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You’ve managed to survive the crisis, but your image is tarnished. Will your post-crisis actions restore trust and confidence … or cause further damage to your organization’s reputation? From Enron’s auspicious failure to Japan's recent nuclear mishap to government officials’ misuse of social media, message strategies are the proven polish for tarnished reputations.Join crisis communications expert Dr. Robert Chandler as he discusses what to communicate after the crisis is over to help salvage your reputation.
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Reputation Repair: How to Restore Your Image After a Crisis
Robert C. Chandler, Ph.D.Director, Nicholson School of Communication
• Leader in incident notification systems
• Fast-growing global company with more than 1,500 clients in more than 100 countries
• Serve the Global 2000, healthcare systems, state and local government, federal government, military, financial services firms, and universities
About Everbridge
services firms, and universities
• 100% focused on incident notification solutions that merge technology and expertise
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Agenda
Part 1: Presentation
• How to transform crisis into confidence
• Comparing different communication strategies
• What types of messages help you get back into the good graces of your constituents
Part 2: Q&A
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Q&A Note:
slides are currently available to everyone on blog.everbridge.com
Use the Q&A function to submit your questions.
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Bracing for the 2010 Hurricane Season
Dr. Robert Chandler
Reputation Repair: How to Restore Your Image After a Crisis
Dr. Robert ChandlerUniversity of Central Florida
• A valuable brand or solid reputation which took decades to fortify can be at risk in a matter of hours.
• Your reputation is valuable.
• Your reputation is vulnerable.
What is your reputation really worth?
• Reputation is not an attribute of an organization; it exists in the perceptions of constituents.
• Companies can be faulted or blamed for various crises and disasters.
• In some cases, this threat to reputation and brand pose far greater risks than physical catastrophes.
Crisis after crisis in the media…
• In every critical situation, image and brand management are increasingly important in the wake of billions of dollars lost due to reputation and brand erosion, as well as declining stakeholder confidence due to such scandals.
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Although the crisis for Toyota peaked during spring 2010 it started with a single, horrifying car crash in southern California in August 2009.
Toyota’s braking woes quickly subsided as Tony Hayward and the BP crisis
captured our attention three
High radiation levels detected at Fukushima grounds a month after explosions.
Toyota BP Japan
2009.
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attention three months later.
Social media gaffes
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• The cost of corporate recklessness calculated direct business/value losses related to the Enron disaster at more than $200 billion.
• These estimates include lost investment savings, jobs, pension losses and tax revenue. The report estimated
Enron as the Hurricane Katrina of ethical misconduct disasters
pension losses and tax revenue. The report estimated that more than a million workers lost their jobs at the affected companies and those indirectly impacted.
• Further, the costs to businesses, stakeholders, and management include hundreds of millions in litigation costs; punitive and compensatory fines; tarnished brands, images, and reputations; and loss of consumer and investor confidence.
Enron as the Hurricane Katrina of ethical misconduct disasters
In the 2 ½ years following the implosion of Enron, it is estimated that world capital markets lost between $4 and $7 trillion, believed between $4 and $7 trillion, believed to be attributable to the Enron ethics disaster scandal which ruined pension plans, crashed equity value, costing jobs, wiping out investments, and left an enormous hole in the US and world economy.
• All too frequently there is a lack of adequate advance planning and preparedness to communicate effective messages – or even understanding that various types of message options exist.
• Most managers have little training in what to say that best protects their image or helps repair it when
Introduction to reputation repair
their image or helps repair it when it has been tarnished.
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Communication activities involved in responding to a reputation damaging crisis include determining:
• Optimal timing
• Message or thematic priorities
• Specific messages to be conveyed to the public and media
Introduction to reputation repair
• Specific messages to be conveyed to the public and media
• Specific messages to be conveyed to targeted individuals
• Source(s) of messages
• Priorities for communication
• Optimal delivery channels
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Introduction to reputation repair
• Benoit (1995) has developed the Image Restoration Theory (IRT) that offers a descriptive system of examining image restoration or repair strategies employed.
• IRT claims that an organization’s central, although not only, goal of crisis communication is “restoring or protecting one’s reputation.”
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• Benoit’s Image Restoration Theory posits five primary macro strategies: denial, evading of responsibility, reducing the offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification. We have added silence as a six strategy.
• Fourteen specific message tactics fall within these six broad categories.
