What can you do when things go wrong? This document includes some steps you can take, and scenarios to consider, to stop the negative, earn new fans and generate a positive outcome

1. 1
CRISIS 2.0
Social media: Engagement, Measurement
and Monitoring

2. Contents
2
Summary 3
1 Introduction 5
2 Tools 6
3 Plan 7
4 Crises 2.0 8
5 Crisis team 21
6 Social media monitoring 23
7 Crisis planning 28
8 Managing your reputation 31
9 Trends in purchase intention 32
10 Social media policy 36
11 Crisis checklist 37
12 Key points 39

3. Summary
3
What can go wrong?
Real resources are required for digital marketing. Lack of skills
to maintain digital accounts and lack of manpower – if someone
leaves, or is too busy and just dabbling can be harmful to the
brand and voice of the company/Firm.
The open nature of social media means that anyone can create
an account at any time and from anywhere. Cyber and
technology related crimes, identity hacks, malicious hacks,
fraud, misuse of company information, spam, unauthorised and
fake accounts and accounts that do not adhere to your brand
can all cause harm.
What can you do when things go wrong?
You need to have control over your social presence: Formulate a
‘Response Assessment’ chart; and refer to ‘Crisis Team’ or
‘Crisis Planning’ charts.
Implement controls to govern digital channels, including
discovery capability (inventory of passwords, users and devices
used); monitor staff who are authorised to speak for the
business; archive of social data records; and provide staff
training.
In circumstances where digital accounts have been
compromised or irreversibly damaged, you should either lock
down, report the problem to the service/suspend the account,
or take the service down.

4. Summary
4
How to respond? PR (internal and external)
A general rule of thumb is that if the situation affects the
masses, keep the discussion online. Your Communications or
Crisis Team should prepare a statement or plan of action and
see it through.
If the situation is personal and relates to a minority, take it
offline to a more appropriate form of communication – making
personal contact.
What are the cyber risks?
Since social channels are not directly linked to your servers nor
part of your IT infrastructure. Protecting your social
infrastructure is more a question of brand, reputation and
governance.

5. 1.0 Introduction
5
Social media - Engagement, Measurement and Monitoring
The way we work and manage our reputation is changing and
evolving rapidly.
Whether your audience, contacts, followers or critics are in the
next building or on the other side of the world, the social media
landscape is a powerful and influential channel for your business.
We have a multitude of channels to use in communicating our
brand, services and promises. Articulating your brand is key to
success. Understanding the nuances of media platforms, and how
to utilise and manage them is essential.
A global brand or unifying thought needs to be translated in a
local market and delivered in an appropriate and relevant way for
that market. Social media provides us with tools to assist in
understanding local markets and building from the client,
stakeholders, and audience up.
What is a crisis?
A crisis by definition represents something serious for a business
that goes beyond the normal and threatens its operations,
strategic objectives, reputation and even survival. Consequently,
a crisis demands decisive action, and sometimes at the highest
level of an organisation to minimise the impacts.
In the event of crises, it is important that we understand what
can be solved by clear communication, and what can’t.
When a crisis occurs. It is no more possible to control the
message that spreads through social networks than it is to control
the medium over which it travels.

6. 2.0 Tools
6
Use appropriate tools/materials that are fit for purpose
for the media channel and audience
Plan all communications and campaigns thoroughly - measure
and monitor progress, success, effectiveness, and popularity;
what works, what doesn’t work.
Do not push out materials without carefully thinking about your
goals, the audience and recipients, and how you might leverage
the platform, move the conversation forward, deal with
responses, follow-up with requests/questions and monitor the
medium.
Do not be afraid to test your communications and campaigns,
and use metrics to determine the success of your campaign.
Keep a record/log of all communications.

7. 3.0 Plan
7
Have a plan for dealing with and responding to crises and
offer solutions
No matter what service you provide, what you sell, or what
industry you’re in, you’re going to experience either mistakes,
crisis or negative word of mouth. It just happens.
Remember: Negative word of mouth is an opportunity.
So get out there and embrace the negativity. Start responding.
This document includes some steps you can take, and scenarios
to consider, to stop the negative, earn new fans and generate a
positive outcome.

