Crisis Communication Tool:

How to use Social Media to Prepare for a Crisis

Think like Starbucks.  Starbucks is a great example of a company that is really using social media to give them an advantage with their audience, and as a way to potentially help them in a future.  Starbucks is involved in social media with a Twitter account, Facebook page, blog and a social media campaign.  The key to their social media success is their innovative and creative manner they go about applying social media in their company.

Starbucks launched a social media campaign in 2009 in an effort to attract new consumers and create involvement and interaction with current constituents.  The social media revolved around the slogan: “Beware of a cheaper cup of coffee. It comes with a price.”  The campaign involved a photo contest as well as an opportunity for employees to suggest ads and headlines for the company.  These ideas were great ways for Starbucks to involve their constituents in their branding process and give them a sense of trust in the company.

In order to Starbucks to have such social media success, they really had to take it seriously.  They showed their dedication when they hired Brad Nelson, 28, and their official voice on Twitter.  Nelson showed an interest in re-engaging with their consumers and expanding brand awareness on the web.  His position and many duties required him to get involved and interact with Starbucks’ constituents on a daily basis, and in a creative manner.  This desire and talent is exactly what Starbucks needed to push their social media status to the next level.

Starbucks also created a “My Starbucks Idea” blog to further involve their constituents in their company decisions.  This blog allows any visitor to suggest an idea they think the company should consider implementing.  Their ideas are all voted on and taken into consideration by Starbucks.  There is also a tab on their blog called “Ideas in Action” where consumers can go to  see the ideas that are actually being carried  out by the company.  This blog helps Starbucks in achieving transparency, creating and maintaining relationships and gaining respect and trust from their constituents.

It is clear that Starbucks is a great example in what effective social media relations looks like.  Starbucks creates clear relationships with their constituents which will help them in the uncertain future.  Unforeseen crises happen frequently in the corporate world, and using social media effectively could greatly help a company in restoring their image and trust.  The numerous relationships they are building with their constituents will help in future crises.  Starbucks will also have an advantage in a crisis because they will understand how to quickly respond to their constituent through social media. This is key in coming back from an unforeseen crisis.

For more information on how to successfully use social media, consult this cheat sheet.

Case Study:

Nestle gets Slammed through Social Media

Recent information posted on the web about Nestle has quickly led them into a social media crisis.  On March 17, Green Peace posted information on their website, linking Nestle to rain-forest destruction.  This information quickly led to consumer outrage, and they didn’t mind showing their anger to Nestle through social media.  A lot of the negative information spread through Twitter, a popular social media site. Many Twitter followers found out about the rain-forest article, and linked it on their Twitter accounts, which quickly got the word out.  Once this information was found on websites, blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts everywhere, Nestle found themselves in a crisis.

Nestle was already a corporation involved in social media, therefore they were aware of the bad reputation that they were quickly earning. On the same day that Greenpeace posted the disturbing report, Nestle responded on their Facebook fan page.  They also issued a response about their use of Palm Oil, and promptly issued a promise for the future.  Though quickly responding to this sudden crisis was a step in the right direction for Nestle, their constituents were still outraged.  Like in many crisis cases, the consumers were not immediately happy the corporations, and they were not quick to forgive.  The negative comments continued on Twitter and on their Facebook page, some of them being so inappropriate that Nestle had to delete them and request that their fans stop.

This case goes to show that crisis cannot be solved overnight, but that doesn’t mean that the company should give up.  Nestle continued to post updates about their rain-forest dilemma.  One of the posts on April 13, linked to a letter that Nestlé Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe wrote to Greenpeace about their efforts to stop the deforestation.

Jeremiah Owyang, a web strategy blogger, has also been following this Nestle crisis, and offers important advice for companies experiencing social media attacks.  This case study is a great example of crisis communication primarily dealing with social media, and how to promptly and constantly respond.

Crisis Communication Tool:

The 5 P’s to Follow in Crisis Communication

After studying the crisis communications case studies in my previous posts, I have compiled a list of what I think to be the 5 most important concepts of a crisis communication plan. 

Prepare:

First and foremost, every company needs to prepare for a crisis.  A crisis will most likely eventually occur in you company, and it will pan out more smoothly if there is a plan ahead of time.  Dave Fleet, the leader of the social media practice at Thornley Fallis Communications, explains Seven Reasons Your Company Needs To Prepare For Crises 

 A great tactic for preparedness is first to inform all employees of their duties during a crisis.  The last thing that a company needs in a crisis is for the employees to be confused, therefore make internal communications your first step in preparedness.  If your communications staff is the only department that is prepared for a crisis, then it will only be harder to get your message out. 

