Inside a PR crisis—through the eyes of a corporate attorney

Outstanding article on the differences between a legal crisis and a public relations crisis situation authored by James F. Haggerty in Corporate Counsel. Some takeaways below but we encourage you to read the whole article for context. Haggerty points out the following in "What Sensational Media Cases Can Teach Us About Proper PR Response":

1. "If your litigation-communications response is tailored only to respond to the first-day crisis, rather than the rhythms of the litigation itself, it will likely fail.”

2. “You can lose the initial battles, but still win the war.”

3. “Globalization brings a global media audience.”

4. “Eventually, another story will bump you from the headlines.”

Read the full article at Law.com.

Special thanks to Henry Fawell, former Womble Carlyle crisis communications guru and current President of Campfire Communications, LLC for alerting us to this article and the summary in the Ragan PR Daily.

Monday's quick reads: Toyota, Tiger, and evolution of corporate citizenship

1.) Toyota and Tiger Woods: Kindred spirits? (Fortune Magazine) -- The question is being raised more and more: Can Toyota recover its reputation? There is no simple answer. The writer explores Toyota's chances by comparing the automaker's plight with that of Tiger Woods.

2.) How Whole Foods reaches millions with Twitter (Social Media Examiner) -- Have you ever wondered how a business handles more than a million Twitter fans? Want the inside scoop from the largest retailer on Twitter? Whole Foods Market is a leading example of Twitter’s power to build millions of relationships a single customer at a time. Here are key excerpts from the writer's interview with the Whole Foods team.

3.) Survey: Most marketers shifting portion of their budget to social media (Social Media Business Council) -- Alterian’s 2009 Annual Survey Results shows 84% of marketers plan to shift at least a portion of their traditional marketing budgets to digital/interactive/social media channels in 2010. The survey involved more than 1,000 marketers from around the world and was conducted between October 1st through December 3rd of 2009.

4.) Corporate citizenship for the 21st century (Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship) -- Do you know what it takes to lead in the ever-changing field of corporate citizenship? The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship has just released two reports that help answer that question and that create unique competency models for today practitioners and tomorrow’s aspiring leaders.

Toyota’s crisis response is a two part story

(Image credit: Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
Like most riveting stories, the current recall crisis that has beset Toyota can be divided into multiple parts.

In Part One, which is still unfolding, the company is responding aggressively to a crisis. In Part Two, which will unfold in the coming months, Toyota will have to respond to the inevitable question from policy makers: “What did you know and when did you know it?”

Let’s look at Part One.

In the last few months, Toyota has recalled a staggering 8 million vehicles and halted production on 11 different models due to a plague of sudden accelerations in its cars. The crisis has rocked an auto company that for a half century had been synonymous with safety and reliability.

After a slow start, Toyota is responding the way any company should that is serious about rebuilding its reputation. Here are five key components to Toyota’s crisis communications strategy.

Be honest about your situation. Toyota recognized it was in a hole and stopped digging. It halted production on nearly a dozen different models, pledging to fix cars currently on the road before pushing new ones off the manufacturing line. The move is bold and not without serious financial repercussions, but it sends an unmistakable message that the company will bear any burden to keep its customers safe.

Say “I’m Sorry.” Toyota President Akio Toyoda (pictured) apologized to customers and took personal responsibility for the recall, as did the chief of Toyota’s U.S. operations. Sound easy? Ask ACORN and Tiger Woods what happens when you respond to a public crisis with defiance or indifference.

Fix the problem. Toyota quickly found a structural fix to the sticky accelerator pedals plaguing its vehicles. This may seem obvious, but too many companies believe that crisis response begins and ends with a good public message. They ignore the underlying problem that led to the crisis, whether it’s a sticky brake pedal or, as we recently saw in the financial industry, a huge appetite for bad debt. Toyota found a solution and dispatched thousands of employees to work 24/7 to repair vehicles currently on the road.

