Category: Crisis Communications

Time to freshen up your crisis communications plan

Posted on by Wellons team

When was the last time you looked at your crisis communications plan?

In fact, do you even have a crisis plan?

What would you do when a crisis embraced your business? Who would be in charge of managing operational efforts? Who would you call? What would you communicate to clients? Who will be your media point person? Who would be in charge of managing operational efforts?

Crisis situations come out of the blue. No two are alike. They can range from a public safety event like a high-risk police event or interruption of the essential services you provide to a public health event that could put your customers or employees at risk, e.g. a hazardous material spill or public utility failure.

It could be a natural disaster like hurricane or tornado damage, a fire or a “soft” crisis like a cyber breach or financial indiscretion or a lawsuit.

But, no matter what the crisis situation, you need to be prepared to answer all the questions above.

Addressing a crisis is a two-part drill

First, who’s in charge? Someone needs to be in overall command of the physical and operational aspects of whatever your crisis demands. It need not be the CEO or President. In fact, whoever is best acquainted with the operational components of your business may be the best person to be in charge.

If the crisis involves injury, destruction of property, or a situation that threatens the well-being of your clients or you and your employees, you will need to rely on whatever person within your organization is best equipped to address the physical aspects of the crisis.

If it was a crisis on a cruise ship, for example, the ship’s captain would be in overall charge, but the person best suited to address the operational issue might be the chief engineer or the person in charge of crew operations.

If the crisis involves “soft” operations, for example, an online breakdown or power outage that could affect service to customers, your IT person best acquainted with your operation would be the best person to call upon for action.

Second, you need to rely on one person or your PR resource to assist you with crisis communications. That means someone to serve as a point of communication for your employees, your clients, and the media.

In both situations, your responsibility to designate someone within your organization to serve in operational and communications capacities.

Start by making an organized list of who’s who

When a crisis occurs, you will not have time to fumble around looking for phone numbers for first responders. Start by creating a list of police, fire, and service organizations (e.g. Serve-Pro) that can provide immediate assistance.

The list needs to be short and simple. All you need is a name and title, phone number, and email address.

The categories of your “Who’s Who” list must include:

  • First responder agencies (police, fire, 24/7 emergency restoration services, e.g. ServPro)
  • Key staff (employees), e.g. CEO, COO, HR director
  • Key contractors: e.g. suppliers, legal assistance, PR or crisis communications firm, utility services
  • Key clients: those clients whose welfare would be immediately affected
  • Media: PR person or agency who can address media communications

The list needs only the basics: Name, Phone Number, Email.

Once it is compiled, ensure that you and your key staff have a copy of the list and know where to find it at a moment’s notice.

At Wellons, we’ve managed our share of crisis communications

Over the years, we have overseen crisis situations that have ranged from unforeseen accidental deaths at our client’s place of business to complete shutdowns of client business due to the arrival of hurricanes and the COVID pandemic.

No two situations have been the same. Some are on-the-spot surprises. Others are slow-developing threats that allow pre-crisis actions to be undertaken.

What is alike, in all crises, is the need to have a well-thought-out plan in place to protect our client’s reputation and brand.

Ask yourself “When was the last time I glanced at my crisis plan? Do I need to make changes? Do I need to test it out? Do I need to develop a crisis plan?”

If the answer is “yes,” then think of Wellons Communications as a resource you can call upon to develop a crisis communications plan. And should you need on-the-spot, experience media communications to address and clarify whatever kind of crisis you are facing, call our crisis communications agency to assist you.

We have been there and done that. And we stand ready to lend a hand in your moment of crisis.

What’s your plan for dealing with unforeseen circumstances in business?

Posted on by Wellons team

What’s your plan when a business problem pops up that is totally unforeseen? What’s your order of response to an event that is unanticipated, troublesome, and not even your fault?

Who steps up to represent your organization? Who determines how you are going to react? What are you going to tell your customers? What are they going to say when media comes knocking on your door?

