MEDIA HOUSE INTERNATIONAL June 2012 CRISIS MANAGEMENT Presentation to the Institute of Travel &...

MEDIA HOUSE INTERNATIONAL June 2012

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Presentation to the

Institute of Travel & Tourism

MEDIA HOUSE INTERNATIONAL – INSTITUTE OF TRAVEL & TOURISM PRESENTATION

1. “I’m pregnant and you’re the daddy.”

2. “The Finance Director has disappeared.”

3. “There’s a reporter from The Sun at reception.”

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THREE STATEMENTS YOU NEVER WANT TO HEAR FROM YOUR PA


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BOATS AND BANANAS

Crises come in all shapes and sizes

As big as a boat...

As small as a banana...

...but all equally devastating for the individuals involved


Jack Irvine

Executive Chairman Media House International

Currently engaged in projects in UK, USA, Africa, Cayman Islands and

Gibraltar4


CEOEditor

Editor in ChiefNight Editor

Political columnistReporter

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MEDIA EXPERIENCE


Media House launched in 1991 to handle the hostile takeover of Celtic

Football Club6

HOW IT ALL STARTED...


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PAST PROJECTS


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CURRENT PROJECTS


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WHAT IS A CRISIS?

Extortion Bribery

Hostile takeover Information sabotage

Product tampering Workplace bombing

Vehicular fatality Terrorist attack

Copyright infringement Plant explosion

Environmental spill Sexual harassment

Computer tampering Escape of hazardous materials

Security breach Personnel assault

Executive kidnapping Assault of customers

Product/service boycott Product recall

Work-related homicide Counterfeiting

Malicious rumourNatural disaster that destroys corporate

HQ

Natural disaster that disrupts a major product

Natural disaster that eliminates key stakeholders

Natural disaster that destroys organisational information base

Source: Academy of Management Review, 23(1) (1998): 59–76.Christine M. Pearson and Judith A. Clair


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SEX AND MONEY


Be honest

Be quick

Don’t panic

Have one spokesman

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GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Sir Michael Bishop British Midland M1 crash 1989

Sir Richard BransonVirgin Rail crash 2007


However, if your CEO is unlovable and a bit of a prat don’t let him near the cameras......

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GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT


Where did Carnival go wrong?

• They hired Captain Schettino

• Captain Schettino jumped ship - at least the Titanic's captain went down with his ship

• They took too long to alert the coastguard

• There was no recognisable face of the company

• They didn’t apologise and express sympathy for the dead

• Carnival CEO Micky Arison was nowhere to be seen (Richard Branson would have been on the scene within 24 hours.) He decided to stay in Miami he restricted himself to written statements for 10 days after the tragedy

• Carnival offered 30% off the survivors’ next cruise

• Survivors were offered $14,458 compensation

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COSTA CONCORDIA


What should they have done?

• Put up a spokesman instantly

• Get Micky Arison in front of the cameras

• Apologise profusely for the Captain’s actions

• Stress that everything possible was being done for the survivors

• Encourage trade bodies such as The Passenger

Shipping Association to blitz the media with the good side of cruising - especially the safety record

• Announce an immediate review of their safety protocols

• Identify crew members that had behaved bravely and get them on TV with passengers they had helped save14

COSTA CONCORDIA


• Revise your disaster management plans. Have them evaluated by outside experts

• Look at every possible contingency – sinking, collision, terrorism, disease

• Run mock exercises

• Revise your disaster manual every three months

• Decide who is going to be the face of the company

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LESSONS FOR THE CRUISE INDUSTRY


WHO?

WHY?

WHAT?

WHERE?

WHEN?

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THE FIVE W’S IN JOURNALISM


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THE FIVE W’S IN JOURNALISM

WHO Who is dead and who is to blame? Do you have the names and addresses of the victims?

WHY Why did it happen? Human error, nature?

WHAT What actually happened? Did the ship hit a rock? Was there a bomb on board the plane?

WHERE

The exact geographic location of the incident.

WHEN The exact time the incident happened


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HOW SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED THE GAME

Date Event No. Google Results6 July 1988 Piper Alpha (167 dead) 822,000

21 December 1988Lockerbie Bombings

(270 dead)1,200,000

15 February 1996Sea Empress Oil Spill

(73,000 tons of oil spilled)

178,000

13 March 1996Dunblane Shooting

(17 dead)129,000

17 July 20057/7 Bombings (56

dead)1,440,000

13 January 2012Costa Concordia (34

dead)35,300,000

2012Rangers FC + Administration

13,900,000


• Social media is now setting the pace on crisis management

• We used to work on a 24 hour news cycle

• We can now see a situation escalate globally in minutes

• The crisis management team needs to monitor social media 24/7

• Instant rebuttal - all negative comments need to be countered – immediately

• Bloggers, no matter how obscure, need to be monitored and countered

• One sad little man’s blog is tomorrow’s Fleet Street sensation

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HOW SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED THE GAME


Don’t

Panic Act Defensively Lie or bluff Act

impetuously

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DOS AND DON’TS

Do

Show that you care (personally and at a company level)

Show that people matter more than profits

Take control Act positively

Think

The big picture Long term


Always express sympathy first

Remember you are the expert

Take your time, don’t be rushed

When you make a promise, keep it

Be factual, don’t speculate

Don’t be flippant

Be yourself – don’t try and play the role of scientist, social researcher, regulator – unless of course you are one!

Don’t hide behind statistics. Relatives of the injured, pressure groups and politicians will use emotion. Facts and statistics will not counter this

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THE GOLDEN RULES


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BACK TO BANANAS...


• Sells company

•Makes hundreds of millions profit

• Senior employee not happy with £1m bonus

• Demands £10million or photos from the Banana Club go to the media and tycoon’s wife

Enter Media House.....

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BANANA MAN!


Jack Irvine

Executive Chairman Media House International

[email protected]

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MEDIA HOUSE INTERNATIONAL June 2012 CRISIS MANAGEMENT Presentation to the Institute of Travel &...

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