There are many days when we hear the evening news and utter a loud prayer to thank God (and anyone else who's listening) that we're not on the front lines of a particular crisis.
And, it's particularly hard when you know the individuals involved: your first thought is that you want to go give them a hug, an aspirin, a visit from a masseuse or a scotch - anything to help them through the "day from hell."
Your next thought is: What would I do in the same circumstances? And, it always comes back to these basic Golden Rules:
- Actions speak louder than words;
- Be as forthcoming and candid as you can; and
- Honesty is always the best policy.
This week, we started out analyzing two crises that had every sign of being communications nightmares and I'm sure that for those down there in the trenches, they were. But both ended up getting grades that might surprise some of you.
First, there's the American Medical Association, the highly visible association of doctors you expect to endorse exercise, healthcare and safety campaigns - not a consumer product.
But there it was: AMA endorses Sunbeam healthcare products. (The deal involved AMA selling its seal of approval for nine Sunbeam-manufactured products.)
From the ensuing outrage, you might have thought that Sunbeam was a tobacco company or something. Doctors, and the public at large, were horrified that such an esteemed institution would sully its reputation with an endorsement deal. Never mind that the American Dental Association endorses some 1,300 products and these days endorsements are so prevalent that I fully expect Nike to surface during the Pope's next tour.
As it turns out, the scheme bypassed all the normal channels so the board was free to disown it and take swift action to punish the perpetrators (remember Golden Rule #1). While it must have been five weeks of utter chaos for the communications department, in the end the damage was not as bad as you might have thought.
However, we would be negligent if we don't note that the AMA/Sunbeam saga is one that has yet to die. Last month, Sunbeam asked the Federal District Court in Chicago to enforce the terms of the five-year contract.
Then there is Georgia-Pacific, with one of the worst nightmares. A major chemical explosion in its plant in Columbus, Ohio. (I always wonder how many crisis communications plans are written and or rehearsed in the wake of a disaster like this - if they're not they should be).
But credible spokespeople and rapid response made the best of a bad situation. The national press reports positioned Georgia-Pacific as honest, open and doing the best it could.
Katharine Paine is founder and CEO of The Delahaye Group, an international image consulting firm based in Portsmouth, N.H. She can be reached at 603/431-0111.
| AMA: | |||
| Criteria | Grade | Comments | Advice |
| Extent of coverage | C | The problem was that the program was launched with so much fanfare that if publicity is what they wanted, they got it! | The good news is that AMA execs got as much publicity for reversing their decision. Lay low for a while and concentrate on your target audience: the doctors. |
| Effectiveness of spokespeople | B | In the beginning, the explanations and comments were good, but no one believed them. The board seems to have more credibility now. | This was classic "ready, fire, aim." Next time, test out major messages on the target audience: a little research might have prevented major headaches. |
| Communication of key messages | A | The positioning of the AMA as an established, credible, respected institution came across in almost every article. (The notion that the money would fund research and education also came across loud and clear, restating the organization's mission.) | Reinforce the positioning with all future announcements. |
| Management of negative messages | C | Despite the positive positioning, the whole scheme made the AMA seem a bit desperate and greedy. | Work on modifying the negatives with the positives: stress the benevolent nature of the association's ongoing activities. (Check in with the members to see what the long- term implications are and make sure they're communicating the same messages.) |
| Impact on customers | D | The customers in this case are the member doctors and I'd worry about the impact of this on membership and dues. | Lay low in the mass media until you identify and address member concerns. |
| Impact on investors | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Impact on employees and prospective employees | B | It's never fun to be living in a bunker. But Dr. P. John Seward's (Seward is executive VP) reassurance to the staff that he "realized that this is very upsetting to all of us" was a nice touch. | Keep communications flowing from the board to the staff. |
| Georgia Pacific | |||
| Criteria | Grade | Comments | Advice |
| Extent of coverage | A | After the initial reports, coverage dropped so fast, we had trouble finding enough to analyze. | See Rule #2: Prompt, open and honest communications will quickly discourage reporters from wasting time looking for "scoops." If you have nothing to hide, there's nothing to "investigate." |
| Effectiveness of spokespeople | B | What's more honest than saying "I don't know" (plant manager Andy Norman basically explained that "there's no way to tell what happened). | GP people did a nice job on Chemistry 101 - explaining what chemicals do what and how they interact. Next time, try to work concern for employees and neighbors higher up in the sound bite: it didn't make it into the national news. |
| Communication of key messages | B | Might have been better to express care and concern for neighbors first but its never easy to predict the sound bite. | The bad news is that not many messages were communicated. That happened because the extent of coverage was so brief that there wasn't much opportunity. |
| Management of negative messages | A | Compared to other chemical crises, this could have been much worse. Clearly, they had trained spokespeople and a crisis communications plan that worked. | There really weren't any negative messages out there but it wouldn't hurt to check in a few months down the road to make sure there isn't any long-term impact. |
| Impact on customers | B | By minimizing the coverage there is a good chance that few of GP's industrial customers even heard about it. | Again, hard to judge long-term impact. Still, make sure that customers who did hear about it, have a full, and reassuring explanation that products are safe, orders will be on time and it won't happen again. |
| Impact on investors | B | Again, minimal coverage had virtually no effect on stock price. | Industrial accidents are nothing new. As long as the cause isn't some systemic problem, investors shouldn't care. |
| Impact on employees and prospective employees | C | National news reports were light on employee safety issues. | Make sure all GP employees are assured that this was an anomaly and that GP cares about safety and is doing everything possible to assist victims. |