CRISIS COMMUNICATION IN NEW MEDIA

CHAPTER 4: CRISIS RESPONSE IN SOCIAL MEDIA

1.     The Drawbacks of Social Media in Business

a.      Lot of time is required

b.     Qualified personnel are required

c.      Need to pay for interesting ones

d.     Can spread bad things

e.      Problems more visible

f.      Exposed to trolls

g.     Extortion problems

h.     Privacy/ security issues

i.       Competitor study business

j.       Narcissistic approach bring failure

k.     Frequently changing

l.       Demographic groups use social media differently

m.   Employees by mistake harm brand image

2.     Three Characteristics of a Crisis Response

a.      Quick response -  the “one hour rule”

b.     Consistency – need to speak with one voice

c.      Openness – available to the media and willing to disclose information as well as being honest about its current situation.

3.     Social Media Crisis Response

a.      Identify the source of the problem

b.     Categorize the issue as a crisis or a problem

c.      Use an internal flowchart to execute actions

4.     Ten Step Social Media Crisis Response

a.     Before the crisis

                                                    i.     Get crew together

                                                  ii.     Define a crisis

                                                iii.     Identify key message

                                                iv.     Create communication guidelines

                                                  v.     Monitor updates using mention

b.     During the crisis

                                                    i.     Get in under control

Pause scheduled post

Publicly acknowledge what’s going on

Inform team

Post long-form response on website

c.      After the crisis

                                                    i.     Assess brand impact

                                                  ii.     Reflect on response

                                                iii.     Prepare for long-term

                                                iv.     Update crisis response plan


CHAPTER 5: BRAND VALUES AND SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATION

1.     The Differences Between a Social Media Crisis and a Social Media Issue.

a.     THE SIMILARITIES

-        Overwhelming significant

-        Need to be responded to

-        Can be evolve into crisis

-        Need communication plan

b.     Social media crisis- negative impact on brand’s reputation

-        Strong negative emotional impact

-        Fall under pre-determined categories of crisis situations

-        Situation goes viral

-        Potential reputational damage

c.      Social media issue- does not impact brand’s reputation, escalate into crisis

-        Campaign gone wrong

-        Negative comments/ discussion posted online

-        Unacceptable comments

-        Negative customer service issues

-        The circulation of online rumors

-        Online technical errors

-        Miscommunication

2.     How To Draw a Line Between Negative and Unacceptable Comments on SOCIAL MEDIA

a.     Negative comments: anything that is post/ tweet about brand

-        Need to be responded and give opportunity to turn unhappy customer/ fan into life-long supporter

-        Shine brand in most negative light

-        Contradicts/challenges brand in some way

-        Complaint, annoyance, grievance shared/posted by customer/fan

b.     Unacceptable comments: profanity, racism, offense

-        Should be deleted. Check whether perpetrator genuine/fake. If genuine- apologize and tell why unacceptable

c.      After you’ve drawn the line, State the Policy

-        Make line clear for any and all viewers, fans and customers engaging on page

3.     Brand or Company Values

-        Responsibility, innovation, goals, teamwork, customers, excellence, ethics, trust

4.     What Do Your Brand Values Have to do With Your Crisis Communications?

-        Brand values connect to stakeholders and build relationships

-        Easy to lose sight of values and damage reputation

-        Broken values damage relationships are hard to repair

5.     How can you protect your organization from losing sight of your brand’s values in a crisis?

a.     Define brand and/or company values

b.     Remember them always

c.      Plan crisis in advance

6.     How A Brand’s Values Help Survive Crisis?

a.     Everyone in the business knows, understand and supports the values

b.     The public can see that the brand and employees follow these values

c.      All crisis communication is designed to strengthen these values and communicates them in a way that makes people want to listen


CHAPTER 6: RISK ASSESSMENT

1.     DEFINITION OF A GAFFE

a.      Oxford dictionary: an unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator; a blunder

b.     Cambridge dictionary: a remark or action that is a social mistake and not considered polite

c.      Macmillan dictionary: an embarrassing mistake that you make in public, especially one that offends or upsets someone

