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CRISIS COMMUNICATION
igsaavedra@ceu.es
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ugEUGox3eU
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DEFINITION 8
“Crisis Communication is the communication that is
responsible for counteracting the negative effects that
a crisis situation can have on the corporate image of
any company or institution, establishing itself prior to its
triggering, a series of communicative measures that
contribute to the correct and effective management of
the crisis".
CONCEPT
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“A significant threat to operations that can have long-
term, negative consequences to the company or
organization involved”
(Institute for Public Relations).
“A crisis is a show-stopping, people-stopping,
product-stopping, reputation-defining, trust-busting
event that creates victims and/or explosive visibility”
(Lukaszewski)
Preparation for crises: Five levels of 10
contingency plans (Cornelissen)
Crisis type matrix 11
Unintentional Intentional
External Faux pas Terrorism
Internal Accidents Transgressions
Crisis communication strategies: 12
Nonexistence
Crisis communication strategies: 13
Distance
Crisis communication strategies: 14
Association
Crisis communication strategies: 15
Suffering
Suffering strategy Claim that the organization suffers from the crisis
1. Victimization A tactic of portraying the organization as a victim
of the crisis in order to win public sympathy
Crisis communication strategies: 16
Acceptance
Acceptance Accepting responsibility or culpability for the
strategy crisis
Full apology A tactic of simply apologizing for the crisis and
accepting the blame
Remediation A tactic of announcing some form of
compensation or help for victims (money,
goods, aid, etc.)
Repentance A tactic of asking for forgiveness; the
organization apologizes for the crisis and asks
stakeholders and the general public to forgive its
misdeeds
Crisis communication strategies: 17
Accommodation
Accommodation Claim promising to prevent the crisis from
strategy recurring
Rectification A tactic of taking corrective action to prevent
a recurrence of the crisis in the future
Communicating about crisis 18
Natural accidents:
Unintentional and outwit the control of organizations.
Can be easily responded to with a distancing strategy
Transgressions:
Intentional actions taken by organizations
An acceptance strategy may be utilized
Terrorist attacks :
Directed at the organization by external agents and often there is very little
direct organizational responsibility or culpability
An organization may adopt a suffering strategy which portrays the
organization as an unfair victim of some malicious, outside actor
Crisis planning 19
Develop communication plans
For probable crisis scenarios
Establish key responsibilities for communication professionals
Identify the organization’s key spokespersons
Media training
CEO, executive directors and key spokespersons
Crisis communications team 20
In a major crisis:
Press office
field media enquiries and manage information
Safe crisis locations
where the media can meet and be briefed in the event of hazardous
situations
Identify contacts at relevant external agencies who may need to
be contacted
What to do?
First speeches delivered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBlVqcZDHgw
https://news.sky.com/video/this-phenomenon-has-not-finished-spain-pm-tells-people-in-flood-hit-regions-to-stay-
home-13245378
Sunday:
https://www.dw.com/en/spain-furious-crowds-greet-king-felipe-on-visit-to-valencia/video-
70676470
Why?
Reflection and conclusin:
Is it just a matter of applying the
right prescription?
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN 27
“The plan that aims to recover the normality of the
organization's own operations in the shortest possible time, in
order to ensure the continuity of the activities, safeguarding the
corporate image heritage and institutional reputation".
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN 28
1. Research
The crisis communication plan should begin with a collection of information about the
organization, information needed to be able to design and focus on the different
actions to be contemplated in the plan. At this point it is also necessary to carry out an
analysis of the crises that have previously occurred in the organization, if indeed there
have been ones.
Potential risks threatening the undertaking or institution concerned should also be
investigated. A significant percentage of crises are predictable. Having a plan
prepared for these situations is absolutely vital so that the crisis does not mean the end
of the organization.
It is also necessary to know as best as possible what is the image that the organization
possesses in times of calm, to know what the perception is in the minds of different
audiences. At this point, obviously, the crisis communication plan converges with the
organization's overall communication plan. Studying it from the point of view of the
possibility of a crisis will help to make clear the need for in-depth research.
