Social Media Crisis Management Tool Kit

SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

The purpose of this toolkit is to ensure the social and customer service teams are equipped to deal with a crisis situation that may arise within the Social Media environment; whether it’s a small-scale incident or a larger, widespread Public Relations incident.

When a Crisis Strikes

1. Review Context

Ensure that you gather all of the facts and fully understand the issue at hand. Assess the situation to determine facts and the potential threat/impact on your brand International brand.

1. Identify Crisis Type

Any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your brand should be considered a crisis situation.

Type 3: Minor/isolated incident on single Social Media asset (e.g. Fan posts a complaint to the Facebook page about dissatisfaction with change in service or program)

Type 2: Incident that gains momentum or spreads across multiple Social Media platforms. Any incident that could be considered threatening/viral in nature (e.g. uploaded content or media of mishandled paperwork, rude email, etc…)

Type 1: Incident immediately goes viral/gains widespread media attention. Could have long-term impact on brand equity (e.g. hacking of confidential information, mishandled personal information, criminal activity by employee, etc…)

2. Determine Communication Team

Identify the internal teams and key contacts involved in the incident. This is imperative to ensure a seamless process of approving and distributing Social Media communications.

3. Respond in Real-Time

In the event of a crisis, it is vital that your brand responds in a timely and cohesive manner. Silence is never acceptable, especially within the fast pace of Social Media as it can fuel negativity/misinformation. Staying silent may allow disgruntled fans to take over the fan page as well as amass negative momentum. If you cannot provide an immediate answer, acknowledge the consumer’s inquiry and make note to follow-up as more information becomes available.

4. Address & Resolve the Problem

If the crisis brings a legitimate issue, recognize the problem; thank them for bringing it to your attention and follow up with the correct steps to fix it. If there is no actual problem but someone perceives it as one, it’s important to sincerely address their concerns.

Following a Crisis

Continue to monitor the conversation for at least 72 hours following a Crisis Situation to ensure that any remaining conversations are moderated and addressed.

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SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS TOOLKIT

Table of Contents Page #

· OVERVIEW: CRISIS MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT 4

· UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIA TYPE 5

· SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES & BEST PRACTICES 6

· SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATION PROCESS 7

· FOLLOWING A CRISIS SITUATION 10

POTENTIAL CAUSES OF CRISIS SITUATION 11

· APPENDIX A: CASE STUDIES 21

o Boingo 21

o Codero 21

o Domino’s Pizza 22

o Red Cross 23

o Ford Motor Company 24

o Icelandic Volcanic Ash – Airline Industry 24

o Nestle 25

· APPENDIX B: KEY CONTACTS BY MARKET 27

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OVERVIEW: CRISIS MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT

This Crisis Management Toolkit is intended to serve as a communications guide for conversations taking place in Social Media platforms, as well as a resource for how to respond to potential crisis situations as they occur. It is vital to ensure that your brand is visible and actively participating in the Social Media space before a crisis occurs; this will ensure that the information shared by your brand during times of crisis is credible and valued.

This toolkit will help you quickly identify, categorize and address potential and actual crisis situations that may arise in the Social Media landscape. It is important to follow the proper communication measures as outlined in this document to diffuse and ideally resolve the situation.

The Best Practices and examples provide high-level guidance in the event of a crisis and the measures to address in Social Media, however, the overall crisis management plan must also take into account additional organizational/circumstantial considerations.

Note: These recommendations should serve as guidance; your team’s response to individual situations should adapt to take into consideration the individual circumstances of each situation as it occurs.

Objectives

Prepare Social Media Team Leads to:

• Listen/Monitor. Monitor and identify potential crisis situations within Social Media before they escalate.

• Evaluate. Identify scale and the appropriate environments to address crisis.

• Be Prepared to Respond Promptly. Immediately contact the Corporate Communications team - a crisis can gain momentum quickly in Social Media environments so it’s critical (at minimum) to acknowledge these consumers publicly and deliver a consistent, corporate approved response.

• Communicate. Establish a flawless communication chain with your local team and the Corporate Communications team to ensure transparency and cohesion of messaging across global outlets (if necessary).

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UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIA TYPE

Traditional Media (e.g. TV, Print, etc.)Public Relations traditionally revolved around managing and controlling the flow of information between organizations and the public in the form of official press releases and public statements. In the realm of Social Media, news travels at real-time speed and any delay in response is perceived as being too slow and inadequate.