2.     RISK ASSESSMENT - How to Identify, Prevent and Plan for the Risks

a.     Start by assess the risk before launch campaigns

b.     Plan for the risk

c.      Conduct another quick risk assessment before the campaign goes live/ is launched

3.     How to Launch a Successful Hashtag Campaign

a.     Assess the risk

b.     Choose hashtag carefully- don’t be too neutral but be positive

c.      Plan ahead

d.     Monitor 24/7

4.     The Preventable Social Media Crisis

- With A Simple Game of Devil’s Advocate (someone who pretends to disagree in order to have a good discussion about something

- plan devil’s advocate

- always focus on the positive approach

- have an editor revise the messaging/ content

5.     How to Stop Your Company Getting Stung Over Social Media Gaffes

a.     Stop being unfriendly (impersonal) with invites

b.     Stop forgetting to check tone of wording

c.      Stop failing to get social

d.     Stop posting private stuff on walls and comment sections

6.     How to Resolve A Crisis that has Emerged from Misinterpretation or Miscommunication?

a.     Respond immediately

b.     Publicly correct the misinterpretation

c.      Be sympathetic and take responsibility

d.     Learn your lesson

 

CHAPTER 7: OFFENSIVE CRISIS MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

1.     What is an Offensive Crisis Management Strategy?

Proactive approach to crisis management where an organization develops an offensive posture an takes advantage of the crisis as an opportunity for creating a positive public opinion.

2.     When is the Right Time to Implement an Offensive Crisis Management Strategy?

When the business has been wronged to a point of irreparable or long-lasting damage

3.     Fight Fire with Fire - Filing A Lawsuit

Sue when company has been the target and to protect stakeholders and reputation

4.     Reactive Strategy – Offensive Response:

·       Attack

-        Challenge an accusation of wrongdoing

-        Used when accuser is negligent/malicious

-        Encourage opponent to retreat/refrain from future critic/misconduct

-        Only used when evidence clearly shows that the accusers grossly overstated

·       Embarrassment

-        Lessen an opponent’s influence by using shame/humiliation

·       Shock

-        Attempt to startle and agitate the mind/emotions

-        Surprise, fear, disgust, strong/unexpected stimulus

·       Threat

-        Involve the promise that harm will come to the accuser/ the purveyor of fake news

-        In form of lawsuit for defamation

-        Public threats if the information cannot be disputed in another way

·       Standing Firm

-        Need to restate action/position as matter of principle, allowing whatever consequences occur

 

CHAPTER 8: WHEN TO TALK AND WHEN TO SHUT UP

1.     BEING STRATEGIC

a.     STRATEGY

                                                    i.     Get ahead of the story

                                                  ii.     Ensure consistency in messaging

                                                iii.     Provide key stakeholders with timely, transparent and compassionate communications

                                                iv.     Position organization to the stakeholders and the public as the voice of trust, credibility and leadership

b.     THE CHALLENGES

                                                    i.     Challenges #1 - Legal Hesitations

Tasked with protect organization from legal exposure and risk may resist taking a proactive crisis communication approach

                                                  ii.     Challenges #2 – Ignorance

Leadership may have chose to communicate in a very minimalistic way/maybe not at all

2.     BUILDING YOUR OWN COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

a.     Draft organization’s crisis communication

b.     Draft approved by correct people

c.      Disseminate to all relevant stakeholder owners

d.     Monitor and engage on social media platforms

e.      Receive and respond to media inquiries

f.      Translate approve message into different language

3.     DEVELOPING PRACTICAL INTERNAL PROCESSES

a.     Finalize organization’s crisis communication strategy

b.     Modify the communication based on feedback

c.      Disseminate approved communication to all relevant stakeholders

4.     DEVELOPING PRACTICAL EXTERNAL PROCESSES

a.      Telephone

b.     Email

c.      Website

d.     Intranet or Password Protected Portal

e.      Face to Face Communication

f.      Social Media/ Mobile Technology

g.     The Dark Section Strategy

h.     The Press Release

5.     THE ORDER OF CRISIS COMMUNICATION

a.     The emergency level of the crisis

b.     Those directly impacted

c.      Stakeholder expectations

d.     Legal/ regulatory requirements

e.      The luxury of times

  

