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Crisis Communications: Why You Need a Plan
Every business leader
loses sleep worrying about potential disruptions to their business. They know
it is not so much a matter of if their business will face a crisis, but when.
They also know
that how they respond (what they say, how they say it, and to whom) can make all
the difference.
No one realized this more
than US Airways on January 15th, 2009. Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River after
both engines were disabled. Within one minute the disaster appeared on Twitter.
Within two minutes broadcast coverage hit, and within six minutes wire and
online coverage went live.
Fortunately, few of us
will ever face a crisis like US Airways.
While facing some type of crisis is inevitable, damage to your corporate
reputation or key business relationships is not. In fact, how you manage
through the crisis can strengthen both.
So, what are you to do?
Well, do what good business people always do ... have a plan!
 To minimize damage,
define in advance what "crisis" means to your organization. Consider what steps
you might take to continue operating. Prepare a plan to either prevent damage
to brand reputation and key relationships or to react to various scenarios that
might occur. You may want to do both.
No two businesses are
alike, but there are common defining elements of effective business disruption
plans. Identifying key audiences and critical relationships allow your
organization to pinpoint who must be notified immediately in the event of a
crisis. Having statements prepared in advance, as well as Website pages that
can "go live" in a crisis, enables the rapid response required in a Web 2.0
world.
Engaging appropriate
social networking platforms can make or break your reputation. As the US
Airways crisis made clear, micro-blogging has transformed the communications
environment. Businesses no longer have time to debate responses, and must act
rapidly using the technology of today.
While establishing a
business disruption plan is essential to any business, revisiting the plan is
essential. Regularly reexamining and strengthening your plan will ensure you
are prepared for what you hope never happens.
Honesty, authenticity and
timeliness are your best weapons in a crisis against to prevent permanent
reputation and relationship damage.
Winston Churchill once said, "A lie can go
halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on in the morning."
And he said it before the Internet!
Put a crisis
communication plan in place. Think it through carefully and objectively.
Protect and even strengthen your reputation and the relationships that have
enabled your business to succeed. Revisit your plan often. Say a prayer you'll
never need it.
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Our Blog on Crisis Communications
 Visit our blog to see our most recent post on crisis communications. It is clear social media requires us all to amp-up our planning. Professional communicators know this, and know that proactive crisis communications can sometimes result in no crisis at all.
Please visit our blog regularly. It's called Vr3. The "r3" stands for reputation, relationships, and results. That's what we post about in Vr3. We appreciate your feedback.
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Good Reads on Crisis Communication
Amazon:
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New Face at Vehr Communication
Amy Jones is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a
dual degree in Marketing and Management. She joined Vehr Communications in July
2009 as an Account Coordinator.
Prior to joining Vehr Communications, Amy served on the
Corporate Marketing team at Viamedia as a Marketing and Research Analyst. There
she provided marketing and research support to Account Executives across the
country. She also worked at eCampus.com as an Internet Marketing Analyst on
Google, Yahoo, and MSN paid search campaigns. She brings strong marketing and
new media experience to her service for Vehr Communications' clients.
Amy is deeply committed to the clients she serves and pays
great attention to the details of their programs of work.
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| Vehr Communications' Global Reach Grows with IPREX
 Vehr Communications is the Cincinnati-area partner of IPREX, a global corporation of more than 80 leading independent public relations firms in major markets in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Vehr Communications' global reach has just been expanded with the addition of the following firms:
Our partnership with IPREX allows us to couple our local expertise with global reach for the benefit of our clients and the clients of other IPREX members.
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| PR News, PR Insights
This edition of March Forth provides links (on right) to some excellent blog discussions for building strategic communications plans.
As
practitioners, we use communications to manage reputations, build
relationships and deliver results. The Internet is changing how we do
it, but how we have always done it is just as important.
We
hope the connections we provide here, and the various additional news
outlets and blogs we connect to on the Vehr Communications' website, help you to understand this rapidly changing industry as much as they help us.
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Suggestions?
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Archives
July 6, 2009
(Internal Communications:
Engaging Employees Boosts Business)
June 1, 2009
(Social Media Strategies...Managing Business Relationships)
May 1, 2009
(Your Communications Program: More Marathon Than Sprint)
April 3, 2009
(Spring Cleaning ... Web Site Maintenance and Promotion)
March 5, 2009
(Taking an Integrated Approach to Marketing)
February 3, 2009
(Branding ... the Heart of a Strong Marketing Plan)
January 6, 2009
(New Year, New Media)
December 3, 2008
(Crisis Communications: Managing Reputations)
November 5, 2008
(World Is Flat: PR Is Local)
October 1, 2008
(Web 2.0: Companies Gain Competitive Edge with Social Networking Tools)
September 8, 2008
(Online Media Rooms ... Essential in this Digital Age)
August 1, 2008
(Working with the Media ... A Few Tips)
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