Summary Definitions of Crisis Communication Strategies and Tactics
Categories Strategies Working Definition
1 Corrective Action Restore situation or prevent reoccurrence
2 Denial Simple Denial Contradiction of accusation
Introduction to reputation repair
2 Denial Simple Denial Contradiction of accusation
3 Shifting Blame Pass the guilt to another party
Evading of Responsibility
4 Accident Unintentional action or effect
5 Defeasibility Didn't know about or not in control
6 Good Intentions Motives were good
7 Provocation Responding to an offensive act
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Summary Definitions of Crisis Communication Strategies and Tactics
Categories Strategies Working Definition
8 Mortification Admission and acceptance of responsibility
Reducing the Offensiveness
Introduction to reputation repair
Reducing the Offensiveness
9 Bolstering Relate positive features of the offender
10 Minimization Reduce importance of the offense
11 Differentiation Less offensive than other actions
12 Transcendence Viewed favorably in larger/different context
13 Attack Counterattack accuser
14 Compensation Reimburse victims
15 Silence No comment or ignoring accusation
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Tier 1 Positively regarded, and extremely stable hierarchical ranking
Tier 2 Negatively regarded, but shifting in placement of preference
Tier 3 Very negatively regarded, and stable in hierarchical ranking
Stability model
• Corrective action
• Compensation
• Mortification
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• Bolstering
• Good intentions
• Defeasibility
• Differentiate
• Transcendence
• Minimization
• Counterattack
• Accident
• Provocation
• Blame shift
• Silence
• Deny
• Informing strategies for low fault, previous history, and a good reputation
• Diminish relevance strategies for minimum perceived responsibility
Situational model crisis communication research and theory recommendations
• Rebuild reputation with either strong responsibility or negative prior history
• Denial strategies for rumors
• Mixing denial strategies with rebuilding or diminishing erodes effectiveness
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Passive “ethical policies” alone are inadequate
• Formal codes of conduct and ethics statements alone are insufficient
• Active not passive ethics efforts
• Ethical concerns must be regarded as on par with • Ethical concerns must be regarded as on par with other business disruption/resumption concerns
“Integrity continuity”
• “Integrity continuity” planning is also a due diligent policy and business continuity priority
• Such planning must go beyond compliance issues and reactive disciplinary policies to actually manage integrity
• Employees who know that certain workplace • Employees who know that certain workplace decisions, behaviors, and processes exist in an ethically judged context are more aware and motivated to act ethically
• Don’t take too long to respond to the crisis
• Do not shift the blame – take/accept responsibility
• Actions should fulfill promises made
• Don’t drag your feet
• Don’t make unrealistic promises
• Don’t lose sight of your audience and critics
• Don’t fail to understand all facets of the situation
What not to do
• Don’t fail to understand all facets of the situation
“There’s no one who wants thisthing over more than I do. I’d like my life back.”
- Tony Hayward, CEO, BP
"No statement shall be made containingany of the following: promises that property, ecology or anything else will be restored to normal."
- BP’s oil disaster plan filed with the federal government in 2009
What to say:
• Bolstering
• Mitigation efforts
• Speed up compensation efforts
• Take immediate corrective action
• Take responsibility – make a public apology for the entire situation
There is no substitute for carefully preparing communication in a crisis to prevent the blunders and missteps we have seen
• Prepare messaging in advance
• Focus on a set of key messages that need to be delivered
• Each phase of the crisis should be well scripted and practiced
Script out your communication beforehand
• Each phase of the crisis should be well scripted and practiced
• Keep comments respectful to all parties involved
• If you expect to speak in front of a camera, practice beforehand
• Avoid sounding scripted
• You will be more comfortable when unexpected events occur
Don’t stray from your plan
Practice your crisis communication plan early and often to prevent swaying from key messaging. For example, in two distinct instances, Hayward’s message has contradicted BP’s oil spill disaster plan.
• Media statement: Promised that BP would • Media statement: Promised that BP would clean up every drop of oil and “restore the shoreline to its original state”
• National TV commercial: Pledges "We will make this right.”
Deliver messages the right way
• Communicate clearly, simply, and calmly
• Convey compassion, conviction, and optimism
• Recognize and acknowledge anger, frustration, fear, outrage, or concern
• Indicate that you genuinely share your audience’s concerns
• Provide 3 or more positive points to counter negative information
• Gain trust by admitting there are things you don’t know• Gain trust by admitting there are things you don’t know
• Accept and involve the public and the media as legitimate partners
Incident Notification
Marc LadinMarc LadinChief Marketing Officer, Everbridge
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• Communicate brand repair
messages quickly, easily, and efficiently to avoid lengthy brand damage
• Use all contact paths to make sure corrective actions are
• Reduce miscommunications and
control rumors with accurate, consistent messages which reinforce your situation or stability model communications
• Free key personnel to perform
Incident notification addressescommon challenges
corrective actions are communicated and received
• Ensure two-way communicationsfor better visibility and planning
• Free key personnel to perform critical tasks after the crisis by automating manual, time-intensive, error-prone processes
• Improve communication
effectiveness by eliminating any single point of failure
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Key evaluation criteria for an incident notification system
• Experience and expertise
• Ease of use
• Ability to reach all contact paths,
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• Ability to reach all contact paths, including voice, email, native SMS (over SMPP and SMTP), IM, and more
• Ease of integration
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Q&A Note:
slides are currently available to everyone on blog.everbridge.com
Use the Q&A function to submit your questions.
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Contact information
Robert C. Chandler, [email protected]
1.407.823.2683
Marc [email protected]
Communication resources
Upcoming webinars:System Demo (July 28)
www.everbridge.com/webinars
White papers, literature, case studieswww.everbridge.com/resources
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