8. 4.0 Crises 2.0
8
Crisis generated or exacerbated by both media and netizens
on social media platforms
Crises spread faster and farther on microblogs than they do in
traditional media. Negative news can be posted anytime, from
anywhere, by anyone.
Senior executives negative comments can negatively impact their
companies.
Microblogs offer crisis instigators and defendants the opportunity
to respond quickly. If defendants fail to react fast enough, and in a
manner that satisfies netizens, this can easily trigger a subsequent
crisis, or aftershock.
3Cs Principle of Crisis Management
The following diagram illustrates a crisis management framework
in the microblog era:
Source: 2012 OgilvyPR . CIC – crisis management in the microblog era

9. 4.0 Crises 2.0
9
The 7Cs of effective communication
Similarly, and more generally, we can make sure that we
communicate in the clearest, most effective way possible.
The 7Cs of effective communication must be:
Clear
Concise
Concrete
Correct
Coherent
Complete
Courteous.

10. 4.0 Crises 2.0
10
#1: You Can’t Respond to Conversations You Don’t See
A great response starts with great listening.
Among listening, search and monitoring tools to hand, you can use
a number of holistic tools:
Combination of 24/7 monitor and daily checks.
Use of Hootsuite dashboard to monitor all mentions of brand,
or another external social monitor.
Google Analytic and Alerts for company, brand and industry
keywords.
Keep a close eye on your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook
pages.
Live monitoring during any known incident (outside of core
hours).
Be proactive, listen and be responsive.
Have visibility of all inbound and outbound content.
Monitor industry websites, as well as forums and
communities where your targets, contacts and clients
congregate and regularly check in on them.

11. 4.0 Crises 2.0
11
Whether you’re paying attention or not, the conversations are
happening. A great listening program makes it easier for you to
catch trends, join conversations, be alert to negative buzz and
spot issues before they build momentum and become much
harder to turn around.
If you do not have the resources to listen yourself, think about
using a digital marketing specialist to listen and monitor on your
behalf, e.g. in China agencies such as Digital Jungle are able to
monitor WeChat / Wēixìn: http://www.digitaljungle.com.cn/ as
well as Kantar Media CIC, a China based social business
intelligence firm: http://www.ciccorporate.com/
Social landscapes differ around the world. For example, Kantar
Media CICs’ China Social Media Landscape charts social media
channels in China:
Source: http://cn-en.kantar.com/media/social/2016/the-state-of-chinese-social-media-in-2016/

12. 4.0 Crises 2.0
12
#2: Determine if it’s Worth a Response
Not all negative comments are worth a response, and not all
critics are worth trying to win over. Sometimes, as hard as it
can be, it’s best just to move on.
Avoid these situations:
The criticism is on a really small blog or forum, and your
response will only bring attention and credibility to an
issue nobody saw in the first place.
It’s a blatant attack that’s clearly rude and outrageous —
and anyone who reads it can see the critic has a personal
problem.
A known person or blogger who is only looking to pick a
fight.
There’s just no way to win in these scenarios. So stay out, move
on, keep your head up and focus on the wrongs you can right.

13. 4.0 Crises 2.0
13
#3: Act quickly
Whether it’s positive or negative, a quick response is key to
engaging with your audience. The nature of social media is
immediate and people expect immediate responses. Time is not
on your side. The longer you wait to respond, the more likely
you are to lose the impetus and interest of your audience. If
you are dealing with an unhappy contact, the angrier the
contact will get and the more likely others will pick-up on the
issue and spread the negative buzz.
At the very least, say this:
“Hi, my name is ____ and I hear you. We’re looking into it
now, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. If you
have any questions, contact me directly at _____.”
Or
“Please DM me and I will do my best to resolve this issue.”
A message like this does two things:
The ranter knows he or she has your attention—there’s much
less incentive to keep spreading the anger and it makes a real
person with real contact info available, so if the person is still
angry, you’ve at least specified a place to vent other than
online.

14. 4.0 Crises 2.0
14
#4: Speak like a human
The only thing worse than ignoring upset clients/customers is to
respond with a canned corporate response. If you thought they
were mad before, wait until you see how they react to an
excerpt of your policy terms and fine print.
Show empathy, communicate in a friendly tone and use your
real name. And if the forum supports it, it helps to include your
actual photo.
It’s easy to yell and scream at an anonymous company. But
when someone shows up and says, “Hi, this is Emily and I’m so
sorry for the trouble…” it changes everything.
The critic now realises he wasn’t yelling at a giant, faceless
company. He was yelling at Emily. Quickly, the anger fades and
you might just get an apology.
Be human, friendly, polite and courteous. And even if you can’t
fix the problem immediately, you have at least controlled and
defused a potentially problematic situation.
In addition, speaking with authority on social channels adds to
the credibility of the medium. A real authoritative person and/or
tone of voice, including that of the voice of the company goes a
long way.

