Archive for crisis communications
Merry Christmas, Hon
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Laura Vozzella’s column in the Baltimore Sun does a great job of capturing the PR firestorm over a local restaurateur’s decision to trademark “Hon.”
Rather than debate the merits of the decision to claim rights to the word and the way the restaurateur went about defending her point of view, look at how PR missteps and social media are intensifying this storm.
Many people continue to say “any publicity is good publicity.” BP doesn’t think so, and the owner of this restaurant (and gift shop and festival) surely won’t believe it when this fiasco eventually fizzles out.
The mishandling of the news led to a spoof Twitter account, boycott the restaurant Facebook page, blog posts, newspaper comment section posts, a protest and a string of critical Yelp “reviews,” all within hours of this firestorm. Fanning the flames even more, the restaurant’s graphic design (and presumably not PR) consultant weighed in with a profanity-laced post (click on comments to find the one from “springray“) that went viral, while a rejected Yelp review found a new life and many more eyeballs on countless blogs.
In the meantime, Buzz is dying to hear what counsel the unidentified “publicist” referenced in The Sun‘s column offered when the the idea to trademark “Hon” was discussed!
Memo to Sheila Dixon: Say What???
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Hey! Wait a minute, Ms. Dixon. It seems like yesterday you said you had nothing to apologize for when you resigned as Mayor of Baltimore. In fact, in a conversation I had with a former staff member only a few months ago, he emphatically said: “Sheila will never apologize.”
So here we are 11 months later and a Page One interview with you appears in the Dec. 10th edition of The Daily Record where you APOLOGIZE. To what purpose?
The time to have apologized, when it mattered most to the people you were elected to serve, was on January 6, 2010. But you didn’t. Instead, you concluded your brief remarks back then with: “What I owe the citizens is to move on and bring closure to this so we can continue to stay focused on the city.”
We can only hope that the recent crisis communications misstep had a shelf life of one news cycle and that’s that. Too little. Too late. And the citizens of Baltimore are doing as you advised: staying focused on the city.
Chapter closed.
Crisis Communications Tip #6: It’s Complicated
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An organization’s crisis communications situation is never a single event dealt with by a single activity. Instead, it’s a multifaceted and often complicated set of circumstances requiring a steadfast, consistent and determined execution of activities. But what about the marketing impact of a crisis?
We’ve been reminded of this the past few months while dealing with a client’s crisis communications problems and are just now finalizing a strategy for handling the marketing implications while keeping one eye still focused on the crisis.
The most valuable crisis communications plans are those that help an organization effectively manage the crisis at hand while simultaneously staying connected to its marketplace with relevant brand messaging.
Crisis Communications Tip #3: Define & Defend Your Boundaries
Posted by: | CommentsA local hospital 
is at the beginning of what promises to be a lengthy and costly resolution of a situation involving a prominent physician, many, many of his patients and now, legions of attorneys.
In fairness to the hospital, it is a complicated situation not easily explained and therefore not easily understood by most of us. Additionally, there are many points of view that will be played out in the media for the foreseeable future.
However, based on media coverage thus far, the hospital does not appear to be assertively defining the situation to one physician in one department utilizing one procedure.
If we were asked our opinion on what their crisis communications strategy should be, we would implore them to quickly and decisively place the situation in context of the hospital’s overall reputation. It should then implement an ongoing, focused communications program that defines and defends the institution’s expertise and reputation beyond the boundaries of the current situation, albeit a serious and far-reaching one.
Crisis Communications Tip #15: It’s Rarely Straightforward
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The incredible coverage in the traditional media, posts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other online venues of the recent Jet Blue flight attendant’s bizarre reaction to a less than civil passenger brings home the point that a crisis is rarely, if ever, straightforward in the facts surrounding what happened.
IMO, what’s getting lost in the accolades for the flight attendant’s way that he quit his job are the bigger, more serious issues of the safety risk he put the passengers in when he deployed the evacuation chute and the complicated state of today’s customer service.
It will be interesting to watch how Jet Blue moves forward and how it incorporates the incident into its customer service training. It should make for an important case study.
BP’s Crisis Communications Continues to Bewilder
Posted by: | CommentsBP continues to distinguish itself in a growing number of categories in the ongoing sad saga of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill mess, including the bewildering way it communicates with the world.
We wish we could enroll them in our crisis communications summit. But it may be way too late.
Sunday’s photo of Tony Hayward watching his yacht race was one that will rank high on the “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes I would have never believed it” list! How could anyone at BP have thought that would be an OK way to spend a Sunday afternoon in public and that the media would give his attendance a pass?
While the opportunity has been missed for BP to get out in front of the crisis as well as also ignoring a long list of other effective crisis communications fundamentals, there is still time (thanks in part to BP’s difficulties in finding a workable solution to capping the leak) for BP to communicate — through their actions and words on and off the job — genuine and sincere empathy to a world that is in dire need of it.
Will they do it?
