A public relations (PR) crisis can cause irreparable damage to the reputation of any business. There are many scenarios that can occur, whether you’re a large corporation, individual or multi-national organisation. We specialise in mitigating risk for you and your business and providing an on-demand crisis and reputation support solution that’s discrete, effective, and professional. We offer a crisis ‘insurance policy’ of sorts which means that you and your business are prepared for any eventuality and can continue business as usual.
How can we assist you?
- Advice on how to mitigate negative publicity
- Preparing, drafting and issuing press releases and handling media enquiries 24/7 on the client’s behalf
- Guidance documents on how to protect you and your company
- Expert media training for both broadcast and newspaper interviews to prepare your key spokespeople for interaction with the media
Not sure a public relations insurance policy is for you? Here are just some examples where our team of experts can support.
Poorly planned marketing
Marketing and PR are essential requirements to help grow your business. Sometimes your marketing efforts can backfire – even if you had the best intentions and never anticipated it becoming an issue. Whether it is a mis-use of terminology, a Freudian slip over social media, or simply an image that has been taken out of context.
For example, high-street fashion store H&M came under fire in January, when the company released an advert featuring a young black boy wearing a hoodie that featured the phrase, “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.” The media covered the issue extensively and quickly found that this wasn’t H&M’s first incident. The PR and media backlash was extensive and detrimental to the brand’s reputation.
In many cases, their business reputation did bounce back after an initial plunge in sales and reputation. However, it can take expensive compensation packages and extensive resources to resolve the situation.
Product recalls
Our top tips during a product recall are simple.
- Take responsibility: When sending your statement be transparent about what happened
- Act immediately: Don’t waste time, the situation could potentially escalate so act quickly
- Be candid and compassionate: Say sorry to your customers, own up to your mistakes
- Cooperate: Work with the people affected and your communications team
- Use every means possible to communicate information: Think about this as a marketing campaign, you need to get in touch with every possible customer so use all your channels available to you
Product recalls can be a large drain of resources for your in-house communications teams. Ensuring your crisis and reputation policy and plan is being executed in conjunction with the situation can be a concern as well. Working with a specialist team who can act immediately and action that process for you is imperative to reduce reputational impact, avoid injuries or accidents with customers and ensure you have reached your core demographic and their network instantaneously.
Fashion store Primark had to recall three types of their men’s flip-flops containing dangerous levels of a cancer-causing chemical last year. Primark came across really prepared and were quick to make their announcement. The interesting thing about the incident is that neither the information on the corporate website or the media statement says what the issue was. A better approach would have been to be open and clear about what the chemical is and what the risks are to customers. Being transparent and demonstrating action is a key part of responding to a product recall and shows that an organisation is taking the situation seriously.
High-risk territories
Does your brand operate in high-risk territories? When a brand or business must travel to various parts of the world there is always an extensive risk assessment put in place to ensure the safety of employees and guests and what to do if there were an incident. But in those plans have you thought about your media relationships? How would you communicate your side of the story, and how can you showcase to the public and those affected what you are doing to rectify the situation? That’s where a clear crisis communications strategy comes into its own and experts on hand to deal with your situation 24/7.
Injuries and accidents
One possible issue that could develop and become a major PR crisis is if your products cause injury or illness to your customers or an employee, or if a contractor has a detrimental accident on your watch.
For example, in these types of scenarios reactions to issues can range from customers complaining to friends and family about your business, taking to social media and forums to raise their concerns to severe reactions, such as seeking legal action to reimburse medical costs or to receive compensation for their discomfort.
In these cases, it is imperative to demonstrate steps are being taken to resolve the situation, prevent any future problems, and of course negate some reputation damage.
Personal information
The introduction of the GDPR legislation in May 2018 has made some businesses across the UK nervous of the impact on their business if there were a breach. Not just monetary issues can occur, but the risk and damage a data breach can cause to the reputation of a business.
That was the case for BT who were fined £77,000 by the ICO. Between December 2015 and November 2016, BT sent 4.9 million emails about its fundraising platform My Donate, Giving Tuesday, and Stand up to Cancer. The ICO said that these communications were marketing, rather than messaging, and BT did not have consent to send them.
Handling customer feedback and inquiries and monitoring the ‘noise’ of the incident on social and in the media can be difficult. Our specialist crisis social team can work alongside your in-house teams to rectify the situation, whilst our PR specialists help you deal with media inquiries and publishing statements to those affected.
All smart businesses plan, and crisis management is no different; prevention is better than cure. We deploy a suite of services to manage and maintain your crisis and reputation. Contact us today to find out how we can work with you and your business.