Latest / WOI Unfiltered / Crisis Comms - The 3 Questions to Ask - Epi 28
Transcript
- speaker-0: Alright I just hit record. speaker-1: Wait a second, wait a second. Let me grab coffee. Morning, Jenna. speaker-0: Hi. speaker-1: Hello. speaker-0: How are you? speaker-1: Despite the intro, I don't have coffee. So we'll see how this goes. speaker-0: I could use some caffeine too. Okay, so let's talk about what we're here to talk about today. So on our last episode, we chatted a bit about what's happening in the world with this parasite outbreak. Yeah. and we talked a little bit about Taco Bell, but we just kind of scraped the surface because it was still a developing story. Things have now come out in more detail and there's a lot more to talk about, a lot more that's happening. and in tandem and completely separately, Coca-Cola issued some statements about a cyber attack that is impacting their Fair Life brand, which I am a huge fan of, by the way. Yeah. and so we wrote an article that we published recently about crisis comms and what speaker-1: good and so are we. speaker-0: communicators are looking at and considering when they're responding to a crisis. and so we thought it would be a fun follow up little episode to to chat through some of that and kind of look at the scenarios of what's happening at the moment. speaker-1: Yeah, and I love how you broke it down, Jenna. It it is that thing in communications that people often shy away from. But really with a solid playbook and scenario planning in place, you are just very well ready for a crazy crisis to strike. And certainly it can be outside the playbook, but if you have a good idea, especially with the chain of command, with your internal stakeholders. you can navigate this appropriately in a way that consumers can understand, track, follow, and ultimately curry favor along the way, just through good old fashioned transparency. So so well well done, my friend. speaker-0: Thank you and and I think that the I mean that's the biggest thing, right? When a crisis happens, and especially with bigger companies, it's going to happen at some point. Authenticity matters, protecting your reputation matters. and sometimes that's owning up to a mistake, sometimes that's, you know, just sharing the facts. but those things are the biggies. We talked in an episode with Zach Keating about crisis and we talked about, you know, the merits of having a crisis playbook and I think that's still widely debated amongst entrepreneurs and CEOs and and the C-suite in general, and amongst communications experts. There's value to having a crisis comms playbook for sure. I'm not gonna say no to that. But Zach pointed out, and I do agree with him, biggest thing is knowing who are you going to when a crisis happens? Who are the decision makers? Having those people on speed dial, having a a sheet or document that says these are the X amount of people who need to be involved in the decision, clearly legal is one of them. Your comms expert is one of them. Your CEO is going to be one of them. And then the leaders of the various business units. And and obviously then it'll depend on what crisis is happening. but knowing the decision makers, knowing who needs to review and approve and sign off on statements before they go out. I think is really important. And then the channels that you have to communicate with, like your own channels, your social media channels, your website. obviously you can put statements out in other ways. but those are important to have identified in advance as well. speaker-1: And and don't forget your internal stakeholders too, right? Your employees. Make sure you're clear, fast, responsive with your employee base in a way that they understand and are addressing the points that are particularly meaningful to them. speaker-0: Point. Yeah. Right. So the article that we put out, we kind of broke it down. I I I would say crisis communications is the best example of strategic comms. So in the article that we wrote, we outlined three things that need to be assessed immediately when when you know that a crisis is going to happen. How quickly are we going to speak? What are we going to say? And how often are we speaking? And within that whole how often bucket, something that we maybe didn't talk about, but is just when do you know crisis is over? When do you know that you're done putting out statements and all of that? And that's kind of a tricky one we've encountered before is just like, do we need another statement? Do we not? Are people good? so I think let's break it down using, you know, the examples of of what's been happening lately and starting with how quickly we speak. speaker-1: Great. And I think, you know, we addressed Taco Bell as the very consumer facing property of this current crisis with the cyclospora outbreak, right? and and we applauded them for for quickly engaging and being proactive in terms of pulling the lettuce, the cilantro, the affected produce off their lines, particularly in hot markets. the trade-off was the murkiness of the information that was out there, right? When you speak quickly, you might not necessarily know that the source was Taylor Farms, one of your key suppliers, while that stuff is still being worked out. So maybe, maybe a day or so push could have been, maybe you can do it. And maybe you say something when you have something, you know, a little bit more definitive. Perhaps that is the sweet spot in the Taco Bell case. 