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Crisis
Communication
The Crisis Management
Newsletter
It
Wouldn't Be A Crisis Column Without BP
•
BP's name now is inextricably linked with the worst man-made
environmental disaster in
U.S.
history. No amount of public
relations razzle-dazzle can change that reality.
--
USA
Today, June 14, 2010
•
BP is the butt of jokes on YouTube: Crisis management at British
Petroleum | apfelkraut.org http://bit.ly/cY7e0a , and has a prankster
putting our bogus "releases" on Twitter: @BPGlobalPR
•
BP is already fighting an oil gusher it can't contain and watching its
mighty market value wither away. Its own bumbling public relations
efforts are making a big mess worse.
--
Associated Press, June 12
There's
a whole textbook of crisis management blunders and things that could
have been done better in the case of BP's Deepwater
Horizon well explosion and oil spill.
The
crisis management team at BP is working overtime to get the company's
information out to the media, but all that was circumvented last week
when a congressman let it leak that BP was considering cutting the live
video feed of the spill from a mile below the Gulf's surface while the
"topkill" maneuver was attempted.
Even
thinking of cutting the video feed was an instant PR blunder. It
didn’t matter whether it happened or not, it was being considered.
Rules
of the Road #15: Don’t
close the curtain. You can't shut off information once you've started
giving it.
For
the same reason that TV viewers watch car chases, the video feed was
drawing viewers anxious to see what is happening -- in real time.
Through the feed they hope to see something happing that will change the
circumstances. Once you suggest turning off their "eyes" to
the situation you are seen as censoring the information and there must
be something to hide. The scene may be unpleasant, but it's better than
the imagination of those who would believe you have something to hide.
According
to a recent Gallup Poll, some 60 percent of the public believes that the
federal government is doing a "poor" or "very poor"
job in handling the
Gulf of Mexico
oil spill. BP probably takes some solace in the fact that there is
someone in the sinking boat with them.
I
won't pretend to tell BP what needs to be done on the PR side of this
environmental disaster. There's not enough bandwidth on the Internet, or
else it is an impossibility to recover the company's former reputation.
The
best advice in any crisis is to keep the public informed of the facts
and what you are doing about the situation. Facts can overrule the rumor
and innuendo that comes from the imagination of a darker purpose.
Dust
Off That Plan And Use It
Does
your company/city/county have a crisis response plan. Sure, it's on that
bottom shelf along with the other two dozen reports that you've paid to
have done and are required to keep up with.
Dust it
off and take a look. If it's not already outdated, it is probably
useless because it has not been practiced in years. Like a pair of new
shoes in the box at the back of the closet, they won't be comfortable
the next time you wear them because they haven’t been broken in.
Now
imagine putting on those shoes as an alarm is wailing and you are trying
to escape from a fire.
Makes
it even harder to do, right?
The
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a nuclear regulatory
division that is charged with planning for and dealing with problems
that may arise at the nation's 104 nuclear power plants. Each year the
plant, along with state, city and county emergency responders and
medical facilities, runs a crisis scenario covering every aspect of
emergency response. Inspectors watch the action in the plant, in the
hospital, in the 911 center and even in the back of the ambulance as
"victims" are transported to the ER.
This
kind of crisis rehearsal keeps the numerous departments involved ready
to take action, knowing in advance who is in charge of the situation.
Contrast
that with another area of FEMA -- natural disaster response -- and you
will find that there are plans written and approved all the way to the
top of the political food chain, but there is no requirement to practice
them on any regular basis. That's why you saw unused buses underwater
during Hurricane Katrina, while the dozens of local, state and federal
agencies involved spent their time finger pointing because no one knew
who was in charge and what needed to be done.
Remember
that a crisis plan is only as good as the last time you tested it.
May 16, 2010
770-426-9347
info@lipsett.com
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