crises and issues are happening around us the whole time, and they don’t stop for the weekend. Taking steps to prepare for a crisis – whatever sector a business operates in – is essential if organisations are to be confident of reputation protection.
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