15. 15
It is not recommended that anyone who is ill equipped,
dabbling or junior uses the company’s
social media assets.
4.0 Crises 2.0

16. 4.0 Crises 2.0
16
#5: Offer a real apology or don’t apologise
A strong, direct apology will always earn more respect than a
flimsy, “kinda-sorta” apology.
#6: Offer to make it right
Apologising is part of turning around negative word of mouth,
but to actually fix a problem is how you really win over critics.
We all make mistakes. It’s how we fix them that people
remember.
For instance, consider a scenario in which someone posts the
wrong thing; posts the wrong message/content to the wrong
audience; or posts something offensive. This could very easily
and all too often happens.
Supposing the social media platform gets a virus, hacked or
someone loses their phone and a stranger suddenly has access
to a host of your businesses media assets/channels.
In this situation, do we have a process for correcting our
mistake? Can we delete and resend? Or disable the platform?
Should we apologise and be honest about the error, and in so
doing, offer something extra in return for offending or wasting
peoples time? People are typically understanding and
sympathetic to such errors, so it’s best to deal with the situation
promptly and to be transparent, sincere and generous in
winning people back.
It is essential that you are prepared for such eventualities and
have thought through these situations.

17. 4.0 Crises 2.0
17
#7: Never get into a fight
Any time you win an argument online, you’re losing. All anyone
really remembers is that you’re combative.
This doesn’t mean you can’t respond, explain your side of the
story and start a conversation. You just need to be in the right
mind-set: Don’t get emotional.
Remember, it’s a real person. Just as they see you as a faceless
company, it’s easy to see them as just another complainer or
critic.
The critic is actually doing you a favour. They’re helping you
learn to be a better company. For every person who actually
speaks up, many more walk away quietly, never to return.

18. 4.0 Crises 2.0
18
#8: When to keep the discussion in the open or take it
offline
When a negative issue comes up, a common gut reaction is to
ask to move the conversation offline. But when you do this the
world can’t see all the effort you put into fixing the problem.
A general rule of thumb is that if the situation affects the
masses, keep the discussion online. Prepare a statement or plan
of action and see it through.
If the situation is personal and relates to a minority, take it
offline to a more appropriate form of communication – making
personal contact.

19. 4.0 Crises 2.0
19
#9: Use fans (including staff) and third-party sources to
help tell the story
What you say about yourself isn’t as powerful as what others
say about you. It’s true when people are promoting you, and it’s
true when people are calling you out.
Should the social media platform you are using be insufficient
for the purpose/story you want to tell, do not shy away from
directing people to other platforms/channels including your
website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, email, even directories,
league tables, media and the multitude of channels, platforms
and sources we are able to draw upon. Having a story to tell, a
strong voice on social media and ownership of social media
channels underpins a successful digital and social media
strategy.
Also think about meeting face to face if possible, or if you have
established a critical mass or confirmed prospects, think about a
roadshow or seminar series.
Think of ways to move the conversation forward, utilise different
platforms and develop fruitful relationships.

20. 4.0 Crises 2.0
20
#10: Involve them in the fix
One way to think about it is that if someone’s criticising you, it’s
often just a form of tough love. They’re doing it because they
care. They see potential, and they want you to do better.
So instead of seeing them as critics, start looking at them as
frustrated fans that might have some worthwhile ideas. So,
provide a release valve for your audience—acknowledge their
constructive and proactive ideas, suggestions and complaints
and let them know you are appreciative of their input.
Be engaging and charming. You could say something like:
“Hi ____ that’s a good point. I would be interested in
finding out more about your ideas, and how you think we
could improve our service. I will DM you.”

