Snowmageddon! (Be Prepared for the Worst)

by David D. Menzies
Living and working in the greater Research Triangle area of North Carolina, you quickly realize that folks down here don't do snow. Today, there is snow expected in the afternoon; even though this morning the roads are clear of precipitation and it's not necessarily that cold, Wake County Public Schools closed for the day, in anticipation of what might come later. The powers-that-be made this decision based mostly on the transportation needs of the 150,000-or-so students enrolled in the school district, realizing that things could quickly spiral out of control and put students and other individuals in danger once the conditions got worse. It got me thinking about how business owners and C-level executives must take similar precautions toward unforeseen dangers lurking down the road. One way to protect their brand in the face of these dangers is by utilizing the quick strike ability of public relations to communicate to stakeholders in the midst of a crisis, ideally by utilizing tools developed in advance of things going south.

Develop a boilerplate

A boilerplate is a basic "About My Company" statement that usually gets tagged onto the bottom of a press release. This contains a version of your company mission statement, along with two or three sentences containing strategic messaging about what benefits your company provides customers. It also usually contains a website URL for further information. In a crisis situation, you can utilize this boilerplate if you need to contact local or regional media who may not be familiar with your company, and need a short and sweet background.

Identify a spokesperson

Someone needs to speak on behalf of your company in the case of a crisis. Figuring out who can best speak to the different nuances of your company and is comfortable in his or her own skin is essential for quality media relations or speaking in front of a large group of stakeholders. Once a spokesperson is named, be sure to get some media training for that person, teaching the do's and don'ts of answering questions in difficult times, i.e. sharing information without giving away the farm, bridging and blocking, etc.

Get a press release ready

If you are already developing press releases, spend some time writing a generic release dealing with some type of technical or business difficulty. Use placeholder terms for the disaster in question, or better yet write a "faux" crisis release with a made-up problem; when an actual situation arises, you can simply replace the made-up problem content with a description of what is actually happening. Be sure to word your release carefully, including information showing that your company is working to resolve the problem and is concerned with providing the best service available to customers in the interim. Also have proper contact information clearly listed.

Build a plan

There are many more elements of a crisis communication plan than the three main points listed above. Developing a basic, "who does what" plan and proactively developing the tools that can be used in a crisis situation doesn't take a lot of time and can serve as an impromptu review of internal best practices, both in terms of company communication professionals and executive leadership. Make sure everyone involved in handling crisis situations is aware of the plan and is briefed on what to do in terms of their role in a crisis. When one hits, you'll be prepared, and will be able to minimize immediate and lasting negative impact on your company's brand.

David D. Menzies is president of Innovative Public Relations, a PR and media relations consultancy. He is a 22+ year public relations professional with expertise in strategic messaging, publicity and branding. For more information visit www.innovativepublicrelations.com. Copyright © 2014 Innovative Public Relations, Inc.