Social Media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)Social Media platforms enable information to be instantly shared and make it readily accessible. In a crisis situation, this often leaves the “Public” in control of the initial messaging while traditional media communications try to catch up with approved statements.

Benefits of Social Media

• Quick implementation with direct access to the public (no media filter) • Effective tool for informing people during a crisis• Allows brand to influence the message

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SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES & BEST PRACTICES

Establish Communication Strategy

1. Establish Response Channels: Ensure that you maintain a well-established Social Media presence; this will enable you to reach consumers via Social Media during times of crisis. Ensure seamless communications between local Social Media teams, Corporate Communications and local Brand teams on a day-to-day basis and develop a strategy for crisis communications in advance. (See Case Study: Domino Pizza)

2. Monitoring: It is important to monitor ALL Social Media environments (even those in which your company does not have an established presence) so that you can address issues that arise about your company and the crisis situation. It is critical that any potentially threatening mentions be immediately passed along to the local Brand/PR team for close monitoring. (See Case Study: Boingo)

3. Visibility: Make sure your fans know where to find you. Place links to your Social Media profiles on your online and offline assets.

4. Timing: In the event of a crisis, work with Corporate Communications to immediately prepare your communication strategy; it is vital that you are able to reach your fans and followers in a timely and cohesive manner.

5. Messaging: Develop a messaging plan and determine the appropriate Social Media environments for distribution. In most instances, you will only use this messaging reactively, in response to consumers who bring up the issue on a branded asset.

6. Be Authentic in your Response: DON’T Talk AT your fans and followers; engage in a two-way dialogue where you answer specific questions and ask for feedback. Humanize your brand by allowing consumers to see emotion and always respond with professionalism and transparency. (For example: Take advantage of YouTube and release a statement from an executive sharing their thoughts and knowledge on the situation.) Responses should be positive, proactive and action-oriented. Silence is never acceptable, even if you cannot provide an immediate answer, acknowledge the consumer’s inquiry, reply with a placeholder response to acknowledge the crisis and make note to follow-up once more information is available.

Ex: We are currently looking into the situation and as soon as we have more details, we’ll be sure to let you know. Thanks.

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SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Assess Scale of Incident

While it is impossible to predict all of the potential crisis situations that may originate within or outside of the Social Media environments, it is important to always monitor mentions of your brand and listen to communications across all branded assets. Social Media is living and breathing 24/7 and has the ability to escalate one statement into a viral phenomenon overnight. People are talking about your brand regularly and openly, and so it’s the role of brand teams to listen, moderate and respond (when appropriate) to these conversations.

1. Identify Crisis Type

Any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your brand should be considered a crisis situation.

Immediate Escalation:

Any situation that requires immediate or prompt escalation must be treated as a Type 1 Crisis.

Evaluate Cause of Crisis

A crisis can arise from within Social Media (e.g. YouTube video that goes viral) or a crisis within the industry or branded event can spark outrage in Social Media. A crisis can arise from a variety of causes including but not limited to legal disputes, human / clerical error, unauthorized procedures, inadequate quality control, misuse of confidential information, bad press from partnering brand or talent, etc. and is usually fueled by negative media (social and traditional) attention. Typically, negative press turns into a crisis situation when the media and general public react in a disapproving and accusing manner.

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LOGISTICAL SERIOUS

CRISIS TYPE 3 TYPE 2 TYPE 1

Situation

Minor or isolated incident on a single Social Media asset: (e.g. Fan posts a complaint to the Facebook page about service)

An incident that gains momentum or spreads across multiple Social Media assets. Any incident that is threatening / viral in nature. (e.g. Video footage of stateroom flooding onboard)

Incident immediately goes viral and gaining widespread media attention. Could have long-term impact on brand equity. (e.g. User generated content depicting brand in a negative light that goes viral)

Action

Social Media agency has authority to immediately address incident to appease situation.

Social Media Agency immediately contacts Local Brand Team and Corporate Communications to devise a response.

Immediately contact Corporate Communications with proposed response / acknowledgement. Notify Legal Team immediately.

Next Steps

Closely monitor situation and communicate with Local Brand Team.

Communicate to Global Brand Team, Corporate Communications and Legal.

Continuously monitor situation across all Social Media environments. Communicate to Executive.

2. Determine Communication Team

WHO: Individuals key to the situation.