'Cause like we said, now ever since then it's very synonymous. The brand with the outbreak, people don't dive deep on these things. It's typically a shallow dive and therefore you're kind of guilty by association. What do you think, Jenna? speaker-0: I think you just the way you just wrap that up is so correct. Guilty by association, shallow dive, you know, they did the right thing. They acted responsibly for the consumer, but they didn't necessarily need to say something as quickly as they did. And in saying something so quickly, unfortunately, what happens is they then own the crisis. They are the face of the crisis. And that was seen in the media. They essentially were the face. Until Taylor Farms started to speak and until things started to come out with Taylor Farms and the FDA. So while they looked responsible, they also inadvertently just hooked themselves together. Just right. Really did that. And you know, I think that once that happens, there's not a ton you can do except for ride the wave. Maybe they could have put out one or two other statements, but you're in a tough spot as soon as that happens. speaker-1: Yeah. You become culpable, just like you said. but yeah, you know, on that fact about the cadence of you know, how often do you speak and then what do you say every time? I think you brought up a really good point that repetition could be your friend. speaker-0: Yeah. Well, and so looking at what do we say every time we speak, I think this one is a salient point specifically in the age of AI. I mean, really, so Taylor Farms did an excellent job with the first statement they put out. It was textbook. It was it was a really great statement. It acknowledged what was going on, it expressed empathy for those who were you know, affected by it. It took some ownership. It was, it was a strong statement. The challenge though was they put out several subsequent statements without the context from their original statement. And I think the assumption is, well, we already put the statement out, so people have that information. Now we're going to give them more. The problem is in the age of AI, if somebody just goes in and says, give me the statement Taylor Farms put out, and you don't put anything specific, There's a high likelihood that you get the most recent statement. So that's number one. Or if somebody just says, What has Taylor Farm said about this? Again, without specific prompts, they may be just getting the updated statements. That actually happened to me the first time I looked into it and I saw it and was like, Why are people saying they did a great job? The statement doesn't have any empathy in it. And then I dug a little deeper and I was like, I see the first one they put out. It's great. But again, in the age of AI, And the way people are absorbing information, nobody is going to your newsroom anymore. Nobody is reading all the statements. Nobody is even reading a complete article anymore. So even if the article tracks the statements you put out, people are skimming that. They're taking a quick snippet of things. Attention spans just aren't there. And so each statement needs to feel like it can stand alone because people are not necessarily reading everything you're saying. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, it definitely speaks to the evolution of media consumption, generally speaking, and and those changing consumer behaviors about where we are pulling really quick information. I mean, that that shark is now jumped. I I I I dare say most people in my circle are going straight to their AI agents versus Google, even. so while yesteryear's crisis PR could be almost more on a ladder. of statements with the latest breaking news, not not so today. And the evolution is consistent and you always gotta measure it to understand how best to respond in these scenarios. But it's a brilliant point in terms of today's day and age and what happened with with Taylor Farms. speaker-0: And the other thing I would just add to that is it's the same thing for social media. You see companies using social media channels for things like this. And with algorithms, you know, people are seeing things days after they've been posted and they're not seeing them in chronological order. So that's just another factor to consider as if you're gonna be posting on social, you have to keep that in mind. because Unfortunately, that's just the the algorithms are not making it easy for somebody to see all your statements in order. and it may mean that you just shouldn't use social as a channel to express these things. it's a it definitely is dependent on on the company and and the crisis and all that. speaker-1: Yeah. And I think a good guiding light is lead with the human element, right? And you you said as much in your blog post, Jenna, each and every time. And that will show consumers you care and that you're handling the situation in all of their best interest. Just don't lose that along the way, no matter how often you are speaking and putting something official out. speaker-0: Yeah. Well, and I think there's something to be said, just to build off of what you just said about showing consumers you care. Every single one of these companies has a group of people who are running the company in some way who truly do care. Yeah. Like it affects their livelihood. It affects their the you better believe their friends and families are are users of whatever the product is. So it's going to directly affect them. you know, it affects people in their neighborhood, their community. They it has very personal implications to them. And it's easy when you look at companies, especially larger companies dealing with it, to kind of forget all of that. But these people do truly care. It's just making sure that that is expressed and that you don't come off as robotic and that the empathy that you genuinely have is coming through in what you're putting out because humans relate to humans. So, you know, Making sure that that's abundantly apparent in your statements is is seriously going to help you when people are reading it and absorbing information. speaker-1: That's a fantastic point. And then your third really is how often to speak. and and