Media Training Tip #11 – Integrate Crisis Communications Scenarios with Mock Interviews
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Yesterday we completed a two-day media training session for an “institution of higher learning” in Maryland, and judging from the reactions of the participants, the time was well worth it, even for those who likely will not go before a camera. It opened their eyes to what goes on behind the scenes to help the media assemble a story – and get an organization’s messages delivered accurately and concisely. If you are considering a media training for your college or university, here are some thoughts to consider:
- We had great success integrating the college’s crisis communications plan with the media training. During mock interviews, participants rehearsed answers to potential questions about the H1N1 virus/swine flu, a fire in a campus building, an accusation against an accounting department employee and the crash of a van carrying a sports team. We’re all hoping nothing ever happens, but this college is prepared!
- We worked closely with the PR Department to create a customized program that met their unique needs. They shared with us that other media training firms they interviewed tried to sell them pre-packaged workshops that focused more on what to wear and other “style” pointers vs. a content-focused approach, which of course is more useful.
- The college president wisely asked that a range of personnel be exposed to the session. Not only were deans and others in leadership roles present, but so were staff members from a cross-section of departments, from security to the athletic department to purchasing.
- Each participant was offered the chance to go before the cameras twice. It was time-consuming, but one time is simply not enough. They viewed a tape of their initial appearance, received our constructive on-the-spot criticism and then tried again. Why not allow newbie mistakes to be made in the privacy of your conference room?
- Videotaping participants is more important than ever since many newspaper reporters are carrying video cameras with them these days.
- You should plan for a “refresher” session in about six months. This college has already planned a follow up, which will keep potential spokespeople comfortable and ready.
Ready for your session? Give us a call.
Other than the airplane pulling the banner advertising low rates for car insurance (complete with a funny looking lizard), yesterday’s parade in Towson, Md. honoring Olympic super-hero Michael Phelps and fellow local champions Katie Hoff, Jessica Long and others was for the most part commercial-free. The parade itself featured high school marching bands and performers, the gentlemen from the Boumi Temple, military representatives, swimmers from the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, folks from Pete’ s Grill, lots of politicians, the Oriole Bird and Ravens Cheerleaders with mascot Poe.
But with an athlete of Phelps’s fame, these kinds of All-America public appearances will likely fade as the endorsement deals take center stage. The Baltimore Sun reported that his endorsements are estimated at $100 million over the course of his career, while the Davie-Brown Index, which rates the appeal of athletes and celebrities, has Phelps topping the chart.
Will a swimmer have the same staying power as other celebs? That’s just one challenge for his handlers, as they look for ways to capitalize on his popularity.
Here’s the current list:
1. Michael Phelps; 2. Michael Jordan; 3. Tom Hanks; 4. Emeril Lagasse; 5. Oprah Winfrey; 6. Shawn Johnson; 7. Michael J. Fox; 8. Paul Newman; 9. Denzel Washington; 10. Morgan Freeman
From a PR perspective, a critical piece of managing Phelps and keeping him high on the list is not only maintaining the buzz, but having a crisis communications plan in place to address any issues that could arise when your celeb is a 23-year-old with a lot of time on his hands before his next major appearance, the 2012 Olympic Games in London – only 1,391 days away. America needs a hero these days, so here’s hoping he can maintain that solid gold reputation.
John Edwards Didn't Use #1 Crisis Media Relations Rule
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Former Democratic presidential candidate and Senator John Edwards will never know if the current situation as well as his political future would be different if he had adhered to the Number One Rule of crisis media relations: tell your story—and all of it—first.
He had many chances to break this story well before he contacted Bob Woodruff of ABC News to conduct the interview this past Friday night which was, of course, too late. His credibility is zero and it’s way too early to predict his future. Meanwhile, the credibility of the National Enquirer has skyrocketed among its Fourth Estate peers as well as John Q. Public.
By telling your bad news first, truthfully and completely as it is known at the time, your version will be the one that matters and upon which others will be judged. Continue to be the key source for the story as well as for updates.
Once the smoke clears and the cameras and requests for interviews disappear, your credibility will be intact as well as your self respect, two of your most valuable assets.
Meanwhile, we’ll be editing the Woodruff/Edwards interview to include in our upcoming crisis communications and media training summits.
Maryland PR Firm Partner Quoted on PR Strategy
Posted by: | CommentsBALTIMORE, Md. – The current issue of the Baltimore Business Journal quotes Sawmill Marketing Public Relations partner Jeffrey A. Davis on the current PR strategy of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. Davis, a former newspaper reporter, said the mayor has handled herself well as she faces an investigation by the prosecutor’s office.
“One rule in crisis public relations is to announce the bad news yourself as quickly as possible,” Davis is quoted as saying in the Maryland business newspaper.
If you don’t announce bad news yourself, the media will find someone who will say something, and that source will not likely know all the facts or properly communicate your point of view, the Baltimore PR firm partner says.
The mayor recently employed a unique strategy by showing up unannounced at a happy hour function attended by members of the Baltimore media. See the PR Buzzsaw account of this crisis communications strategy here.
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a Baltimore PR firm established in 1995 specializing in the development and execution of marketing public relations programs as business development strategies for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and professional services clients. The Maryland PR firm specializes in media relations, media training, crisis communications and social media.
