the darker side of digital: managing crises on digital channels

The Darker Side of Digital

Managing Crises on Digital Channels

Intro

DAVE FLEET EVP, DIGITAL, EDELMAN@davefleet

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT CRISES?

“IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME”

Unexpected event

Threatens significant reputational damage

Short time to respond

DEFINING CRISES

CRISIS ARCHETYPESAT

TENT

ION

Source: Roberto Adriani

TIME

EMERGING IMMEDIATE SUSTAINED

SOURCES OF CRISES• Political pressure• Regulatory changes• Religious/cultural/

political controversies• Societal outrage

• Health scares• Hostile takeover bids• Natural disasters• Political unrest• Sabotage & extortion

• Corporate/strategic failure

• Corporate governance failure

• Fraud/malpractice• Poor employee

behaviour

• CEO dismissal• Employee

injuries/death• Industrial disputes• IT system failures• Product quality recalls

INTE

RNAL

EXTE

RNAL

ISSUE-DRIVEN INCIDENT-DRIVENSource: Charlie Pownall

DIGITAL DYNAMICS IN CRISIS SITUATIONS

NEW FLAVOURS OF CRISIS

DATA SECURITY PRIVACY ONLINE ACTIVISM

CYBER ATTACKS CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUES

CONSUMER BACKLASH

…AND A NEW LAYER ON TOP OF OTHER VARIETIES

FRACTURED MEDIA LANDSCAPE

EVERYONE NOW HAS A VOICE

DIGITAL AMPLIFIES EMOTIONS

INTERNAL PANIC

ACCELERATED PACE

“RIGHT” vs “RIGHT NOW”

NEW PATTERNS OF MEDIA CONSUMPTION

Search

TV

Social

News-papers

Magazines

Blogs

71

69

67

45

32

28

DIRECT COMMUNICATION AT SCALE

INTEGRATING DIGITAL INTO YOUR CRISIS TOOLKIT

1. Planning and Preparation

2. Developing Issue

3. Crisis Alert4. Crisis Response

5. Crisis Recovery

6. Return to Normal

CRISIS PROCESS

THINKBEYOND SOCIAL

INTEGRATED PLANNING

Risk assessmentScenario planningIdentify team members and rolesDevelop guidelines and escalation pathsMessaging

Training and scenariosVulnerability assessmentsEstablish digital platformsIdentify influencers and stakeholdersOngoing monitoring

PREPARE NOW, BENEFIT LATER

• Speed beats smart in crises• Acknowledge the situation

• Hub information centrally• Connect emotionally… but don’t react

emotionally• Use digital channels to rebut misinformation• Data-driven decision making

RESPOND QUICKLY AND FLEXIBLY

Dave Fleet@davefleet

ANY QUESTIONS?