Category Archives: Communicating in a crisis

Boris trips up

Communicating in a crisis, Working with the media

If you missed Boris Johnson get a good grilling on the Andy Marr show, you can still catch it here. ‘Bicycle crash’ TV it might be but it shows how even a savvy media operator like Johnson can fall foul of a savage inquisition.

Mind you, if Johnson had simply admitted he made up the quote (he was young and paid the price), his affair (he’s a politician) and agreeing to let a friend have the contact details of a journalist who the friend wanted to ‘visit’ (nothing happened), then he would have perhaps looked less foolish than he ultimately did.

A suprising lack of candour from the man who normally plays the media game with far more assurance.

What a grind…Starbucks readies itself for the harshest of cuts

Communicating in a crisis, Social media, Talking to your customers, Working with the media

Poor old Starbucks. The 8th December looks like it could be a bad day for the baristas as UK Uncut takes its ‘day of action’ protest to the coffee giant, accusing it of dodging millions in taxes.

I’m sure their PR team will be in full crisis planning mode for what is guaranteed to be a day of less than positive media coverage.

So what’s Starbucks saying about it right now? Well, to be fair, it’s not the radio silence that many a corporation often employs when facing down some bad news. Check out their website and there is at least some blog content addressing the issue. But it’s a bit, well corporate, and frankly still seems to duck some of the issues.

When you have politicians on the radio (Today programme, 3 December) openly talking about boycotting your store, your brand is in serious trouble. If they used the same creativity when it comes to their crisis management as they do to market their coffee, they might have a chance.

A free coffee on the 8th December for any British taxpayer who can show their most recent P60 tax certificate? There’s an idea…

2012: there are some good news stories waiting to get out

Communicating in a crisis, Working with the media

Ahead of the greatest celebration of sporting achievement this country has ever seen (Ipswich Town’s 1981 UEFA Cup win aside), the country’s media are in meltdown it seems; scrabbling desperately for absolutely anything that can fill their pages/screens with tales of London 2012 incompetence, disaster and failure. As a country we don’t just accept failure, we positively wish it up on ourselves.

Pick a pocket or two
Of course, the G4S debacle doesn’t help, but the BBC’s News at 10 I thought plumbed new depths last night with a feature on hoards of foreign pickpocketers ready to descend en masse to relieve the luckless ‘unfortunates’ attending the Games of their handbags, valuables, phones, wallets…

The media do of course love a bad story and in terms of managing that, there isn’t much you can do other than hope that Team GB starts to deliver on the gold medals. Surely then they’ll have something to celebrate.

Of course there’s the whole bun fight on legacy to come next. You just can’t keep a bad news story down.

Dare to answer back?

Communicating in a crisis, Social media, Talking to your customers

O2’s crisis management has been much debated of late, not least its management of some of the more colourful social media traffic that’s been heading their way. The question is, when the abuse really piles up, do you respond to those tweets, or let them go?

The attached blog http://bit.ly/OhMFJP from the CIPR admires O2’s response to a couple of particularly graphic tweets. My first instinct was to disagree. Surely responding will only encourage the sender to really let loose in a conversation O2 just can’t win.

But perhaps that’s not the point; they (O2), have proved they are at least listening and are working to do something about it.

Mixed messages fuel a crisis

Communicating in a crisis, Uncategorized

If the government was keen to avoid a panic around the possibility of a fuel shortage in the coming months then the laughable performance of ministers and spokespeople on the issues of ‘striking’ tanker drivers did little to instil a calm fortitude in the travelling British public.

Keep calm and carry on
“We are not having a meeting of COBRA (the government’s emergency planning committee),” says a spokesperson. “We are having a meeting of COBRA,” says the PM. “Stock up with jerry cans of fuel,” say a cabinet minister. “Don’t do that, it’s dangerous,” say another.

It’s not easy being consistent in your message giving in a big, multi-headed organisation like the government, but get it wrong and everyone look ridiculous, and the end result is the absolute reverse of what you wanted in the first place.

And let’s not even touch on the pasties…