In case you missed it earlier in the week, this insightful article from Peter Goodman (@petersgoodman) at The New York Times is on my list of recommended weekend reading for anyone in the communications field. Goodman examines PR in times of crisis and “real reputational implosions,” evidenced most recently by the likes of BP (@BP_America), Toyota (@Toyota) and Goldman Sachs. Whether addressing urgent crises or slower burn issues management, the lessons still being learned by these examples are extremely relevant.
“The calamities have served up a lifetime supply of case studies to be mined for lessons on best practices, as well as pitfalls to avoid when disaster arrive. As conventional wisdom has it, the three companies at the center of these fiascos worsened their problems by failing to heed established protocol: When the story is bad, disclose it immediately – awful parts included – lest you be forced to backtrack and slide into the death spiral of lost credibility.”
Here are 5 nuggets of wisdom all of us in communications circles would do well to keep in mind when the crisis engine turns on:
1. Move swiftly and be forthright
“In the view of many who are paid to extract corporations from terrible situations, Toyota, BP and Goldman exacerbated their woes by either declining to fess up promptly, casting blame elsewhere or striking adversarial postures with the public, the government and the news media.”
2. Drop the spin: transparency and sincerity go a long way
As former Merrill Lynch media exec Eddie Reeves (@EddieReeves) shared, “People are reasonable. They know companies make mistakes, and people will forgive an honest mistake. They will not forgive a dishonest cover-up.”
DC strategist Eric Dezenhall (@EricDezenhall) put it more bluntly: “It’s the height of arrogance to assume that in the middle of a crisis the public yearns for chestnuts of wisdom from people they want to kill. The goal is not to get people not to hate them. It’s to get people to hate them less.”
3. Choose spokespeople wisely
It’s critical to select the right people to speak on your organization’s behalf in times of intense scrutiny and pressure. Numerous factors go into the deciding who is best-suited to be the face of your response. A wrong decision here can sink your attempts at public redemption, as BP’s C.E.O. Tony Hayward has become the poster child for.
“Many analysts say BP erred in putting its message in the hands of its C.E.O., Tony Hayward. Inclined toward pinstriped suits, Mr. Hayward found himself in coastal communities in the American South, where shrimpers donned stained coveralls in pursuit of a catch now polluted by his company’s gushing inventory. His words of regret were delivered with a British accent, and he complicated his task with a series of tin-eared utterances. ….Mr. Hayward’s travails illustrate another perilous lesson from the crisis-management handbook: Although strategists constantly hector executives to stick to the script, ad-libbed gaffes are common..”
4. Align your legal and PR teams
Making sure your legal and regulatory affairs departments are on the same page as your communications team will help to ensure your strategy is clear, and your messaging is clearly aligned.
“In times of crisis, communications professionals and lawyers often pursue conflicting agendas. Communications strategists are inclined to mollify public anger with expressions of concern, while lawyers warn that contrition can be construed as admissions of guilt in potentially expensive lawsuits.”
5. Like a boy scout, be prepared
No amount of preparation will prevent a crisis situation, but organizations that take the time to smartly develop and continuously update a full crisis communications plan will be best positioned to take action decisively and quickly when an issue suddenly arises.
Accordingly to PR guru Howard Rubinstein, “These companies made the same mistakes….They broke the cardinal rule of crisis management: They didn’t seem to have a crisis plan in hand. They sought to minimize the extent of their problems, and they never seemed to display an understanding for the situation they were in.”
Of course, one of the best lines of defense is to be proactive from day one, building good will across all of your constituencies and creating strong relationships with key influencers before a crisis ever occurs. As BP and Goldman continue to demonstrate, reviving even the most carefully crafted reputation once your stakeholders have stopped giving you the benefit of the doubt is an uphill battle of significant proportions.
Tags: crisis communication
