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Scoop.it!
By the time Beef Products Inc. realized the future of its business was in jeopardy, the damage from the growing use of "pink slime" terminology already had been done.
Crisis communications experts say the Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based company could have avoided much of the negative fallout, consumer backlash and precipitous drop in demand if it had acted sooner to combat the growing use of the term "pink slime" to describe what it calls "lean finely textured beef."
And company officials agree.... 
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Skittles parent company Wrigley threaded the needle in its management of the boost in awareness of the candy as a result of the Trayvon Martin case.
Within all the protests, Skittles has taken center stage. Protestors are asked to bring Skittles with them to the marches. A Minnesota man is selling T-shirts that say, “This Is Not a Hoodie”; each order includes a bag of Skittles at no cost. Photos are being posted on social media sites and in national newspapers of people donning hoodies with a Skittles bag taped to their mouth, symbolizing the silence from law enforcement. Mock Skittles bags with Martin’s picture and graphics of guns filled with the bite-size candies are just a few of the images that are now saturating the Internet. Notably, copyright infringement cases are not being filed by Skittles parent company Wrigley (itself a subsidiary of Mars Inc.)
Wrigley is in a difficult position. The Skittles brand is being used by large groups, individuals and organizations to advance a message of injustice and wrongful death, even murder. The immediate issues for Wrigley are to determine the sentiment activists have about the brand and how to manage their expectations....
[Useful crisis management lessons - JD]
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As I prepare to watch Kentucky take on Louisville, and Kansas take on Ohio State tomorrow, it reminds me just how much teams have to endure – in such a short period of time – to make it to the Final Four and ultimately to win a national championship. It’s like being in crisis mode.
Which got me thinking, are there crisis management lessons to be learned from March Madness? I submit to you, my Final Four of crisis management....
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The science against BPA isn’t very convincing, yet the left-wing onslaught from environmental groups, activist scientists and the media has convinced many consumers that soup cans, soda bottles and plastic storage containers are going to make them sick.
In the case of BPA, perception and reality are far different, but false perceptions can still cost businesses millions -- or put them out of business altogether. The infamous Alar scare cost apple farmers $100 million according to a 1989 Associated Press report. Even growers who weren’t using Alar were devastated. By March 31, 2012, the FDA will announce a decision on the use of BPA in food and beverage packaging.
As in the case of Alar, such perceptions have even prompted government agencies to regulate or ban chemicals that served a useful purpose. That could happen again at the end of March, the deadline for the Food and Drug Administration to respond to the left-wing group NRDC’s petition to ban bisphenol A from food and drink packaging....
[Interesting to see how business interests attack activists - JD]
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...Hospital communicators play an important role in emergency preparedness because of the need to distribute information quickly and accurately. With the emergence of social media, communicators have more tools at their disposal and failing to use them in an emergency is a lost opportunity.
Though there are some recent examples of social media use during an emergency, understanding how utilizing social media during an emergency situation differs from during a public relations crisis is important. Although responding to a public relations crisis via social media requires quick response, communicators must take the time to carefully consider their tactics and messaging to preserve relationships with various stakeholders....
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Crises in the Air Transport industry come in many shapes and forms but they usually have three things in common: 1) no prior notice or warning signs, 2) the need to inform large numbers of people in a very short time and 3) a large number of (increasingly digital) angry/distressed people.
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We do a lot of crisis management and crisis training for clients. There are certain new “truths” about how crisis can unfold across digital and social media that can put business at risk. The irresponsible videos from rogue employees at Domino’s Pizza, the thoughtless tweets from Kenneth Cole, and Tesco's struggle with an angry customer all had an impact on business.
The truths or qualities of social-fueled crisis are unmistakable. In social media, they can flare faster. Messages in social media can jump into traditional media thus flaring a lot more social media. Brands are held accountable online for how they respond (was it fast enough, sincere enough, contrite enough). Hacktivists have mastered the art of the groundswell and can move more nimbly and aggressively that most multi-national corporations. And so on....
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Then there is the matter of Goldman’s CEO Lloyd Blankfein, often portrayed as a cross between the Simpson’s Montgomery Burns and Mitt Romney; a big business advocate, evil in nature, who believes companies are people.
