Hill & Knowlton

How closely is your business’s communication department tied into your reseller or retail network? If the answer is “not very” or similar then you’re likely to find yourself up against it in the event of a product recall.

Effective recalls depend on clear communication to stakeholders, and a committed effort by retailers to remove affected product from shelves as quickly as possible is the most visible example of this in action. But proper planning for a recall extends beyond just clearing shelves.

• Careful monitoring of customer complaints to identify any possible product safety issues. If you have a product issue that hasn’t been picked up through your usual quality assurance/control processes, chances are the first you’ll hear of it is when the consumer complaints start getting back to you. Making sure that you have systematic monitoring of complaints helps identify potential issues much more quickly, which means you can intervene earlier, with better outcomes for both consumers and your business. It’s easier and cheaper to recall one hundred units of something than it is to recall a thousand.
• Well prepared and rehearsed recall and crisis communications plan. Yes, obviously I’m going to say this because I work in crisis communication. The thing is, that doesn’t make the point any less relevant. Having worked on numerous recalls (and a number of near misses), on both sides of the world, I can tell you first-hand that the thing that makes the biggest difference is working with a team of people who know what they’re doing. That means having a plan, and knowing how to use it.
• Suppliers/manufacturers should have responsibility for taking out recall insurance. Recalls are expensive things, and no-one ever wants to have one, so it’s a really good idea to cover yourself for the possibility that one day you’re going to have to stump for some kind of product recall. There are expenses at literally every step and the costs can mount quickly. Seriously, you have car insurance, home insurance, health insurance…why wouldn’t you do this as well?
• Strict security measures at retail level to minimise product tampering risk. While we’d all like to believe the best of people, the fact remains that sometimes people tamper with products, and they do it for all manner of reasons. Part of the defence against this comes down to the security measures taken by retailers. It’s also helpful for ruling out actual tampering in cases where consumers have tried to fraudulently claim a product had an issue. I’ve worked at least two recall cases where store CCTV helped police identify a tampering or fraud suspect, averting the need for an actual recall.

If you’ve already had a go at playing Zurich’s risk management game, go back and see how you do now we’ve given you some of the answers (and yes, we have).

If you’re a subscriber to CW you should definitely check it out because there’s a whole special feature on crisis management that’s worth at least two morning commutes. However if you’re not signed up, you could always try this version over at All Business.

Following on from last week’s post featuring Zurich’s online product recall risk management game, we thought (based on some fairly shirty feedback from an individual with a disappointingly low score) that we’d provide some additional information that may be helpful.

There are five stages in the game, which correspond with stages in the manufacturing-consumption process, each with a series of risks that you need to categorise. The different stages are: Manufacturing, Packaging, Distribution, Retail and Consumer. Since most people working in PR are looking at the relationship with consumers, we’ll start there and work backwards over the next few posts. Read the rest of this entry »

Figures from the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations would suggest that the tough times are proving to be a healthy catalyst for our mental wellbeing.

As a nation, we appear to be jettisoning the ribaldry of the lads’ mags for a different form of stimulation, as extended by those titles, WH Smith would collectively label, Current Affairs.

What’s the evidence? Weekly heavyweight, The Economist grew circulation in every region it operates worldwide in the first half of the year, while news ‘collage’, The Week saw growth of 6.7% year-on-year. Furthermore, David Goodhart’s Prospect enjoyed a jump of over 10% compared to the same time last year. What more, Private Eye posted a 0.5% increase year-on-year, while The Oldie showed growth of 9.1%.

Meanwhile, in the more tabloid corner, trade is positively sluggish.  Bauer Media’s, Zoo, was down by 27.9% year on year. Its older stable mate, Loaded lost 26.3% of its sales year on year, while IPC’s Nuts had wilted by 22% over the same time period.

So, there you have it – we’re swapping girl bands for Milibands, or are we? It is, of course, something of a specious argument, but probably holds a grain of truth in light of the usual pattern of self-improvement at times of uncertainty.

It would make sense for a company’s crisis and risk managers to spend a bit of time talking to each other, perhaps even making an effort to get a rudimentary understanding of the other’s job.

Crisis management is made a lot easier if you can eliminate a lot of things that frankly just shouldn’t be issues in the first place, and I’m a fan of easy because it means I can have holidays. Also, it means your business is probably in better shape if you’re not having successive disasters.

Happily, the product recall experts at Zurich have created an online game to test your skills as risk manager for a manufacturing company – click on the pic below to try your hand:

It’ll take you anywhere from 3-15 minutes depending on how much you want to cheat with Google. Also…if you disagree with the answers, seriously, don’t email me. I didn’t get them all right either.

It’s been a long time between drinks here on our team blog. Largely due to the fairly annoying nature of proper crises coming up at those incredibly inconvenient times and making me focus again on my day job. Also, I have just been on holiday, so now that I’m recharged with a full dose of melanin, we’re back and raring to go.

