1 WORKING GROUP CRISIS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY Regional Seminar for OIE National Focal Points on Communication for Europe 1-3 July 2014, Tallinn (Estonia)

22 Crisis situation Four human rabies cases in less than one week All infected by bites, both from domestic and stray dogs Veterinary services have identified the primary source: 5 dogs illegaly imported. They have allready captured three of them, and look for the two others.

33 August wasteland… The last infected person is the young daughter of a TV Star No better news to feed the newspaper Rumours spread on the internet and newspapers Of a virus mutation Of the inaction of Veterinary services

44 You are the one… You are alone at the office : no doubt, you will have to handle this alone! What is your first step?

5 What is your SOCO? Single Overarching Communication Outcome The outcome or change you want to see in your audience as a result of communicating The SOCO is not your message

66 Develop your SOCO Issue : make understand that VS are doing their job Critical information relevant to audience: Detailed actions which are being set up What change do you want to see in your audience: rebuild the trust

77 You are the one… You are alone at the office : no doubt, you will have to handle this alone! What is your second step?

88 Build your crisis team A coordinator => you A science advisor A press/media liaison person Alliances? Who does naturally support you?

99 Contact points Data base A necessity! Anticipate + Keep your network alive !

10 You are the one… And hopefully well attended! What is the next step?

11 Identify your audience

12 Identify your audience Share your goal Energy Invested Who are they? ChampionsYES Support publicly vocally → another TV star (could be a vet or a scientist), Academic researcher, → the msg has to be conveyed by a vet without conflict of interest On the other hand → having somebody which is not a vet can increase trust → Medical doctors, dog owners organisations, NGOs → Specialised journalists/bloggers Silent boosters YES Support silently → dog owners, general public (part of) → families with children, teachers at school → Public health, police, customs

13 Identify your audience Share your goal Energy Invested Who are they? AvoidersNO Oppose silently → general public (part of)? → public health services? BlockersNO Oppose loudly → rumor press/bloggers → families of victims → animal welfare groups → consumers associations → general public (Tax payers) →Contributors to the rumor (illegal importers)

14 Target your targets Target 1: Medias (both Specialised and General): they have to believe my story o General public, dog owners, families with children incl. victims o Animal Welfare NGO’s Target 2: Scientific Professionals (private vets, medical doctors) Health authorities Target 3: Illegal importers (Potential)

15 You are the one… You’ve got a SOCO, a team, and several target What is the next step?

16 Identify your talking points

17 Checklist #1: The 3 Cs of communication Content Concise, clear, consistent (over time and amongst sources), accurate, explicit information Context Communication is sensitive of: culture, beliefs, values, previously received information Connection (relationship) Caring, respect & listening Authority, power Cooperative, communicates user benefit Concrete action/follow-up possible

18 Build your message Target 1: General public via media Give clear facts Actions initiated Actions against illegal importation Treatment (animals & humans) 2 dogs still roaming What the police is doing against illegal importation Call for action: suggestions to deal with the situation o Beware of your dog o Signal free dogs which have suspicious behaviour o If you are bitten, go to the doctor

19 Build your message Target 2: scientific professionals Report of suspected cases (vets and doctors) How to find vaccines? o give indications to doctors regarding vaccination o educate professionals (guidelines:what they have to do and what is being done)  leaflets available Target 3: illegal importers We have informed counterparts: health services, borders services, neighbouring countries Enforcement actions will be taken against offenders

20 Identify your talking points Keeping your SOCO and your audience in mind, think of the three key points you would want someone to know. Create 3 supporting arguments for each, including : concrete examples facts statistics

21 Checklist #2: Developing messages 1.Are the messages understandable? Avoid jargon and technical language 2.Are the messages complete, honest & open? Acknowledge uncertainty Acknowledge mistakes Acknowledge what you don’t know Don’t speculate 3.Are the messages respectful of concerns? Concerns about health Concerns about future Concerns about fairness 4.Are the messages sensitive of cultural practices? 5.Do the messages express empathy for victims?

22 Talking points: we now focus on target 1 Target 1: General public via media Give clear facts Actions initiated Actions against illegal importation Treatment (animals & humans) 2 dogs still roaming What the police is doing against illegal importation Call for action: suggestions to deal with the situation o Look after your dog o Signal free dogs which have suspicious behaviour o If you are bitten, go to the doctor

23 Identify your talking points Point 1: acknowledge facts: we control the situation, because we know what happened: explain your story: what are the facts? 3 victims bitten by dogs o We sympathise with the 3 unfortunates (incl. the daughter of the celebrity) who are recovering, received post-exposure vaccination 60% of the dogs have been captured / we are actively looking for the 2 last ones Rabies has been confirmed by our national Reference Laboratory experts as a normal strain Point 2: we have a solution Research: Origin of infected dogs Experience  Hypothesis: usual sources  we are targeting the search Point 3: Call for action Look after your dog Signal free dogs which have suspicious behaviour If you are bitten, go to the doctor

24 Press contacts Data base Useful! Anticipate + Keep your network alive ! Identify the journalists you trust

25 Press contacts Data base

26 Prepare an interview Start with your SOCO Go straight to the point Use a natural language Stay calm You don’t have to answer the question asked! Medias want to get a story Tell them your story, your way!

27 Face to face communication 55% body language 38% voice 7% words

28 Draft a press release Start with your SOCO Go straight to the point Command attention «What's in this for a journalist?» Prepare the copy/paste Give facts and numbers Clarify message to create trust Call to action

29 Illustration helps to attract Create your Photo Data Base Collection + Organisation Anticipate the needs of journalists!

30 Photos Data base

31 That’s it?

32 Now … disseminate! News becomes out of date very quickly Use relay of your champions and alliances Etc ….. Use your network!

33 Evaluation Did the campaign reach its goals? If not, why not? (SOCO, messages, audiences,…) Was the campaign cost-effective? What is the learning from the campaign and how to adjust future campaigns in light of this learning? Do we need longer-term engagement; can we be shorter?

34 Find your indicators Objective: rebuild the trust N° of articles/TV reports relaying our voice/quote Relay of press releases on social media Decreased N° of articles on the subject Ratio of positive comments of people on articles N° of hotline calls N° of actions implemented (% of vaccination) N° of leaflets sent N° of feedbacks from vets

35 Take away messages Ways to draft a press release Talking points Behaviour in interview Contact point data base Photo data base Ways to disseminate the information Medias want to get a story Tell them your story, your way!

36 Thank you for your attention!