The pitch: Communication the key to surviving a crisis

By JOSEPH RAJENDRAN

"It was a bolt from the blue." That is exactly how most organisations would describe a crisis when faced with one.

The ones who emerge successfully from a crisis, as empirical evidence has shown, are the ones who effectively communicate themselves out of it.

And those who do not make it - and history is peppered with examples of them - effectively perish. Family-controlled Perrier lost ownership after traces of benzene were found in its water. PanAm never recovered from Lockerbie.

Has Child, Youth and Family communicated its way out of a crisis when it came under fire for poor execution of its core mission? Is the public convinced that a spray campaign in West Auckland is the most effective method of containing the painted apple moth?

The starting point in crisis communication lies in assessing the potential risks to an organisation.

More often than not, management are in self-denial and believe they know better in handling a crisis. It is not until the crisis breaks out that management will start to have second thoughts about their ability to communicate.

Hence, whether in a crisis or not, risk assessment is a solid starting point.

What are my risks? What is my organisation potentially exposed to? Is my organisation capable of handling a huge product recall? Can my organisation speak confidently to the media in the event of a hostile takeover?

The second step is to form a crisis response team and list the role of each member. As a public relations consultant, I have learned that when you don't assemble a small team as part of crisis preparedness, you will end up with a large team when the crisis occurs. This is a recipe for chaos.

Who will speak to the media? Who will manage the suppliers? What about customers?

Who will address issues with colleagues - an often-forgotten area in a crisis that results in staff reading about their organisation in the media.

The third step is to train the team and review the crisis communications plan.

This is never a one-off exercise. Before the September 11 attacks, most of my clients did not bother about security. That has since changed. Risks change all the time and it is important to continually assess and prepare for them. Various strategies can be used to test preparedness. Tabletop simulation and simulated media interviews are common practices.

There is no substitute for practice, practice and practice. The communications trade has perfected this to an art.

Crisis and issues management is a defence policy. It is not rocket science, but a systematic approach to communications that most organisations give lip-service to in good times. In bad times, it becomes a recipe for their demise.

In a nutshell, crisis communications and preparedness boil down to protecting and enhancing corporate reputation. What is the value of your organisation's reputation?

* Joseph Rajendran is a former Singapore-based account director for Hill & Knowlton now working as an independent public relations consultant.

* Email Joseph

* The Pitch is a forum for those working in advertising, marketing, public relations and communications. We welcome lively and topical 500-word contributions.
Email The Pitch.