21. 5.0 Crisis team
21
If the above points do not resolve the situation then senior
management – crisis team – may be needed. The role of senior
management in such circumstances is vital, but their involvement
has a time and a place which should be carefully chosen.
Build your crisis team to include social media. Most big brands
will have a crisis management team in place. But social media
must be an intrinsic part of this team, not a ‘bolt-on’
afterthought. It should include anyone that you’re likely to need
during the crisis, including legal (for quick sign-off) and tech
support. It should have a clear leader, and usually, it will include:
Directors
Professional Indemnity/business continuity
Tech support, social media and social listening
PR and reputation management
Legal.
Ensure that social media is fully integrated to all existing crisis
plans, and that the crisis team includes social media crisis
handlers (such as trained social media communicators).

22. 5.0 Crisis team
22
If the above steps do not provide a quick solution to the
problem. Responsibility and ownership for Crisis 2.0 is with the
crisis team.
Crisisteam
Directors
PR and reputation
management
Tech support, social
media and social listening
Lawyer
Person responsible for
that channel
Professional indemnity
and business continuity
Note: Joining the DMA could be a useful resource for customer
engagement. See: http://dma.org.uk/ DMA members receive
indemnified and unlimited legal advice on direct marketing
issues. Tel: 0207 291 3360 or E: legaladvice@dma.org.uk

23. 23
6.0 Social media monitoring

24. 6.0 Social media monitoring
24
Monitor/listen
Respond
Yes
Act quickly
Tone
Make it right
Open
Online channels/
media statement/
press conference
Escalate
Yes
Crisis team
No
Offline
Email/face-to-
face/phone call
Escalate
Yes
Crisis team
No
No
Social media monitoring
and crisis mapping.

25. 6.0 Social media monitoring
25
The United States Air Force Web Posting Response Assessment
chart is a really good example of social media monitoring/crisis
mapping. The US Air Force also makes its social media guide
available on its website:
http://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/SocialMediaGuide2013.pdf
Source: http://www.afpc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-091210-037.pdf

26. 6.0 Social media monitoring
26
We can no longer manage how an issue breaks. It is no more
possible to control the message that spreads through social
networks than it is to control the medium over which it travels.
During a crisis, we need to be calm, have clarity of vision, and
be creative in our problem solving.
Broadly speaking, crises can be divided into two categories
those you can’t avoid; and those you can. By monitoring
what stakeholders and netizens are saying about you, assessing
the likely problems that you might face, and what the business
action is you can take to turn a negative situation into a
positive, provides you with some element of control.
Get the practical things in place. Have a list of who you can call
on in an emergency, in whatever time zone you need them.
Make sure you know the password to your social media
accounts – it sounds obvious, but the best laid plans fall apart if
the only person who has access to your social media accounts is
unreachable, or worse – holding the accounts hostage.
Monitor the crisis closely. Throughout the crisis, monitor how it
is playing out over social media, and keep in close touch with
your monitoring team. If something changes, be prepared to
respond quickly, and make sure all the parties involved in the
crisis team are informed and up-to-date.
Make sure your tone of voice is appropriate to the issue you’re
addressing.

27. 6.0 Social media monitoring
27
Make a note of what platforms you operate. This may be divided
into primary channels, that may include LinkedIn, Twitter, Sina
Weibo and Bitly. Secondary channels (e.g. Facebook, Google+
and Youtube) and tertiary channels (e.g. Slideshare, Vimeo,
Prezi and Instagram).
While the importance and relevance of social channels will vary
for all businesses. It is important that you appreciate what
channels (or assets) you have and their use and importance to
your business.

28. 5.0 Crisis planning
28
Use steps associated with rational decision making (Target
outcome – analyse the situation; generate options; evaluate
options; and make decisions).
The below chart is a guide to be used by the crisis team who
should keep their plan as clear and simple as possible.
Audit all social
media accounts
Agree public
response and
TOV
Issue direction
and implement
actions
Release
statements and
corresponding
measures
Message
consistent across
channels
Monitor crisis
closely
Keep crisis team
informed and
up-to-date
Keep a record /
log of all
communications
List passwords,
who has access ,
devices used
Own and control
communications
channels
Act quickly Monitor
Target outcome