Few, if any, really foresee a “black swan” event

Nobody really expects a “black swan” – an unpredictable event beyond what is normally expected of a situation and that has potentially severe consequences for one’s business.

What kind of “black swans” are we talking about?

Events like COVID-19, a workplace accident that results in injury or even death, the actions of a disgruntled employee who is identified with your organization, slowdowns in the supply chain that affect your operations, to name a few.

The event does not even necessarily have to be your fault. It can be something that affects your industry, like a slowdown in the supply chain, a weather event that disrupts flights and operations, or an economic event that has an influence in your business category.

Unanticipated events happen and you need to have a basic outline prepared to deal with them.

When was the last time you looked at your crisis plan?

Good news: most organizations already have crisis communications plans prepared.

According to a PR crisis survey that PRNEWS and CS&A International, a specialist risk, crisis, and business continuity management consultancy, conducted in late 2019, about 62 percent of companies have crisis plans.

The bad news is that once the crisis plan has been prepared, it is often jammed into someone’s file and gathering dust and forgotten. According to the same PRNEWS survey, “it’s uncertain how many regularly update them (crisis plans). In addition, few companies consistently practice crisis scenarios.”

Why are these plans forgotten? Primarily because no crisis has occurred and there has been no reason to look at the plan. Or because personnel change and no one can remember who wrote the plan or where they put it.

No matter what the reason the plans “disappear,” crisis plans can easily become outdated or misplaced. And that puts you and your business in peril.

Crisis plans need to be reviewed annually…even if it takes only 15 minutes

Overseeing a crisis plan doesn’t require an entire day of your organization’s time.

In fact, it can take about 15 minutes a year once it has been prepared.

Your review needs to address questions like:

  • Is the general plan still current?
  • Has the contact information in the plan changed?
  • Who oversees the plan?
  • Do we know how to find the plan when we need it?
  • Has our industry or situation changed so that the changes require us to modify our plan?

Who’s in charge of your crisis plan? And who keeps it updated?

Theoretically, your CEO or COO is responsible for your crisis planning and response.

In reality, someone in the lower ranks, or an outside resource, is responsible for crafting the plan, testing it out, and keeping it updated.

It’s important to ensure that someone in, or connected to, your organization is clearly in charge of crisis communications planning and stays in touch with its basic response actions. This same person should be the one to review the plan and call management’s attention to any changes that require the buy-in of the entire organization.

So what does Wellons Communications have to do with crisis planning?

Wellons Communications serves to write crisis plans, test them out, freshen them up when required, and, in an actual crisis, act as either the spokesperson for your organization or prepare your designated spokesperson’s response.

In short, we stand at your side and help guide your response so you immediately can communicate your side of a story to four key audiences:

Your employees: let them know that your only point of communication is whomever is designated as your spokesperson.

Your customers: tell them what is going on and what you are doing to address it.

Media: Identify one person (by name, title, and contact information) who is your spokesperson and how to reach them. And keep in mind that media includes both consumer media and trade media.

Your industry: if your business category is caught up in the crisis moment, let your industry association know what you are doing and who is speaking on your behalf.

Pre-empt crisis response now…by reviewing your crisis plan

Chances are you already have a crisis plan in place…or have, at least, thought about it.

If you have a plan established, look at it and update it. If you don’t have a plan formalized, put one in place, even if it’s only one page.

If you anticipate that you need—or may need—crisis planning assistance and crisis response assistance, consider our Orlando PR firm and let us help you put a plan together, conduct a run-through to see how it works, and stand by your side in the event you need to respond to a crisis.

And remember, those “black swans” are only a moment way…and you need to be prepared to address them if they occur.

Crisis communications: How prepared is your business?

Posted on by Wellons team

clipboardWhen you hear “crisis communications,” your first reaction might be “It won’t happen to me.” After all, you’re just a business—not the target of something you’d see on the news.