Start talking. Toyota’s public outreach has been relentless. Here’s a quick count of media channels they’ve used to touch consumers, opinion leaders, and policy makers nationwide: press conferences with executives; live television and radio interviews; huge TV ad buys; full page ads in newspapers; op-eds by Toyota executives in The Washington Post and elsewhere; video streaming on Youtube; a regularly updated website; a toll-free hotline; paid search ads on Google, and; regular recall updates for the company’s 100,000 fans on Twitter and Facebook. In sum, they’ve used every means of communication short of the carrier pigeon.

Enlist your friends. Toyota wisely called on a few friends to speak on the company’s behalf. NASCAR star Michael Waltrip posted a message on Youtube stating his belief that “Toyota won’t settle until they get it right, and I know they will make it right.” The company is publicizing testimonials from satisfied Toyota customers, and is working closely with members of Congress who represent states with tens of thousands of Toyota employees.

Okay, so Toyota gets crisis communication. That is rare, given that a lot of successful companies believe you don’t make money by showing contrition.

That brings us to Part Two.

The recall exposed Toyota’s larger problem: their inability to resolve a brewing crisis that reportedly first surfaced in 2002 when complaints of sticky accelerators spiked. In 2005, Toyota recalled more vehicles than it sold. Two years later, Consumer Reports stopped automatically endorsing Toyota vehicles due to what it considered declining quality. Even worse, recent news reports suggest that Toyota failed or refused to disclose vehicle problems to federal regulators over a period of years.

In the coming weeks, Part One of this story will come to a close. Shortly thereafter, Part Two will begin with congressional hearings, investigative journalism, and consumer lawsuits likely to take center stage.

Toyota’s crisis communications strategy will have to adapt to this new phase. They would be wise to be as aggressive and creative as they’ve been in recent weeks because, like many compelling stories, the second act may prove to be the most dramatic.

This article was first published in today's Daily Record.

Quick reads: Toyota, the Washington Capitals, and resignation by tweet

1.) The Capitals are reaching out (The Washington Post) -- The Washington Capitals in recent years have moved more aggressively than any other NHL team toward embracing social media Web sites such as Twitter and Facebook, targeting supporters who get their information from non-traditional outlets.

2.) Sun's chief executive tweets his resignation (New York Times) -- Jonathan Schwartz, the last chief executive of Sun Microsystems, has become the first Fortune 200 boss to tweet his resignation. Late Wednesday night, Mr. Schwartz used Twitter to publish a haiku about his exit from Oracle, which just completed its purchase of Sun last week.

3.) ConAgra Foods embraces a social media culture (Social Media Business Council) -- ConAgra’s Director of Public Relations, Stephanie Moritz, explains how ConAgra is approaching social media as a strategic opportunity. Stephanie’s case study explained how they’re integrating social media across many aspects of their business, how they educated senior management through “digital immersion,” and how ConAgra uses five core items to determine their social approach.

4.) Can Toyota be successful in brand damage litigation? (The Drum) -- One analyst believes that Toyota’s crisis management challenges say less about the quality of its crisis communication response, and more about the organisation’s culture and ability to identify and manage incidents before they become crises. Nevertheless, it is clear that this particular incident has the power to do enormous damage, not just to the Toyota brand, but also to its business.

Tuesday's quick reads: Martin Luther King, Judiciary 2.0, and the relevence of "old media"

1.) How to respond to criticism - Lessons from Martin Luther King (Tim Ferriss) -- The author of the best-selling The Four Hour Workweek examines how Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is a classic case study in the art of dismantling your critics' arguments.

2.) Just two in five Americans read a newspaper every day (Harris Interactive) -- According to Harris Interactive, newspapers around the country are struggling. Last year saw several newspapers change their business model to an online focus or shut down completely. This year will most likely see the same struggle and, perhaps, new business models emerge for these media entities. One thing is clear, the era of Americans reading a daily newspaper each and every day is coming to an end.

3.) Most original news reporting comes from traditional sources, study finds (Los Angeles Times) -- As the number of sources for news proliferates on digital platforms, most original reporting still comes from newspapers, television and radio. A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism that surveyed news gathering in Baltimore as an example of nationwide trends found that 95% of stories with fresh information came from "old media," and the vast majority of that from newspapers.

