Crisis Management

What happens when it all goes very wrong? As we have learnt, PR is all about building relationships: With the client With the media With the audience But what happens when your good image is in danger? What happens when a stunt or an incident is not handled well – who pays the price?

The incident might be: A large scale emergency – train crash or slow response to a flood A product recall – car breaks are failing / airbags not working Customer service Failed system Loss of customer confidence due to lack of information Badly behaved employer/ee – think celebrities Lack of funds / corruption allegations Political discrediting

Two types of crisis 1 ‘Cobra’: strikes without warning. This is a sudden crisis which was completely unexpected. 2 ‘Python’: creeps up on you. It is a slow-burning issue or set of issues which are left to escalate to become a crisis. If a strategy is in place to identify, monitor and manage issues, the crises which do ultimately arise from the issues should be predictable and quantifiable. By Skills Funding Agency

In-house vs. Consultancy In-house The in-house PR’s will have a formal strategy/guidelines for handling a crisis. - An analysis should be done to predict potential incidences - A contingency plan will me drawn up to tackle them - The PR’s and the official spokesperson will be trained on how to address the media

Consultancy - A consultancy may have a expert in crisis management - The most senior person on the account will address the media or will prepare the speech - There are specialist companies that handle unfortunate situations

Case Study Hit or Miss? Thai Airways Covers Up on Stricken Plane – PRWeek “Thai Airways took an unusual step to keep its brand out of the news when one of its planes skidded off a Bangkok runway on Sunday, injuring 14 people.”

Workers blacked out logo on the tail and body of the damaged plane Blamed Star Alliance for the cover up Star Alliance rebuked and said it had nothing to do with the cover up Thai Airways reported it was following its own policy Davide Wilson from Bell Pottinger (MD, Business Communication Company) stated that although aviation has been cited in the past for having great crisis management policies in place, Thai Airways failed on this instant.

He said: “Statements of sorrow for the 14 injured ticked a box but the decision to black out its name on the fuselage and distinctive logo on its tail fin was simply crass. Was Thai seeking to whitewash the problem, or worse, hide evidence while the cause was still under investigation? It meant the ‘real story’ – the crash landing – played second fiddle in the news agenda to a botched paint job, created entirely by the carrier itself. Thai Airways has been castigated, globally, for putting its brand ahead of safety, and rightly so. In its own post-incident analysis, any section in its crisis manual section entitled ‘Paint Job’ needs its own blackout.”

Case Study: Southwest Airlines Flight landed nose first at LaGuardia airport The company responded quickly Honest information Apology Used social media well – facebook and Twitter were used to help the company control the information and damage

Paired activity In pairs research a company that has had a crisis and what they did to recover. Was it a good or bad outcome? Did they deal with the incident well or did they crash and burn? Report your findings to the rest of the class.