gmc pr crisis communications handbook
DESCRIPTION
A guide for the pubic relations team to use during the event of a public relations crisis.TRANSCRIPT
Emergency
Response Guide
Prepared by Grady Miller on
03/20/12
Tested 04/01/12 and 04/02/12
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CRISIS INVENTORY .......................................................................................................................... PG. 3
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. PG. 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. PG. 5
REHERSAL ............................................................................................................................................ PG. 6
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................................... PG. 6
KEY PUBLICS ....................................................................................................................................... PG. 6
MEDIA SPOKESPERSON .................................................................................................................... PG. 6
INTERVIEW TIPS ................................................................................................................................. PG. 7
TRICK QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................ PG. 7
RECALL ROSTER ............................................................................................................................... PG. 8
CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM ................................................................................................................. PG. 9
EMERGENCY PERSONNEL .............................................................................................................. PG. 9
EQUIPMENT/SUPPLIES CRISIS CONTROL ROOM .................................................................... PG. 9
PREGATHERD INFORMATION ..................................................................................................... PG. 10
BLANK PRESS RELEASE ................................................................................................................ PG. 11
FACTS SHEET .................................................................................................................................... PG. 12
INTERNET SOURCES ........................................................................................................................ PG. 12
KEY MESSAGES ................................................................................................................................ PG. 12
HOLDING STATEMENT .................................................................................................................. PG. 12
BLOG RESPONSE .............................................................................................................................. PG. 12
EVALUATION .................................................................................................................................... PG. 12
Crisis Inventory
Malfunction of
product due to
employee tampering,
causing death.
4
Rumors of the 2010
Toyota “gas pedal
sticking” incident being
the result of employee
tampering on assembly
line.
Cases of product
tampering in non-
related products such as
Pepsi and Tylenol.
34 alleged deaths, 4 million vehicles recalled
stock dropped 20% in 2 weeks. Toyota brand is
recovering but name is still tarnished.
A comprehensive PR campaign produced a
response which not only helped the companies
recover but also emerge with an improved
relationship between producer and consumer.
Malfunction of
product because of
faulty manufactured
part, causing death.
5
Faulty or
malfunctioned parts are
our biggest risk but
cannot always be
predicted. There are
numerous recorded
incidents of auto recalls
due to parts.(i.e Ford
Expedition recall 2001,
200+deaths
In all cases, recalls are initiated which causes a
rapid and enormous plummet in sales. The brand
name is damaged for years and trust must be
gained back from consumers.
Work stoppage due
to employee strike.
5
Strikes are
unpredictable and can
occur at any time. The
auto industry has been
unstable as of late,
leaving employees
uneasy.
Attack waged from
environmentalist
who publicly blame
auto companies for
pollution.
2
It has been many years
since a combined and
organized campaign
against automakers has
never been successful
forged but it is still a
remote threat.
Various environmental groups have been
lobbying against auto makers for more than 40
years. These groups have had some success with
getting congress to regulate emission in 1968,
then vehicle sizes and fuel efficiency a few
years later. Also, the number of battery operated
cars being produced has increased 87% in the
past three years.
Company facing
foreclosure due to
low sales
4
A struggling economy
has led to the
foreclosure of many
businesses in the U.S.
and the auto industry
has been hit the hardest.
GM has been directly affected by the economy
by having to discontinue two of its brands,
Pontiac and Saturn in 2009 and Hummer in
2010.
Crisis Prob. Prodromes
Results from crisis
Introduction
This crisis preparation plan has been created by the Public Relations department of General Motors. This
plan should be used to minimize the extent, duration, and recovery time of an emergency situation.
Failure to comply with the procedures outlined in this manual could result in loss of jobs, assets, or even
deaths.
In 2010, the Toyota Car Company recalled over four million vehicles after 34 deaths occurred due to a
malfunctioned accelerator in newly manufactured vehicles. Initial rumors of employee tampering
prompted the General Motors public relations department to prepare a plan to be implemented in the
event that a similar tragedy should occur within the Company. Public relation professionals have spent
months creating and practicing this plan. It is a meticulous, step-by-step manual that will help guide you
throughout this crisis. Please follow the material inside thoroughly.
