Protection For a Brand a Crisis

Picture this, there was a significant issue at Company X, and their brand was taken to task online. Customers and the usual pile on of comments taking shot after shot to the brand online, and it lasted a good two weeks.

Companies, people and brands get damaged every day. No brand is immune from the potential crisis, which means s every company should be prepared with a crisis communications plan. This way, everyone knows how to respond when something goes sideways.

How do you begin? First, identify your potential vulnerabilities. What could happen that would cause a stir among the media? Describe each scenario and create a reaction plan for each unique occurrence. The detailed step-by-step document you create on how each incident is approached will be the bible for how to handle media and customer outrage.

Does your company have a spokesperson trained on how and when to deliver information internally to employees, and externally to the media? If not, identify one and educate them on how to deal with the press. Think about putting your crisis team through crisis drills this way the team gets a hands-on understanding of their unique roles.

You should have a designated person to monitor social media. As a group, you'll decide what to tell your employees about what is. In nearly all cases, employees should not be talking to the media or posting anything online, and you will want that information

Upon learning of the crisis, a fact-finding mission to identify the source and cause of the crisis is imperative. As distracting as the crisis may be, you’ll need to keep the business running.

It's an hour since the crisis was uncovered, you rallied your crisis team, implemented your crisis plan. A solution has been decided upon, and you have taken immediate action, your employees know as well as the public. Your well thought out messages have been delivered, and have been as transparent as possible, right? The crisis is on the way to recovery, yes?

You DO have a crisis communication plan for your company, yes?What? ...We need to talk.