Other tactics to prepare for a crisis can be to create a black site, draft an apology letter, or even draft a speech to be delivered by the CEO.  Because social media is such a crucial aspect of consumer satisfaction, it would also be beneficial to brainstorm possible social media responses to a crisis, such as: possible Twitter responses, blog posts, a website apology, YouTube responses and even intranet responses.

Practice:

After the crisis communications plan is created, and the company is well prepared, what better way to exhibit you preparedness than to actually practice it?  Many companies, such as oil companies choose to have oil spill drills, such as this one in Portland, Maine to execute their crisis plan.

Prompt: 

Once a crisis strikes, it is crucial to be prompt in releasing a public response.   Immediacy is key in crisis communications because it exhibits company transparency, as well as shows the constituents that you make mistakes, and are willing to apologize and then take action and fix them.   Edward Delvin explains the importance of immediacy in his crisis communication plan.

Project your message:

Now that you have taken the appropriate steps, it is time to get your message out.   This message should explain the crisis, apologize to the constituents, as well as explain the further actions that the company plans to take.  This company message should be executed in various mediums, in order to reach your publics.  Using a printed apology letter can be effective for a portion of the target audience, but as we are seeing more and more with the Web 2.0, social media should always be used as well. 

Personality:

Lastly, when carrying out your crisis plan, make sure that you portray your company’s personality.  The last thing that you want is for a constituent to feel like he/she is just being given a generic apology.   Your goal is to exert your company’s values and ultimate mission in your message.  When Jet Blue stranded hundreds of their customers in 2007, David Neilman, CEO distributed a very personable apology letter.  This letter does not provide excuses for the crisis, but takes a positive approach towards future improvement, while also apologizing and demonstrating their values.  Neilman also showed the company’s personality in is video apology.

Personal Crisis:

Conan O’ Brien Uses Social Media to Gain Fan Support

Recently, NBC bumped Conan O’Brien’s Late Night Show time slot back to midnight, and moved Jay Leno’s time slot up to his regular time.  It has been no secret that O’Brien was against this decision, and publicly refused to just be moved back, when he was promised the earlier time slot.  Refusing to just be pushed back, O’Brien and his communications team quickly fought back…and NBC didn’t even see it coming.

While NBC was still primarily focused on traditional media, O’Brien quickly headed a brilliant social media campaign.  The popular “I’m With CoCo” image was posted on the internet, and many users have made it their profile pictures, including some of the NBC staff.  Instead of using any traditional advertising, he quickly created a FaceBook fan page, twitter account and TeamCoCo.com. 

His social media sites were an instant success, showing that he was creating an increasing fan base.  O’Brien decided to host a comedy tour, which would travel around the country.  This would create more revenue for him and his staff as well as attract more fans.  How did O’Brien get the word out about his tour?  Social media of course.  His approach was simply, and overwhelmingly successful. He particularly looked to his twitter account for success.  He posted on his twitter “Hey internet: I’m coming to your town” and then directed viewers to TeamCoCo.com to look at his tour schedule.  The site instantly received so many viewers that he had to write another post, encouraging the fans to just go directly to the ticketmster site.  His tour sold out in most city within hours.  Success was sweet.

This social media success could lead to many other opportunities for O’Brien.  He has quickly and successfully proved that he will not settle for less than he was promised, and he will not back down. 

Crisis Communication Tool:

“Dark Sites” can Light up Your Company

Since 9/11, many companies are coming up with new ways to prepare for the worst.  Many companies of all kinds are now creating what they call a “dark site,” a tool that is helping them prepare to recover from the possible disasters that could occur.  A “dark site” is a website that a company creates ahead of time, and it is not visible to the public until the emergency occurs and the company activates it.  The “dark site” usually has information of the details of the event that occurred and other information that can be written in advance pertaining to the particular crisis. There are many essential elements of a “dark site” that a company should include so that they can communication with both the internal and external publics of the organization.

Many large companies have a specific “crisis team” who are responsible of creating these “dark sites” and getting the information out immediately.  With the progress of the Internet and social media today, if crucial information regarding a company crisis is not released almost instantly, the company can catch a lot of criticism.  Many companies use “Dark sites”, the most popular including: airlines, pharmaceutical companies, food/beverage companies, government agencies, and others.

For example, the recent H1N1 epidemic caused a nationwide panic, and many health department agencies had to act fast to get the newest information out to the public. The Santa Clara County Public Health Department was among the organizations that wanted to prepare for the worst, therefore they created a “dark site.”

Another crisis tool that many companies are using is creating a kind of “dark site” on Facebook. This way, they can easily communicate with the majority of the public that practices social media daily.  Using Facebook is also a way of creating two-way communication, instead of just informing the public of the news.