Who is Greg Smith, and why do we care? He was an employee who quit Goldman Sachs in a public way and posted it in a New York Times op-ed. The better question is why should we care? After all, Goldman Sachs probably has had staff quit before for a whole host of reasons, from better opportunities to being disillusioned, to just not meeting the expectations or needs. Gee, I have had some really good people quit the firm where I work, and quit on me for that matter. It's not news; it's life.
Work is just that, work. Some love it, some hate it, and some find it a calling; others just work because they need to pay the bills. I work because I enjoy what I do, but also because I get bored doing nothing, and I can certainly use the money. So what is Greg Smith's deal that so many are now paying attention?...
[Apologist for Golman Sachs crisis - JD]
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Prominent brand makes a joke out of sexual assault in its advertising...
The dateline on this story is not a mistake. The year is 2012, and a prominent brand has made a joke out of sexual assault in its advertising.
Belvedere vodka drew an outpouring of derision on social-media websites after it posted an ad on Facebook and Twitter on Friday. The ad showed a young man smiling as he grabs a woman from behind. The woman has a frightened look on her face and appears to be trying to get away. The text of the ad read: “Unlike some people[,] Belvedere always goes down smoothly.”...
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From
holtz
Of all the many dimensions to a company’s response to a crisis, none is more important than adhering to the company’s published values. You know what I’m talking about, right? They get posted in frames on corridor walls. They emblazon the backs of employee security badges. They are enshrined on dedicated intranet and website pages. They are trumpeted at new-hire orientations. They are reiterated at town hall meetings....
Using my definition of a crisis as an unanticipated event that threatens the organization’s reputation (if you can prepare for it, after all, it’s not a crisis, right?), you can expect that many unprepared leaders coping with the situation will feel like they have descended into a world of utter chaos. There are no manuals to pull of the shelf that will tell you what to do, no prescribed steps to follow, no formulas to apply....
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The U.S.Marine Corps demonstrate that they, too have grasped the importance of communication in crisis management...
Early last month, the United States Marine Corps issued one of the most concise and effective apologies we’ve ever seen. No, you didn’t read wrong, I said the USMC! Standing the years-long tradition of stodgy communication full of niche terminology on its head, the Marines, much like fellow government agency FEMA, have embraced communication for crisis and reputation management....
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Guess what iconographic villain of greed and wretched excess may be seeing the light of day as soon as this August? None other than Prisoner 05A4820 himself! What's that, the number doesn’t ring a bell?
Then, try this on for size: Dennis Kozlowski, or ‘Koz’ as his fellow inmates call him, may soon be reentering mainstream society.
Next to Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling (a.k.a. the Hitler & Goebbels of corporate greed), Dennis Kozlowski was the poster child for living large and milking a company dry. To refresh your memory, Kozlowski was convicted in 2005 of grand larceny, conspiracy and fraud for, as The New York Times put it, ‘…essentially using Tyco as his own piggy bank, replete with outsized bonuses.’
Koz was the guy who reigned supreme from a palatial, 13-room palace at 980 Fifth Avenue that featured a $6,000 shower curtain, a $15,000 umbrella stand and the occasional Monet or Renoir painting. He’s also the dude who feted his wife to a truly bacchanalian, Roman orgy-type of birthday party on a Greek Island (all at company expense, thank you very much)....
Assuming this real life Gordon Gekko of greed does see the light of day, how would you help him rehabilitate his tattered image?...
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If you follow the work of crisis communications scholars, have you wondered about assumptions versus proof? How much of what we take for granted about effective crisis response is supported by empirical evidence?
...A very readable literature review establishes that the prevailing body of thought supports the cardinal rules you have always heard. For instance, if you are prepared for crisis, you suffer less damage and recover faster. And it’s best to reveal information that the media can easily obtain elsewhere....
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When I’m doing online PR and social media training and communications consultancy I usually spend a lot of time on crisis communications looking at how it has – and hasn’t – changed because of the rise of social media. This weekend saw a classic case of how a smart PR operator can outflank one of the world’s biggest newspapers....
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I've previously written about my affinity for JetBlue as the tall people’s champion, and they’ve once again proven their aptitude for good customer service.