29. 7.0 Crisis planning
29
What does a social media crisis look like?
When we talk about a social media crisis, we mean a crisis that
has the potential for a real impact on your business. The severity
of crisis will determine your response. Agree in advance what
constitutes a serious issue and needs a clear escalation path
(including to the police or relevant authority in the case of
criminal activity or abuse).
Crises are likely to fall into one of four groups:
1. A serious event that’s happening in the real world and
unfolding over social media. For example, reported by
‘citizen journalists’. This could be a life or death situation, or
a real emergency.
2. A protest instigated by an activist group to bring about a
specific result, such as Greenpeace’s social media campaign
to organise local protest against supermarket chain,
Waitrose, to put pressure on the supermarket to end its
partnership with Shell. (It didn’t take long for Waitrose to
abandon the relationship and support Greenpeace’s stance
on arctic drilling.)
3. Human error, or a rogue employee. An employee at UK
music store, HMV, live-tweeted the firing of 60 staff in
February 2013, even offering (unheeded) advice to the head
of marketing on how to change the passwords to social
media accounts. Less serious examples of this might be
accidentally tweeting from the wrong account, or an
unfortunate typo.
4. A social media hack, such as that suffered by the Associated
Press in April 2013, when a group claiming to be the ‘Syrian
Electronic Army’ tweeted from AP’s account that the White
House had come under attack.

30. 6.0 Crisis planning
30
An inflammatory and negative story in the media that’s picked-up
and spread on social media, or vice versa. Issues that might lead
to a crisis:
1. Financial risk – associated with disclosures in violation of
stock exchange or SEC rules.
2. Information Leakage – disclosure of sensitive information,
such as internal announcements, personal and health
information, intellectual property, client data and personally
identifiable information.
3. Reputational damage to brand – misuse of brand
guidelines, obscenities, malpractice, illegal activity by lawyer
or staff.
4. Governance Risk – inadequate governance can result in a
number of uncoordinated and inefficient activities, e.g. lack of
vision for how social media is used by the business, or
competing strategies, duplicate efforts, wasted investment,
poorly allocated resources and limited organisational learning.
5. Impersonations – libel, slander, copyright or trademark
infringement.
6. Identity hacks/hacked – unauthorised, malicious,
fraudulent, misuse of company information and spam.
7. Unauthorised and fake digital accounts – webpages and
digital accounts that do not adhere to brand guidelines and
company voice.
8. Tone – a mistaken tone or insensitive comment can lead to a
crisis. This is usually fixed with a heartfelt apology.
9. Non-compliance with regulatory requirements and
Third-party Risk – outsourcing social media activities can
leave companies vulnerable to substantial risks, particularly
copyright and trademark infringement as well as the risk of
breaching the principles of industry codes.
10. Business Continuity – different levels of disaster linked to
cyber risk and business continuity planning.

31. 9.0 Managing your reputation
31
The reputation you have when you go into a crisis will be the
one that sees you through it. If you do nothing to manage
your reputation during the good times, then you’ll have
no goodwill or reputation capital to carry you through the
bad times. People who trust you already are more likely to
support you, and defend you from detractors. Stash goodwill to
see you through any difficult patches. The stronger the voice
you have in social media (and in your own online
communities), the better your relationships will be with
clients. It is your loyal stakeholders/clients who have a
relationship with you who are most likely to defend you.
Understand what can be solved by clear communication, and
what can’t. If a brand is abusing human rights in Bangladesh,
no amount of positive PR will help. Be prepared to take some
serious business decisions, quickly. For this reason, involve your
most senior people early on – it’ll get those decisions made
more quickly. In May 2013, British retailer Marks and Spencer
managed to avoid serious reputational damage after the Rana
Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh when it became one of the
brands signing up to an international agreement to improve
safety conditions in garment factories. The apparent reluctance
by other companies – notably Gap and Wal-Mart – to sign
resulted in negative press coverage across the board.
Once you’ve agreed on what action to take, agree your public
response, and – importantly – the tone of voice you’ll use within
your communities. Make sure it’s consistent across all your
audiences and channels. Assume that what you say on Twitter
will reach the same people as your press statement, or your
customer service announcement. Your emailed statements will
be posted by interested parties onto Facebook. News media will
source interviews from social media. Communications channels
can no longer be viewed in silos.

