Here are a few examples taken from a weekly newspaper column on crisis management which Robin Ashby used to write. The lessons are as pertinent now as they were at the time of writing.
CRISIS POINT - www.complain.com
from being a nation that never complains, Britain is changing fast. The advent of the Internet gives a new channel for the disgruntled customer - and a new challenge for businesses.
The solution: be aware of the damage complaints can cause. People are far more likely to tell others something bad about you that something good. Channel their anger constructively and you could change a negative into a positive.
An example was Shell. It attracted more than its fair share of odium in past years, including the Brent Spar attempted dumping and a really bad press over its activities in Nigeria.
Recently it decided to use the new Internet technology to enable people to hurl both brickbats and praise. It encouraged people to feed back their views via the Internet - and as a result, it attracted another 300,000 visitors to its website in a month - double the previous levels.
While some of it was abusive, it also received some pats on the back from satisfied customers. The wise company will facilitate feedback by offering a route to top management - and the wisest will respond quickly to make matters better. The consumer will feel he's being listened to, and may even put aside the bad experience and stay a customer instead of voting with his feet.
Senior management will be able to keep an eye on what's really happening when its product or service meets the customer out on the street. And the company may also gain a long term database of the best sort of customer. After all, the customer who complains is a customer who cares - and what are they worth in this cynical world?
CRISIS POINT - INDIAN CYCLONE VICTIMS NEED FOREIGN AID
The crisis: More than 4,000 are feared dead and 11/2 million homeless as a 160 mph cyclone inundated North East India a few days ago. It was scarcely reported.
The solution: For TV, no pictures = no news. For radio, no voice = no news.
Countries without correspondents don't exist on news agendas. Thousands died in the Ethiopian famines before a BBC TV reporter sent back a graphic account, with footage of dying children. Only then did this disaster get attention, and give birth to Live Aid.
Closer to home, the environmentalist hi-jacking of the Brent Spar oil rig rook place under the gaze of their own cameras and satellite transmission. Events on the rig were engineered to produce good pictures, regardless of the reality or news value.
Amongst newspapers, the saying has always been that a good picture is worth a thousand words. Look through today's Journal. You're unlikely to find a news story (rather than feature) longer than 500 words. Look at the space devoted to pictures. Note the composition of the pictures.
They are professional, not happy snaps. Middle distance shots of a large group of people in a line (the so-called firing squad pictures) are noticeably absent. People are interested in people. How many inert objects without a person can you see in today's papers? Technology can bring disasters directly to people's homes.
But the recent hurricane which battered the Bahamas wasn't news until it came within reach of CNN in Florida. Perhaps even before they start flying in tents and medicines, the aid agencies should be getting a digital camera linked via a satellite mobile phone to the net and beam back human-interest images. That way they'll get the world's attention and the financial help the homeless of Bengal so desperately need.
CRISIS POINT - HAPPY RETURNS EXXON VALDEZ
The crisis: Ten years ago last week, the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska, spilling huge amounts of oil. The anniversary was the chance for the media to revisit the story yet again, this time focusing on the compensation. The first part has just been paid and the company is appealing against a decision on more made by a jury seven years ago.
The solution: Anniversaries of crises will always be a tricky time, and companies often get caught out. In the US the battles can rage on the Internet for years. What they do today, the UK does tomorrow!
There are at least four sites on the Exxon Valdez, including one devoted to a ten-year update of the damage done (www.valdezscience.com) and of course Exxon’s own. Americans also manage to reduce difficult issues to soundbites. “Mother Nature has remarkable powers of recovery,” says Exxon.
“Any place that has chronic oiling, you can kiss your fish goodbye,” ripostes the National Marine Fisheries Service.(The American soundbite averages 7 seconds, the British one about 15 seconds).
Herein lies the nub for crisis-hit companies. Journalists will diary your disaster for the future (an easy future story for them, and easy to do in the computer age!). Your opponents will use the new media, to which journalists and others share easy access.
Sound bites rule. The answer is full, frank and fast information on your website and simple responses for television. But be careful to avoid the appearance of complacency or arrogance.
In other words, target the message to the medium, and keep your wits about you. And be extremely careful that your legal strategy doesn’t destroy the communications strategy you were depending on to rehabilitate your tattered reputation.
CRISIS POINT - POSH & BECKS
The crisis: There were two interesting possibilities last week. What’s in a name? Ask Brooklyn, offspring of Posh Spice and David Beckham, in 2010. The “Flaming Ferraris” were sacked by their employers after making an even bigger splash in the media than the Spicelet some weeks ago.
The solution: In business, there needs to be a point to publicity. The Flaming Ferraris were a group of high living young dealers in the City of London taken to boasting, frequenting nightclubs and appearing in the tabloid press. Being photographed flaunting your earnings (especially when you haven’t nailed home this year’s bonus), is unwise.
Too many people look through the wrong end of the telescope when considering publicity. They start from the desire to issue a press release or make a video, rather than determining objectives and then seeing if a publicity campaign is the right way to go about it. Thus the Flaming Ferraris didn’t seem to have any commercial logic on their side when they graced the tabloids.
They drew attention to themselves and no doubt felt good for a while bathing in the limelight. But their employers were less than best pleased, and started looking at their deals more closely. The result was a parting of the ways - not a good trade for 15 minutes of fame. It was also a week in which Internet domain names changed hands for $2 million.
Apparently London.com, England.com and Britain.com can receive over 5 million speculative “hits” a year even though they’re not promoted. Looks like your domain name could become another intangible asset for your balance sheet along with brand names. In which case, consider registering variants that you wouldn’t like to see in the hands of others.
CRISIS POINT - FARMING 2000
The crisis: Agriculture turns to marketing. Pat and Tony from Bridge Farm in The Archers are launching it as a brand for a variety of products. What factors should they be taking into account?
The solution: For branding to create value (rather than just costs), every aspect of the business should confirm the brand characteristics. There are eight key stages: business strategy; mission (or values); characteristics; relevance; distinctiveness; consistency; communication; and testing.
Your brand must fit with your business needs. Long production runs sit ill with a brand that emphasises exclusivity and limited availability. The mission statement should reflect what really underpins your business, but avoid meaningless waffle of the “pursuit of excellence” variety. It has been suggested that the characteristics of a brand can be defined by describing it as a person, or an essence.
If you talk to the people involved with your business (stakeholders in the jargon), they’ll quickly tell you if the brand characteristics you aspire to are real or hogwash. But make sure this is distinctive you, not the whole of your industry. Stand out from the crowd! Consistency is where life starts to get more difficult.
Everything you do and say needs to build the brand value. The beat of the same drum must run through the visual image, the physical environment, customer care, and the face you show the world from the telephone answer and throughout your employees.
Communication takes a number of routes, but don’t overlook the Internet as an important medium for the next decade, as well as media relations, print, and face to face techniques. I’ll happily advise you on this separately!
The only way to be sure your branding is doing its job is research - from full blown market research at one end of the spectrum to simply asking people you deal with what they think. Then correct the weaknesses so identified. The brand you create could be an even more valuable asset than the ones you already have in your balance sheet.