Quay West PR: GET YOURSELF IN CRISIS MODE BEFORE THE ...

I think the mobile phone gods were shining on me a few weeks ago when I made the bold ? and derided by some ? step to switch from my trusty Blackberry and go over to the dark side by opting for an iPhone. Who?s having the last laugh now, I hear myself saying , as Research In Motion tries to recover from what is looking like a catastrophic failure of the Blackberry network that has users up in arms and leaving the brand looking more than a little tarnished.

And the problem is compounded by users taking to Twitter to vent their own anger against RIM for the world to read. The Guardian reported three tweets that must have been the tip of a social media iceberg. One wrote: "BlackBerry down again. Very poor communications from them about what the problem is. ?Fail." Another said: "Maybe I'd like my phone more if it wasn't a stupid BlackBerry" Whilst one even said: "It was nice of BlackBerry to honour Steve Jobs with two days of silence".

And it?s in these tweets that a lot of the damage for RIM lies. You often judge a brand not by what goes wrong, but how they deal with that situation and what steps they take to put it right. Some people call it crisis management, others call it contingency planning. Either way, planning is the important word because, whatever your size or business, you can and should pre-prepare for a crisis.

Our key tips would be:

1. Don?t panic. Think calmly and rationally, because how you interact with all of your stakeholders ? customers, media, suppliers, shareholders etc ? during this initial phase will set the tone for how you will handle the crisis and how perception of your brand will be impacted.

2. Get your facts straight. Be honest. Don?t lie. Do not put out information about which you cannot be certain. Having to retract information later for inaccuracy will damage your brand. Make sure everybody who needs to hear information directly and personally does so before you release information via the media.

3. If you can, use your PR team to prepare holding statements and to liaise with the media on your behalf. They will ensure that you are seen to be taking the situation seriously. Make sure your staff do not speak to the media and all calls are passed through only to those designated to handle them.

4. Work with your crisis team to determine what information to release, what statements to put out, to whom and when. Make sure you have a senior member of staff as the ?face? of the situation ? it makes your brand look more like it?s taking the situation seriously if the MD is perceived as taking direct control.

5. Monitor what coverage is appearing and what is being said about you online. Do not engage in bickering but if factual errors need to be corrected, make sure they are done so politely and promptly.

That?s a lot to consider if an emergency breaks today. That?s why you should consider now what your crisis PR strategy would be, how it would be implemented and to have those plans shared and available for use at a moment?s notice. This puts you on the front foot and enables you to set rather than respond to the agenda of others. We can work with you to put these plans together.

And don?t forget, just as the Blackberry crisis is an opportunity for iPhone and Android manufacturers, so a crisis for your competitors is an opportunity for you. You need to be equally prepared for that and ready to exploit those opportunities as well.

Source: http://quaywestpr.blogspot.com/2011/10/get-yourself-in-crisis-mode-before.html

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