32. 10.0 Trends in purchase intention
32
Kantar Media CIC and Ogilvy PR China’s report: Crisis Management
in the Social Era in 2013, examines the changes in purchase
intention of 20 brands in 2013 continuously for seven days after a
crisis erupts and the effect of three crisis response strategies.
The report conclusively finds that purchase intention changes over
different stages of crisis development, with common features
including:
On the first day after a crisis breaks out – The buzz
volume surges and consumers start to discuss the crisis.
Although most brands are capable of developing a response
within one day after a crisis has erupted, the purchase
intention (or reputation) declines sharply compared to the
average level of purchase intention 30 days before a crisis.
Within four days after a crisis breaks out – This time
period is a turning point. An abundant amount of online
discussion occurs and the buzz continues to surge and hit a
peak level. Discussions cover the crisis and the brand’s
response and handling of the issue. The purchase intention
drops to its lowest level during this time.
Within seven days after a crisis breaks out – A brand’s
average purchase intention rises again. After this time, the
purchase intention gradually reaches a comparatively stable
figure, indicating that the effects of the brand’s crisis
handling has entered a steady state. To some brands, the
rebound of their purchase intention becomes more stable,
but to others, it’s difficult to return to the level before the
crisis. A brand therefore needs to make continuous
observations upon the changes in purchase intention and
make adjustments in its strategy in dealing with the crisis.
Source:
http://www.ciccorporate.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1218%3Acic-and-
ogilvy-public-relations-china-released-the-latest-white-paper-q2013-crisis-management-in-the-
social-eraq-&catid=99%3Aarchives-2014&Itemid=208&lang=en

33. 10.0 Trends in purchase intention
33
During the process of handling a crisis, the response time should
be as quick as possible.
Response attitudes and handling measures are very important as
they can impact on the consumers’ purchase intention. The three
categories that define the attitudes and methods of crisis
handling include:
Denial (deny crisis)
A brand claims it has nothing to do with the crisis after it
breaks out and completely denies it.
Admission (admit problems and make apologies)
A brand admits its own problems related to the crisis with
solutions proposed.
Investigation (immediately release a response
indicating an investigation is underway before
making any conclusions, release statements and
corresponding measures after finding out the truth)
After crises have erupted, brands show their proactive
attitude to find out the truth and investigations are
conducted. Well-performing brands build communication
channels with consumers, such as hotlines, post
investigation results promptly, explaining the details of
issues, propose plans for further actions, including the
details of product recall and the recalling process. All
measures, such as recall and refund are carried out
effectively so as to win back consumers’ confidence.

34. 10.0 Trends in purchase intention
34
Comparing the three methods of crisis response (denial;
admission; and investigate/apologise), Kantar Media CIC
and Ogilvy PR China found that denial has a bigger impact upon
a brand’s purchase intention.
Regardless of the facts, a brand needs to understand
consumers’ perspective, allow consumers to know about and
accept the facts with appropriate explanation, and prevent
customer misunderstanding about the brand.
Simply denying the issue and responsibilities cannot benefit the
recovery of purchase intention. A brand must pay special
attention and avoid contradictory attitudes. If a brand denies
the issue at the beginning, but later admits to problems after
investigations, it leaves the worst impression upon consumers.
The recovery of the brand’s purchase intention becomes even
more difficult.
The response of immediately releasing a response indicating an
investigation is underway before making any conclusions is
better than the other two response options, in terms of a
recovery in purchase intention. Findings show that on the first
day after a crisis outbreak the decline in purchase intention is
far smaller than the other two response options. After
investigations reach a conclusion, brands could further share
information on developmental stages with consumers and take
corresponding actions. This kind of response can be accepted by
consumers more easily. At the same time, it can help to speed
up the recovery in purchase intention.

35. 10.0 Trends in purchase intention
35
Netizens can more easily accept the option of immediately
releasing a response indicating an investigation is underway
before making any conclusions.
In showing an honest attitude, taking active actions in follow-up
execution, and making comprehensive reports on crisis
development, the crisis duration becomes shorter and the buzz
volume becomes lower compared to the other two response
options.
Don’t make any conclusions about issues too early, but
immediately conduct investigations and follow up. This can
effectively help the recovery of a brand’s purchase intention.
Case study – The influence of response attitude on
purchase intention from the August 2013 Coca-Cola
botulism scandal:
On the first day after the crisis broke out, Coca-Cola’s purchase
intention suddenly dropped by 196%. The decline slightly
expanded on the second day (with the brand’s purchase intention
down). The brand responded to the issue on the second day and
promised to make comprehensive investigations, traced back the
production and delivery records of affected products, and allowed
consumers to know about details via hotlines. The brand’s
purchase intention thus rebounded a little from the second day to
the third. On the third day, the brand continued to make
responses by stating that affected products had been identified
during investigations and a corresponding recall was underway.
The brand’s purchase intention started to rebound on the third
day and on the seventh day the brand’s purchase intention was
only 35% lower than the level before the crisis.
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/cic-ogilvy-pr-china-released-the-latest-whitepaper-
2013-crisis-management-in-the-social-era

