Hill+Knowlton Strategies

The rise in popularity of parody Twitter accounts is forcing many companies to take a walk down the hall of mirrors and have a good, hard look at themselves.

Oh I do hope so.

You see, for several years (and numerous blog posts) I’ve been banging on about how reputation management for companies largely depends on their ability to not p*** people off.

That’s not so much a function of your Communication or Marketing department as it is a commitment by management and their staff to behave in a way that consumers (and by extension, society in general) find acceptable.

In many instances, things that are popularly called “crises” are cases where a brand’s behaviour violates the promise the company made to its market.

In other words, if you represent yourself as a big corporate evil, and behave as such, then people will generally accept you for who you are. You may not be popular, but at least you’re honest.

Similarly, if you represent yourself as a benevolence personified, so long as you behave accordingly, you’re going to be fine.

It’s when you tell people one thing, and then behave in a contrary way, that companies run into trouble.

And so to Twitter, and while there’s an element of truth to the fact a blog post about Twitter and crisis management is purely link bait to the Twitterati marketing community, this post is hopefully something pragmatic for readers to work with.

Courtesy of Tim Whitlock, a technical consultant to the communications industry in London, I’ve come across Twitter’s point of view with respect to parody accounts.

You know the ones, the kind with handles like @BPGlobalPR, or @GapLogo, or formerly @sean376 (yes, we miss you). The ones whose follower counts eclipse those of the brands they seek to mock, usually many times over.

Here’s the important bit: “Twitter provides a platform for its users to share and receive a wide range of ideas and content, and we greatly value and respect our users’ expression. Because of these principles, we do not actively monitor users’ content and will not edit or remove user content, except in cases of violations of our Terms of Service.”

Ah. That’s a problem. The fastest-growing publishing platform in the world is actively encouraging amateur humourists to take the proverbial, right under the noses of the world’s biggest brands.

And here’s the thing. While journalism has a professional code of ethics, and Jo Q Public citizen journalist does have to operate within some (albeit largely misunderstood) defamation and libel laws…parody is arguably an artform, and in many places occupies a more privileged space.

The problem for brands that find themselves the subject of one of these accounts is, therefore, exacerbated beyond the now infamous Streisand Effect. Not only is taking action going to draw attention to something you want hidden, it’s going to show you up as being a bad sport. After all, we all remember the primary-school mantra taught by our parents: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

Oh, but they will. How then, does a multinational corporation, responsible for the salaries of a hundred thousand employees and the wellbeing of their families, guard against such public humiliation and reputational damage? Sure, you could try “engaging in the dialogue” or “joining the conversation”. Right. And heckling Billy Connolly’s also a good idea.

The answer is disappointingly simple, and despairingly unattainable. You have to take the oxygen away from the fire. Without fuel, fire doth not burn.

The only way to avoid criticism is…not to upset people. Bugger, that’s going to be tough. Just ask the folk over at Gap Towers. Heeding the boundaries of the consumer comfort zone pretty much kills all chance of innovation, development, edgy marketing campaigns, or even fun. I probably wouldn’t be allowed to write this drivel for starters.

So here’s a compromise. Live your brand. Articulate the values you stand for. Proclaim them from every wall of your HQ, post them on every tea-room notice board, bulk out your email signature with the ten things your brand lives by. And then go out and live it. People may not like it. But if you do what you say, they’ll accept, and usually, respect you for it.

But understand this: Living your brand is not your best defence. It’s your only defence.

Here at Issues & Crisis Management central we’ve got a bit of a focus on product recalls at the minute, but so far haven’t looked at the adoption of social media as a communication tool that’s useful for this kind of challenge.

Fortunately, while we’ve been napping the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been on the job, according to this story on Networkworld.com.

As the ACCC sees it, social media is now trumping the daily newspaper advertisement as the single-most effective communication tool for advising consumers of a product recall, due largely to the expansion of broadband internet access across populations.

This is probably more true for countries with a fairly well-established broadband infrastructure, although the combination of growing mobile networks and increasing uptake of mobile web browsing point to a similar status quo emerging in markets without the cable infrastructure.

For those readers looking for a few tips, there’s a very informative, if long, video right here at SmartBlog that you can look at. Alternatively, try on the five pointers below for a quick 101:

1. Use social media as an extension of your other product recall communication efforts. Avoid the trap of thinking you need a different message for your internet audience – at the end of the internet is the same consumer who used to read the newspaper. Usually.
2. Be thoughtful about the detail you provide. There are usually regulatory requirements for product recall information – make sure you meet the relevant local regulations. But try to enhance the information by being as specific as possible – the more information you can provide, the fewer actual products you’ll have to get back, and the clearer the message to consumers will be.
3. Use visuals. In the internet age none of us has the attention span for a great slab of information. If this blog post wasn’t so important you’d have already stopped reading.
4. Support your consumer care phone line with an online option. If you’re short on staff, a web-based FAQ may be the best you can come up with – it’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing. Try to dedicate some resources to managing electronic enquiries though; it’s the way of the future so you may as well start getting used to it now. And remember that the internet works 24/7…
5. Don’t get into a discussion about the recall online. If an individual consumer has individual concerns, try to give them a more personal hearing – phone’s usually your best option. Every consumer’s concerns are valid, but during a recall your priority has to be the well-being of a bigger population, and that usually means shuffling individual complaints into a linked, but ultimately different system. If appropriate, add similar questions to your FAQ once you’ve satisfactorily resolved the consumer’s concerns. Just make sure you don’t cut them off.

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 »

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)