And you’re right—mostly. While you probably won’t suffer some kind of incident that will make major headlines, the rise of social media has made it much more likely that your business will face some kind of crisis situation.

Because there is a possibility, you need to have a crisis communications plan in place now.

What kinds of crises are we talking about?

There are different degrees and types of “crises.”

Any one of them could have an enormous impact your business. Indeed, any of these types of crises could happen to you and they don’t have to make headlines to have a meaningful, negative, effect on your business. Here are some examples of impactful, but often unseen, kinds of crises that affect businesses with more regularity than you might suspect.

• Negative actions by a former employee. These can range from someone sending harmful emails to your key client database to someone going to the local media and spreading negative misinformation, creating a false image of your organization.

• Criminal activity involving an employee. What would you do if you discovered that one of your employees had been arrested for embezzling organizational funds? Or had been arrested for sexual abuse against children? How would you respond if an ex-spouse showed up at your business and took threatening action against their ex?

• Negative spotlight on your business category. How well prepared are you to respond to client or media inquiries about a sharp sales downturn in your product or service category? What about some kind of inquiry about the safety or reliability of products or services in your particular category?

It doesn’t have to be your fault to call attention to your business. Media often call on anyone in a particular industry to add context to a story.

Need specific examples? How about the safety of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder? Or the recurrence of E. coli or salmonella in Chipotle’s restaurants? If you market a product related to parents or operate a restaurant, there’s a good possibility you can get caught in the news fallout, even if it is someone else’s problem.

Need examples closer to home? How about the shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub? Or the disappearance of the 2-year old who was attacked by an alligator at Walt Disney World? What about the impact of hurricanes on Central Florida and their disruption of normal working cycles on businesses?

How to handle a public relations crisis

Thanks to the interrelationship of social media and mainstream media, an incident can morph into a full-blown crisis in just a few hours.

If you have a well-constructed crisis management strategy, backed-up by a regularly-conducted rehearsal program to test it out, you are in position to deal with the crisis.

Such a plan will enable to you quickly interact with your clients, the leaders and influencers in your category, media, and any other audiences that are important to you. Even a short, basic plan identifying your key audiences (along with their contact information) will position you to address an unseen crisis in a businesslike, responsible manner.

How do you create a crisis plan?

You can create your own plan.

Or you can call on the seasoned professionals at Wellons Communications to create a plan for you.

Our team members have served both sides of crisis management (the media side and the client side) and have first-hand knowledge of how effective a good plan can be. They have also seen the disastrous results that inevitably occur when a business lacks crisis planning.

We will be happy to provide you specific examples of the kinds of crises we have addressed in the past. More importantly, we will listen to you, learn about your business and better understand what kind of readiness you need to have to address a crisis situation.

Let’s discuss how we can ready your business to be prepared to address a crisis situation effectively and professionally—and before it ever happens.

Call us (407-339-0879) or email us at will@wellonscommunications.com to start on your crisis communications planning.

Crisis PR: When the storm hits, how will you respond?

Posted on by Wellons team

Late August and early September 2017 will be remembered in history because of the enormous impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

But how are you going to be remembered for how you responded to the needs of your clients during these two natural disasters?

In a crisis, you demonstrate what you really can do for your clients

Ask yourself:

Crisis CommunicationDid I contact my clients and ask what I could do for them?

Did I identify actions or situations where I could offer assistance?

Did I think about my client’s clients or customers? Specifically, did I point out actions or communications that would let my client’s clients and customers know they were thinking about them?

Did I make any recommendations that would benefit my client?

Did I identify any threats to my client’s business from the hurricanes?

The point is: those in the PR and communications field can underscore their usefulness and compassion for their clients by simply acknowledging they are thinking about them and their needs.

What can you do to help clients during a crisis?

Put yourself in your client’s shoes for a moment. They may be without power. They may have power, but no access to Internet, television, or telephones.

Can you make your communications facilities available to your client?

