Crisis Communications 101: Before the Storm

The world's largest retailer has spent the last three months responding to a variety of criticisms leveled by labor unions and a DVD documentary portraying Wal-Mart as a company bent on destroying small businesses as it moves into new, smaller markets. You may not need to create a 'War Room,' as Wal-Mart has, to respond to business crises, but some basic considerations should be put into place even before a crisis arises. Here, in this first part of a two-part series, are some preventative measures to help protect the company's reputation and image.

Like the Boy Scouts, 'Be Prepared.' If you know your business at all, you can list all of the areas and possibilities where negative scenarios ' and negative media coverage ' might crop up. Poor customer service issues, faulty materials, customer injury or a corporate governance scandal could all crush any positive goodwill previously generated among customers and the public at large. Preparing a list beforehand will help you anticipate and be better positioned to manage the situation. Contingency planning should also include an emergency communications program or designation of an 'emergency response team' to be on call in the event of a crisis. A little foresight goes a long way toward containing and controlling the situation.

Think 'Them,' Not 'Us.' In most business crises, placing the public interest first is not only a smart tactic, it's required. Just think back to the Tylenol poisonings (among other major consumer product tampering situations). Johnson & Johnson immediately pulled the painkiller off the shelves nationwide and led the way on tamper-proof packaging, in a positive show of its concern for consumer safety. The company knew that trying to smooth over or ignore a crisis of this dimension (or even on a much smaller scale) would ultimately only cause more problems. It's essential to have this type of thinking in place.

Make Your Communications Timely-and Accurate. Your crisis plan should include a system that allows you and your team to gather all of the important information about the situation (the players, the events, the potential repercussions) as quickly and accurately as possible in advance of any public statements on behalf of the company. Your designated spokesman, whether with the media, employees or customers, must be apprised of all of the facts surrounding the situation and should be encouraged to stick to them without speculation.

Never Consider a 'Clam Up' Strategy. The problem with fending off the media with 'no comment' statements or out-and-out avoidance is that it opens the door for others to comment for you. That can do irreparable damage. Your spokespeople should be prepared in advance with even a fairly generic statement ('We are taking all steps needed to fully investigate the situation, gathering as much information as we can'') that gives your team the breathing room it needs to gather information for a more detailed statement. Moreover, it helps you demonstrate that you are in control of and monitoring the situation as it evolves.

Being prepared before a crisis gives a company greater control over both the situation and its ability to influence the public's perceptions. In the next issue we'll cover what steps to take when a crisis actually occurs, along with examples and best practices from those who have been there.

Addressing E-mail Marketing Challenges

E-mail marketing is no longer the 'latest thing' as a direct mail strategy. It's now one of the more dominant methodologies employed by marketers to reach out to customers.

But beyond the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and other hurdles associated with it are various other concerns and challenges, whether you're launching a new campaign or trying to improve the effectiveness of current ones:

Generating a List

This is a major challenge to e-mail marketers, especially for those with small businesses that don't generate a lot of opt-in website visitors. Some options: Buying lists from companies that offer addresses of individuals who have a specific interest in the goods or services you're offering; Generating your own list from contacts made at conferences, seminars or through other business associates (if possible, be sure to ask if you can contact them via e-mail or if they'd like to receive a copy of your next newsletter); Ask friends to forward along the e-mail message you send them to anyone they think might have an interest.

The goal here is to create a buzz among interested, motivated parties so that the word can spread virally about your newsletter or e-mail promotion. You want to avoid sending e-mails to random people merely to say you have a huge mailing list.

Managing Your List

One of the more critical aspects of successful e-mail marketing is list management. Lists that are populated with 'dead' e-mail addresses, misspellings of domains or even names of people who previously unsubscribed can create a number of problems for an e-mail marketer.

It's important to regularly 'scrub' your main lists (especially if you plan to ultimately use targeted lists for specific products or services) once you get the reports back from your e-mail distribution company. A good distribution service provider will offer senders lists of all of the 'unsubscribed' names and the 'bouncebacks' (the dead addresses that are no longer valid). This allows you to permanently remove all of the addresses that don't belong on the list(s) for the next go-round. Also, versions of the master list should be updated regularly with new names that are gathered over time. (And once permission is granted, be sure to add names from business cards that you collect on a regular basis or you might forget about that prospect when it comes time to send the next e-mail collateral piece.)

When It's Time to Send

Theories abound regarding the best time to send e-mail marketing material to ensure that the missives don't go directly into the trash folder. Your best bet is to perform a series of tests on your customers or recipients and stick with the time that garners the most response as your standard. One e-mail marketer, for example, spent six months testing various days of the week and times of day and found that his peak response (based on reports of whether the e-mail was opened or clicked-through) was Friday afternoons. Another successful e-marketer reported that the best time for his audience was Tuesday mornings. Clearly, there are no absolutes when it comes to selecting the best time to deliver your message. Even if you only send out four messages a year, you can gather enough data by looking at the reports to uncover the most effective time for the following year's program.

One more note: Be sure the return address leads to the company (such as info@yourcompany.com or mailbox@yourcompany.com) and insert a pithy title in the subject line that differentiates your e-mail from those of the fake Rolex watch dealers, male enhancement products and real estate mortgage offers. For e-mail marketers. there's no worse fate than to be aligned with those messages in your recipient's inbox.

Newsletter Tidbits

Most businesses tout the comings, not goings, of clients and staff ' for obvious reasons. Thankfully, we've lost no clients (and are adding to our roster, as you see below), but we have bid a very fond farewell to VP and account manager Kellie Mullins. After nearly eight years with Hodge Communications, she got an offer she couldn't refuse with USG Corp. as a senior writer doing internal communications. But since she wasn't ready to totally sever the ties either, she waited a few weeks until she was into the new job ' and then introduced us to her new boss.

We're entering 2006 with a nicely packed book of business that reflects and confirms the wisdom of the repositioning that Hodge Communications has been undergoing over the last year as less of a 'PR' firm and more of a provider of integrated communications strategies.

We've partnered with Leever Research Associates to conduct a membership survey, focusing on marketing effectiveness, for long-time client, the American Association of Endodontists. Findings will be the basis of a new marketing plan for AAE, which we'll help create.

In January, we begin working with Fruitful Yield, a Chicago-area chain of retail stores offering natural foods, produce and supplements. We're working with management to develop and execute a combination of PR and marketing projects designed to support a range of operational enhancements that have been put into place over the last year.

We'll also be undertaking another round of projects with Wiley Publishing, developing and placing bylined articles adapted from three books on business and leadership to be published over the course of 2006. We're also pleased to be establishing a relationship with USG Corp., where we'll be working with its internal communications team on writing and other projects.