Posts Tagged ‘holding statement’

How Litigation Actually Helps Your Company Improve Its PR Capabilities

June 16th, 2010

Surprise – your widget-making mom-and-pop/mid-sized business/global corporate behemoth has been sued!  Apparently Timmy Goodkid Thompson tried to eat a decidedly non-edible product your business sells, and hurt himself quite amazingly in that effort.  Did we mention it’s your flagship widget, the one that drives 99% of your revenue?

The Thompson family – farmer father, teacher mother, rambunctious and adorable Timmy – have hired a media-friendly law firm, one that has perfected the art of PR stagecraft.  The firm has called a press conference to publicize the lawsuit.  All the 24/7 networks will be there, not to mention local reporters your neighbors know and trust.  Since the scrum will be streamed live, product safety bloggers are all over this one, riding a high-wave of backlash against corporate malfeasance.  Someone (the law firm?) has launched a fake Twitter account in your company’s name, a parody that sarcastically communicates abject, tone-deaf insensitivity with tweets like “next time blend the widget, it’ll digest more easily.”

Your company isn’t sweating, though, because you’re confident your product was not the cause of injury, and that your customers likely will understand this.  More importantly, long ago you hired a smart crisis management PR firm to draw up a crisis response playbook… right?  You did an inventory of interested media, have a holding statement in place, along with a grid that anticipates an escalating public relations meltdown… right?

Ok, enough about the PR nightmare, let’s shift to reality.  Litigation PR makes any company nervous.  No matter how small a lawsuit, the potential for media attention is limitless.  Yet in a way, that’s the beauty of litigation PR – in anticipating lawsuit scenarios, business leaders must identify every stakeholder, and that includes everyone in your company hierarchy.  Imagine the human resources involved in the widget lawsuit:

• Are the front office staff prepared to answer initial phone inquiries, do they have talking points?

• Have the interns been told to stay quiet and report inquiries to supervisors?

• Has the communications office reviewed and updated crisis PR procedures to ensure relevancy? (Note: Big Oil – walruses in the Gulf of Mexico – seriously?)

• Has building security been consulted regarding protestors who may show up at the front door?

• Has a point-of-contact been designated to oversee the entire crisis PR response?

• Has legal counsel examined your supply chain to identify each choke point of liability, and in turn relayed that information to your communications staff so they have statements and talking points ready to address each vulnerability?

• Are the IT staff ready to update the company website immediately with relevant messaging?  Do you have a dark site in waiting for this special occasion?

• Has everyone signed a NDA regarding trade secrets and the relevant aspects of litigation?

Such thorough preparation is essential in litigation PR.  As the company head, you can only achieve this level of care by engaging every tier of staff within your business operations.  That’s why an effective crisis playbook fundamentally requires looking inward, and in doing so your company encourages discipline amongst the ranks and knowledge of the situation.

Nothing looks worse than an erratic or empty media response to a lawsuit, so embrace the possibility of litigation and run the traps to get all employees on the same page.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Litigation Public Relations, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips, Reputation Management

PR Holding Statements: Walk Before You Run … Into the Crisis!

May 24th, 2010

If you’re reading this, and happen to own or operate a small business or large corporation, we’re willing to bet you’re curious about media holding statement 101.

No business is immune to the need for smart public relations crisis management.  If you sell food, assume your customers might get sick.  If you sell cars, assume the brakes will fail.  If you house sensitive financial information, assume it will be compromised.  If you sell medicine, assume it may have unanticipated side-effects.

The permutations are endless, but the sure-fire way to escalate your business’s crisis situation is to be caught flat-footed — or, in a PR crisis, with both feet in your mouth.

In other words, no matter how many weeks you’ve spent analyzing the weak points in your supply chain, setting up a war room to monitor media fallout, preparing for reporters through media training, or anticipating how critics and competitors will leverage a crisis against you, all your efforts are wasted without a proper holding statement ready for release.

Each holding statement is unique for a particular business, but the basic principles are the same.  The holding statement must address the crisis head on and without any doublespeak, acknowledge that something wrong is going on, offer immediate information, and resolve to address the media and public again once all the facts have been collected.   And, most importantly, you must show sincerity, genuine concern and appreciation for the crisis situation.