Should a crisis arise in the Social Media space, the following people will be the key contacts for approving and distributing Social Media communications.

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Develop Plan of Action

Review contextEnsure that you gather all of the facts and fully understand the issue at hand and assess the situation to determine facts and the potential threat/impact to your brand.

Respond Quickly & Remain TransparentBe ready to respond immediately and aim to respond to a crisis situation within 24 hours. Often times, in a crisis situation, critical time is wasted running responses through different committees or approval processes. This time-lapse is amplified within the real-time framework of Social Media channels which further fuels the crisis situation. It’s important to respond in real-time with a positive and rational tone, even if only to acknowledge the issue. Acknowledgement helps to diffuse hostile or emotionally charged situations, ignoring issues or waiting too long to respond can quickly tarnish your brand’s reputation. Whether your company is at fault or being wrongly accused, it is vital to respond quickly, be honest and tell the whole story in your communications to the public. (See Case Study: Nestle)

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FOLLOWING A CRISIS SITUATION

Keep Communications Open· Internal Communications: Determine the appropriate positioning, message

and outlet(s) for your communications. Develop and distribute FAQs to be utilized throughout the company to ensure intelligence throughout the company and consistent communications across all media outlets.

· Consumer Communications: Establish and maintain a presence with your consumers by engaging in two-way communications. This relationship will greatly benefit you in times of crisis and consumers will be more apt to listen to your messaging.(See Case Study: Icelandic Volcanic Ash – Airline Industry)

Be RealIn Social Media, consumers want a human response. Don’t hide emotions, by doing so you will risk losing credibility. Open up and share updates and information regarding the issue – this will reassure consumers that actions are being taken. Make sure to address issues and emotions and give credence to perceptions whether they are correct or not.(See Case Study: Boingo)

Address and Resolve the ProblemIf the crisis brings a legitimate issue to your attention, recognize the problem; thank them for bringing it to your attention and follow up with the correct steps to fix it. If there is no actual problem but someone perceives it as one, it’s important to sincerely address their concerns.(See Case Study: Codero)

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Potential Causes of Crisis Situations

NEGATIVE PRESS

Negative press can stem from a variety of instances related to:

· Brand/Employee· Current Events · Events/Promotions· Partnering Brand/ Sponsored Artist· Product/Service

Negative press, regardless of its origins, will be voiced throughout Social Media channels. With the proper listening tools in place, your brand will be able to identify any bad press before it becomes widespread. Any potentially threatening media attentions should be taken seriously and closely monitored as any one mention can spread virally in Social Media.

Consumers may defend or attack your brand and therefore, it’s vital that your brand is prepared to deal with this sudden shift in consumer sentiment. It is important to quickly identify and understand the issue at hand and be prepared to address the negativity and determine the appropriate Social Media channels to communicate through.

Brand/Employee

In the event that a current or past employee’s actions create negative press, it is important to work with Corporate Communications to have a prepared response ready. Make sure to reassure all fans that the event was isolated and is never tolerated by your brand. By responding honestly and in real-time, you will have the ability to re-establish trust among fans that may be enraged by the incident.

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Example

Note: (See Case Study: Domino Pizza and Case Study: Red Cross)

Current Events

Occasionally, a current event may arise that affects your industry, a specific market or a sponsored event. Natural disasters and other events beyond the control of your brand that negatively impact business should be addressed and acknowledged in Social Media as conversations arise.

In the case that a live event must be postponed or cancelled, communications should immediately be vetted through all relevant Social Media channels to let fans know the situation. In most cases, fans will express disappointment, but typically will not blame the brand. It is important to respond immediately to those who are expressing disappointment, anger or confusion to ensure that they have received the correct information.

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Insert sample and screenshot

Examples

Note: (See Case Study: Icelandic Volcanic Ash – Airline Industry)

Events/Promotions

For all events, the local Social Media Team should be briefed on the event (have all event FAQs on hand) and be prepared to address any incidents in the Social Media environment should they arise. With Smartphone capabilities at events, it’s possible that incidents may make it online, even before the onsite team hears of the incident.

If possible, a member of the local Social Media Team should be on-site as a member of the Event Team to both ensure seamless communications between the event staff and the Social Media Team as well as provide real-time updates to the relevant Social Media assets.

Before, during and after the event, the Social Media Team should closely monitor all conversations pertaining to the event to alert the onsite Event Team of potential threats or other issues.

