Anthonissen Р.F. Crisis communication: practical public relations strategies for reputation management and company survival

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Crisis

COMMUNICATION

Expression of thanks

The authors would like to thank the following people for their much

appreciated help: Bob Bellafiore, George Bogdanich, Lori C Booker,

Myra J Borshoff, Barbara Casey, Colette Cornelissens, Lars Dagerholt,

Susan A Davis, Ray D Eisenbrenner, Thor Erling Lund, Pamela D

Evans, Amanda Farek, Michael Fineman, Rick French, Acácio Gomes,

Bobbie Goodwin, Christian Hannestad, Eric Hess, Peggy Hubble,

Raphael Hyslop, Carol Javaudin, Gwinavere Johnston, David

Ketchum, Howard C Landau, Effie Lazaridou, Anita Lissona, Tim

Loesch, Greg Loh, Anne McGregor-Lowndes, Ginny Melvie, Vibeke

Mestanas, Virginia Miller, Debbie Mitchell, Laurey Peat, Daniel C

Pinger, Mila Popova, Mary Beth Popp, Cindy Raymond, Don

Rountree, Brad Rye, Katie Seigenthaler, David Stiefel, Renzi Stone,

Mike Swenson, Jésus Timoteo Álvarez, Loredana Ulivi, Kaija Vataja,

Pat Walsh, Ralf Weber, Dick Wertheim, Martin Westergaard, John

Williams and Necla Zarakol.

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London and Philadelphia

Edited by PETER F ANTHONISSEN

practical PR strategies for reputation

management and company survival

Crisis

COMMUNICATION

Publisher’s note

Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is

accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot accept respon-

sibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage

occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this

publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or any of the authors.

Every author is responsible for his contribution. Neither IPREX, nor IPREX members can

be held responsible in any way for possible errors or inaccuracy, of any shape, manner or

form, appearing in this book.

First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2008 by Kogan Page Limited

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or

review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication

may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior

permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accor-

dance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction

outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:

120 Pentonville Road 525 South 4th Street, #241

London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19147

United Kingdom USA

www.koganpage.com

Gable, Jerry Hendin, Stuart Hyslop, Nick Leighton, Bob Oltmanns, Steven Pellegrino, Silvia

Pendás, Nuria Sánchez, Elizabeth Seigenthaler Courtney, Thom M Serafin, Tony Shelton,

Kathryn H Tunheim, Odile Vernier, Tim Wallace, Jim Walsh, Mania Xenou, 2008

The right of the individual contributors to be identified as the authors of this work has been

asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 978 0 7494 5400 5

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crisis communication : practical public relations strategies for reputation management and

company survival / [edited by] Peter Frans Anthonissen.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7494-5400-5

1. Crisis management. 2. Corporations--Public relations. I. Anthonissen, Peter Frans.

HD49.C738 2008

659.2--dc22

2008017599

Typeset by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby

Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd

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Contents

List of contributors ix

Foreword by Jim Walsh xvii

Introduction Peter Frans Anthonissen 1

1. No thrillers, but hard reality 7

Peter Frans Anthonissen

Introduction 7; There are no guarantees 9; Stakeholders

are everywhere 10; The accountability factor 10;

Annoying threats 11; Crises are challenges 13; Successful

crisis communication – principles 14; Learn lessons from

what has happened 18; A crisis for every day of the

week 18; Conclusion 23

2. Proactive crisis communication planning 24

Nick Leighton and Tony Shelton

Introduction 24; Need for a plan 25; What is a crisis? 25;

What a crisis plan provides 28; Elements of a plan 28;

People 28; The plan 33; Conclusion 43

3. Image as a part of corporate strategy 44

Tom Gable

Introduction 44; Reputations add value over time 45;

Determining how you want to be known 46; Establishing

competitive advantage 46; Communicating what you

stand for 47; Planning to reach all potential audiences 48;

Turning vision into reality 48; Tell real stories 49; Appeal

to higher standards, bigger ideas 50; Conclusion 54

4. Calamities 55

Jerry Hendin, Silvia Pendás de Cassina and Jim Walsh

Introduction 55; Aeroplane accidents 56; Natural

disasters 59; Being prepared: Alaska Airlines 261 60;

When fire strikes – twice 66; Conclusion 71

5. The new dynamics of financial crisis 73

Tim Wallace

Introduction 73; Understanding financial crisis 74;

Institutional investors: potential agents of crisis 77;

Responding to financial crisis 79; Conclusion 86

6. Fraud 88

Thom M Serafin

Introduction 88; Gather the facts 89; Legal issues must be

sorted out 90; Third-party validation 91; Delay and

denial compound the problem 92; When your client is a

victim of fraud 93; Implementing an action plan 95;

