Voice Quick Tips – Managing On-line Reputation Crisis

Author:  Sylwia  Presley,  December  2011  

Introduction

Many of out clients consider open social conversations around their brand potentially dangerous to their brand reputation.

We think that any brand with a good product or organisation with good, transparent activities should openly engage in on-line conversations with their supporters. We do understand though that occasionally there might be a crisis situation which requires pre-defined process of handling it.

In this document we are sharing process prepared based on years of experience of all Voice team members in order to provide you with confidence to enter the on-line conversations and be ready to any potential unplanned event.

Unplanned events process

Below you can see an example process of handling unplanned event.

Alert  iden*fica*on:    An  employee  iden=fies  unplanned  event  related  to  brand  reputa=on.    

Ini*al  insights:  An  employee  iden=fies  circumstances  of  alert.  

No*fica*on:  An  employee  no=fies  line  manager,  Senior  Management.  

Inves*ga*on:  Senior  Management,  line  manager  and  employee  inves=gate  the  alert  to  define  appropriate  response.  Off-­‐line  contact  might  be  required.    

Response:    Representa=ve  of  Senior  Management  follows  up  (public  statement,  response  to  direct  cri=cism,  personal  message).    

Documenta*on  &  Monitoring:  Assigned  employee  documents  the  crisis  and  monitors  places  where  it  occurred  for  responses.  

Response to positive feedback - guidelines

Very  oLen  we  see  brand  and  organisa=ons  ignoring  posi=ve  feedback,  ideas  of  their  supporters  or  genuine  interest  in  helping  the  brand.  We  strongly  encourage  you  to  follow  them  up!  Pending  the  circumstances  your  response  should  contain  following  elements:  • Thank  you–  ‘We  are  happy  you  find  our  project  valuable  to  your  own  blog...’  • Acknowledgement  and  explana*on  of  our  processes–  ‘...we  are  trying  our  best  to  plan  our  ac=vi=es  to  bring  value  to  all...’  • Gentle  way  of  re-­‐direc*ng  aEen*on  to  areas  one  can  get  involved  in  –  ‘...if  you  want  more  content,  check  our  blog...’  • Reference  to  your  work,  or  specific  ac*ons–  ‘...for  tag  ‘eco’  to  find  similar  campaigns  you  can  join..’  • Explana*on  of  process,  as  openly  as  possible  –  ‘..if  you  decide  to,  send  us  an  e-­‐mail  –  we  would  not  like  to  spam  you;)..’  • Reassurance  on  follow  up  and  actual  follow  up  –  ‘..we  will  get  back  to  you  immediately’.  • Signature:  name,  surname,  role,  direct  availability.    

Response to negative feedback - guidelines

In  order  to  address  poten=al  threat  to  brand  reputa=on  the  response  needs  to  contain  following  elements:  • Apologies  –  ‘We  are  terribly  sorry  for  our  mistake...’  (if  applies)  • Acknowledgement  –  ‘...we  understand  how  you  feel  about  this...’  • Firm  explana*on  of  our  approach  –  ‘...however  we  did  our  best  to  ensure...’  • Reference  to  specific  procedures,  ethics  –  ‘...transparency  of  our  ini=al  e-­‐mail...’  • Explana*on  of  process,  as  openly  as  possible  –  ‘using  disclosure  and  copy  explaining  in  advance  what  the  campaign’s  goals  are’  • Reassurance  on  follow  up  –  ‘Incorpora=ng  your  feedback,  we  have  educated  our  team  to  reinforce  our  methodology  and  ethics  to  ensure  good  communica=on’.  • Signature:  name,  surname,  role  at  the  organisa=on,  direct  availability  

It  is  advised  to  use  posi=ve  terminology,  refer  to  private  communica=on  and  procedures  as  well  as  arguments  which  stop  the  flow  of  nega=ve  comments,  do  not  provoke  new  responses.  

Examples

Here is an example of wrong handling of criticism. Threatening your fans to delete their comments is not a sign of respect, specially if they are right.

Examples

Here is an example of good handling of criticism and crisis. The agency involved knew that their involvement with the brand suffering huge brand reputation crisis might affect agency image too. The director posted this message to clarify agency involvement and additional support provided to their client.

Examples

Here is an example of good handling of potential brand crisis. Customer care person working on Facebook page notices the issue (ActionAid UK’s sponsor related to Innocent Smoothies/Coca-Cola’s unethical on-line behaviour), notifies PR team, all investigate, draft and post the response.

Examples

Here is an example of good handling of opportunities posted on-line instead of falling into the trap of fake brand crisis. After this post ActionAid was contacted by an influential beer blogger, sent him the beermats to create more content for their cause.

And finally…

…remember that times, tools and people change. All your procedures need to be clearly communicated to all teams involved, embedded in your HR processes and regularly updated.

It also helps to cultivate supportive culture instead of blaming one. Teach your team to talk about mistakes and learn from them to prepare for any good or bad unexpected event that might occur on-line.

With this confidence in place they will represent your brand on-line more effectively.

Contact

If you have any comments please contact:

Sylwia Presley E-mail: sylwiapresley@nfpvoice.com Mobile: 07850 138 178 Twitter: @presleysylwia and @nfpvoice Skype: sylwia.presley