4.) Judiciary 2.0: Youtube, Proposition 8, and the Supreme Court (Huffington Post) -- Does YouTube belong in the Supreme Court? More to the point: If the White House's own YouTube channel contains some 480 videos, if Congress members consider their presence on the mainstream video sharing site as a given, then what's taking the judicial branch so long?

Doonsbury on Twitter

(Image credit: Doonsbury)
This morning's Doonsbury is a funny lense through which to view Twitter's impact on crisis communications and public opinion. Twitter is "the first rough draft of gossip," says Roland Hedley. Hard to disagree.

Tiger's crisis is a teachable moment

This column was first published Friday in The Maryland Daily Record.

The line of consultants giving Tiger Woods public relations advice these days is a long one. Just Google "Tiger Woods" and "crisis communications" and get comfortable. You could be reading all day.

Rather than add to the chorus of armchair quarterbacks, I want to touch on a few lessons that the business community can learn from Woods' saga about communicating in a crisis.If you think these rules apply only to celebrity athletes, think again. Businesses broadly, and executives specifically, are not immune to the public's insatiable curiosity in a crisis. If your company has yet to experience a serious public relations storm, then save this advice for a rainy day.

Information vacuums fill quickly. Information vacuums are the breeding ground of speculation in a crisis. If you don't fill them with facts, somebody else will fill them with rumors. Assuming that journalists and talk show hosts won't speculate -- oftentimes wildly -- without possessing the facts is also foolish. Ratings and 24-hour news cycles mean that speed often trumps accuracy in reporting big news.

Privacy is a right, except when it's not. There is often a disconnect between a company's view of what should remain private in a crisis and what the press believes should remain private. That's the price companies -- and professional golfers -- pay for playing in and profiting from the public arena. The question to ask in a crisis is not simply what legal rights to privacy you have, but rather how likely it is the press will obtain sensitive information through an unauthorized leak, an old IRS form, or a Public Information Act request. If the likelihood is high, consider disclosing it quickly on your own terms. It could mean the difference between two days of bad press and two weeks of bad press.

Accountability matters. Posting vague statements on a Web site that might as well have been written by a publicist rarely satisfy the press in a crisis. They lack sincerity and accountability. Ask Serena Williams. The tennis star apologized not once, not twice, but three times after verbally threatening a line judge at the U.S. Open in August. She posted the first two apologies on her Web site. They didn't work. Only when she personally stepped before a microphone and apologized for her conduct did media scrutiny subside. You can bet Tiger will have to do the same before his next golf tournament.

Legal advice and PR advice often collide. A common theme in the Tiger Woods analysis is that Tiger got terrible PR advice. That's not necessarily true. Tiger may have gotten sound advice -- go public early and on your own terms -- but opted instead to remain silent to reduce liability in the event of criminal charges, divorce filings, or breach of the "moral clause" in his contracts with corporate sponsors. This would not be the first time legal and public relations advisers were at odds. Executives have to judge whether that legal course is worth the damage their company's brand will suffer in the court of public opinion.

Don't preach to the extremes. Being successful inevitably means having critics. Yes, Tiger earned this round of scrutiny through his personal conduct, but successful companies and people -- from Goldman Sachs to Steve Jobs -- inevitably give rise to communities of critics and gadflies even before a crisis hits. Your goal in a crisis shouldn't be to convert those who are unwilling to listen, but rather to speak with candor and clarity to the open-minded.

Delay benefits the critics. Ironically, the people and organizations Tiger most dislikes -- tabloids, talk show hosts, and gossip hounds -- were the primary beneficiaries of his decision to remain silent. The longer he thumbed his nose at the press and the public, the more tabloid Web sites like TMZ and the Enquirer hauled in new readers online. The more he dismissed the public's curiosity, the higher the ratings were for cable news and talk radio. (OK, I couldn't resist a little bit of armchair quarterbacking in this column.)

If your company has been through a public relations crisis, chances are good these rules applied. They clearly transcend business, politics, sports and entertainment. What is less clear is whether the broader business community (hint: that means you) will view Tiger's situation as a teachable moment and plan accordingly for the next crisis.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly, and his e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com

Monday's quick reads: Dubai's debt, media training, and tabloid journalism

1.) Will big businesses save the earth? (The New York Times) -- Author Jared Diamond says there is a widespread view, particularly among environmentalists and liberals, that big businesses are environmentally destructive, greedy, evil and driven by short-term profits. He knows — because he used to share that view. But today he says that he has more nuanced feelings due to his recent work alongside many business executives.