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN 29
2. Communication objectives
As a general objective of the crisis communication plan – a general objective to be
adapted to each organization– we can determine the following: to try to ensure that
the effects that a crisis can have do not affect the basic functioning of the company or
the image against its different audiences. Based on this general objective, other more
specific objectives can be distinguished:
- Articulate a quick and effective response to a crisis situation
- Comprehensively define responsible, functions and means to use
- Control the flow of information generated in any crisis, to avoid possible rumors
- Reflect the security and social responsibility of the company
- Maintain and consolidate the trust of all its audiences, reinforcing the image of
the company
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN
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3. Identification of stakeholders
Identifying audiences is an essential part of any communication plan. In a crisis
situation it is necessary to carry out a selective identification of those who may be
affected so that the company or institution can establish the most appropriate
communication strategies for each type of audience. The first division separates
audiences between internal and external.
Audience classification can be done mainly in two ways:
a) By its sequence and temporal incorporation into the crisis. Three large audiences
emerge from this criterion:
1. Those in the crisis since their origin (internal collective, shareholders, suppliers and
customers).
2. Those who intervene to control, manage and overcome it (managers, crisis
committee and advisers).
3. Those who, from their position as spectator, observe and comment on it (media,
and through them, the general public).
b) By the way they are affected. It is usually internal audiences and those who
maintain production relationships with the entity (customers, suppliers, consumers,
shareholders, etc.) who will be most directly involved; and of course the public
authorities cannot be forgotten by the social impact of the crisis.
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN
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4. Constitution of the crisis committee
Crisis committee members should be prepared to act as quickly
as possible when they encounter critical events. This section shall
determine who the members of the committee are and what
responsibilities each of them have. Its role will be to promote and
coordinate crisis management in all its areas. As José Luis Piñuel
explains, the crisis committee "allows to isolate the treatment of
the crisis from the other functions of the company: it benefits from
the synergy created when different competences are put
together; and assumes a reserved competency function (he and
only he manages thecrisis)."
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN
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5. Developing strategies
Once the crisis committee has been set up, it should be put to work developing
communication strategies that according to the type of crisis will try to identify instantly
what kind of audience the company will direct its communication actions towards.
The communication strategy to be followed by the company can take four possible
modalities:
Reactivity: communicate only when there is a specific requirement on the part of its
audiences.
Proactivity: lead the information offered from the crisis, i.e. provide the information
before they ask us to.
Accessibility: implement the company's information transparency policy and respond
to requests immediately.
Consistency: spread only the official statement and arguments around the basic
messages.
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN
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6. Communication instruments
One aspect to consider and very useful is the establishment of possible communication
tools that the crisis committee should take into account for the dissemination of
information suitable to the organization. If we had to design a list of different
indispensable communication instruments, we would include the following: visit of
journalists to the affected place; press conferences; press releases; press interviews;
teleconferences; video conferences; personal calls; corporate website; e-mail;
intranet; fax; institutional review.
All of these means can be used to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the impact
of the crisis. But there are two tools, the communiqué and the press conference, which
turn out to be the most characteristic in crisis situations.
It is also necessary to have designed, for these cases, materials such as templates or
models of press releases, communications models (letters, emails,... ). And of course
have media listings and list of emergency phones.
When the crisis is finally over, it is important that we try to draw conclusions and lessons:
what should not be done next time, what has actually worked, and to report on the
crisis, thus identifying new factors for possible future crises.
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN
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7. Post-crisis assessment
Finding out when the crisis can end is not easy. Sometimes the
organization believes the crisis has happened when it is no longer
talked about in the media. Of course it may be indicative that
the crisis is overstealed, but it is recommended to continue with
management and leave a little more time, as it can resurface at
any time if the crisis is not well controlled
When the crisis is finally over, it is important that we try to draw
conclusions and lessons: what should not be done next time,
what has actually worked, and to report on the crisis, thus
identifying new factors for possible future crises.
CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN
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8. Simulations and training of spokespersons
To check whether the crisis communication plan that has been developed is well
designed and whether it is effective or not, it is desirable to carry out a series of
simulation and training activities that will make not only the members of the crisis
committee awareness, but all the workers and direct collaborators of the organization
of how to act in a crisis situation. While it is true that all staff should be aware of how to
act in a situation, not only from a technical point of view, but also with regard to
communication (spread of rumors, information to the media,...), these training sessions
are mostly directed at people who have the greatest responsibility in those
departments or activities likely to suffer more crisis risks. Finally, there is a type of training
aimed especially at spokespersons, as they are the ones who have to face the media
and the rest of their stakeholders.
