Download - Voice Quick Tips: Brand crisis management
Voice Quick Tips – Managing On-line Reputation Crisis
Author: Sylwia Presley, December 2011
Introduction
Many of out clients consider open social conversations around their brand potentially dangerous to their brand reputation.
We think that any brand with a good product or organisation with good, transparent activities should openly engage in on-line conversations with their supporters. We do understand though that occasionally there might be a crisis situation which requires pre-defined process of handling it.
In this document we are sharing process prepared based on years of experience of all Voice team members in order to provide you with confidence to enter the on-line conversations and be ready to any potential unplanned event.
Unplanned events process
Below you can see an example process of handling unplanned event.
Alert iden*fica*on: An employee iden=fies unplanned event related to brand reputa=on.
Ini*al insights: An employee iden=fies circumstances of alert.
No*fica*on: An employee no=fies line manager, Senior Management.
Inves*ga*on: Senior Management, line manager and employee inves=gate the alert to define appropriate response. Off-‐line contact might be required.
Response: Representa=ve of Senior Management follows up (public statement, response to direct cri=cism, personal message).
Documenta*on & Monitoring: Assigned employee documents the crisis and monitors places where it occurred for responses.
Response to positive feedback - guidelines
Very oLen we see brand and organisa=ons ignoring posi=ve feedback, ideas of their supporters or genuine interest in helping the brand. We strongly encourage you to follow them up! Pending the circumstances your response should contain following elements: • Thank you– ‘We are happy you find our project valuable to your own blog...’ • Acknowledgement and explana*on of our processes– ‘...we are trying our best to plan our ac=vi=es to bring value to all...’ • Gentle way of re-‐direc*ng aEen*on to areas one can get involved in – ‘...if you want more content, check our blog...’ • Reference to your work, or specific ac*ons– ‘...for tag ‘eco’ to find similar campaigns you can join..’ • Explana*on of process, as openly as possible – ‘..if you decide to, send us an e-‐mail – we would not like to spam you;)..’ • Reassurance on follow up and actual follow up – ‘..we will get back to you immediately’. • Signature: name, surname, role, direct availability.
Response to negative feedback - guidelines
In order to address poten=al threat to brand reputa=on the response needs to contain following elements: • Apologies – ‘We are terribly sorry for our mistake...’ (if applies) • Acknowledgement – ‘...we understand how you feel about this...’ • Firm explana*on of our approach – ‘...however we did our best to ensure...’ • Reference to specific procedures, ethics – ‘...transparency of our ini=al e-‐mail...’ • Explana*on of process, as openly as possible – ‘using disclosure and copy explaining in advance what the campaign’s goals are’ • Reassurance on follow up – ‘Incorpora=ng your feedback, we have educated our team to reinforce our methodology and ethics to ensure good communica=on’. • Signature: name, surname, role at the organisa=on, direct availability
It is advised to use posi=ve terminology, refer to private communica=on and procedures as well as arguments which stop the flow of nega=ve comments, do not provoke new responses.
Examples
Here is an example of wrong handling of criticism. Threatening your fans to delete their comments is not a sign of respect, specially if they are right.
Examples
Here is an example of good handling of criticism and crisis. The agency involved knew that their involvement with the brand suffering huge brand reputation crisis might affect agency image too. The director posted this message to clarify agency involvement and additional support provided to their client.
Examples
Here is an example of good handling of potential brand crisis. Customer care person working on Facebook page notices the issue (ActionAid UK’s sponsor related to Innocent Smoothies/Coca-Cola’s unethical on-line behaviour), notifies PR team, all investigate, draft and post the response.
Examples
Here is an example of good handling of opportunities posted on-line instead of falling into the trap of fake brand crisis. After this post ActionAid was contacted by an influential beer blogger, sent him the beermats to create more content for their cause.
And finally…
…remember that times, tools and people change. All your procedures need to be clearly communicated to all teams involved, embedded in your HR processes and regularly updated.
It also helps to cultivate supportive culture instead of blaming one. Teach your team to talk about mistakes and learn from them to prepare for any good or bad unexpected event that might occur on-line.
With this confidence in place they will represent your brand on-line more effectively.
Contact
If you have any comments please contact:
Sylwia Presley E-mail: [email protected] Mobile: 07850 138 178 Twitter: @presleysylwia and @nfpvoice Skype: sylwia.presley