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Example

Partnering Brand/ Sponsors

In the event that a partnering brand or sponsor speaks about your brand in a negative or defamatory manner, the issue should be immediately addressed. It should be made clear that your brand does not condone such behavior and an apology should be made to those who may have been offended.

Product/Service

Any mechanical defects, customer service, quality or availability complaints that have gained negative press should be addressed immediately. Whether the fault is on the brand or not, Social Media communications should remain transparent, honest and conversational to keep fans informed of the next steps towards a solution.

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Insert sample and screenshot

Examples

Technical Changes/Interruptions

Any planned technical changes to the assets (website, online booking, Facebook page, etc.) should be carefully planned in advance and communicated to consumers via the appropriate Social Media channels to notify them of the changes.

Any unexpected interruption should be addressed in a timely manner to explain the cause of such disruption. Always remain transparent and apologize for the inconvenience.

Note: (See Case Study: Codero)

Additional examples specific to your brand include but are not limited to:

Insert specific brand examples

These are just a few of the occurrences that could lead to a “Crisis” situation in Social Media for your brand. Please be aware that you may also need to respond in the event that a similar situation affects a competitor or your industry as a whole.

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APPENDIX A: CASE STUDIES

BoingoAfter an email campaign test went awry, consumers were spammed with repeated test emails from the company over a weekend. Thanks to Boingo’s close brand monitoring and established social communication channels, the situation was immediately identified and the issue able to be addressed and resolved with immediacy. The CEO issued a personal message across all Social Media channels including Twitter, Facebook and their corporate blog to reach out and apologize to their consumers for the incontinence.

Lesson from Boingo:Admit your mishap immediately and communicate through relevant channels to address those expressing complaints in a personalized and genuine response. Consumers will relate to a real voice and will generally be more accepting of the apology.

Source: http://jontusmedia.com/case-study-social-media-crisis-management/

CoderoCodero, a web-hosting company experienced a power outage which sparked conversations of frustration on Twitter. Codero immediately addressed the negativity by not only posting a YouTube video update but also directing their Facebook fans to watch their real-time updates on Twitter in addition to the video response.

Lesson from Codero:Codero remained transparent by responding in real-time to issues associated with the power outage and promised to disclose the full incident report to inform consumers of exactly what caused the incident. By facilitating conversations and addressing harsh criticism, Codero received positive feedback for their commitment to customer service.

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Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-social-media-for-crisis-management/

Domino’s PizzaWithin two days of a video of two Domino Pizza employees preparing pizzas in unsanitary ways being posted to YouTube, the video became viral attracting over a million views. Domino’s immediately dismissed the employees after being alerted but kept the public in the dark with no statement. After three days had passed, a Twitter account was created to address negative comments that were running rampant and the CEO posted a personal message via a YouTube video to address the situation and reveal actions being taken by the company to ensure the highest food preparations are being enforced in all of their locations.

Lessons from Domino Pizza: Don’t underestimate the power and speed of Social Media and make sure to establish communication channels within Social Media before a crisis strikes.

Source: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/26379.asp

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Red Cross

After an employee of the Red Cross accidentally tweeted as @RedCross from her HootSuite account (a platform that allows people to manage multiple profiles)

the Red Cross immediately took the following steps to resurrect the situation:

1. Deleted the tweet 2. Tweeted this statement to apologize:

With the quick action and human (even a bit humorous) response turned this potentially detrimental situation around. In fact, Dogfish Head jumped on the opportunity to blog about the incident and even encourage people to donate blood by spreading the message on Twitter with the hashtag #GettngSlizzerd. Many bars even joined in the action and offered free pints of Dogfish Head to people who donated blood.

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Lessons from Red Cross: React quickly and issue a genuine apology. Red Cross did a great job of remaining transparent and flexible by even thanking Dogfish Head beer for their support. This is a great example how a potential crisis situation can be turned into a positive outcome.

Source: http://mashable.com/2011/02/16/red-cross-tweet/

Ford Motor Company Ignoring the sensitivity of the situation, Ford’s legal team issued a cease-and-desist notification to a fan website that was selling unlicensed Ford logo products. Although Ford had the legal right to take that action, they failed to foresee the potential backlash and word quickly spread about how Ford was bullying their own loyal fans through Twitter and other channels. Thanks to the transparency and real-time tweet updates from Ford’s Social Media team, the potentially disastrous situation was kept under control. Within 24 hours the situation was calmed by untimely coming to an agreement with the fan where he was allowed to keep his URL under the condition that he ended the selling of counterfeit goods.