2.) How to prepare spokespeople for interviews (PRSA) -- While media training is a great way to prepare spokespeople for the spotlight, you know that the pressure of being interviewed on camera in front of your peers can be overwhelming — so overwhelming that you may forget some of the key messages.

3.) Dubai's ruler turns on media, says press exaggerated debt crisis (Wall Street Journal) -- Dubai's ruler turned on the media Tuesday blaming the press for international concerns over his sheikdom's ability to deal with its debts after stock markets in the Gulf plummeted for a second day. "The exaggeration of the media won't affect our perseverance," said Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in an emailed statement, adding that "media did not seek the truth and confused matters without knowledge."

4.) Are there lessons for journalism in the tabloids? (Poynter) -- One writer says that while it's easy to dismiss the tabloid brand of journalism as a lot of headlines and no important news, the Enquirer has left an indelible mark on American mass media culture.

Tiger Woods and crisis communications

(Image Credit: Robert Beck/SI)
The Tiger Woods incident has been analyzed beyond recognition in the past week. If you're interested in lengthy analysis - both useful and not so useful - click here.

I have no intention of adding to the mountain of unsolicited advice being thrown Tiger's way. Nonetheless, the Woods situation has dusted off a few inevitable rules that hold firm when the press and the public set their crosshairs on you. If your company has never been through a public relations crisis, bookmark this page for a rainy day.

1. Information vacuums are the breeding ground of speculation. If you don't fill it with facts, somebody else will fill it with rumors.

2. To paraphrase best-selling author Tim Ferriss, being successful inevitably means ticking people off.

3. There is a universal disconnect between a company/celebrity's view of the right to privacy and the press/public's view of the right to privacy.

4. Assuming that journalists and talk show hosts won't speculate - often times wildly - in the absence of facts is foolish. Ratings and 24-hour news cycles require otherwise.

5. Posting vague statements on a website that may as well have been written by a publicist rarely satisfy the press or the public. They lack sincerity and accountability. Ask Serena Williams and ACORN.

If your company has been through a public relations crisis, chances are good these rules applied. They clearly transcend business, politics, sports, and entertainment. What's less clear is whether the broader business community will view Tiger's situation as a teachable moment and plan accordingly for the next crisis.

Monday's quick reads: Tiger Woods, baby cribs, and DuPont

1.) DuPont brings new life to video (Social Media Business Council) -- Rather than looking externally to find new ideas for viral content, DuPont turned to their own archives. Their new series, called simply “DuPont Science Videos,” features five short clips of behind-the-scenes educational footage of DuPont product tests.

2.) Tiger's PR troubles are growing because of Tiger (NBC New York) -- One analyst says that just about any rumor about Tiger Woods could gain traction these days if the golf icon continues to hide in the sand trap.

3.) Ad budget tight? Call the PR machine (The New York Times) -- Hobbled by a depressed DVD market and drooping sales of movies to foreign television networks, Hollywood is leaning more heavily on armies of publicists generating what they call “earned media,” free coverage in magazines, newspapers, TV outlets and blogs.

4.) Crib recalls provide a glimpse of what's to come (Bulletproof Blog) -- As news broke last week that Stork Craft Manufacturing is recalling 2.1 million cribs due to a suffocation risk that has claimed four lives and injured scores of children, consumer product companies got a good look at what’s to come as regulatory scrutiny of product safety continues to escalate.

Goldman Sachs issues $500 million and an apology

It's lonely at the top.

That's what Goldman Sachs must be thinking after the visceral public reaction to last week's announcement that it would donate $500 million to small business education, training, and investment programs.

Few companies could incite global hostility by giving away $500 million in a recession, but that's exactly what happened to Goldman. And companies that are serious about reputation management will pay attention.

