COMMUNICATING AT THE RIGHT TIME, RIGHT CHANNEL, AND USING THE

RIGHT SITUATION IN A CRISIS

Karen Freberg, Ph.D.University of Louisville

LDA Digital Summit10.16.2014@kfreberg

BACKGROUND Crises have a negative reputation, emotional, and financial

impact on a brand and organization. Working in a reputation economy [facing an imperative to

change]. Growing expectations for being effective, empathy, and correct

in real-time.

How do we know how effective our crisis messages are in a given situation?

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What are the differences?

Victim

• Natural Disasters

• Workplace Violence

• Focusing on safety and well being

Accidental

• Product Tampering

• Addressing concerns from customers

Intentional

• Hacking• Cyber bullying• Reputational

misdeeds and issues

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Crisis Research Partnership

• Based on theory, not necessarily practice

• We know what must happen to succeed, but not how to tell whether or not it has happened properly or even at all.

In essence - we need to focus on

• what do you say, what do you not say, how do you say it, and when do you say it in a crisis

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