Crisis Communication: Practice PR Strategies for Reputation Management and Company Survival

Citation

Dann, S. (2009), "Crisis Communication: Practice PR Strategies for Reputation Management and Company Survival", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 224-225. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760910954163

Given the ongoing impact of recent global economic events, Crisis Communications: Practical Strategies for Reputation Management and Company Survival is a timely publication. No matter how well managed an organization is, there is always the possibility that things can and will go wrong in the worst possible way. While some of the triggers of crises are within the control of the organization, many are not. Regardless of the origin of the crisis, organizations need to have the processes in place to deal with whatever happens.

As the readings in this edited text demonstrate, it is not so much what goes wrong, but how the public reacts to the organization's response, that will determine the final impact. The same event will be viewed very differently depending on how the company reacts, both immediately at the time of the crisis and during the aftermath. The responsiveness of the organization and the appropriateness of that response can make or break a firm, organization, or government.

Drawing on the experience of 22 experts from ten nations, Crisis Communication provides a combination of international case studies, effective models of communication, and practical checklists of actions to help guide PR practitioners through a variety of crisis scenarios.

The two consistent themes which emerge throughout the book are the need to be proactive in responding to a crisis and to be open in communications throughout any crisis situation. This is closely followed by the contextualization of crisis management within the broader practice of ongoing reputation management. Consistently, those companies that invest in reputation management in the long term during periods of relative calm and stability are the ones with the strength of organizational culture and management skills to withstand a crisis situation.

As Editor, Anthonissen opens and closes the book. Chapter 1 provides an overview of crisis communications principles – all of which feature to a greater or lesser degree in the chapters which follow – along with pertinent examples of high profile crises. These principles are: always assume the worst‐case scenario, ensure you have a plan, do not lose any time, people always come first, and act promptly.

Anthonissen also highlights the fact that whilst crises have always been a part of business life, they are now more likely to become public knowledge for three key reasons. First, the role and reach of contemporary media is greater than in the past. Second, the expanded notion of stakeholders in modern management means that companies are now more broadly accountable to “society” rather than just to their shareholders, and third, increased regulation has resulted in higher levels of accountability across a range of activities.

For the remainder of the book these key themes and issues are expanded on by various authors who bring their own experience to their chapters to demonstrate in practical terms what these mean for those charged with the responsibility of managing an organization's PR and responses to crises.

Chapter 2, “Proactive crisis communication planning” by Leighton and Shelton, and Chapter 3, “Image as a part of corporate strategy” by Gable, take up the theme of planning. Integral to both chapters is the need not only to plan what is going to be done but also at whom the plan is directed. The broadened notion of stakeholders requires that tailored communications strategies are planned to address the concerns of different stakeholder groups in times of crisis.

The next four chapters, along with Chapters 12 and 13, focus on specific types of crises and industries. These are calamities (Hendin, Pendás de Cassina, Walsh), financial crises (Wallace), fraud (Serafin), reorganization and restructuring (Thunheim, de Bruijn, Walsh), legal disputes (Tunheim), food sector issues (Xenou, Sánchez), and environmental communications (Oltmanns). Each chapter examines the specific type of crisis situation and provides advice on what to do and what not to do through a combination of models and illustrative examples.

Of particular interest in the current economic global climate is Chapter 5, “The new dynamics of financial crisis” (Wallace). Despite the magnitude of the global economic crisis, which will inevitably result in adverse outcomes for many companies, the principles outlined in the chapter remain sound. A key point in this chapter is to focus on the buffering effect of intangible assets such as reputation that have been built up over time. It also highlights the importance of PR and industrial relations (IR) consistently working together to ensure that the organization presents a united front in times of crisis.

The importance of developing organizational structures and cultures in creating a robust internal environment that can withstand crises is a theme taken up in Chapter 11 “How senior management can make the crisis worse” (Hyslop), Chapter 15 “Organizational barriers to crisis and public affairs management” (Bridgeman), and Chapter 16 “Risk managers” (Vernier). From these chapters emerges the consistent theme that while a crisis is sudden and requires an immediate response preparation for the crisis, whatever form it takes, crisis management is an ongoing process of organizational culture development, risk management and management training.

In particular, management needs to be trained to understand and deal with the media, as discussed in Chapter 10 “There is no substitute for media training” (Leighton, Pellegrino, Shelton). Chapter 9, “Negative press and how to deal with it” (Courtney, Buitelaar), helps readers to understand how to cope when damaging stories appearing in the media. The advice given by Courtney and Buitelaar to mitigate the impact of negative stories through the four‐step process of seeking the truth and reporting it, minimizing harm, acting independently, and being accountable is sound advice regardless of the type of media involved.

Contemporary organizations have to deal with an increasingly fragmented media landscape. The emergence of independent online media outlets and citizen journalists has fundamentally changed the way that the public accesses information. Controlling the flow of stories through established channels is more difficult than ever before. At no time is this more evident than during a crisis.

Chapter 14, “Crisis communication and the net”, (Bridgeman), highlights the importance of taking the internet's capacity to accelerate crises seriously. It also discusses how the new tools that are empowering crises can be used by companies to counteract this new threat through engagement with social media. In particular, the chapter emphasizes the point that in the new media environment organizations need to change their focus from making pronouncements about crises to engaging with the online community through the use of dynamic crisis websites incorporating blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, and so on to ensure that interested publics are kept up to date with all developments.

The book concludes with a series of checklists and templates. The ten crisis control lists provided by Anthonissen in Chapter 17 provide succinct lists of dot‐point questions and items to consider across the full spectrum of crisis management activity from planning through to creating a crisis centre, developing a crisis manual, employee training and what to communicate in the case of a crisis. These lists are supplemented by a series of templates in the appendices to help flesh the dot point control lists out into actual documents or processes.

Crisis Communication is targeted directly at PR practitioners. It provides a wealth of international real life examples and practical pointers on how to prepare for, and deal with crisis situations. The applied nature of the book is one of its greatest strengths. The inclusion of a number of “how to” lists and templates ensures that the lessons learned from the experience of the authors can be translated into any organization.

While each chapter is self contained, readers will benefit from taking the time to read the first three chapters before embarking on a targeted reading strategy about specific issues or industries. These chapters provide a rationale for the emphasis on planning, reputation management, stakeholder identification and training as the basis of effective crisis management. The frameworks presented in these chapters help to reinforce the key lessons of the later, more focused and applied chapters.

Similarly to get the best value out of the checklists and appendices, it is important to read the book first. It is tempting to simply work straight from the templates. However, without the explanatory frameworks and examples given throughout the book, the outcomes are likely to be superficial and of relatively little value.

Academics and students can also benefit from the book either as supplementary reading material or guide in class exercises. What the book lacks in formal theory and referencing it more than makes up for with examples and practical frameworks.

Overall the book achieves exactly what it sets out to do – to provide a truly international and applied perspective on crisis management for PR practitioners.