Here's a sampling of the sentiment that greeted Goldman's announcement last week:

"Goldman and its peers need to practice humility and contrition for an extended period, rather than seeking image-buffing headlines with token gestures," wrote Bloomberg's Mark Gilbert after Goldman's announcement.

The New York Times editorial board dismissed the initiative as "crumbs from [Goldman's] table...motivated by its public relations problems."

In the most vivid description of Goldman to date, Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi compared the investment firm in July to "a giant vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity."

How did we get here?

Goldman has endured years of withering criticism that large financial institutions sparked the economic downturn, profited from billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts, and compounded the struggles of ordinary Americans by restricting small business' access to capital. That Goldman issued $15 billion in employee bonuses this year months after taking $10 billion in public funding hasn't help change that narrative.

Will Goldman ever be perceived as a corporate angel? Not likely. Earning $3.4 billion every three months doesn't get you much sympathy no matter how sincere your philanthropic efforts may be, and last week's announcement appeared to be an acknowledgment that the criticism was taking its toll.

Thus, few companies need a reputation recovery strategy more than Goldman, and there are lessons to be gleaned from the manner in which the announcement was made.

First, the company announced that it would be partnering with Warren Buffett and Columbia Business School Dean R. Glenn Hubbard in the small business initiative. The inclusion of respected economic minds outside Goldman lends independent credibility to a program that critics want to pigeon-hole as a shallow PR stunt manufactured by Goldman.

Second, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein last week did what few leaders do when their company has earned the public's hostility: he apologized. On the day of the announcement, Blankfein told an audience of corporate directors that Goldman, “participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret. We apologize.”

We blogged a long time ago that telling the truth and getting reputable friends to vouch for you can go a long way in a public relations crisis. Goldman seems to get it.

Third, Goldman is running a reputation marathon, not a sprint. Trying to win the public's affection overnight after the economic trauma of 2008 is unrealistic. The visceral reaction by Goldman's critics last week had little to do with helping small businesses (hardly an objectionable idea) and everything to do with Goldman's past.

Consultant Peter Firestein put it best:

"That Goldman has allowed its reputation to sink so low as to make half a billion seem like a token causes damage far beyond the bank itself. It may undermine public sentiment toward truly needed financial entities for a long time to come."

Goldman's reputation recovery strategy cannot be measured in terms of weeks or months, but rather in years. Nor should it be measured by when (if ever) accolades are thrown in Goldman's direction, but rather by how quickly Goldman's critics fade into the background.

Fourth, the only strategy that would be more harmful to Goldman's reputation would be to do nothing - to assume that the public's short term anger make any mea culpa or long term gesture futile.

Goldman would be wise to look past last week's headlines. The opening salvo of cynicism was inevitable. Now they must focus on the other 25 miles in this marathon. That means demonstrating over a sustained period of time a credible strategy to minimize the negative consequences of its business practices and maximizing the many positive benefits.

The measure of last week's announcement will come into focus in the years ahead as small businesses reap the benefits of targeted financing, better higher education curricula, improved management training, and leadership networking that Goldman has now made possible. As the bottom lines of those small businesses recover, perhaps some of the glow - even a little bit - will rub off on Goldman's reputation as well.

PR lessons from Letterman and ACORN

This column was first published in today's edition of The Maryland Daily Record.

It’s not often I advise Baltimore’s business community to study a late night comedy show for tips on crisis communications. In fact, I never have … until now. But the crisis besetting CBS’ David Letterman is worth your attention. Here’s why:

Funnyman Letterman made a very unfunny announcement last week when he acknowledged having inappropriate relationships with multiple women who worked on his show at CBS. He also alleged that a CBS employee who had knowledge of the relationships attempted to blackmail him.

Letterman disclosed the transgressions to a stunned television audience last week. Not surprisingly, the news catapulted to the top of the national conversation the night it broke and has yet to subside.

Let’s be clear: Letterman’s conduct was inexcusable and the criticism he has received over the past week is justified. But the manner in which the late night host made the announcement can serve as a guidepost for businesses and individuals confronted with equally serious public relations crises.

The strategy is simple and generally effective: Tell it early, tell it all, tell it yourself.

