Catherine Worboys, Curtin&Co

1. Communicating in a Crisis Catherine Worboys,Curtin&Co www.curtinandco.com

2. For discussion today • What makes a crisis? • Why effective communication is crucial in a crisis • Key stakeholders and pre-crisis communication • Assembling a crisis team • Effectively preparing for a crisis • Both internally and externally www.curtinandco.com

3. What makes a crisis? • Rather like earthquake prediction • Many indicators, but unreliable • So you need to be prepared for a range of situations • In crises: • Those with good reputations • will be less scarred; recover more quickly • Therefore you must handle issues well; tone of voice, honesty, generosity, etc. to avoid a crisis A crisis is an issue badly managed www.curtinandco.com

4. Perceptions are Powerful • In today’s media landscape: • If you think you have a problem then you probably have one • If someone else thinks you have a problem then you definitely have one • EG: TGV France “crash” – simulation which was reported as real www.curtinandco.com

5. Why managing a crisis matters • Reputation management • Impacts on sales, credibility, credit rating, etc. • Could make recruitment more difficult - hits internal morale • Uncomfortable for management • Expensively built brand image is tarnished • In the best case you can gain • Tylenol – blackmailer threatened to poison products • In the worst case you lose the company • Perrier – accidental minute contamination www.curtinandco.com

6. Perrier – the iconic brand of the ‘80s in crisis www.curtinandco.com

7. Lessons to be learnt • Things always get worse before/if they get better - a snowball effect • BP – oil spill • Murphy’s Law rules • No one is ever in the right place at the right time • If it can happen on Christmas Day, it will • Everyone has a different agenda • Which you need to know before a crisis hits www.curtinandco.com

8. The dangers of the ‘cover-up’ • Cover-up – a media definition: Deliberately (a) hiding information (b) not releasing it promptly • Hiding information always leads to either • economies with the truth • misinformation or • plain lying The Hydra Syndrome • The more lies you tell, the more you must tell www.curtinandco.com

9. Cadbury and salmonella 20th January: Cadbury Discovers Salmonella 19thJune: Cadbury admits contamination to the Food Standards Agency when outbreak of Salmonella linked to product 22nd June: FSA says Cadbury posed ‘unacceptable’ risk to public 23rd June: Chocolate recalled 30th June: Cadbury documents show same factory infected with salmonella in 2002 Outcome: Cadbury looks as though it knew the problem existed and wilfully put its customers at risk www.curtinandco.com

10. Key rules of communicating in a crisis • Speed is of the essence • If you have information, release it • If not, have “no comment” prepared • Five minutes is a long time in Cyberspace • Know your stakeholders before you are in a crisis • Who will help you when you need them? • Prepare your key messages • And all the scenarios you can think of – they may seem extreme but crises are • Most of all – prepare your people • Who is your crisis team? • How regularly do they train? • Everyone else should be trained to give “no comment” www.curtinandco.com

11. Crisis Management Some of the key players you must know www.curtinandco.com

12. The Media – old and new • Speed is of the essence • The media watches the media • TFL suffered from Twitter campaign against employee in 2010 • Website comment - posted fast • Can deflect hundreds of queries quickly • Can be easily prepared in advance as a “hidden” page to trigger • Agenda-setting rather than opinion influencers • Media tells people what to think about • They are under fierce competitive pressure • Journalism is ‘the first rough cut of history’ • Truth is an early casualty • But having friends can help www.curtinandco.com

13. The Politicians • Politicians have strong drivers • Ego and altruism • Make sure they have a special ‘hot line’ number for crises • Get to them before they get to you • Have telephone numbers (office, home, mobile, addresses, e-mails, etc.) • One/two Directors to contact top politicians • Senior Managers handle localcouncillors, MPs etc. • A crisis is an easy campaign “band wagon” for politicians • If they know you and support you in the media it can reduce impact This is third party advocacy - they can say what you can’t www.curtinandco.com

14. The pressure groups • Remember they are competitive businesses • Their own corporate battles - Membership drives • They can take risks - edge of the law • Speculate with strong and inaccurate views • The are symbiotic friends of the media • The environment is fashionable - a good ‘horror story’ • They are underdogs - like the journalist • They are ‘independent’ - no immediate financial gain • Get middle managers or handle them • Same consistent messages • Do not be side-tracked onto other issues • Discussion can take the heat out of relationship www.curtinandco.com

15. Handling a Crisis The Boy Scout Rule: Be prepared, internally and externally www.curtinandco.com

16. Planning for a crisis – Internally • One Co-Ordinator/Director leading a team • All senior roles must be duplicated • Easy to assemble – get on the ground early (30 mins) • Crisis Management handbook • Easy to read and use, checklists, templates, etc. • Reviewed regularly – as a priority • Train well and often - exercises, briefings, etc. • Get the messages right • Only the truth - don’t be afraid of ‘don’t know’ • Have a ‘life-belt’ statement ready • Empower the team to handle the crisis • NO outside interference – not the role of the CEO www.curtinandco.com

17. Crisis Management Team Leader Secretary CEO OFFICERS: Operations Media Political Customers/ Suppliers Internal Comms Legal SAILORS: Field information Press Room team Political liaison team Call Centre/ Sales team Human Resource team Field information The crisis management team (CMT) www.curtinandco.com

18. Planning for a crisis – Externally • Set up a stakeholder management programme • So you know the key players before you need them • Invest in a CRM programme to monitor progress • Make it a key KPI for all senior executives • EG: To meet one journalist a week; one politician a month • Regularly brainstorm potential scenarios • And create key messages for them • Review hidden website pages regularly • And consider social media options • Ask your advocates to input into your key messages • And make them the first target for supportive quotes • Above all…train everyone regularly • Even if it is just to say “no comment” www.curtinandco.com

19. Conclusions • Crisis Management is a sequential stage of Issues Management • A company which manages issues well will either avoid crises or lower their impact • To manage a crisis well, you must be prepared • Crisis management and comms is an on-going process • It cannot start when the crisis occurs • And this is all hard work… • ...but then, a crisis is always much more fun than work www.curtinandco.com