Can you relay messages to their clients or customers?

Can you access the Internet and post communications that will let your client’s clients know what is going on?

Take a cue from power companies and news organizations

Power companies are, by and large, doing a fabulous job of keeping people notified about when and where power will be restored. Their spokespeople and their employees have worked tirelessly to ensure that power company personnel are working around the clock to restore power in an orderly and timely manner and to communicate how the power restoration is progressing.

News organizations, particularly in radio, have tapped into spokespeople who can inform listeners, readers, and viewers (for those who have been able to keep their television running) what is happening.

And remember, companies that get the news out to the media first are those that will be remembered.

Look for follow up situations that can help your client

The impact of the two hurricanes, like many other disasters, will be long-term. Disasters and crises will always pose a threat to people and businesses.

Because of that, people will want to see and read about how you—and your clients—responded to the event. These are stories that have positive meaning and can illustrate your responsiveness and utility to those who can benefit from your services.

These stories deserve a place in your history—and on your website. Better yet, illustrate the stories with photos or graphics that help make the story come to life.

We are already communicating … and looking for opportunities to further communicate your story during challenging times

The Wellons Communication team has been hard at work for our clients throughout the duration of these two natural disasters.

We have identified stories that are newsworthy, and more importantly, useful to the well-being of our clients (and their clients and customers). We have moved with a sense of urgency that is demanded by the media and are continuing to serve as a source of accurate, reliable information.

To add Wellons Communications to your team and demonstrate how capably your organization addresses crisis management, call me at 407-339-0879 or email me at will@wellonscommunications.com and put us to work for you.

What companies can learn about crisis PR from the United Airlines leggings incident

Posted on by Wellons team

On Sunday morning, a United Airlines gate attendant barred two teenage girls from boarding a flight from Denver to Minneapolis because they were wearing leggings. News of the leggings incident went viral, and within hours, United Airlines had a PR crisis on its hands.

The incident started when Shannon Watts, political activist and founder of Moms Demand Action, overheard the exchange and tweeted about the incident to her followers.

 

 

The airline responded to the public backlash with its own tweets to explain the incident.   

 

 

The company also issued a release explaining customers are welcome to wear leggings on its flights. The release explains that United views employee pass riders as representatives of the company and expects them to be appropriately dressed for flights.

 

 

Though United responded quickly to the crisis, customers, activists and even celebrities such as Chrissy Teigen and Patricia Arquette have expressed anger about the incident.

Jonathan Guerin, a United spokesperson, said himself the airline should have done a better job of responding to the situation. According to Reuters, Guerin said, “We’ll definitely take something away from today, but we’ll continue to engage with our customers (on social media).”

So what can other companies take away from this viral situation when facing their own crisis?

First, never underestimate the power of social media. Incidents today don’t stay contained, and with Facebook and Twitter, angry customers have an easy—and potentially viral—outlet.

Second, be sincere. Many considered United’s response to the issue stilted or unsympathetic. As per the Reuters article, Guerin said the company could have been more clear in its initial response to the issue.

Finally, have a plan for your social media outlets. United did a great job of responding to a potential issue quickly and telling its side of the story, but because the initial response was bungled, it backfired. Know what kinds of feedback you need to respond to, what you’ll say, and in what format you will respond.

After all, the best way to handle a crisis is to prepare for it before you’re facing it. If you need help crafting your plan, give us a call. At Wellons Communications, we have experience in social media and in handling crisis situations, and we can help you put your best foot forward. Give us a call today at 407-339-0879.

PR Lessons: Ariana Grande says “I hate Americans”

Posted on by Wellons team

Looks like Ariana Grande has one more problem. The singer was recently recorded as saying, “I hate Americans, I hate America.”

The security footage went viral, with Grande’s words making headlines.

In the video, you can see the former Nickelodeon star and her friends covertly licking a doughnut on a display counter. Grande was recorded licking the doughnuts not once, but twice. After inquiring about a tray of over-sized doughnuts, Grande was recorded saying “What the #^&% is that? I hate Americans, I hate America.”