Acknowledgements
By signing this statement, I verify that I have read this crisis communications plan and am prepared to put
it into effect.
XDaniel F. Akerson
GM Chairman and CEO
XMark L. Reuss
GM Vice President and President, North America
XSelim Bingol
GM Vice President, Global Communications
Rehearsal To obtain maximum effectiveness and accuracy and to ensure personnel understand the steps outlined in
this manual, procedures should be rehearsed once every quarter.
Purpose and Objectives In this crisis situation, fatality(s) has been caused because of a malfunctioning part or part(s) in a General
Motor vehicle and has been linked backed to assembly line tampering by an employee. This crisis
communication plan was created to assist the public relations manager on whom to notify and in what
order; how to communicate and keep information flowing to the media and various publics; how to
organize a press conference; how to minimize and control damages; how to get the company back on
track to returning to normal business operations; and how to evaluate the crisis. In the listed order, the PR manager must every effort to:
1. Initiate the Crisis Communications plan within the first hour of the incident.
2. Notify key company officials and family of the deceased.
3. Release a holding statement on all General Motor websites sympathizing for the deceased and
ensuring public that a thorough investigation is underway and announce recall of all vehicles
believed to be defective.
4. Notify internal public such as employees, retirees and stakeholders.
5. Prepare a media release giving details of the 5w’s.
6. Arrange a press conference to release further details and any new findings.
7. Continue to notify the publics as soon as new information becomes available.
Key Publics Internal:
Daniel F. Akerson General Motors Chairman and CEO
(contact info)
Mark L. Reuss General Motors Vice President and President, General North America
Selim Bingol General Motors Vice President, Global Communications
External:
Robin Robinson TV News Personnel WFLD
(contact info)
Walter Jacobson TV News Personnel WBBM
Linda Yu TV News Personnel WLS-TV
John Howell Radio News Personnel AM560 WIND
Don Wade Radio News Personnel WLS 890 AM
Media Spokesperson The media spokesperson must be well informed, articulate, accessible and able to make decisions to
change policies. At least two backups should be in place as well in case primary becomes available. In
this case the spokesperson and backups are:
Daniel F. Akerson General Motors Chairman and CEO
(contact info)
(Back-ups)
Mark L. Reuss General Motors Vice President and President, General North America
Selim Bingol General Motors Vice President, Global Communications
Interview tips for spokesperson It is the spokesperson job to give out the facts surrounding the crisis and reassure the publics. The
rebuilding of the brand begins with the spokesperson. Some tips for him are:
Be apologetic to the family of the deceased
Don’t make excuses
Listen to questions in their entirety before answering
Tell the truth
Be accessible and pleasant
Do not guess or speculate. If an answer is not known say so and let the interviewer know that you
will get back to them when more information becomes available
Be confident
Do not smoke, chew gum or wear sunglasses
Be aware of trick questions
Do not be trapped into predicting the future
Look reporters in the eye and address each one by name when responding, if possible
Remember, nothing is off the record
Trick Questions All spokesperson must be well rehearsed on talking to the media and avoiding questions that can worsen
the crisis. Some question that they should look out for are:
Leading question: “So, you are saying there aren’t enough precautions taken to eliminate product
tampering, correct?”
Loaded question: “Isn’t it true that it was well documented that the employee who tampered with the parts
had been disgruntled for months but nothing was done about it?”
Naïve question: “Can you tell me how do the parts go into the cars?”
Know-it-all question: “We have reports that the employee responsible has a history of mental problems.
What we don’t know is if there were any prior discrepancies on the job with him/her that led up to this
point?”
Accusatory question: “Do you think that this entire crisis could have been avoided if the employee’s
psychiatrist would have realized the severity of his/her mental sickness.”
Chummy question: “Hey off the record, the person who did this has to be bird brain crazy, right?”
Directory
A recall roster of all pertinent figures should be placed here.