CHAPTER 9: SUCCESS IS A DRESS REHEARSAL

1.     NOT A TABLETOP EXERCISE

2.     MAKING IT COUNT

a.     Identify areas that need to be strengthen

b.     Testing internal and external

c.      Help the team to better understand

d.     Test team’s ability

e.      Strengthen team’s crisis management skills, confidence and experience

f.      Focus on team building and strengthen cross department relationship

3.     DEVELOPING THE SCENARIO

a.     How did it occur

b.     What is the extent of the impact

c.      How much will confirm at the beginning of the exercise

d.     At what points will news of the incident become public

e.      How will the exercise continue to unfold?

f.      How will the exercise escalate?

g.     Who needs to be involved in its department

h.     What if the team manages the simulation exceptionally well

i.       Who will the exercise end

4.     PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

a.     Scripts

b.     News articles and blog posts

c.      Social media or social networksites

5.     DEBRIEFING STAGE

a.      Allow the team to process their experience.

b.     Share opinions and reflect on the experience, the scenario, and the effects of the exercise.

c.      Identify and discuss group’s strengths.

d.     Identify and discuss weaknesses and gaps.

e.      Discuss and align on next steps for strengthening organization’s crisis ready culture.

6.     BETTER IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE

a.      Too hung up on fine-tuning words – resulted in less timely crisis communication.

b.     People’s characteristics – broken telephone effect.

c.      The crisis war room was physically too small.

7.     FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

a.      How often should you perform this simulation exercise?

b.     How long does it generally take to develop a crisis simulation?

c.      Do people respond differently to a simulation vs real crisis? If they know it was only a drill?

d.     Should you take your crisis communication team by surprise?

e.      Should you tell your external stakeholders about these simulation exercises?

 

CHAPTER 10: PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST

1.     Who are most important people

a.     Stakeholder

                                                    i.     Internal: board members, employees, families, trustees, volunteers

                                                  ii.     External: fans, supporters, government, contractors, customers, general public, insurance providers, investors, legislators, media, shareholders, vendors, suppliers

2.     Meeting expectations

a.      Notified

b.     Transparency

c.      Timely, consistent communication

d.     Listen and validate feelings and emotions

e.      Two-way communication

f.      Communicated with human beings-not lawyers, logo, systems

g.     Answers to most pertinent questions

h.     Organization hold itself accountable and responsible


CASE STUDY OF CRISIS COMMUNICATION IN NEW MEDIA

1.     OREO’S POLICY

Oreo’s Facebook page is a fun, family-friendly community where people can share their passion for Oreo and interact with those who love the world’s favorite cookie. While they are excited to hear from fans, postings to the Oreo Facebook page are not representative of the opinions of Oreo or Kraft Foods, nor is their accuracy confirmed. Kraft Foods expects users will not post content that falls into certain negative categories and reserves the right to remove such posts. Categories of content that may be removed include abusive, defamatory, obscene, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading content; violation of intellectual property rights; violation of laws or regulations; offensive content; and unsolicited new product innovations or advertising ideas. Instructions are provided for users who wish to “Unlike” the official Oreo page from Kraft.

