NINE STEPS TO AVOID A PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTER IN YOUR COMPANY
(As appeared in The Nation newspaper in Bangkok, Thailand)
Do you all recollect the news of Tylenol brand in 1982? One of the major worldwide consumer products companies, Johnson & Johnson, was confronted with a crisis when seven people died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule laced with cyanide. It was a huge public relations (PR) nightmare for Johnson & Johnson.
However, by creating a quick public relations disaster program and fully cooperating with the media that created the public awareness and interest, Johnson and Johnson was able to recover quickly and painlessly from this crisis. Tylenol acted promptly and pulled its product off the shelves without being forced to do so by the public. The company PR department communicated openly and often with the public, and with the help of the legal authorities, initiated an investigation. Tylenol was found innocent at the conclusion of the investigation. The public liked their sincerity and Tylenol had a favorable brand image with the public because they pulled their product when they discovered the problem. They apologized to the public and today the brand is doing well, the company responded quickly and effectively, and most people today forgot all about the mishap.
In this present day and age, bad news travels fast. The internet and text messages have changed the way we spread the news. Negative publicity can spread nationwide or worldwide instantly. Even when the news is not true, repairing the damages takes time and a well orchestrated plan needs to be implemented as early as possible.
Your brand image is very important. Millions of baht of marketing investment and many years of dedicated effort are put forth in building customer loyalty and brand awareness. Therefore, when a disaster happens to your brand and a negative story breaks and become public, you must be prepared to act quickly and decisively.
Even public and private schools in Thailand or elsewhere are not immune from such disasters and often deal with crisis on a daily basis. Whether it is a staff related issue, a strike by teachers, a natural disaster or a simple outbreak of an influenza virus, schools can be adversely affected. Schools are often in the center of a community and closely watched by the parents, so they can easily and quickly become the center of media attention. The Head of the School or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company must respond to the crisis in a manner that demonstrates leadership and maintains confidence by the public at large.
Remember Murphy’s Law - in a corporation or institution, anything can go wrong. Crisis or bad news is part of the cost of doing business. However, don’t get in the insular mode and say, “everything is fine here; the bad news will quietly disappear.” If you ignore complaints or worst, try to bury them, it often makes the situation worse than it needs to be.
Here are nine steps that I recommend we do to avoid PR disasters:
Step ONE: Once a crisis occurs, the first thing to do is to accept it. Do not deny the bad news. Be honest about it. Discuss it right away with your heads of business units, administrators and employees. The longer you wait to act, the longer the bad news is in the minds of the people and in the media, and the worse it’s doing for the reputation of the company.
Step TWO: Take a risk audit and determine the cause of it. Evaluate where your company might be vulnerable. Inform all parties concerned, such as the Board, Administrators, head of Business units and supervisors etc.
Step THREE: Form a task force with a team of managers including marketing and PR manager to head the team. In some cases, in small companies or even in schools, Manager of the company or the Head of the School can lead the team as he or she is authorized to make snap decisions.
Step FOUR: Clearly outline responsibilities to each department on what they supposed to do to solve the crisis. Clear line of authority in dealing internally and externally make things easier to deal with a crisis.
Step FIVE: Develop a plan of action. Present the facts and clearly state your plan for correcting the disaster. It is important to take responsibility of your action.
Remember the recent story of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. He was seeing a call girl for years and spent over US$80,000, much of it tax payers’ money. When the news broke out, Spitzer responded immediately and announced his resignation within days. He admitted his mistakes immediately and moved on to repair his relationship with his family. The damage had been done, his career had ended but he maintained some aspect of respect from the public by his actions.
Step SIX: Prepare a Question-and-Answer statement immediately, reviewed and approved by all parties concerned, to answer any inquiries from the press or the public. What to communicate and by whom needs to be clearly explained to all the staff. Distribute widely internally, so that every key staff member is speaking the same language.
Step SEVEN: Work with legal authorities when recalling a product; or listen to the Union or disgruntled employees. Be upfront in providing the actual truth to the public and offer your sincere apologies. You may think that by saying sorry would increase the risk of litigation. The answer is no. There are many ways to offer apology without jeopardizing your legal stand.
Step EIGHT: If the Teachers’ Union does go on strike or a crisis does develop in a company, do not just send out a letter from the CEO to all the employees or issue a press statement. Put a face to it. The CEO or the high ranking officials of an institution must come out to convey empathy. The CEO is the authority and the employees would like to hear personally from him. He needs to show that the company can handle the situation and assure them that he is on top of the matter with everyone’s best interest at heart.
Step NINE: Maintain constant communications with the public. This is very important. By maintaining a regular two-way communication channel, institutions can listen and learn about what’s happening in the marketplace and gather public opinion.
Remember, the face of a PR crisis is changing rapidly. With new media such as Face book, My Space and Skype, news of a disaster can travel extremely fast. But don’t forget, companies do not have to depend on traditional media to handle the crisis. They can talk to customers and schools can talk to parents using a number of different media such as internet video, websites, pod casts, Face book, and more. The quicker you can manage the disaster, the better.
(Nat Yogachandra is a retired Management executive of Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York. He is currently a marketing consultant, living in Bangkok. He is also the chairman of a non profit organization called Hope is Life Foundation)
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