A nice piece of analysis by Caz Yetman at NixonMcInnes on how O2 struck the right tone online during its outage a couple of weeks ago, setting the bar very high for any brand using social to communicate in a crisis.
http://www.nixonmcinnes.co.uk/2012/07/23/social-crisis-comms-winners-vs-losers/
Andrew Caesar-Gordon
Monday 23 July 2012
Wednesday 4 July 2012
Proof (almost) that swift and open crisis communication preserves business value
I’ve long been an admirer of the work of Oxford Metrica which focuses
on the impact of a crisis on the value of a business. It shows that
the way in which a business responds to a crisis (not the fact of the
crisis itself) defines the extent to which value is lost – or sometimes
won – in the aftermath of a crisis. They call it the “acid test” of
management.
So I was fascinated to read its 2011 Reputation Review produced in partnership with AON’s risk management practice. I was especially drawn to a section which focused on ethics violations in the healthcare sector, and the impact of crisis communication on value recovery or loss.
After analysing over fifty cases across a range of companies, Oxford Metrica was clear that the quality of communication had a direct effect on the financial impact to the business. In particular, those that retained or grew their value following the incident:
But if research doesn’t convince you, what about the experiences of those who have grappled with crises at the sharp end? Research by IR (Investor Relations) Magazine asked managers who had endured a crisis for their main post-incident learnings.
The top four were almost a mirror image of Oxford Metrica’s findings:
Jonathan Hemus
So I was fascinated to read its 2011 Reputation Review produced in partnership with AON’s risk management practice. I was especially drawn to a section which focused on ethics violations in the healthcare sector, and the impact of crisis communication on value recovery or loss.
After analysing over fifty cases across a range of companies, Oxford Metrica was clear that the quality of communication had a direct effect on the financial impact to the business. In particular, those that retained or grew their value following the incident:
- Disclosed promptly
- Demonstrated candour and transparency in their disclosure
- Took responsibility for their actions or those of their agents
- Demonstrated credible follow up behaviours
- Either delayed communication responses or failed to communicate at all
- Issued opaque or partial responses
- Failed to take responsibility or express contrition
- Attempted to shift blame
But if research doesn’t convince you, what about the experiences of those who have grappled with crises at the sharp end? Research by IR (Investor Relations) Magazine asked managers who had endured a crisis for their main post-incident learnings.
The top four were almost a mirror image of Oxford Metrica’s findings:
- Be communicative
- Be fast
- Be transparent
- Be honest
Jonathan Hemus
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