J. Vander StoepPrincipalSound Counsel

Bruce CordinglyPrincipalSound Counsel

WHO WE ARE

CURRENT CRISIS

Susan G. Komen mistakes Not forthcoming Was not prepared Did not express empathy

for those affected No social media

plan

HUMAN COST

AGENDA

Crisis communications best practices Obstacles to good crisis communications Preparation: What you can do now Discussion

POSSIBLE CRISIS SCENARIOS

Management deceiving consumers/investors

Mislabeling Technological breakdown Business discontinuity Organizational crisis

Bribery Sexual harassment lawsuit Race discrimination lawsuit Misuse of funds/lavish

spending Embezzlement Wrongful dismissal Workplace violence

Congressional Hearings 20/20 Investigation Company truck hits school

bus, driver found using drugs Crane collapse Executive DUI accident Repeated employee injuries Oil spills, chemical releases,

toxic waste spills Fire, earthquake, flood,

terrorist incident Executive giving money to

controversial organization Product tampering

The response is often more important than the event.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF CRISIS RESPONSE

Credibility

Speed

Be Prepared to Own the Problem

GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO A CRISIS RESPONSE

1. CREDIBILITY

CREDIBILITY Be honest Be forthcoming

Assume damaging information will out If you deliver it, you help shape

narrative If you don’t, you look like you are

hiding If you don’t know the answer, say

so Use third-party validators

Apple and Fair Labor Assn Keep employees informed

CREDIBILITY:BP & Deepwater Horizon

Declared 1K barrels leaking into ocean every day; it was 5K.

CEO claimed environmental impact, “very modest.” Now called worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Would not release live feed of spill.

Bad publicity = U.S. President saying, “My attitude is, we have to verify whatever it is they say about the damage.”

GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO A CRISIS RESPONSE

2. SPEED

SPEED The “Beast” will be fed, with

or without you. Either you help shape the

story or it will be shaped by others without you.

Press is trying to create narrative of good & bad guys

Establish yourself as the primary source of information for the story. This must begin immediately.

Credible allegations that go unanswered are assumed to be true.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO A CRISIS RESPONSE

3. BE PREPARED

TO OWN THE PROBLEM

BE PREPARED TO OWN THE PROBLEM If you are at fault, accept some

responsibility. If you do not accept, you will

anger constituencies, and that will prolong the crisis.

Express empathy. Tony Hayward, “I’d like my life

back.” Do what you can for victims. Develop and communicate a

plan to fix the problem. Consider steps to become an

industry leader in the area in which you had problems.

IT’S HARD TO DO WELL

We are human Lawyers Adrenaline Not core competency Incomplete info

IS YOUR COMPANYPREPARED TODAY?

“If possible we want

to avoid any negative

publicity.”

CRISIS READINESS:How organizations prepare

Clear chain of command Identified spokespeople Trained executives &

spokespeople History of your company’s

safety preparedness Supporting collateral Dark Sites Draft press releases Video

Technology audit Contact lists Third party experts identified Relationship with PR firm

SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter

People will use Twitter to talk about you. You should be able respond using the same medium.

In a crisis you want to use that channel to broadcast messages.

For industry-wide issues, SCRA has a Twitter feed and can respond

Video -- increasingly large portion of the social media world

SC&RA ISSUES

Applying this principles to your industry risks:

Crane Collapse Worker Safety Fleet safety Environmental issues Labor issues

ABOUT US:EVENTS SINCE LAST YEAR

Food tampering Food packaging Food contamination Product recall CEO indictment Labor/management conflict Management conviction Negative air pollution publicity

SERVICES WITH SC&RA

Specially-priced services Media Training Crisis Communications

Plans Crisis Communications

Readiness Training Annual Crisis

Communications Audits

Thank You.

Contact us with questions,

soundcounselcrisis.com