Jenna, you cited a Coca-Cola's example in response to the Fair Life cyber attack. speaker-0: Yeah, and and I thought, I mean, again, textbook example. They did great. The the statement they put out was abundantly clear. It expressed that they had their arms around the situation. They were doing the appropriate research. They reassured consumers that it was not about product quality. all the things in their statement said to me, This is a brand I can still trust, this is a product I can still buy. You know, they're going through the motions and figuring it out and attacking it in the right way, but It did not make me question the brands at all, which is great. That's what you want to do. You want to reassure people. The challenge is they put that statement out and I don't have the exact dates in front of me, but they put it out a couple days ago. And now, me personally, as a consumer of their product, I'm sitting here being like, do I need to go to my grocery store and buy like four bottles of the milk that I like and X bottles of the protein drink that I like? Like are in a week, is this going to be gone for the next month? Like I'm thinking supply chain and how often am I gonna be able get the product and and all of that. I think that you're gonna have thousands of consumers thinking in a similar way is do I need to treat this as like a scarcity resource, right? or not? Is it gonna be fine? And so I think the gap, and I have not looked today, so to to be clear, but the gap that I was seeing was there was a lack of a follow up statement, probably because they don't have a lot to share. You know, they're probably still digging into it. It's probably quite complex to have done what it did to their systems, but something from them. speaker-1: Yeah, and I think your point, Jenna, is even, hey, we're still working on it. It's kind of basic communications when anyone goes silent on your text thread, in a client to, you know, agency email. You know, we we haven't forgotten about this, but we are still actively working on it. And we will get back to you with clear direction when we have it. speaker-0: Well, and transparency too. I mean, you gotta imagine if the if it happened and it's been like a four day lag, there has to be some semblance of awareness about what it's going to do to the supply chain. So even sharing, hey, we're still working on it right now, it's looking like you may see a decreased supply, but but we'll still be on shelves. Or and I'm making that up, obviously, but something will really help reassure consumers that okay, the shelves aren't gonna be empty. so those are really the elements of just at its most basic what you can think of when you're attacking a crisis, even if you get it right from that first statement, the upkeep has to be there. speaker-1: Yeah, and I I love your point about when is the job done, right? That can be a bit of a gray area for many communicators, but it it truly is when there is a reconciliation, there is a, hey, we've solved the issue, we will be back in full supply as of X date, or consumer questions stop, no matter how you're receiving those questions, right? you know, your your team on the ground needs to be vigilant to ensure that everything is being addressed. even outside of the the normal course of the issue, there might be other questions that come up that transparency is is demanded. so, you know, again, can be a little bit gray, but I think most communicators can figure out the end point when there's a clear resolution or when the questions stop coming in. speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah. And I think as we wrapped up, we kind of said, you know, like share the latest facts, reinforce the actions you're taking, remind people there's a team of humans working on this. And to your point, continue communicating until there aren't additional questions. and then if you get really lucky or if you have a really smart team, you could do what Kit Kat did and turn a crisis into a proactive comms opportunity and crush it. And go when it can. speaker-1: I love it. It's threading all of our needles together. A similar notoriety, right? At least around these parts. But yeah, what one can only dream in the PR realm. Exactly. speaker-0: Waiting for Fair Life to do that. all right. Well this was the quickie, but to conclude, same as we do with all episodes what's our impact? speaker-1: Yeah. I'm I'm doing a personal one this week, Jenna, just because I don't know, it's front and center. I I've had an interesting year in terms of loss and news, as you know. but I do have a friend who got a tough diagnosis recently and she's going through quite a few surgeries. So we started an off-brand meal train, actually. So it's it's just a living Google Sheet. And I'm looking forward to delivering that on Thursday and catching up with her and seeing how everything's going that way. But I think it's just always a reminder to reach out to your friends whether or not they're struggling or not and just check in. The beauty of a text message, right? Or even just an in-person drop by. But this time of year when school is out and people might be a little less connected, it feels especially important. at times like this. So looking forward to to that. speaker-0: I love that. Just reinforcing the power of community. Thank you for sharing that, I I hope everything goes well with your friend and she's lucky to have you in her corner and bringing her speaker-1: Is she lucky to have my meal, Jenna? That is the speaker-0: No, I'm kidding. Yes. She's lucky to have you. She's lucky to have your meal. Yes, you're a fabulous ally to have, no matter what. So yes. And I am lucky to have you. So thank you for taking the time to chat with me today. And thank you to our listeners. speaker-1: Mm. Yes. Thanks everyone. See ya soon. speaker-0: Bye.