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.