First of two parts
SAN FRANCISCO - It seemed only natural - or American - for a conference covering crisis management to touch on the Clinton-Lewinsky matter. After all, there are few crises as potentially damaging as the one the President is facing.
While there are some key lessons to be learned from this historic unfolding, the truth is: Unless you or your boss works out of an Oval Office and have the power to declare war, your crises are a bit more more manageable.
The 25-plus speakers at the PR NEWS Advanced Crisis Management & Media Relations Seminar held here last week offered corporate communicators first-hand insight into crisis avoidance and management. Through interactive role-playing, mock crisis scenarios and from-the-trenches stories, attendees left the two-day event realizing this: Whether it's product tampering, a slew of layoffs or a natural disaster, not only may your organization's reputation be headed downward, but your position as the key spokesperson may put you in jeopardy.
Honesty, the Best Policy
"It's not just about getting rid of the crisis, it's showing what your organization is all about," says Larry Kamer of Kamer-Singer & Associates, a San-Francisco-based PR agency.
That advice, echoed by veteran crisis managers, underscores the importance of foresight, honesty and communications savvy when dealing with a crisis. "You owe it to all those helping you in a crisis to know all the facts, especially the bad ones."
But what exactly is a crisis? While it seems a basic question with a multi-layered answer, the fact is, many companies mistakenly blow minor events into crises. One negative article about your company does not a crisis make. "If you turn everything into a crisis, your audiences will say, this is a company that's crisis-prone," says Ernest Del Bueno of Rowan & Blewitt consultancy in Washington, D.C.
When the Chips are Down
Often, one person can trigger a crisis. Take the case of Intel Corp., which in June 1994 faced a major upheaval when a mathematics professor in Virginia posted a message on the Internet rightly claiming errata in the Intel Pentium processor chip.
The fact that such a processing mistake would occur once every 27,000 years was of little significance to the general public, investors and vendors, recalls Howard High, communications manager at Intel.
The steps Intel took to correct the problem - including recalls, setting up customer service phone lines, increased planning and review, publishing all of Intel's errata on its Web site - were based more on the pulse of the public than on the technological glitch. "It was not a data-driven decision, it was emotional," says High. "It was interesting that even though Intel is an engineering company, it was perceived by the public as a consumer electronics company."
Employee Matters
Key to dealing with a crisis is tailoring your message to your key audiences. Almost always, your employees are one of your key reputation builders or breakers. As consultant Jennie Wong Simpson noted, "It's the difference between dealing with flow charts versus dealing with tears."
Simpson was speaking specifically about corporate layoffs and the need to understand that while external audiences care about the future, internal audiences (employees) are most concerned about "what happened." "If employees are not talking to you, they're talking to someone else," she says.
Biting Off Less Than You Can Chew
As a crisis unfolds, it's key to stick to the issue at hand. Most will recall the debacle Mrs. Fields Cookies faced when it was publicized that Mrs. Chips delivered cookies to the O.J. Simpson victory party. Once the news got out, sales of Mrs. Fields Cookies were down 5-10% over the weekend immediately following the disclosure. But, as James Alexander, president of eWatch monitoring firm, said, "Mrs. Fields stuck to the issue and didn't announce its new double chocolate chip cookie that same weekend." Cookies sales at Mrs. Fields are now on an upswing.
Internet's Impact
As Sean Garrett, senior manager, public affairs, at Alexander Communications, noted, "There's only so much you can do to put the genie back in the bottle." In other words, face the music and keep your ears tuned into all the noises, near and distant.
"It used to be that by the time a story got out, it went halfway around the world before you put your pants on. Now, with the Internet, you can't even get your underwear on."
A common observation among the speakers was the Internet's role in abolishing the traditional news cycle. "We're dealing with a press cycle that's like no other," says Garrett. "There are no deadlines."
The next issue of PR NEWS will cover the Internet's role in crisis management and how to effectively work with the media to stanch a crisis. For example, Evelyn Cassidy, former correspondent for Associated Press, advised attendees to "think like a reporter.be clear, cool and impartial" during a crisis. Not that all reporters are so composed..
(Larry Kamer, 415/512-6800; Ernest Del Bueno, 202/842-1010; Howard High, 408/765-1488; Jennie Wong Simpson, Sean Garrett, 415/923-1660; Evelyn Cassidy, 415/356-1000)