Lesson from Ford: Before taking legal action against a brand advocate, you must first consider the potential backlash of your loyal fans. Instead of approaching the situation as legality by sending a threatening letter, it’s best to consider the sensitivity of the situation approach in an amicable manner. This will ease the matter and reduce the risk of tarnishing the relationship with a brand advocate, or worse, spark a firestorm of criticism.

Although Ford’s initial approach to the situation was poorly thought through, thanks to real-time and transparent communications via Twitter, Scott Monty (the head of Ford’s Social Media) was able to effectively remedy the situation and address misinformation... With a real-time communication channel already established and trust already earned, Monty was able to reach out to his established following to take control of the PR disaster and resolve the crisis situation.

Icelandic Volcanic Ash – Airline IndustryCurrent events can often impact an industry and cause frustration and chaos among your consumers. These are perfect opportunities to embrace your Social Media channels to join the conversations and communicate with your frustrated customers.

During the recent Icelandic Volcanic Ash incident, some airlines actively participated in the communications tweeting updates and info while other opted to stay silent. Airliners including Scandinavian Airline Systems embraced their Social Media channels to keep

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their customers informed, while American Airlines missed out on the opportunity to and avoided mentions of the event that their consumers were talking about.

Lessons from the Airline Industry: Listen to what your consumers are talking about and join in the conversation. Even if the control is out of your hands, consumers will appreciate your participation. By communicating about relevant and real events and issues, you will gain your consumers trust and build your brand’s credibility.

Source: http://jontusmedia.com/online-communications-in-a-crisis/

Nestle Recently, Greenpeace posted a video to YouTube that equated eating a Kit Kat bar with killing an Orangutan. This video was based on the fact that Nestle buys palm oil, which is threatening the Orangutan’s extinction due to deforestation.

Nestles Actions:Nestle quickly had the video removed based on the fact that it violated their trademark. This decision to remove the video sparked outraged which moved Greenpeace followers to attack the Nestle fan page on Facebook.

Nestle attempted to defend their page by removing all critical comments and any profile photos that altered their logo. This strategy only further enraged Greenpeace members and supporters and caused greater negativity towards the Nestle brand. On May 19th, under continued pressure Nestle announced their plans to use only sustainable Palm Oil by 2015.

MAR 19–NESTLE HI EVERYONE – WE DO CARE AND WILL CONTINUE TO PRESSURE OUR SUPPLIERS TO ELIMINATE ANY SOURCES OF PALM OIL WHICH ARE RELATED TO RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION. WE HAVE REPLACED THE INDONESIAN COMPANY SINAR MAS AS A SUPPLIER OF PALM OIL FOR FURTHER SHIPMENTS. READ MORE: HTTP://TINYURL.COM/NESTLEPALMOIL

APR 13–NESTLE IN A LETTER TO GREENPEACE TODAY, OUR CHAIRMAN, PETER BRABECK-LETMATHE HAS CALLED FOR A MORATORIUM ON THE DESTRUCTION OF RAINFORESTS AND HIGHLIGHTS HOW THE TWO ORGANISATIONS CAN MEET THIS COMMON GOAL.  A FULL COPY OF THE LETTER IS HERE [HTTP://BIT.LY/BJQN0T] BUT IN SUMMARY THE KEY POINTS WE MAKE ARE…

AND THEN GREENPEACE ANNOUNCES:

SWEET SUCCESS: NESTLE TAKES ACTION TO PROTECT PARADISE

Posted by: rolf | 17 May 10 |

Lessons From Nestle:

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Always be transparent in your actions. In this case, the brand was not upfront with their fans; in Social Media this equates to a lack of community and positions the brand as censoring consumer’s commentary. By failing to acknowledge the outrage and concern, Greenpeace supporters were relentless in their attacks and were further enraged by Nestle removing their content. Instead of talking behind closed doors to resolve the issue, Nestle could have maintained some positive sentiment on the page if they had told fans upfront that they were working on a solution to help protect the environment.

It is important to not rely on traditional press releases; you must address the issue on the medium in which it lives in a timely manner to satisfy disgruntled consumers.

Source: http://www.1goodreason.com/blog/2010/05/19/nestles-social-media-meltdown-a-case-study/

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APPENDIX B: KEY CONTACTS BY MARKET

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