Social Media: Short Foot or Long Inch

Japan is undergoing the worst crisis after World War II.

In this heart-breaking disaster, social media has been playing an active role in the communication process, be it disseminating relevant real-time information (sometimes rumors), reconnecting victims with loved ones, or calling for donations, while some names are conveniently mentioned more.

The nonprofit Explore.org offered to contribute $1 for each Facebook “Like” of its “Dog Bless You” Facebook fundraising page.It was received quite well except for a few complaints. At the time of writing, 144,842 people have liked the page.

That tactic didn’t seem too applicable to profitable companies though. On12 March Microsoft offered on its Bing search engine Twitter account to donate up to $100,000 for earthquake victims as long as users would retweet the message, one retweet leading to one dollar more donation.

This idea was not welcomed but regarded as ‘crass markeing attempt’. Comedian Michael Ian Black in front of his 1.6 million Twitter followers told Microsoft to “stop using tragedy as a f***ing marketing opportunity.” Wise enough for the company, on the very same day it withdrew the deal and promised instead to simply donate the $100K.

Social media makes it much easier to reach target audience for social good, but due to its trait as wild fire, it more easily invites backfire as well. Luckily，the instant feedback of social media showed Microsoft the attitude of the audience and the company was able to withdrew the offer based on people’s reactions before things got worse. Their timely apology was also helpful. In this case, social media helped Microsoft to identify and manage an issue at an early stage before it upgraded to a crisis. What was significant was that the two-way communication actually led to a change, which I as a future PR practitioner was very happy to see. Although the change may not be too significant at the moment, organizations will learn gradually that what beneficial communication should be like.

For more information about Microsoft’s approach in Japan’s earthquake, please go to http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2033671/bing-apologizes-supportjapan-tweet

Reference: http://mashable.com/2011/03/13/apple-microsoft-japan/

Plan for the Worst

There is one thing that organizations should always prepare for but never want it to come: Crisis.

Researches tend to show that organizations that get themselves ready for potential crisis will lessen the damage of a crisis. On the other hand, when organizations only passively respond to crises, potential opportunities may be over-shadowed by damage of the crisis. (Nudell and Antokol,  1988)

Proactive planning may include mechanisms for determining possible crises and analyzing situation, procedures to follow (checklist) during a crisis, appointment of a crisis management team, development of a communication plan, and policies for evaluating and revising the plan.

Communication strategy to deliver accurate information available in time is top priority in a crisis. To prepare,key steps include developing a communication policy, assigning and training spokespersons, identifying key audiences and key messages, and agreeing on appropriate communication methods before a crisis occurs. Pre-draft and approved messages and templates including statements by top management, news releases, etc. are also strongly recommended to save time, which is extremely scarce in crises.

One thing to note is that not all problems deserve equal attentions. In crisis planning, it is important to have a alert state and triggering response system to assess different level of threats to mobilize managers at different levels accordingly to focus on things most relevant to them. Do not mobilize resources that far exceed a requirement, as this will quickly fatigue the crisis management responses. Burnett’s Crisis Classification Matrix is a tool to improve decision making by revealing and prioritizing various crisis situations that an organization may need to confront, allowing for the proper allocation of resources.

To have a look at a sample communication plan: 

http://www.instituteforpr.org/topics/crisis-management-and-communications/

Reference:

Nudell,M., and Antokol,N.1988,The Handbook for Effective Emergency and Crisis Management, Toronto: Lexington Books.

Penrose,J. 2000, The role of perception in crisis planning, Public Relations Review.