Watch for yourself here:

As the video got more popular, Ariana Grande sent a statement to several outlets including BuzzFeed News, saying:

I am EXTREMELY proud to be an American and I’ve always made it clear that I love my county*. What I said in a private moment with my friend, who was buying the donuts, was taken out of context and I am sorry for not using more discretion with my choice of words. As an advocate for healthy eating, food is very important to me and I sometimes get upset by how freely we as Americans eat and consume things without giving any thought to the consequences that it has on our health and society as a whole. The fact that the United States has the highest child obesity rate in the world frustrates me. We need to do more to educate ourselves and our children about the dangers of overeating and the poison that we put into our bodies. We need to demand more from our food industry. However I should of* known better in how I expressed myself; and with my new responsibility to others as a public figure I will strive to be better. As for why I cannot be at the MLB show, I have had emergency oral surgery and due to recovery I cannot attend the show. I hope to make it up to all those fans soon. That being said let me once again apologize if I have offended anyone with my poor choice of words.

*Grande’s representative later corrected this to “country”.

*Grande’s representative later corrected this to “should have”.

What can we learn?

When fighting a public relations battle, apologizing is often a good course of action, but how you apologize will determine whether your apology falls flat. If your apology is not well-received, it can potentially do more harm than good.

Apologies should be sincere – In her statement, Grande never says that she is sorry for what she said, but only for how she said it. Whether her initial words were taken as anti-patriotic or as fat-shaming, no one got the apology they were looking for.

Quality of writing/medium is important – Grande’s statement had a few grammatical errors. This can be construed as a hurried, careless apology. Being thorough in a written, apologetic statement sets the tone for how your apology will be received.

Stay on topic – There was some speculation that Ariana Grande pulled out of performing at the MLB all-star game because of this incident. She says it is because of an oral surgery recovery. If the two are truly unrelated, there is no need to address the MLB performance in this apology.

Starbucks takes a Venti “L” For its #RaceTogether Campaign

Posted on by Wellons team

Race TogetherSocial media has increasingly become a tool used by companies to promote their campaigns through user-generated content. For example, Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke campaign provided a hashtag and encouraged consumers to share their Coke physically as well as virtually, generating a lot of buzz for the company and the campaign. However, not all campaigns have as much success.

Take Starbucks’ #RaceTogether campaign. In just one week the campaign was nixed due to a negative response from consumes and Twitter users. USA TODAY reported last Monday that, in partnership with Starbucks, they’ll be tackling the issue of race in America – one barista at a time. Yes, Starbucks and USA TODAY launched its “Race Together” campaign geared toward generating conversation about race issues in America.

Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, aimed to encourage Starbucks customers and its employees to discuss race, with the belief that this was the first step toward confronting and solving the nation’s race issues.

Within this campaign, Starbucks baristas were encouraged to evoke conversation with customers about their thoughts on race relations, and in addition, beginning Friday March, 20 USA TODAY’s print edition included a co-authored piece by both companies that will contain race relation “conversation starters” and questions. Customers were asked to tweet responses to these questions using their designated hashtag, #RaceTogether.

The Twitter community got a jump-start on the conversation and put its own spin on the hashtag, but not in the way Starbucks and USA TODAY intended. The campaign received a firestorm of backlash from Twitter users, so much so that Schultz deleted his Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/ebarteldes/status/580449482917167105

 

These were mild. However, amidst the firestorms were some who supported the initiative. Now the question remains, why did it fail? The high level of controversy surrounding the issue? Starbucks’ stigma? A lack of diversity in campaign ads? Or, should companies simply focus on their core values and initiatives rather than push the envelope and delve into controversial social issues such as race? PR News Online offers 3 PR lessons to learn from this campaign for companies who choose to use user-generated content through social media and fail.

