The last few weeks of 2014 and early 2015 have been dominated by horror stories – Bill Cosby, Prince Andrew and Sony to name three.
It is easy to think that a similar crisis won’t happen to you or your brand but a disaffected customer or donor could trigger chaos if you are not prepared.
MediaWise has extensive experience in managing crises as well as putting crisis communications plans into place. We’ve worked with the Victorian EPA, Good Shepherd Microfinance and the Volunteers Fire Brigade Association, among others, planning and managing difficult issues.
Here is an outline of what we recommend:
Put in place a crisis management team. It should include the CEO, legal support, CFO, subject matter expert and PR.
Choose your spokesperson. It can be the CEO but often, the best person is the one closest to the crisis. Whoever, the person must be believable, knowledgeable about the issue and be able to think on his or her feet.
Gather the facts to develop your messages. Choosing the words you will use to communicate the facts is vital Choose them well and stick to them.
Practice. Put your spokesperson through a mock press conference to practice delivering the message. Play the role of a journalist, ask leading question, offer false information and see how the spokesperson deals with it.
Review. Go over the session and assess how the messaging worked, or didn’t work. Be candid. Was the spokesperson’s performance convincing? What did her body language, voice and eyes convey? Did he fall into any traps that you laid for him? Then make changes accordingly.
Meet the press. Create a plan for engaging the media at the earliest opportunity after a crisis hits, but don’t rush out unprepared. Have all the facts at your disposal and stay on message.