Minimize the damage

Letterman could have hidden under the proverbial desk, hoping the news of his misbehavior wouldn’t break — a tactic that many businesses embrace before a crisis hits. Instead, he chose to go public in a lengthy and apparently sincere monologue. In doing so, he dictated how the news of the relationships would break, when it would break, and what the initial media coverage would look like.

Had Letterman remained silent, the explosive news would have inevitably leaked from any number of sources — his employer, his co-workers, the two employees involved, the prosecutors investigating the allegations of extortion — at a time of their choosing instead of his.

Letterman has received national condemnation since the announcement, and rightfully so. But responding forcefully to a PR crisis does not mean miraculously emerging from the scandal blameless. It means taking the lumps you deserve and, if you communicate sincerely and effectively, minimizing the damage to your brand. If you’re really effective, you may even win a little gratitude for respecting public sentiment.

Contrast Letterman’s response to that of ACORN, the community organizing group. Last month, several videos emerged of the nonprofit’s employees giving detailed advice on how to conduct illegal activities without drawing the attention of authorities.

Fill the information vacuum

When the controversial videos first surfaced, ACORN chose to ignore them. Days later — with the videos dominating national headlines — ACORN posted a statement on its Web site acknowledging no wrongdoing while blaming the videos on politicians and certain segments of the media.

It took four days for ACORN’s CEO to publicly condemn the conduct of the employees, 10 days for her to conduct an interview with a news outlet of national reach, and 12 days for the organization to announce that an independent panel would review the nonprofit’s operations. As each media cycle passed without a serious response from ACORN, the organization’s reputation suffered more damage than the videos alone could inflict.

To be fair, ACORN was blindsided by the videos while Letterman had time to consider his strategy before going public. But 10 days without a response befitting a national controversy is an eternity in a public relations crisis.

The volume of communications outlets today — in print, online, over the airwaves, by word of mouth — creates an information vacuum. The question is not whether that vacuum will be filled in a crisis; the question is who will fill it first.ACORN’s leaders didn’t tell it early, didn’t tell it all, and didn’t tell it themselves. They let their critics do the talking for 10 long days.

The public relations nightmares outlined above are not reserved for celebrities and controversial nonprofits. Sadly, ordinary places of work are regularly beset by executive misconduct and illegal activity by employees. If the public’s ire turns on your company for similar reasons, do your employees and your company’s brand a big favor: tell it early, tell it all, tell it yourself.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly. His e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com

Five takeaways from the Vick press conference

NFL scouts are known to scrutinize a player's performance in the 40-yard dash, but Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles just started a reputation management marathon. By signing the controversial quarterback Friday, the Eagles invited a public relations challenge that will require patience, endurance, and a strategy to guide them for more than a year.

Business leaders, take note: Vick's return to the NFL is not just about sports or animal cruelty (though they are rightly preeminent in the debate).

There are also lessons to be learned about communicating controversial news. I listened to the tape of Vick's Friday morning press conference with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and heard 5 hallmarks of effective communications in a controversy. Regardless of one's views of Vick, his crimes, or the Eagles, anyone who toils in the court of public opinion should observe how a high-profile organization handles the enormous public debate that Vick's signing has ignited.

Here are 5 observations from Friday's press conference:

1. Contrition: No surprise here. Without contrition, any appearance by Vick would have been a failure. The same rule often applies to business executives in a crisis. In my mind, the goal is to find balance between self-defeating indifference and self-defeating blather.

2. Executive accountability: Lurie spoke at length about how he arrived at the decision to sign Vick. Lurie's decision to speak at the press conference (not a given among professional sports team owners) reinforces that the signing is about much more than football. As Lurie stated, Vick "is not being measured by yardage." Executives would be wise to remember that a mid-level spokesman can only carry an organization so far in a crisis. The earlier the executive addresses the matter, the better.

3. Third-person validation: Vick was joined at the press conference by former NFL coach Tony Dungy. Dungy, who is serving as an advisor to Vick during his transition back into society, carries great credibility due to his years working with prison ministries to help ex-offenders become productive citizens upon their release. Businesses are no different. Having credible third-parties or coalitions to advocate on your behalf is always a plus.