2.     SOCIAL MEDIA ISSUES

a.     CAMPAIGN GONE WRONG SITUATION (BIC FOR HER)

2012: BIC launched new line of pens marketed specifically for women in 2012. Widespread criticism and ridicule on social media. Users mock the idea of gendered pens

b.     NEGATIVE COMMENTS/DISCUSSION ONLINE (STARBUCKS ARGENTINA)

2015: customer posted photo of barista’s hand with tattoo of map of Falkland, territory between Argentina and UK. Saw tattoo as symbol of support for the UK and called for boycott of starbucks

c.      MISCOMMUNICATION ON BEHALF OF THE BRAND (AMERICAN RED CROSS)

2011: employee of American Red Cross accidentally tweets about getting drunk on beer but retweet by users

d.     ONLINE TECHNICAL ERRORS (BOINGO)

2012: Boingo, wireless internet provided experienced technical error that cause users receive email with subject line “Your Boingo Wifi account has been canceled” made users confused and angry

3.     BRAND/COMPANY VALUES

a.     FACEBOOK

2018: data of millions of users had been harvested without their consent by a political consulting firm. The scandal led to widespread calls for increased regulation of social media companies.

b.     STARBUCKS COFFEE

2015: launched a campaign encouraging customers to discuss race relations with baristas. The campaign was criticized for being tone-deaf and insensitive

c.      CHICK-FILL-A

2012: CEO made comments opposing same-sex marriage. The comments led to boycotts and protests against the fast-food chain.

4.     PLAN FOR THE RISK: NINJA TURTLE PROMOTIONAL POSTER

2014: promotional poster for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie that showed the turtles jumping out of an exploding skyscraper. The poster was criticized for being insensitive in light of the 9/11 attacks.

5.     CONDUCT QUICK RISK ASSESSMENT BEFORE CAMPAIGN LIVE/LAUNCHED: BRITIS AIRWAYS: INTO THE INDIAN OCEAN

2013: tweeted a message that read “We’re sorry for any offence caused by our tweet yesterday. Our original tweet was intended to reflect our new route from London to Kuala Lumpur, which stops in the Maldives. We got it wrong and we’re sorry.” The tweet was in response to a previous tweet that read “Discover the Indian Ocean’s hidden gems. Fly to the Maldives with British Airways. #VisitMaldives.” Many users criticized the tweet for being insensitive in light of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

6.     CHOOSE HASHTAG CAREFULLY- DON’T BE TOO NEUTRAL BUT BE POSITIVE

a.     #MCDSTORIES

2012: launched a Twitter campaign. encouraging users to share their positive experiences with the fast-food chain using the hashtag #McDStories. The campaign backfired when many users began sharing negative stories and criticisms of the company.

b.     MYNYPD

2014: The New York Police Department launched a Twitter campaign in 2014 encouraging users to share photos of themselves with police officers using the hashtag #MyNYPD. The campaign backfired when many users began sharing photos of police brutality and criticizing the department.

7.     UNION STREET GUEST HOUSE (HOTEL’S LUDICROUS POLICY)

2014: The hotel had a policy of fining guests $500 for negative reviews posted online by anyone in their party. The policy was widely criticized as being unfair and anti-consumer.

8.     10 HUGE SOCIAL MEDIA GAFFES BY HUGE COMPANIES

a.     UK-BASED WALKERS CRISPS

2017: Walkers Crisps launched a social media campaign that allowed users to upload their photos to Twitter, which would then be inserted into a video featuring former soccer player Gary Lineker. However, the campaign was hijacked by pranksters who uploaded photos of notorious criminals and dictators, which were then featured in the videos

b.     CHRYSLERAUTOS

2011: Chrysler employee stuck in traffic tweeted on the official account, which was critical of the city of Detroit, where the company is based. The tweets were widely criticized, and the company had to issue an apology

c.      ENTENMANN’S

2014: Entenmann’s, a baked goods company, posted a tweet that used the hashtag #notguilty to promote its products. However, the hashtag was also being used by people who were tweeting about the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, who was accused of killing Trayvon Martin. The tweet was widely criticized, and the company had to issue an apology

d.     NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

2015: the New England Patriots’ Twitter account posted a tweet that was intended to thank the team’s followers for reaching one million followers. However, the tweet included a racial slur, which was widely criticized. The team had to issue an apology

