Posts Tagged ‘crisis communications’

Even BP Knows When Some News Is too Good to Be True

August 23rd, 2010

Any practitioner of crisis communications knows that some of their best work will never be seen or heard. In the world of PR, disproportionate credit is given for the big media hit or the well-executed television appearance. It’s harder to quantify the bad news cycle that never was or the controversy that seemingly disappeared over a few days – and often, that’s the harder media tactic to execute.

Take for instance the poster child for bad corporate and PR behavior – BP. We’re all aware of BP’s string of PR missteps since the Gulf oil spill happened. Yet despite these blunders, BP actually was way ahead of the curve on the latest (and unfortunate) news from the Gulf.

BP is to be credited for not exploiting what could only be described as a golden egg by the US government, when the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a startling report that got everyone’s attention. NOAA and EPA Administrator Carol Browner claimed that roughly 75% of the spilt oil had “disappeared.” Browner even took to Good Morning America to crow about “Mother Nature” taking care of the oil and said it was open season for fishermen.

Imagine the heated discussions within BP crisis response headquarters. There must have been fierce debate over how to exploit this stunning news. An aggressive PR plan would have been to build the report into full-page ads in major US newspapers as well as the round-the-clock commercials BP is running on its response.

But that did not happen. In fact, it looks like the sum total of BP’s hyping of that report is three Tweets on its official Twitter feed:

• NOAA Administrator states, there is no evidence of #oil on the Gulf seafloor http://ow.ly/2lHa1 11:00 PM Aug 5th via HootSuite

• 50% of oil released is completely gone from the system. -Lubchenco #oilspill August 4, 2010 1:33:26 PM EDT via web

• Vast majority of the oil has evaporated, burned, skimmed, or dispersed. -Lubchenco 2:28 PM Aug 4th via web

Why is this important? Because the NOAA report’s findings were so dramatic that they drew immediate scrutiny. Now, almost three weeks later, scientists not involved with the report claim the exact opposite is true – that about 75-80% of the oil still exists, much of it in massive underwater plumes. By not exploiting NOAA’s too-good-to-be-true report and staying out of the fray, BP let the feds take the ensuing heat.

This is just one example of how BP’s crisis communications plan is becoming effective. Evidence? A recent AP poll showed 33% of Americans approve of BP’s handling of the cleanup (up from 15% a few weeks ago).

Sometimes the best decisions are ones that keep you out of the news cycle and above the fray.

Tags: BP, crisis communications, oil spill, PR
Posted in Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Environment, CSR & Sustainability, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips, Reputation Management

Crisis Corner: Resolving the Company PR Crisis Before It Begins

April 19th, 2010

In most public relations crises, the common denominator remains, maddeningly, the same – a change in tactics and statements, mid-game, that throw more gas on the fire. Perhaps it’s easy to understand why; we only need to think of our own personal ordeals fraught with anxiety and panic. In the face of uncertainty, it’s easy to lose grip on rational thought, and even easier to disregard consistent steps that offer a careful exit to safety.

That’s why Praecere’s philosophy on media crisis management and crisis communications places a premium on planning discipline. After all, crisis aversion is a heck of a lot more fun exercise than crisis management. From Fortune 100 companies to small businesses, every company – if they haven’t already – must take the following steps:

• Be honest with themselves and others;

• Identify each potential weakness in their product or service;

• Know how these weaknesses may affect relevant stakeholders

• Analyze the most effective way to communicate with these stakeholders;

• Have default and standby messages ready to communicate quickly and buy time;

…. and ….

• Remind themselves to be honest with themselves and others.

Of course, it’s impossible to anticipate every possible permutation of mistakes, miscalculations or flat-out wrongdoing that may occur. Still, a small investment in crisis management now can avert much more painful outcomes down the road.

Tags: crisis communications, Crisis Management, crisis PR plan, media crisis management, public relations crisis, stakeholder
Posted in Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Public Relations Strategy

Tale of the Tiger, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hire Public Relations Crisis Management

November 28th, 2009

In a crisis situation, clients with high visibility often are lost on the best way to interact with their crisis counselor. In the crisis management industry, what role does the public relations specialist play when helping a client?

Take this weekend’s Tiger Woods story – or debacle, depending on who you ask. We can thank the era of the rapidly evolving media platform for broadcasting a torrent of details in the past 24 hours. The narrative already involves the world’s best golfer, a supermodel, possibly a mistress, rumors of prescription medication, a car crash, the parties avoiding police investigators, and who knows what else.

Here’s how smart PR crisis management should approach this media lightning rod:

First, when it comes to crisis communications, a competent public relations firm must adopt strict confidentiality protocols similar to those of a lawyer or physician. The public relations industry doesn’t have a licensing system like law or medicine (though perhaps it should!), but a letter of engagement or contract for services must include non-disclosure agreement (“NDA”) principles. As with these other professional services, confidentiality encourages frank discussion about the client’s problems, which allows the publicist to generate creative, thorough solutions.

Second, the publicist should recommend crisis communication steps only when they believe the client has provided all the facts. That way the first public response – which is likely the one most media will cover immediately – can address all pertinent details and define the terms of the debate before any outspoken commentator or enemy does. You can take control of the story and then begin driving the narrative the way you want it to go.

Third, any crisis communication plan must NEVER, ever say “no comment.” The veritable confession of guilt before the media’s eyes, “no comment” begs reporters, pundits, bloggers and anyone else to speculate on what really happened instead of you telling people the actual facts (see the second point above).

Crisis management 101 rightfully instructs the embattled person to run straight into the crisis so you can wrestle it to the ground. Each crisis situation is unique in its own details, but like the laws of physics, the fundamentals remain constant. It’s a long weekend, so Tiger’s publicists still have the chance to steer the narrative favorably to their client before everyone beats their Thanksgiving hangover and gets back to the grind Monday morning. The clock is ticking…

Tags: bloggers, competent crisis public relations, crisis communication, crisis communication plan, crisis communications, crisis counselor, Crisis Management, crisis management 101, crisis manager, crisis situation, media platform, NDA, non-disclosure agreement, PR crisis management, public relations firm, public relations industry, public relations specialist, publicist, publicists, Tiger Woods
Posted in Crisis Clients

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