Crisis Response Team The crisis response team consist of the public relations professionals in the company. Please include the
name and contact info of the PR manager, PR specialist, and volunteers associated with GM. Also include
the after-hours number where they can be reach. This team is immediately notify after a crisis and has to
begin the Crisis Communication
Emergency Personnel Chicago Police 3510 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60653
Phone: 312.744.4000
Chicago Fire Department
419 S Wells St
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 922-1700
Mercy Hospital
2525 S Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL
(312) 567-2000
Equipment and Supplies for Crisis Control Room A crisis control room must be established ASAP. This is where all the information will be following from
and where reporters will stay at throughout the crisis. Reporters should be made comfortable and PR
personnel and volunteers must have enough supplies to last a few days. Needed equipment includes:
Mult-box
TV’s (more than one)
Chairs
Desks
Computers
Manuel Typewriters
Bulletin boards
Flip charts
Printers
Phones
Battery powered TV and radios
Police radio
Walkie talkies
Pens and pencils
Media directories
Press kits
Crisis plan
Street and highway maps
Food and beverages
Copying machines
First aid kits
Cameras and film
Pregathered Information Safety records
Safety precautions
Backgrounders
Executive biographies
Annual reports
Photos
Maps of site
Location of offices
Fact sheets
Phone books
Fill in the blank news releases
Internet sources
For Immediate Release (Date)
(Name) General Motors
(Phone) (email)
General Motors apologizes to family and Initiates Recall after fatality CHICAGO-(Date)- General Motor has offered a former apology today to the (fatality’s) family after it was discovered that (Victims name) died after a crash due to a malfunctioning part. General Motor has also discovered that the malfunction occurred due to product tampering from a disgruntled assembly-man at a (city factory located) factory. (Facts surrounding the tampering incident/Background information on the malfunctioning part and how the incident occurred) “It is a tragic day for automakers worldwide,” said GM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Akerson. “We mourn with the (victim’s last name) family and have initiated this recall to help offer a piece of mind to our consumers.” (Facts about the recall i.e how many vehicles being recalled, locations of recalls) If you have any questions about this recall please visit our website at www.gm.com or call us at (include 800 number associated with the GM brand of defected vehicle.) General Motors Co. and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastest-growing automotive markets. GM’s brands include Chevrolet and Cadillac, as well as Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling.
# # #
Facts Sheet Recalled vehicles:
The number of automobile recalls in the U.S. has sharply increased in the last 2 decades, and the number
of units involved are often counted in the millions. In 2010 alone, over 20 million vehicles were recalled
in the United States, and the massive recalls of full model lines by Toyota have brought this issue to the
front pages around the country and the world. However, there is no quantitative evidence of the effect of
recalls on safety. Without that evidence, the government and insurance companies have been reluctant to
request and use more detailed recall information to increase correction rates, and regulators have not
studied the possible link between the growing number of recalls and the risk of life for consumers.
Internet Sources These following are websites were reporters can go to find more information on deaths called by vehicle
malfunctions and vehicle recalls:
http://ms.cc.sunysb.edu/~hbenitezsilv/recall.pdf
www.gm.com
http://www.firestone-tire-recall.com/pages/overview.html
http://www.toyota.com/recall/
http://pressroom.toyota.com/safety-recall/
Key Messages Key messages will provide the company with the theme that they are setting out to achieve by outlining
the focus points that the Crisis Communication team wants to highlight. In this case, in order to reassure
the public of their safety and minimize fallout the key messages are: 1. Our biggest concern is for the family of the deceased
2. We are sorry this has happened and take full responsibility.
3. We want to calm the public and let them know we are doing everything in our power to ensure no other
fatalities by issuing recalls and re- inspections.
4. The person responsible acted alone and this was an isolated incident.
5. We have the situation under control and the matter is being taking extremely serious and a thorough
investigation will be conducted.
Holding Statement The General Motors family extends is deepest apologies to the (last name of deceased) family. We have
always been a company that represents and was built upon family values. A terrible tragedy has occurred
and we are doing all that we can to ensure the safety of all GM drivers. If you believe your automobile
has been compromised please bring your vehicle to the nearest GM facility.
Blog Responses In order to limit spread of rumors and negative information, blogs should be continually monitored. PR
representative should respond to negative blogs timely and responses should reflect the key messages and
holding statements. Respond to negative comments with apologies and direct questions to the GM
website and provide an 800 phone number.
Evaluation Evaluate what was learned from this crisis and how this tragedy can be avoided. Also, evaluate your crisis
team and how effective the Crisis Communications guide was.