4. Perspective: Vick and Lurie acknowledged that the signing will anger large segments of the Philadelphia community. They didn't dismiss their critics concerns; they embraced them. When an organization damages its reputation among important stakeholders, the process of repairing it is not easy. It often begins with an honest assessment of why the crisis occurred.

5. Action: In a crisis, words mean little without a plan to prevent the crisis from happening again. Vick made clear his intentions to help stamp out dog-fighting. Lurie emphasized the Eagles commitment to partnering with the Humane Society. One could argue that becoming an advocate of animal rights now -- when the Eagles showed little interest in such causes in the past -- constitutes pandering. Perhaps, but the alternative - ignoring the root of Vick's failings and the public's anger at his crimes -- would have been far worse.

Friday's press conference was just the first act, but an instructive lesson in how businesses can communicate controversial news. Up next: Vick will appear on CBS's "60 Minutes" Sunday. I'll be watching.

How Fortune Brands got ahead of bad news

(Credit: Fortune Brands)

We've blogged before about the value of getting ahead of bad news in order to put your company in a position of relative strength.

Fortune Brands, the producers of Knob Creek bourbon whiskey, has done just that. Fortune launched an aggressive ad campaign this week announcing that - believe it or not - they've run out of bourbon.

You may be wondering how that's good news, when their inaccurate forecasting could pinch wholesalers, retailers, and customers in a tough economy. Yet Fortune turned a potential mea culpa into an opportunity. Fortune ran ads in The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere announcing double digit growth in demand for Knob Creek, thanked customers for the explosion in popularity, and promised that the next batch would be on shelves in November. The bourbon maker even mailed "Drought of 2009" tee shirts and empty bottles to loyal fans.

Fortune took what some would consider an embarrassment and positioned it as a milestone achievement. The strategy is not without risk, and I wouldn't advise every industry to execute the same way (memo to power companies: don't celebrate power outages), but it should remind us that opportunities sometimes await those who get ahead of bad news.

Monday's quick reads: Wells Fargo on social media, Wall Street's reputation management

1.) CEO's urged to do more online (The Washington Times) -- A new study says top CEOs should do a better job managing their presence on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Wikipedia.

2.) Selling health care? Watch what you say (The Washington Post) -- A psychologist reminds Washington that buzzwords send messages, but they may not always be the messages we intend.

3.) Wells Fargo on social media engagement during financial crisis (The Blog Council) -- Wells Fargo's VP for Social Media Engagement discusses the bank's decision to embrace new communications tools during the financial crisis.

4.) Wall Street responds to "populist outrage" (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street’s largest trade group has started a campaign to counter the “populist” backlash against bankers, enlisting two former aides to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to spearhead the effort.

Monday's quick reads: Home Depot, Youtube, human resources & social media

1.) Image as part of corporate strategy (PRSA) -- National media regularly ranks the most admired corporations in America, listing the core values that helped them gain fame. Is this effort just the business equivalent of selecting the most popular students in the high school yearbook? Or should companies and organizations concern themselves with image and reputation?

2.) Home Depot uses Youtube as a PR tool (Atlanta Journal Constitution) -- Home Depot's encounter with an environmental group shows that social media can work for corporations as well as activists.

3.) The good news about bad news: openness works (PR Daily) -- Employees want open communication from their bosses, particularly in bad times. Surprise, surprise. Well, don’t just slough that off: Being kept in the loop translates into increased commitment and good will among the staff.

4.) Human resources & crisis communications - (HR Executive) Although HR leaders may have been using -- or at least begun thinking of using -- social media for recruiting, project management and knowledge transfer, they may not yet have considered the benefits of using such tools in the case of emergencies. The sooner, the better, experts say.

Bad news from good messengers

Henry Fawell, a member of Womble Carlyle's strategic communications group, gave a presentation on crisis communications this week in Boston at the Spring 2009 conference for TechAssure, an insurance and risk management trade association whose members represent technology, life sciences, digital media, and venture capital firms.

