Nicolazzo & Associates

Crisis Plans Incomplete Without A Social Media Component

By Richard E. Nicolazzo

Let’s be realistic: Crisis communications contingency planning is always a moving target.
The way we communicate has evolved for thousands of years and will continue to change. New forms of communications are unstoppable.

Social media has become a powerful influence in virtually every form and aspect of communications in today’s world.  In the early days of this new medium, public relations executives and crisis planners could adapt existing crisis contingency plans to address the basic needs of social media.

That day has passed. Social media’s enormous impact on our daily lives has transformed how we communicate. Need convincing? Consider these statistics:

• 800 million active Facebook users (one of every nine people on the planet)

• Over 500 million unique users who visit YouTube every month

• Over 200 million average tweets per day on Twitter

• More than 100 million LinkedIn users

• 62 million Google+ users (estimated to be 100 million by February 2012)

• 3,000 images uploaded to Flickr every minute

And, as social media rockets ahead, acceptance levels are exploding exponentially. When Facebook started, it took 852 days to reach 10 million users. For Twitter, it took 780 days. When Google+ launched in June 2011, it only took 16 days to reach 10 million users. More “net speed” records will be broken.

Social Media Crises on the Rise

Altimeter Group, a San Mateo, California, research-based advisory firm that helps companies manage disruptive technologies, recently reported a rise in social media crises. In a survey of 144 companies, it found that while most organizations are quick to deploy the latest social media technology, few have prepared for a major social media crisis and the potential long-term effects on their businesses.

When analyzing actual social media crises, Altimeter found that in more than three-fourths (76%) of the cases, reputational damage would have diminished or been averted had the companies invested in internal planning.

According to the same research, the top three reasons for the crises were:

1. Lack of internal social media education;

2. Absence of professional staff to monitor and manage social media issues; and

3. Lack of an emergency strategy and plan.

Without advance preparation, fallout from a social media crisis can be painful and swift. It’s easy to find a few good examples when looking back at 2011.

When Anthony Weiner tweeted a photo of his private parts to a Seattle woman, he first claimed his account was hacked. However, the unrelenting scrutiny of social media nailed him in a matter of days, forcing him to admit he was the one who sent the photo. A successful 12-year career in Congress was finished.

Gilbert Gottfried lost his job as the voice of the Aflac duck when he posted jokes about the Japanese tsunami on his Twitter account.

The Kenneth Cole brand took a reputational hit when it tried to ride the coattails of the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt. Cole decided to capitalize on the resulting press momentum with a thoughtless tweet that said, “Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online.”  Cole apologized in a hurry.

And consider what happened to Chrysler when an employee from their new media agency dropped an F-bomb in a tweet from @ChryslerAutos. The auto company had just launched a Super Bowl ad and a new “Imported from Detroit” campaign. The fallout didn’t hurt sales, but was embarrassing for a brand on the rebound.

How a company or individual deals with a social media crisis is fundamentally an outgrowth of general crisis communications contingency planning. However, when one factors in the speed with which information is circulated, some processes and procedures must be rethought.  In my view, institutions and individuals should think about three levels of social media crises.

Level I, the least serious, might involve minor exposure from flare-ups, such as customer complaints, poor customer service, misguided tweets, or website malfunctions. These incidents can be managed by a direct social media response. For example, FedEx might deliver a package with contents damaged or destroyed. The recipient might tweet about the problem. If FedEx is properly monitoring social media feeds, it can quickly reply with an apology and commitment to solve the problem. This prevents other tweeters from piling on. Additionally, this can turn a potential pitfall into a positive event by delivering exemplary customer service.

Level II occurs when the initial problem crosses into mainstream media and impacts the individual or company’s reputation. An example of this is what happened when two rogue Domino’s Pizza employees posted a revolting YouTube video that went viral. The company was slow in responding and suffered major damage to its reputation. A post-incident study conducted by HCD Research revealed that 65% of respondents who would previously visit or order Domino’s were less likely to do so after viewing the offensive video.

In a Level III crisis, an enterprise loses business or the individual loses his/her job. In the case of an individual, what happened to Anthony Weiner is an excellent example. He’s gone and so are his hopes for future political office. A good corporate example is what happened to Netflix when it announced a plan to spin off its DVD-rental service into a new entity called Qwikster. Not only did Netflix mis-gauge customer attitude, but it failed to acquire the Qwikster Twitter account ahead of its announcement, confusing consumers that were looking for a venue for Qwikster. After a series of nasty tweets, the story hit every major TV, radio and newspaper outlet in the U.S. Netflix killed the new service, but not before losing some 800,000 subscribers. Their management’s reputation, stock price, and customer base all plunged.

10-Point Checklist

What can be done? Here’s a 10-point checklist to help senior management and communications executives prepare for the worst:

1. Obtain all the facts before responding and, in particular, before making any statement online or on a mobile device. An Internet posting cannot be retrieved.
2. Control the message before it controls you. Audit previously scheduled tweets or posts, and remove those that could be misinterpreted if they are published during a crisis.
3. Take whatever steps are appropriate to maintain the institution’s brand and the integrity of its management, board and products/services.
4. If there is a problem, acknowledge it and begin remedial action. Social media is unforgiving. The issue will not fade away.
5. Scale responses to appropriately reflect the importance of the problem and the audience of the questioner. Many bloggers and power users of Twitter or Facebook have small armies of followers that should be considered when responding.
6. Ensure that someone on the social media crisis communications team is available 24/7.
7. Calculate the appropriate degree of response and determine whether a high-level, medium-level or low-level response is in the institution’s best interest. Important responses should be posted or reposted at high-traffic times.
8. If the disruptive entity or perpetrator is known, communicate via the proper medium (i.e., don’t call a blogger; rather, leave a comment so other readers can understand your side of the story).
9. Avoid posting negative comments that could start a “flame war” by people who intentionally post inflammatory comments to generate a huge response from other commenters; this could lead you to say something harmful about your company or yourself.
10. If someone has a legitimate gripe, respond quickly and appropriately while respecting other person’s feelings.  Start with, “I understand and appreciate your thoughts on this matter”…”I hear what you are saying”.  If, for example, it’s a minor complaint posted to Twitter, ask for the complainer to send a “direct message” describing the problem, then escalate from there to email or phone contact if necessary.

The simple rule of thumb is:  Don’t underestimate the power of social media. At times, the social media crowd can influence public opinion just as effectively as mainstream media.

And remember: In most cases, it’s not the crisis itself that causes damage, but the response.

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Richard E. Nicolazzo is Managing Partner of Nicolazzo & Associates, a strategic communications and crisis management firm headquartered in Boston, Mass.

Joe M. Grillo, Partner at Nicolazzo & Associates, contributed to this blog.