Case Study:

Motrin Gets a Bad Response from Moms Everywhere

A recent ad posted by Motrin aimed towards moms in an effort to “feel their pain” didn’t work out so well.  The Motrin Ad infers that moms are wearing their babies in slings or wraps because it is a fashion statement and it makes them look like an “official mom.” 

First of all, it suggests that mom’s are just trying to look cool and like an “official mom” by wearing their baby in a sling.  In reality they will look like a mom if they have the baby on their hip, in a stroller, or in a car seat. 

Second of all,  Unless you have some sort of Louis Vutton or Coach printed sling, it is hardly a fashion trend.  It is mostly just effective and helpful for moms that want to hold their baby as well as not completely have their hands tied up.  So basically, Motrin upset their target demographic for this ad.

This was the initial reaction to the ad from mom’s nationwide, and Motrin needed to respond quickly.  The blogosphere and Twitter was quickly filling up with outraged moms boycotting Motrin. Motrinmoms is a twitter account set up for all of the outraged mothers. There was also a Facebook page called “Babyweraring isn’t painful. Boycott Motrin for saying it is” that currently has 1,183 members who all share their anger towards this ad and vow they will not use Motrin.  Some angry moms even posted their responses to the ad on YouTube.  It is clear the moms use social media too, and the best response from Motrin? It should probably involve social media.

Motrin quickly posted an apology on their website about the ad as well as tried to respond to many of the negative twitter a blog posts about the ad. A response/apology was left on the Mom-101 blog, as well as many other “mommy blogs” directly from Motrin.

Personal Crisis Case Study

Letterman Scandal leads to an Immediate Apology

In September, 2009 a scandal broke out, not only affecting David Letterman and the Late Show, but also the reputation of CBS. A 48 Hours producer, Robert J. Halderman was allegedly trying to blackmail Letterman in exchange for $2 million.  He reportedly told Letterman that he would expose embarrassing information about his various sexual relationship with females on his staff, if he did not pay him the money.  Although they were both CBS employees, CBS still covered the story on the Early Show. CBS’ response during this scandal was very responsible, because instead of trying to hide their bad news, they reported on it, just as if it was any other big news story.

Instead of buckling under pressure and giving Halderman the money, Letterman went to his attorney and turned Halderman in for blackmail.  Knowing that the consequences of his bold decision would lead to this scandalous information leaking to the public, Letterman put an exceptional crisis communication plan to action.

Instead of letting the rumors fly, Letterman gave an apology on air during his show.  He explained the situation as well as showed sincerity for his viewers, his staff and his family.  His apology was quickly posted on YouTube and other online video venues for anyone who missed the show to see.  It just reiterated the fact that Letterman was not trying to hide the scandal and he was sorry for his past actions.

Letterman followed 5 rules that are essential in a crisis communication case, and in turn his audience did not abandon him.  Because he came out with the story in an honest and timely manner, much of the blame and disgust is aimed toward Halderman, the alleged extortionist.

Overall, Letterman executed a great crisis communication plan, and in turn Letterman as well as CBS hold their upright reputation today.

Personal Crisis Case Study

Tiger Woods Finally Speaks to the Public

We all know about the Tiger Woods scandal, and there is no real reason to investigate further into this already embarrassed golfer’s personal life.  What is necessary to investigate are his tactics for communicating with the public throughout this mess.

It is somewhat obvious that Tiger Woods and his communications staff did not previously have a crisis communications plan, and if they did, they must have thrown it out the window as soon as disaster struck.  Clearly, when the public finds out that you have had multiple mistresses for the past several years, the easiest thing to do is run.  But running only makes the public want to find out all of the details even more.

In such a crisis case, it is imperative to get a statement out to the public as soon as possible, so that they do not keep prying and eventually staring their own rumors.  According to Diana Mattioli’s article in the Wall Street Journal , it is important to get something out at least within 24 hours.

Tiger waited near three months to deliver his public apology, and even then, his audience was hand chosen and he refused to answer questions.  With already such a tightly controlled meeting, refusing to answer questions communicated even more that he had something to hide and gave his apology a rather bad review.  It is understandable that he did not want to answer uncomfortable questions.  But he also failed to realize that taking questions does not mean that you have to answer every question thrown to you.  He could have been selective, just like numerous other public figures in the media today.

ADWEEK conducted a poll which concluded that about 59% of people still find Woods unfavorable, even after his apology.

Throughout this personal crisis, Tiger Woods has failed to use social media to his advantage.  Woods has over 1.3 million fans on his Facebook fan page, and after his incident, he locked them out by not allowing anyone to post comments on the page.  When he is rapidly losing his once flawless reputation, isn’t it time to try to connect with his fans so that they do not ditch him like the majority of his onlookers?

His fans were his biggest supporters before the accident, so they will most likely be future fans as well.  His chances of gaining fans that were not fans before this scandal are slim to none.