Henry's presentation, entitled "Bad News from Good Messengers," offered communications guidelines for companies that fall victim to insurance-related crises such as data theft. Foremost among Henry's recommendations was that firms undertake crisis planning exercises. These exercises enable a firm to identify potential crises ahead of time and to develop a plan to communicate effectively with its stakeholders in the event of a crisis. Henry was invited to address the group after TechAssure's leadership read his commentary on crisis communications at "Wag the Dog," the strategic communications group's blog.

Womble Carlyle's strategic communications group advises clients on crisis communications, message development, social media strategies, and media relations. Our team has advised clients from an array of industries, including energy, real estate, telecommunications, construction, and government contracting. For more information, contact Henry at henry.fawell@wcsr.com.

Swine flu and crisis communications

(Photo credit: AP)

There are myriad ways to explore how public anxiety over swine flu will impact businesses, from airlines and drug makers to agriculture. For now, I am watching how pork producers respond to the uneasy public sentiment that is lighting up social media sites across the web. Here's an example:

The social media phenomenon known as Twitter has been abuzz this week with discussion over the swine flu and how people can protect themselves. Several users (none of whom appear to have any medical background) are telling their friends and family that the risk of swine flu is, as one person put it, "another reason to avoid eating pork."

That's not true, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC flatly states that swine flu is not transmitted via food. Yet the misinformation on Twitter - which has roughly 5 million members and growing, including members of the press -- can spread like wildfire, and rarely is information edited for accuracy. This can cause significant confusion and ultimately threaten a pork producer's bottom line. Take a look at what's happened to hog prices by clicking here.

The onus is on those producers to "go where the people are" and combat misinformation head on. To its credit, the National Pork Producers Council does have a presence on Twitter, but its list of followers at the time of this writing is slim considering the volume of chatter about its industry.

We'll be watching with interest.

Bernanke's public relations offensive

Today's Wall Street Journal explores Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's rare public relations offensive in the wake of global financial uncertainty. You can view a quick video below or read the complete article by clicking here.



Here's a quick excerpt from the article:

"Fed officials have been struck by the public response to Mr. Bernanke's "60 Minutes" appearance, which took him to his hometown of Dillon, S.C., to reminisce about his modest upbringing and to visit his childhood home, which a subsequent owner recently lost to foreclosure.

"Strangers have been coming up to him in airports and supermarkets to compliment him. One Fed employee approached him in the Fed's top-floor cafeteria after the television interview. She told him she was touched to learn his mother was reluctant to send him off to Harvard as a teen because he didn't have the proper clothes."

The strategy reinforces two lessons:

1.) The economy is changing rapidly and public opinion is changing with it. Leaders in business and government are wise to respond with unconventional communications. The Fed has a long history of avoiding overt publicity campaigns, and Mr. Bernanke strikes few observers as an attention hound. Yet the chairman and his team deserve kudos for applying a precedent-breaking communications strategy to an unprecedented economic climate.

2.) Few things are as effective as a compelling personal story. The "60 Minutes" excerpt about Bernanke's upbringing helps to elevate the chairman above an unpopular backdrop: the marble halls of Washington, the impeccable pin-stripe suits, and the corridors of Wall Street. Elevating Bernanke above that backdrop allows a big slice of his audience, the American taxpayer, to view him and his decisions in a new light. His audience may not agree with his actions, but his outreach makes them more familiar with the humble life experiences that help guide his decisions. The implicit message: Every decision Bernanke makes, he makes in the best interests of towns like Dillon, S.C.

"60 Minutes" is only one interview, but it's a start. Let's hear from you. Is Bernanke's communications strategy smart, or is he needlessly inviting backlash from the market if he flubs an interview?

Monday's quick reads

1.) Great crisis leaders: 10 key characteristics (Ragan) -- Most leaders who are successful managing through deep crises will posses a majority of these qualities.

2.) Top gobbledygook phrases used in press releases (PRSA) -- An author analyzed 711,123 press releases from 2008 to determine the most commonly used gobbledygook words and phrases.

3.) Agencies Need to Think More Facebook, Twitter, Less TV (Advertising Age) -- A venture capitalist says the future is in "earned" - not paid - media.

4.) U.S. military to get new view on social media (PR Week) -- A new report from the National Defense University offers some social media tips for government folks.