Way back in June I attended the airmic 2010 annual conference, which sees risk managers join with insurers and other like-minded types to talk about all things risk. I was invited to attend by our friends from Zurich Financial Services, as they launched their new Product Safety and Recall Insurance offer to the UK market. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking as part of Communicate magazine’s first Shouting With a Whisper webinars, on the topic of crisis preparedness.

For the next few months you’ll be able to view the webinar on demand. Or, if you just want to skim through a half-dozen slides on my bit you can view it below or on Slideshare.

Further to last week’s post on the increasing demand for broadcast interview skills in this rapidly-expanding age of digital magnificence, here’s Hill & Knowlton’s own Catherine Cross, Lead Counsel, Media Training, with some of her insights into the debate performance offered up by Messers Brown, Cameron and Clegg:

NB: Candidates are listed in alphabetical order, since this blog is apolitical. And make sure you check out our regular campaign updates and analysis over on H&K London’s main blog.

On Wednesday night I attended the launch of IFW-Net.com, the new iteration of one of the world’s most-respected trade publications.

As anyone who’s ever looked at a newspaper website, the versatility of publishing online means no-one is restricted to a single medium. The team at IFW is in a great position to capitalise on this opportunity, and as a result so are the companies that IFW reports on.

Historically, TV has been the domain of the sexy – whether that’s the beautiful people, the popular brands or the big numbers. But with more and more trade media going the same way as IFW, there will be a growing demand for quality talent to provide on-camera interview content.

Obviously, I have a vested interest in this because Hill & Knowlton provides media training as a service. See, I’ve even linked to it, to make it easy for you to check out. The thing is…doing an interview for a web-based video is still doing an interview. It is more important to get your interview / delivery technique right than it is to care that you’re going to be on the internet rather than the BBC.

Doubtless we’ll see a massive flood of specialist digital agencies start offering some kind of on-camera performance training for web interviews in the coming months as they seek to tap a new revenue stream. The question for communicators and your company spokespeople is: is that really what you need?

(Once you’ve answered the question, put in a call to our Head of Media Training, Catherine Cross)

In case anyone has been hiding behind the sofa in recent days, or indeed is currently residing outside the UK, then you may not be aware that it’s General Election season here. This means the next four weeks will see wall-to-wall media coverage of a small group (mostly men) talking to several other groups (mostly disillusioned voters) about the economy, healthcare, education and the ever unpopular expenses scandal.

This level of media exposure is something that most companies can only dream of. However, this exposure also presents a constant challenge for the political parties and their staff to maintain the 3 As for their key spokespeople: Appearance, Appeal and Ability to communicate.

The 3 As are particularly difficult for politicians on the campaign trail because, unlike the comfort of a broadcast studio, they’re at the mercy of the general public with whom they are interacting. Already in the past week we’ve seen two incidents which highlight the reputational problems this can present.

Firstly, on the day after the Election was announced, Gordon Brown encountered his first ‘heckler’ on the campaign trail. Brown chose to ignore his repeated questioning, instead heading for the sanctity of his ministerial car. Unfortunately the cameras caught the whole episode, and within hours the video was on the net and in the evening news bulletins. Cue the notion that the Prime Minister only listens when he wants to.

Then, it was the turn of the Conservatives to encounter public anger. When their home affairs spokesman, Chris Grayling, made some unfortunate comments about homosexual rights, the party was bound to encounter the wrath of gay and lesbian rights campaigners. What they perhaps didn’t foresee though was a demonstration outside party headquarters, swiftly organised via Facebook. Again, cue the cameras and subsequent reports on the evening news bulletins and next day’s papers.

In this second case though, the Conservatives at least made several of the right moves before and during the protest – they engaged with the protestors during the demonstration and also held meetings away from it with the protest leaders to discuss the issue.

Companies are often left with having to face and contain similar kinds of protests following job losses, poorly received pay negotiations or other unpopular decisions. There are no hard rules on controlling these situations to ensure a successful outcome. Nor are there any quick fixes or guarantees to avoid less than favourable media coverage of the event for your organisation.

What there are though are some good basics that can be done:

1. Dialogue – have meetings been arranged to try to prevent the demonstration or at least resolve the issues behind it? Will any senior company figures be available to listen to the concerns of the protestors on the day?

2. Briefing the staff - does everyone know about the demonstration? Do they know how to respond if/when they’re quizzed by media or protestors? Have you prepared Q&A documents, media statements etc for quick deployment?

3. Security – what measures and procedures do you have in place if things turn ugly?

4. Preparation – above all, have you anticipated and planned for this kind of event happening? If you have, great, but then ask yourself if you’ve tested or simulated such an event to see if you can really pull it off under pressure? If not, it might be time to think about doing this.

5. Future proofing – and finally, what have you done and what still needs doing to prevent the issues that lead to these kind of demonstrations in the first place?