Woods does have his own website, which is rightfully mostly on his golfing career, but that is also a great place that he could have posted an apology closer to the incident occurring. His last post on his blog was October 5, 2009.

He has clearly abandoned social media, and many other crisis communication techniques that he could have utilized throughout this apparent disaster.

Case Study:

 

2010 Toyota Corolla

 

Toyota: “Moving Forward” too Fast?

The term “crisis” seems too weak to explain the situation that Toyota is currently in. In January 2010, Toyota recalled over 2.3 million vehicles, which could account for a combined total of 50% of Toyota’s sales in the United States.

The recalled models include:

• 2005 to 2010 Toyota Avalon
• 2007 to 2010 Toyota Camry
• 2009 to 2010 Toyota Corolla
• 2010 Toyota Highlander
• 2009 to 2010 Toyota Matrix
• 2009 to 2010 Toyota Rav4
• 2008 to 2010 Toyota Sequoia
• 2008 to 2010 Toyota Tundra

But the situation didn’t start here.  It was a series of events that eventually spiraled out of control.  It started back in August of 2009 when a frantic 911 call from a passenger in a Lexus claimed that the brakes were not working. The crash killed the driver three members of his family. The company announced that the crash was a result from the gas pedal interfering with the floor mats, so they recalled the floor mats in 4.2 million similar Toyota and Lexus models.

This is where their biggest mistake begins. According to many PR professionals, Toyota broke the cardinal rule of crisis management: Assume the worst LINK. Instead of using this time to thoroughly explain the situation at hand, and regain loyalty from their stakeholders, Toyota failed to show any signs of future crisis planning. Even worse, the Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda failed to issue a public apology to the family affected by the fatal car crash until October 2nd. How can you show your customers that they are your number one concern, when you wait over a month to apologize to them for your faulty product?

Not satisfied with the solution Toyota presented, many car experts and news stations dug deeper to see if floor mats were really the source of the problem. Numerous published reports in the Los Angeles Times argued the cause was a more serious electrical problem in numerous Toyota models. The complaints and further investigation finally led to their consequential recalls.

Toyota Motor Corp., a company previously known for a reputation for reliability became untrustworthy overnight.  From nearly faultless, to having numerous flaws.

Toyota’s response to their ongoing crisis is very reluctant and can only harm their situation. The sooner you get information out to the public about your company’s situation during a crisis, the faster people can try to understand the situation. If you don’t post information about your company, someone else will, and it is not likely that it will be positive.

Since the beginning of the crisis, Toyota has issued a few video responses, giving small amounts of details about the recall and about other arguments against them. They posted a “digg dialogg” that was hardly informative about the problem at hand. They also have a twitter account that serves as both a place that followers can comment about their car (most of them seem to be positive comments, which seems odd) or they can issue responses to current accusations in the media. The most recent commercial that Toyota issued is an apology to the consumer and a promise to strive to uphold their values in the future. Great use in traditional media, but what about the new media followers?

Though Toyota seems to be slowly improving their response tactics, they initially showed their lack of a crisis communication plan and social media incompetence.

Case Study:

A Prank Video Creates a Crisis for Dominos

It was a boring day at the small town Dominos in Conover, NC on Easter Sunday in 2009.  No calls were coming and no delivery orders.  At the expense of the entire company’s reputations, two employees (now former employees) decided to make a “funny” video.  The video showed one of the employees putting cheese up his nose and then placing it on a sandwich and even blowing snot on a pizza and then trying to cover it up with his finger.   Not one of the communications or media employees found the video funny, and they were immediately responsible for responding to this disgusting video, and gaining the company’s reputation back. 

Because the video was circulating on the internet more and more by the minute, it only makes sense to respond mostly with social media. By Tuesday, the communications team realized that a lot of people were leaving comments about the video on Twitter. Tim McIntyre, Vice President, Communications, explained that their plan was to respond quickly.  They first got a twitter (dpzinfo (now dominos) and responded to disgusted and confused customers.  But many people should consider: why didn’t Domino’s have a twitter before their crisis?  Twitter is a great way to connect with your audience, even if all things are going good.

By Wednesday, the YouTube video had 500,000 views and the company decided to respond on YouTube, since it seemed to be their biggest audience at the time.  The president of Dominos created an apology video that he then posted on YouTube, as well as telling their side of the story to USA Today.  the many ways Dominos responded to this crisis helped the company show that they were still credible and trustworthy.

Though Dominos did make an impact through social media in this unexpected crisis, they could have possibly utilized social media to their advantage a little more.  Time has great advice of “5 Ways to Fight Back” (in a company crisis)–unfortunately, Dominos didn’t take the advice.

Lesson Learned. Social Media is Crucial.