Apply this general approach when your business needs to speak, and you will buy the precious time necessary for a more coordinated, concentrated response to any problem factors that may arise.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Media Training, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips, Reputation Management

How to Control the Rules of the Court of Public Opinion, Step 1

May 1st, 2010

In crisis management and crisis PR, *the* most precious commodity is time.  Events happen so rapidly that you don’t have to time to determine if you have the upper hand.  One day your business is coasting along, but the next day you’re causing a mega-environmental disaster, accused of bribing regulators, facing allegations of financial crimes, or trying to figure out if an opponent is more bark than bite.

Staring down the barrel of a lawsuit?  What’s your litigation PR strategy?  Better be more than hoping for limited liability.  Your business may be at the mercy of civil procedure rules and a trier of fact, but don’t forget that the rules of the court of public opinion are totally different.

To leverage those circumstances in your favor, your business must take steps before you face litigation.  Your public relations counsel should conduct a thorough risk assessment and identify all weak spots of potential negative publicity.  Still, effective risk assessment is more than scanning your business operations – the analysis must connect with messaging, otherwise you’re wasting your money on ineffective consultants.

That’s why your business must be armed with a holding statement that can be aimed at each potential publicity hit or reporter inquiry.  Nothing appears worse (or more guilty) than inaction or “no comment.”   Ask yourself, who are your stakeholders – customers, regulators, business partners, activists, employees, maybe others?  If they suspect being cheated somehow by your business, what will you say when the microphones are in your face?

Specific holding statements can address initial concerns and buy you time to regroup, take a deep breath and implement the extended PR strategy.  Don’t assume that your folksy charm, steel spine or other character trait will woo rabid press into submission.  Speaking on the fly only reinforces the image of being unprofessional, and worse, indifferent to the crisis.

Appreciate the importance of prior planning, finalize your holding statement and be patient – by doing so you’ve already made a strong opening statement in the court of public opinion.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Litigation Public Relations, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips, Reputation Management

Crisis Corner: FCPA Outruns Benz

March 23rd, 2010

As explained earlier on this blog, FCPA prosecutions have increased priority in the Department of Justice, and companies are on notice to behave nicely.

Part and parcel of diligent FCPA compliance requires communicating positive steps, which is where crisis public relations becomes an important strategy.  This time around, the perpetrator is Daimler AG, the venerable German automaker that manufactures Mercedes Benz.  Daimler today agreed to pay $185 million in fines to the U.S. government for its alleged corrupt business practices.

While crisis management would recommend a media holding statement at a minimum, Daimler should also take active steps to explain any new transparency measures it plans to implement to avoid this type of scandal in the future.  (In this case, Daimler gave a very lame “no comment” response to the allegations … sigh.)

If a tree falls in a forest… ah, you get the picture.  Remember, in crisis public relations, the redemption narrative works only if people know you’re making that same effort — so publicize it!

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy

Crisis Corner: Companies Must Prepare Messaging for FCPA Investigation

February 8th, 2010

As the Department of Justice steps up enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, chances are that companies with household names will get snared in the coming dragnet.

If a company cares about their corporate identity, they must take active crisis public relations steps before a crisis occurs.  Think of it this way – a small investment in crisis management can prevent more fuel being thrown on the publicity fire.  If you don’t believe preparation matters, tell that to BAE as they start clawing out of the $400 million penalty they’ve incurred from violating the FCPA.  Having your company executives arrested and paraded out during a trade show is about as bad a publicity hit as you’ll ever get.

So, what can companies do?  The basic crisis public relations tactics often focus on simple messaging.  For example, if the executives know the crisis is around the corner, a holding statement can be drafted well in advance that alerts the media to the problem, and explains that more details will be forthcoming.  Forget about hiding the problem – the reporters will find out anyway.  And, this step satiates the media machine and buys time for the publicist to recommend next steps.  By doing so, the company gets out ahead of the story and controls the narrative.

Your company’s bottom-line matters to an ever growing audience, so make sure your messages get to them – especially when people are raising eyebrows and scratching their heads.

Tags: corporate identity, , , Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,
Posted in Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips

Praecere Public Relations

Praecere Public Relations provides traditional and social media expertise and strategies. No matter your publicity needs, Praecere will give you the best solution to move forward.

Learn More

Follow Blog