e.      DISNEY JAPAN

f.      2015: Disney Japan tweet congrats on “thrilling day” in Japanese coincide with 70th anniversary of atomic bombing of Nagasaki

g.     DELTA AIR LINES

2014: Delta Air Lines tweeted a picture of a giraffe to celebrate the US World Cup victory over Ghana. The tweet was criticized for being culturally insensitive

h.     EQUIFAX INC

2017: Equifax Inc, a credit reporting agency, suffered a data breach that exposed the personal information of millions of people. The company’s response to the crisis was widely criticized, and the CEO had to issue an apology

i.       YAHOO! FINANCE

2017: Yahoo! Finance posted a tweet that was intended to promote a story about President Trump’s plans to increase the size of the U.S. Navy. However, the tweet included a racial slur, which was widely criticized. The company had to issue an apology

j.      LG FRANCE

2014: LG France mocked the iPhone 6 bending issues from an iPhone account.

k.     YOUTUBE CREATORS

2017: YouTube Creators, the company’s official Twitter account for creators, posted a tweet that was intended to congratulate the winners of the Streamy Awards. However, the tweet included a picture of the wrong American flag, which was widely criticized

l.       ADIDAS

2017: Adidas sent an email to customers who had completed the Boston Marathon, with the subject line “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon.” The email was widely criticized, and the company had to issue an apology .

m.   US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

2017, the US Department of Education posted a tweet that was intended to promote the work of civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois. However, the tweet misspelled DeBois’

9.     REACTIVE STRATEGY – OFFENSIVE RESPONSE

a.     ATTACK: SCIENTOLOGY

2008: Church of Scientology was under fire after a video of Tom Cruise discussing his beliefs in the church was leaked online. The church responded with an aggressive legal campaign against the video’s creators, which included issuing cease-and-desist letters and filing lawsuits

b.     EMBARRASMMENT: CENTER FOR MEDICAL PROGRESS VS PLANNED PARENTHOOD

2015: Center for Medical Progress released a series of videos that purported to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood responded by launching a social media campaign and releasing statements that condemned the videos as misleading and heavily edited

c.      SHOCK: PETA VS MCD

2000: PETA launched a campaign against McDonald’s that featured graphic images of animal cruelty. The campaign was designed to shock viewers and draw attention to the treatment of animals in the fast-food industry. McDonald’s responded by launching a counter-campaign that emphasized the company’s commitment to animal welfare

d.     STANDING FIRM: STARBUCKS “WAR ON CHRISTMAS”

2015: Starbucks faced backlash from some customers who felt that the company’s holiday cups were not “Christmassy” enough. Starbucks responded by standing firm on its decision to use plain red cups, arguing that the cups were meant to be a blank canvas for customers to decorate as they pleased

10.  DEVELOP THE SCENARIO: CYBERSECURITY INCIDENT

2017: Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting agencies in the United States, suffered a massive data breach that exposed the personal information of millions of customers. The company’s initial response to the breach was widely criticized for being slow and inadequate, leading to a significant loss of trust among its customers

11.  PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST: CEO OF UNITED AIRLINES, OSCAR MUNOZ

2015: United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz suffered a heart attack and underwent a heart transplant. The company’s initial response to the situation was criticized for being insensitive and lacking empathy. However, the company later issued a public apology and took steps to improve its crisis communication strategy

12.  INTERNATIONAL PAPER MILL EXPLOSION

2019: a paper mill in Jay, Maine, owned by International Paper, experienced a massive explosion that caused significant damage to the facility and injured several employees. The company’s response to the incident was praised for its transparency and timely communication with employees, the media, and the public

13.  WELLS FARGO $3 BILLION SETTLEMENT FOR FAKE ACCOUNTS SCANDAL

2020: Wells Fargo agreed to pay $3 billion to settle a lawsuit related to the creation of fake accounts by its employees. The company’s response to the scandal was criticized for being slow and inadequate, leading to a significant loss of trust among its customers.

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