Why crisis management should be on your mind
If you haven’t had to assist in responding to a company crisis, then count yourself as lucky. Every organization will experience a crisis of some magnitude. It’s up to leadership, with help from the marketing/communications team, to respond appropriately to its stakeholders.
For nearly four years, I cut my teeth on social media marketing and community management in the hospitality industry. One of the most pertinent skills I developed was a sense of urgency and sensitivity regarding crisis management. I was on social media’s frontlines for all complaints and brand activations. From unhappy customers, myriad online reviews, and innocent mix-ups, to unsuccessful events and health code violations, our team came together as a united, brand voice, as we responded, corrected, and rebuilt with each learning faced.
If you work for a small business or haven’t yet explored crisis management with your team, I suggest you take a quick dive below.
1. What’s a crisis, anyway?
According to strategic communications and business author, W. Timothy Coombs, a crisis is an unpredictable event that threatens company stakeholders, which can harmfully impact organizational performance and deliver other negative outcomes. Each crisis classification below, from Dr. Gerald Meyers’s When It Hits the Fan, is paired with an example of crisis management issues and responses.
Product Concerns/Issues – Recently, Ariana Grande sued Forever 21 for $10MM for trademark infringement. When a project fell through between Ms. Grande and Forever 21, Forever 21 allegedly hired a look-alike model, without permission, embodying the look-and-feel of the pop singer’s brand. Forever 21 has declined comment, as of publication.
Perception – Do you remember Kendall Jenner’s infamous Pepsi ad? This commercial caused an uproar when it aired, and the famous model soon penned an apology.
Changes in the market – Though not a full-blown crisis, in 2015, Starbuck’s Howard Schultz released an assuring memo to his employees addressing the market’s downturn, drumming up a mixture of employee appreciation, feel-good company culture, and leadership commentary.
C-Suite shuffle – Perhaps the CEO or other top-management is stepping down. Optics like these might lead to weakened trust in the organization if the transition isn’t handled delicately.
In addition to business crises, there can be indirect crises. For instance, an employee or employee’s family member can be part of a criminal act, an unhappy former employee could leave vitriolic messages on the company’s social media outlets. Also included are disasters, which include natural disasters like hurricanes and other acts of God, or the place of business being site of an attack or other crime.
Navigating through a health code violation was one of the most impactful learnings of my career. A routine health inspection was failed; it was publicized by local news outlets and went regionally viral on social media. Pretty much a worst-case scenario for a local food purveyor. Soon, our executive team and marketing team met to embrace the issue and reflect.
2. Embrace It & Reflect
Meet with a core group from your organization. Typically, this group is comprised of C-Suite executives, including operations, human resources, and members of the marketing and communications team. Remember to slow down and reflect. It’s easy for emotion to take over during such a stressful time. Embrace the impact of the company’s crisis and ask each other—what have we lost and how can we fix it? How can we make it right? Put yourselves in the shoes of your company stakeholders and have that newfound perception help guide your response. If you already have processes in place for a chain of response and this is perhaps a reoccurring issue, this is when those chains need to be reexamined.
3. Respond & Recover
Think about your company values, your product, your audience. If possible, get ahead of the buzz. Own mistakes and make them better. In 1999, Dr. Sally J. Ray shared crisis response suggestions still relevant nearly 30 years later in her book, Strategic Communication in Crisis Management:
Speak in one, authentic brand voice.
When in doubt, he honest. An open and compassionate response is the way to go.
Don’t fuel the fire. Be wary of engaging in a public blame battle.
Sometimes, you don’t have to respond immediately, depending on the severity of the crisis. But beware of the dangers of not speaking up. Often silence can be perceived as a cover-up.
Actions speak louder than words. Sometimes a statement just won’t do it. A gesture can speak volumes about the heart of a company and is influential in building trust.
The medium is the message. Harkening back to the words of media scholar, Marshall McLuhan in his book Understanding Media Studies—how information is disseminated is just as important as the message itself.
Our marketing team met with the C-suite to review our options. Operations tackled the issue immediately; they corrected the violations and hired a third-party food-health consultant to assist the company in maintaining excellent food safety. Marketing disseminated the statement ensuring health code compliance and the shop’s reflection on company values. While the initial fallout of the crisis was tough, it was a successful example of customer recovery.
4. Build for the Future
What does a crisis communication plan look like? If not already created, assemble your core group that will correspond every time there is a crisis. In your plan, come to a consensus on roles and role-specific action items for group members, as well as pre-planned crisis responses for non-dire situations. Once a response is crafted, depending on the crisis, make sure all employees are given clear direction on how to handle the press and other particulars, especially in a retail setting.
While we may never know what crises are looming ahead, it’s possible to be proactive with brand-appropriate responses and a dedicated crisis management group.
Stephanie Viggiano is an MS Strategic Communication graduate of Columbia University SPS’21.
