“There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” So goes convention wisdom. If you’ve ever found your name in headlines cast in a negative light, you know in reality, there’s nothing conventional about wisdom.
Bad publicity can bankrupt businesses, ruin relationships and decimate reputations. So how should an establishment or individual fielding bad publicity react? They shouldn’t. Reactions almost always generate more troubles. The proper response commands a plan created quickly, implemented carefully and undergirded by these principles of crisis management.
@BOLD LEAD IN: Walk humbly. None is too big to fail at crisis control. From BP to Toyota to industries and entities such as the financial and banking sectors and federal loan programs, we’ve recently witnessed mighty institutions commit acts that warranted public black eyes. They compounded damage with whining (BP’s ex-CEO Tony Hayworth), gloating (Toyota’s internal memos), shamelessness (AIG’s taxpayer-funded binges), and cover-ups (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan scandals). Humility and accountability would have minimized all of the above.
Get help. A promotional campaign infused with creativity and newsworthiness can earn an individual, business or organization media coverage that touches audiences in a way traditional advertising can’t. The same holds true for crisis-management campaigns. They’re best conducted with a seasoned consultant who appreciates the magnitude of what you’re enduring but remains emotionally disconnected enough to provide guidance you won’t always want to hear.
Take a breath. Don’t let a desire to re-right the record or confront an accuser rush you into verbal missteps. Figure out what you want to say. This doesn’t mean scripting canned comments, but getting your thoughts organized, as you would with any presentation.
Reach out. Exercising your right to remain silent carries different connotations in the court of public opinion. The same technology that gives your negative news hit global immortality empowers you to communicate barrier-free. A smart social-media campaign incorporating Facebook, YouTube, blogging and email enables you to deliver effective, unfiltered messages directly to the public. How effective? Ask the outgoing Egyptian dictator.
Meet the press. Get to know the people reporting on you. Read their stories. Watch their newscasts. Return their calls. Reach out to them. If you’re apprehensive during an interview, ask to go off the record.The best reporters understand that “sources” are people with lives and families that remain impacted by news coverage long after the story appears.
Patience, patience, patience. While plenty of swindlers, scoundrels and worse meet their just due thanks to relentless reporting, not everyone under severe scrutiny is Bernie Madoff. This sometimes shakes out as news coverage develops, but the initial breaking news makes a profound imprint on people. Countering prevailing thought commands introducing relevant and verifiable facts that will withstand skeptical inquiry—and that can take time.
Take responsibility. Forget that biting observation about human intelligence P.T. Barnum allegedly made. Most people have excellent bull detectors. Respect them and yourself enough to be sincere and genuine. If that means issuing an apology and offering restitution, waste no time in doing both.
Ike Crumpler is CEO of Upstairs Communications International in Stuart, which offers public relations, governmental affairs, crisis management, political consulting, marketing and ghostwriting. He can be reached at (772) 201-9996 or ike@upstairscommunications.com.
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