Crisis Management

There is a time when every company or organisation may find itself in an uncomfortable situation facing a more or less dramatic crisis. With such an easy accessible tool like the internet it is getting more and more difficult to prepare in cases of a crisis. Anyone with a camera (mobile, camcorder, or digital camera) can make “undercover” films and post them on platforms like YouTube, Facebook and similar ones. Confidential or damaging material can therefore easily be distributed causing a great harm in a company’s reputation.

In such cases, crisis management is needed more than anything. New trust needs to be established among the public and the responsible parties need to be able to respond to the high pressure they will then be under. However a crisis is always an opportunity to show how well structured and prepared a company is in such situations. When videos of employees working at Domino’s Pizza were leaked on the internet showing disgusting actions they did while preparing the food, the company faced the problem immediately and dealt with it in an excellent way (Case study below).

Today companies, organisations and governments need to be prepared for a crisis any time. The need to have prepared strategies, already planned out before a crisis’ outbreak – and most importantly they need to be prepared any time as the internet never sleeps! That means they need to analyse potential risks and crisis situations and causes beforehand. Most importantly they should prepare and have and eye on their employees as these people are the greatest risk. They are the closest to confidential information and have access to all or almost all areas in a company. Furthermore great attention should be paid to the Internet and how to use it and several social media platforms in cases of a crisis. With the Internet the largest number of people can be reached and updates can be posted every hour or even every few minutes.
     
Here are my the Top 8 Crisis Management Tips:

1. Face the crisis!

2. Have clear roles on who is doing what in a crisis
    (who speaks to the media, who is responsible for communication on the internet)!

3. Identify the four W’s (who what when where) before facing the media!

4. Prepare and rehearse your crisis management plans!

5. Don’t hide – be accessible for the media and the public
    (on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TV etc.)!

6. Train your employees!

7. Have guidelines for the employees how to use social media
    (they should know how to make regular updates giving a positive image)!

8. Get third parties involved that have a positive influence and
    support on your image among the public!

Case Study Domino's Pizza

In 2009 the international fast food chain Domino’s Pizza faced a crisis when a video was leaked on YouTube showing two employees preparing Pizzas while doing pretty disgusting and unhygienic things to the food. The video is now no longer available but had almost 1 million clicks before it was put down.

Domino’s dealt very well with that crisis concentrating on social media to overcome this situations. First a video on YouTube was published showing the President of Domino’s Pizza facing the incident, apologizing, telling where the incident happened and how Domino’s will deal with it and thanking for support and trust. Also a Twitter account was created on which Domino’s kept contact with costumers, updated on a regular basis about the incident and promoted positive coverage. Also they apologized for what had happened and did not stop to thank their loyal costumers for their ongoing support. 

The employees seen in the video were identified and lost their jobs.

This case shows how quick a company can be put into a crisis and how easy information that is not intended for the public or better kept within a company reaches a large audience.


Apology Video of Domino's President Patrick Doyle

PR in times of War - where is the truth?

In the first class of Contemporary Theory and Issues in Public Relations, we watched the BBC documentary “War Spin” that reveals some of the PR strategies the US and UK governments used during the Iraq War in 2003. It is unlikely to change that any country that goes to war will give out only certain information to justify its action and maintain a positive image among the public.

Although it is one of the tasks in PR to keep, save or establish an image of an organisation, a company, a government or a single person, it is questionable where the moral boundaries in such critical situations like war lie. In the case of the Iraq war only selected bits and pieces of information were given out to the public by the US government. Most of the information were misleading and leaving the public with a complete wrong impression of the overall situation and a wrong image of the United States.

Most probably any government during times of war will always use war spin. However if we can’t trust our governments in cases of such difficult situations, who can the public rely on? It is important for PR to be kept in mind that the public has a right to information and the media have the duty to inform. What is needed is a strict moral standard for PR practitioners they have to be obliged to.

Here is a part of the BBC documentary footage that revealed the PR strategies used by the US government during the Iraq War in 2003. 

References: Jowett, G. and O'Donnell, V., (2006). Propaganda and Persuasion. 4th ed. Sage Publications Inc.