Conclusion 96

7. Reorganization and restructuring 97

Kathryn Tunheim, Marianne de Bruijn and Jim Walsh

Introduction 97; Swiss purchase of US financial services

company 98; Moving business from The Netherlands to

Germany 100; Goodwill is vital in a closure situation 103;

Conclusion 108

8. A multitude of challenges for the international

food sector 109

Mania Xenou and Nuria Sánchez

Food safety 110; Health and diet issues 111; Crisis

preparation is the key to success 111; Stakeholders 112;

The need for proactive communication 113;

The media 113; Conclusion 114; Case study 114

9. Negative press and how to deal with it 119

Elizabeth Seigenthaler Courtney and Willem Buitelaar

Introduction 119; Prepare early and often 120; Mitigate

impact with proactive response 121; Detecting a negative

story before it appears 123; No ostriches need apply 124;

Building bridges toward recovery 126; Conclusion 126;

Case study 127

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Contents

10. There is no substitute for media training 132

Nick Leighton, Steven Pellegrino and Tony Shelton

Introduction 132; Who should we train? 133; Who should

do the training? 134; Other resources 135; Who are the

media? 136; Developing the crisis message 137; Know the

rules of the game 138; Conducting the training 140;

Conclusion 141

11. How senior management can make the crisis worse 142

Stuart Hyslop

Introduction 142; How it can all go wrong 142; Managing

to make it worse 143; Getting it right 144; How to

demonstrate leadership 146; Avoidance is endemic 148;

The danger signs 149; Conclusion 150

12. Judgement days 152

Kathryn Tunheim

Introduction 152; Case study 153; Conclusion 156

13. Environmental crisis communications 157

Robert J Oltmanns

Introduction 157; Laying the groundwork: creating a

culture of environmental stewardship 159; When a crisis

hits 163; Conclusion 168

14. Crisis communication and the net 169

Roger Bridgeman

Introduction 169; The nature of the net… fast, expansive,

inclusive and a great leveller 170; New medium, new

risks 171; The power to empower a crisis 172; New tools,

new opportunities 173; The new ground rules 174; Crisis

communications – engagement versus

pronouncements 176; Conclusion 177

15. Organizational barriers to crisis and public affairs

management 178

Roger Bridgeman

Introduction 178; Dismissing the issue, marginalizing the

opposition 179; Averting a crisis by early action 180;

Corporate resources can’t trump a crisis 181; Responding

to a crisis with real process change 182; Assuming a quick

fix will make the problem go away 183; Confusing facts

with perception 184; Combating the corporate siege

mentality 185; Conclusion 186

Contents

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16. Risk managers 187

Odile Vernier

Introduction 187; When brands do not measure up to

public opinion 188; ‘Social autism’ 189; Turning public

opinion into an asset 189; The brand – its financial and

social implications 190; Risks, risk managers and crisis

communication 191; Company governance: a new source

of crises 195; Conclusion 196

17. Crisis communication checklists 197

Peter Frans Anthonissen

1. Preparations 197; 2. Public groups and

stakeholders 198; 3. Crisis centre 199; 4. What’s in your

crisis-communication survival kit? 200; 5. Background

information 201; 6. Employee training: dealing with the

media 202; 7. Crisis manual 202; 8. How to handle a

crisis 203; 9. Crisis strategy 204; 10. Crisis

communication 206

Appendices

1. Factual information document 207

2. Message development document 210

3. Crisis preparation document 213

4. Special considerations for dealing with reporters in a crisis 216

Bibliography 217

Index 218

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Contents

List of contributors

Peter Frans Anthonissen (Belgium) is an expert in the

field of reputation management and crisis communica-

tion. He successfully advised the mergers of KBC, one

of Belgium’s leading banks, and the University of

Antwerp; ensured the introduction to the stock market

of different leading companies, and has advised

Renault, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, the Belgian

and the Flemish governments and many other leading companies,

organizations and personalities. Peter studied law at the universities of

Antwerp, Leuven and Cambridge (Magdalene College). He was a

lawyer, a consultant to members of the Belgian government and a

journalist at the leading Belgian newspaper De Standaard and the

financial daily De Tijd before he founded the communication consul-

tancy Anthonissen & Associates in 1987. He has published several best-

sellers and is visiting professor at universities in Belgium and abroad.

Roger Bridgeman (United States) has been in the

public relations and communication business for more

than 30 years. His field of experience extends from

financial and professional services to high-tech, indus-

trial and consumer marketing. He has represented

Fortune 100 companies from Texas Instruments,

Motorola, Microsoft, Kodak, Raytheon and Cisco, to

new venture and overseas companies. During his career he has

managed corporate crises and stakeholder issues – from corporate

merges and acquisitions and competitor disinformation attacks, to

technology-related consumer privacy issues. Prior to establishing

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