36. 11.0 Social media policy
36
You can’t control how a story spreads on social media. In these
days of Twitter, mobile phone video uploads and consumers
tapping into their online networks, word of mouth spreads like
wildfire. Every citizen with a smartphone is a reporter.
In May 2013, a BA flight made an emergency landing at
Heathrow. The covers of the engines had popped open in flight.
Before the aircraft even landed, a passenger had Tweeted a
photo of the engines. Within minutes of landing, amateur video
appeared on news channels – someone had filmed the smoking
plane as it flew over their street.
What you can control, to some extent, is what your employees
post on social media about you. Have a clear social media
policy in place, and be clear about what is and what isn’t
acceptable if that employee is publicly associated with
your company.
During a crisis, every move you make will be scrutinised.
Involve all your organisation’s communications channels,
including, importantly, Search. A widely covered issue will show
up in search results for a disproportionately long time after the
event. Make sure you include Search in your communications
plan, so that you can take positive action to neutralise negative
coverage on search engines.
Your voice on your social channels should stay true and
authentic throughout the crisis. Your PR team and social media
mangers should already be authorised to make quick decisions
and take action where necessary to restore trust.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22732582

37. 12.0 Crisis checklist – Preparing for a crisis
37
Prepare for a crisis
Monitor what’s being said about your brand in all channels, and
listen for anything that might spark a crisis.
Do the groundwork before the crisis breaks. Have some goodwill
‘banked’.
Define what a crisis looks like, and plan for every eventuality.
Have a social media policy in place for all employees.
Build your crisis team and plan to include senior decision makers
through the business.
Include search as an important part of the comms mix.
Be clear about what can and what can’t be solved by PR.
Involve your employees in the process – you don’t want them
breaking the crisis for you.
Be in the social media space already (and be able to access your
accounts).
Rehearse: hold as full a simulation as you can.

38. 12.0 Crisis checklist – Managing the crisis
38
Managing the crisis
Be prepared to take business action if necessary. Communications
can’t solve a business issue.
Remember: you can’t control social media. But you can control
how you respond in social media.
Agree your response and communicate it consistently.
Authorise social media experts to act on your behalf.
Don’t create your own firestorm. Don’t address an issue in a
forum where no-one knew there was an issue to start with.
Keep crisis team contact numbers accessible and updated.
Have a pre-defined escalation path for serious incidents (and use
it).
Keep in close contact with your monitoring team.
Keep the tone of voice appropriate to the issue; and keep it true
to your company values.

39. 13.0 Key points
39
8 golden rules of crisis management (By Julie Atherton,
Founder and Managing Director of Small Wonder)
For many brands the test of its reputation and ability to handle
consumer unrest will be played out in the real world and in real
time with no certainty of success.
Preparation and planning are essential in managing a crisis.
1. Speed – be ready to react to an event. As a rule of thumb
you have less than half an hour to respond on Facebook and
15 minutes on twitter to stay in control.
2. Strategy – have a signed-off approach to typical scenarios
with an understanding of the implication of typical actions.
3. Know your roles – ensure the response team is known
across the business and a leader has been identified.
4. Take control – it’s your brand and your reputation, don’t
become paralysed by bureaucracy.
5. Stay calm – don’t be goaded. Spot the signs that
individuals need a break.
6. Tone of voice – remember your tone of voice and flex it to
suit the channel you are using – corporate speak on
Facebook just won’t work.
7. Choose your battles wisely – be confident to decide
when to respond and when to ignore.
8. Collaborate – you will make better decisions as a team
and can share the effort across every platform.
Source: http://dma.org.uk/research/is-your-business-ready-to-handle-a-social-media-crisis

40. 13.0 Key points
40
No brand is exempt from a potential crisis – who would have
thought that Greenpeace would target Waitrose or pink pens
could be so inflammatory for Bic? The challenge is to be ready
and rehearsed – only then can you turn a crisis into a success.
August 2016