Recently, flight #191 from New York to Las Vegas encountered some unforeseen turbulence – but not the usual kind. This disturbance involved the pilot as he began mumbling in the cockpit and then outburst with sprinting down the center aisle, yelling jumbled remarks about September 11th and Iran. He was locked out of the cockpit and then tackled by passengers as the co-pilot made an emergency landing in Texas.
While this certainly sounds like a nightmarish flight, the way JetBlue has handled the aftermath should serve as a model for many businesses facing a crisis....
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The general public got its first glimpse of "finely textured meat" (aka pink slime) almost a year ago, when Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC raised the issue with moms in a Los Angeles school district, but since then the hue and cry against the ammonia-treated filler has beent aken over by parents and nutritional advocates using, deftly, the free social media tools at their disposal.
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Take it from someone who was relieved from her duties of handling a social media account: You need procedures in place to prevent personnel and PR issues. She offers a three-prong approach.
Social media isn’t all fun and games. Mistakes committed online never go away, and you can’t do a thing about it. I learned this the hard way, when I was fired from handling my university’s student government social media.
Here’s what happened—and the lessons you can learn from me....
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Nearly two weeks after Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith excoriated the firm in his already fabled resignation letter published in The New York Times, news analysts are now asking a fundamentally important question: from a business standpoint, to what extent should Goldman Sachs really need to be concerned? What actual damage is done by this reputational crisis, which included allegations that clients are habitually referred to as “muppets?”...
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Lean, finely textured beef—commonly known as pink slime—became a hot topic this month, and the companies using it responded in time to avert disaster.
...What is notable about the campaign is not necessarily how quickly it spread, but how quickly the USDA and the affected companies acted—in stark contrast to the slow and tone-deaf response from the Susan G. Komen foundation as its crisis unfurled. In the case of pink slime, companies quickly overcame the usual obstacles to getting rid of a controversial product and made a commitment to their customers, averting a full-blown crisis....
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Learn how to be more agile in social media marketing so you can both manage PR disasters, and leverage new opportunities.
...So here are some tips to help you be a more agile social media marketer that can both capitalize on social opportunities, and repair brand damage -- but hopefully more often, it's the former....
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The child sex abuse scandal has cost Penn State $5.7 million as of the end of January.
According to the latest information from the university, the $5.7 million includes almost $4 million for the internal investigation the university is having an outside attorney manage, along with related crisis communications.
The total bill is up from $3.2 million as of the end of 2011. The university released those numbers in February....
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A few years ago, when a company faced a crisis they were expected to contact television stations, send press releases, hold a press conference and write letters to the editor. While the principles of crisis communication haven’t changed (“no comment” is still a bad response) companies need to begin adding two key components to their crisis communication plans: social media and content marketing.
Today when facing a crisis situation, you need to reach out to consumers through your company’s blog, Facebook page, Twitter, Flickr and even YouTube accounts. This is where you can find your message spreading like wildfire. It really does take less than one minute for a consumer to write an unfavorable message, and less than 10 seconds for others to share their same sentiment....
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Since defunding—then re-funding—cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood, executives have bailed out and fundraising has dipped at the breast cancer nonprofit.
This PR disaster simply won’t go away.
A second high-ranking executive at Susan G. Komen for the Cure has resigned, and, perhaps more devastating, the organization’s fundraising is taking a hit. It’s all part of the ongoing fallout from Komen’s announcement to defund, then reinstate funding for, cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood—a PR disaster that’s now more than a month old....
[So many crisis management lessons - JD]
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You might not be a fan of Justin Bieber, but you’d be wise to learn a thing or two from the teen sensation before you're caught in a disaster.
PR pundits and brand watchers love to create “best and worst” lists around marketing and communications developments. The emphasis usually falls on the “worsts”—like the most poorly handled crisis situations or mangled cover-ups.
It’s easy to criticize, but what about giving credit for crises averted or PR battles won? That list is shorter and perhaps a bit less obvious, but here are my nominations....
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In less than a week, political radio host Rush Limbaugh has seen upwards of 30 sponsors flee his radio program. Their migration began in response to an public boycott campaign which has relied heavily on social media.
The actions and inactions of Limbaugh and the companies involved provide lessons for marketers in how to respond to crises, buy media and even outflank competitors....
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