Ways to Resolve a PR Crisis - Case Study Example

Communication and Public Relations Introduction Public relations, crisis management, require more than just an apologetic press release. Most often, when a PR crisis strikes in an organization, the chief executive officers initial reaction is mostly to stonewall the media and refuse to comment. However, public relations experts who in the past have successfully handled crisis that have threatened to destroy the company’s sales and public image argue that this is a wrong move. They argue the opposite, whereby the PR should do and immediate and full public disclosure. In the company which processes soft drinks, had been struck by a public relation crisis. Analysis of the Underlying causation It was in 2007 when a television network, station put on the air that our products were making people sleepy. In the fall of that year, malevolent individuals, presumably unknown, had been tampering with the drinks when they left the processing plants to the distributors. Those individuals were putting Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in the drinks, thus making people have poor motor coordination, inability to speak properly, amnesia and short-term commas. The poisonous drug that was put in the drinks made thirty unsuspecting persons to die a horrible death who purchased the drinks. The company, which makes the drink, abruptly and with no warning needed to explain to the customers worldwide why the most trusted product was suddenly killing people. As the company staff was having their usual morning meeting, the assistant director for public relations received a call from a news reporter. She told him that the network had just aired a press conference from a medical examiner who had confirmed that people were dying because the company drink had GHB. She was asking for a comment concerning the issue. However, the assistant PR told her that this was the first time they had knowledge of the problem. That first call from the reporter made the PR department learn more than she did from them. It explains how the media have always been first on the scene, thus has the information about the crisis before the company does. What stakeholder analysis needs to be considered and why? During the crisis, the company communication with the stakeholders was the primary objective. It is because of how the stakeholders were involved in the company and have something to lose if the situation is not handled properly. In addition, because of their influence, they held the key to the environment in which the company is operating. The management had to look at the situation from the stakeholders’ perspective since they were most concerned at how the CEO was going to solve the crisis and how it was going to affect them. Therefore, the CEO had developed a stakeholder relations management strategy that would guide the company when it was hit by a PR crisis like this. In this crisis, the PR had to attend to the needs of the stakeholders because of the future of the company, regardless of how the media were clamoring for the company’s attention. A review of what the organization did The company’s CEO reacted very first to the negative media coverage of the issue by forming an eight-member strategic team. The PR team primary objective was first how they were to protect the people and how they would save the product. The first reaction was collaborating with the media by alerting the consumers all over the world not to consume any of its drinks. They cautioned the consumers from resuming drinking the product to the extent of the monkeying could be determined. The next step was stopping its production and distribution from the stores and the malls. The advertising of the product was withdrawn from all the media channels. By withdrawing the entire drink product from the market, although there was no chance of finding more tampered drink bottles in other states; depicted that the company could not risk the public’s safety. It was essential to work with the media; therefore, the PR used the media for public relations and advertising in order to communicate the strategy during the crisis. They used the media to inform the public not to use the product at all. The firm opened a public relation phone line whereby the consumers would call us of any problem and clarification. They used the hotline to respond to any inquiries from the customers concerning the safety of the drink. They informed the consumers of how they might be affected by the drink if they used it. The organization also established a toll-free line for media calling and receiving pre-taped messages that contained updated statements about the crisis. Before the crisis, the organization did not actively seek press coverage. At the organization headquarter; several primary press conferences were held. They were assuring the families that had lost their loved ones through the tragic act that they would be compensated, and medical expenses would be paid for anyone in the hospital. The CEO appeared almost in all the news stations to assure the public that the organization was implementing policies that will ensure that this kind of thing never happened again. In the coming months, the management communicated its new canning process and designed triple safety seal packaging of their product. The PR director held a press conference at the company’s manufacturing headquarters to communicating on how the new bottling had a plastic seal over the neck and a foil seal over the opening of the bottle. How a decision may factor in setting new policies on the issue in the future The PR came to learn that working with the media was the most important thing to do in times of crisis. In addition, accepting the problem and taking the responsibility made the consumers forgive the company as they realized that they had put their safety first. The fact that they provided remediation strategies in solving the crisis helped solve the problem without destroying the company’s image. The management immediately offered both emotional and monetary compensation to those that were affected by product tampering. The CEO utilized the sympathy strategy in order to portray the company as the unfair victim of a malevolent outside party, thus shifting responsibility of the crisis from the company to the perpetrators of the crime. In conclusion, the company completely recovered its market share that was lost during the crisis. It has been able to reestablish its product brand name as one of the most trusted drink in the world. An example of a company that has implemented your approach Domino is an example of an organization that has implemented the company’s approach in resolving a PR crisis. On April 2009, two rogue employees of Domino fro a North Carolina store posted a video of them doing some bad things to the food, which they were preparing so as to deliver (Flandez, 2009). The vice president of PR first surveyed the videos and after realizing that they were not a hoax, he communicated internally and with the relevant audience externally. The company organized daily press briefings so as to inform the entire public about the situation and also put ads in newspapers and it website explaining about the situation. These included consumer watchdog organizations in order to show the consumer their collaboration. Domino puts its focus on public relations by responding to consumers’ queries about social media regarding the situation and what they company was doing. It most used the media to apologize to the public whereby Domino Pizza president uploaded a video on YouTube, giving an apology. Works Cited Raymund Flandez, “Domino’s Response Offers Lessons in Crisis Management,” Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2009, http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2009/04/20/dominos-response- offers-lessons-in-crisis-management Read More