In the News business, you get what you pay for

Posted on by Wellons team

Back in the day, gossip rags and celebrity media were frowned upon as second-tier. In the new age of citizen journalists, bloggers and a shrinking traditional media – the celebrity press is acting like the leaders of the pack.

All hail TMZ – the entertainment medium is the industry standard in breaking stories that people actually talk about and share on social media.TMZ exclusively released the audio tape of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling sharing his feelings about who should attend basketball games for his NBA team.  This led quickly to Sterling’s banishment by the NBA.

Then, the media company followed that up with the release of the elevator fight seen around the world between Beyonce’s sister Solange and rapper Jay Z.

These are just two examples of TMZ lapping the field in “talkable’’ stories. Of course, they do come with a price. The company pays big dollars for quality content that will raise their brand above the competition.

What can normal businesses take from the TMZ model? To start with, it shows that quality stories may very well be worth the investment; and it does not hurt if that content has star appeal, either.

Controlling the message has its limits

Posted on by Wellons team

A good Public Relations professional knows the media inside and out. They know what stories will soar and which ones will flop. They also know the limitations of their job.

One of those limitations is the ability to control the message once it gets into the hands of the media and the public. This topic has been top of mind this week since the firing of Oakland Raiders’ Public Relations Director Zak Gilbert. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, owner Mark Davis was unhappy with a Sports Illustrated story that was critical of Davis and his late father Al Davis. Gilbert lost his job over it, and the Raiders have been taking some heat for the decision.

The biggest take away from this week’s event is that PR professionals do not have complete control over the conversation surrounding their organization. It’s nearly impossible to know which stories will soar and which will flop. On the same note, once a story gets out we can’t control it. Don’t trust a PR firm that tells you any different. We do our best to build goodwill and broadcast a positive narrative, but we can’t always predict when a journalist or angry customer will decide to voice their opinion.

The best way to avoid or weaken the blow of negative PR is to build a good defense and look at the big picture. First, remember who your fans are. Community and customer goodwill goes a long way and can overpower less-than-desirable coverage. Second, consider the true impact of the story. Bad PR often feels worse than it is, which may have been the case with the Raiders.

(Source: NFL.com)

Things that make us cringe

Posted on by Wellons team

The power of social media paired with today’s instantaneous news cycle can really shine a spotlight on company mishaps.  Here are two of our favorites from last week and how they could have been avoided.

Camera-shy receptionist

A dangerous tree proved to be quite damaging to a St. Louis firm’s public image after a local station picked up the story.

While reporting on a story about a resident who had repeatedly tried to contact Roberts Brothers Properties about the tree, KSDK reporter Mike Rush paid their office a visit.

Rather than buzzing the reporter in and alerting a company representative, the receptionist hid under her desk for half an hour. Not only does this response imply guilt, but it also gives the reporter a much more interesting story. See the video here.

PR Lesson: There are two things business owners can take away from Roberts Brothers Properties mistake. The first is the importance of basic media training for all employees. Receptionists and lower-level employees are usually the first ones contacted by reporter because they tend to know more and say more. Employees should be briefed on media procedures for a variety of situations – good and bad.

Carnival’s PR nightmare

Carnival is no stranger to PR problems with the latest coming from last week’s Triumph fiasco.

The media handling of the nightmare vacation has been widely criticized, but thing that struck us most was the way Carnival CEO Micky Arison handled the incident. Arison, who also owns the Miami Heat, was spotted taking in a game while passengers and crew dealt with less-than-optimal conditions.

PR Lesson: Public Relations is all about perception and marketing experts know the public is more likely to judge an organization on how it handles a problem than how the problem came about.

Business owners should consider how their actions look to customers, especially disgruntled ones. Few will ever experience something as massive as the Triumph, but, in the age of social media, something as simple as blatantly ignoring a line of frustrated customers can damage a brand’s reputation.

(Source: Poynter.org, Bostonglobe.com)

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