Tag Archives: crisis response

Academia, Society

ROPE Process in Consumer Relations

Public relations is a very useful tool for an organization making its case in the public forum, especially when confronting another organization with conflicting values. In this case, I will explore the opportunity for using public relations concepts in defending a historical society against the desire of a group of property developers who wish to build on an historic site. Hendrix and Hayes (2010) demonstrates leveraging reputation and crafted messaging to inform the public of the controversy in a manner that helps to garner public support for the organization’s position using the R.O.P.E. (research, objectives, programming, and evaluation) process.

Research

The first step in using public relations, according to Hendrix and Hayes (2010) is researching the problem and the audience. The results will allow tailoring the later message to effectively impact the audience in the desired manner. Tailoring the message specifically to the audience is very effective in communications. Research is especially important in separating those who are active in community politics from those who prefer a more laissez-faire approach to politics.

In this particular case, it is important to understand the import that the members of the community put on history, their political ideologies, and the economic impact of the developers’ proposed plan. Depending on how each of these relate to the current state of the community, a message could be crafted to emphasize the points most important to the community as well as educate the public to the importance of the issue.

Objectives

Hendrix and Hayes (2010) state that both impact and output objectives are important when communicating with consumers. Impact objectives refer to the attitudes and behaviors that need to be influenced while output objectives refer to the overall measurable goals of the public relations effort. While the latter can be simply stated as to garner support to preserve the historic nature of the site, the former requires more precision.

Using the broad output objective statement above, further output objectives can be developed to meet the overarching goal. For example, a more specific output objective could be to mail informational flyers to each household within five miles of the historically significant site. Another example would be to meet with three previously identified community leaders each day to emphasize the importance of preserving the site versus developing it.

In this particular case, the impact objectives will rely heavily on the research performed to increase the community’s knowledge about the importance of historical preservation and to influence their perceptions of the usefulness of historical preservation contrasted with the negative impact of the development of the site. Further, the community needs to be educated about how the historical preservation society has performed in past years with a focus on those efforts that typical have the support of the public already.

Programming

As stated above, the programming of the message is very important and should be steered by the research. In the case of an historical preservation society attempting to protect an historic site from development, there will be media coverage. It is important to control the media as much as possible, and this can be accomplished by issuing press releases (see Appendix), holding public events covered by the media designed to educate the public about the controversy, and holding press conferences and interviews to give the media more access to the desired message over the competing message of the developers. The programming also needs to enhance and leverage the credibility of the historical society for the best results (Hendrix & Hayes, 2010).

Message programming can also be used in monitoring media coverage and augmenting the approach based on the amount and content of coverage. If one aspect of the message is clearly represented but another aspect is failing to connect with the public, emphasis can be placed on the lacking aspect of the message in future communications.

Evaluation

The reputation and credibility of the historical preservation society is very important in the continued efforts to garner support for preserving the site from the proposed development; therefore, constant evaluation of the society’s reputation within the community is paramount. Beyond the reputation, the effectiveness of each message component should be evaluated to ensure consistency with the objectives. This could be accomplished by using further research and analyzing the amount of favorable attention the society is getting in regards to this particular controversy and in general.

Understanding the effectiveness of the communication effort allows a decision to made to either stay on course or alter the messaging to use more effective measures and tactics.

Discussion

Though this controversy is hypothetical, political discussions and debates frequently call into the question to utility and desire of maintaining historical sites versus the opportunity to develop these sites to improve economic output or improve overall living conditions within the community. For those that feel an importance in preserving history when confronted with political controversy, the communication efforts described here can be used to effectively plead the case in the public forum, arguably the most important forum in controversies such as these.

References

Hendrix, J. A. & Hayes, D. C. (2010). Public relations cases (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Appendix

Example press release.

Contact: Michael Schadone FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Telephone: (555) 555-5555

Cell: (555) 555-5556

Email: info@historicalsoc.org

SAVE OUR SITE

Please Help Preserve the Johnson Mills

The Society of Historical Preservation has recently learned that the Johnson Mills site, located at 55 Johnson Rd. in Township, Connecticut, is in danger of being destroyed. This site, an historically significant building where our first governor, John Johnson, founded the lumber mill that propelled our state into prosperity for over 300 years, is important to the economic and political history of the state as well as the nation.

On May 5, 2012, Property Developers, Inc., submitted a proposal to the Township zoning board to develop the Johnson Mills historical site as condominiums and a strip mall. We believe that, although the community of Township is very supportive of preserving the history of the region, this proposal will be approved unless the members of the community attend the next zoning board hearing on July 25, 2012, at 123 Government Ln., to express their concern over the needless destruction of this important site.

Further, Township is experiencing the same economic conditions as the rest of the country and home ownership is at an all-time low for the region. In addition to the historic importance of Johnson Mills, it seems that the creation of a condominium complex is contrary to the needs of the community.

We at the Society of Historical Preservation anticipate that the people of Township and others within the state would be dismayed to hear of the plans of Property Developers, Inc., to develop the Johnson Mills site. It is important for us to give the community the opportunity to oppose this proposal by calling the Township town hall at (555) 555-0001 and attend the upcoming hearings to voice their concerns.

# # #

If you would like more information on this topic, or to schedule an interview with Michael Schadone, please call Steve Smith at (555) 555-5557 or email Steve at contact@historicalsoc.org

Academia, Criminal Justice, Society

Penn State: Analysis of Crisis Communications

On November 5, 2011, Jerry Sandusky, former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach, was arrested on a number of counts of sexual assault on a minor. The arrest stems from incidents relating to The Second Mile charity, founded by Sandusky, and its association with Pennsylvania State University over the course of 15 years (Garcia, 2011; “Sandusky,” 2011). Two days later, the Pennsylvania State University athletic director, Tim Curley, and senior vice president for finance and business, Gary Schultz, surrendered to police to answer charges for failing to notify authorities for suspicions of sexual abuse of a minor (“Officials,” 2011; “Sandusky,” 2011). In two more days, Joe Paterno, head coach of the Pennsylvania State University football program, resigned over the controversy surrounding the university and its football program (Garcia, 2011; “Sandusky,” 2011). Within days of the arrests (and, before all the facts are known), the university was being severely criticized in the media (Zinser, 2011). This public relations nightmare is an example of how leveraging a crisis communication plan is important in communicating with the public.

Trivitt and Yann (2011) present this case as a reminder that crisis managers cannot fix every problem: “we think it’s important that, as a profession, we don’t overreach and try to uphold our work as the savior for every societal tragedy and crisis. Doing so makes us look opportunistic and foolish considering the gravity of the situation” (para. 13). In the case of Pennsylvania State University, there were a number of glaring failures to report the assaults to the authorities. Still, Sandusky was allowed to have unsupervised interaction with these adolescent boys until an investigation was launched in 2009 after one of the victims notified the authorities (“Sandusky,” 2011). Pennsylvania State University authorities should have reported the accusations to the proper authorities and released a statement to the media as soon as they were made aware, saving the administration from this crisis (Sudhaman & Holmes, 2012). The perception, however, is that there was a cover-up of moral corruption. There were a number of moral requirements that university representatives failed to acknowledge over the past years, and the character and esteem of the school will suffer for it.

Immediately after the revelation of these transgressions, the Pennsylvania State University administration clambered to make the proper attempts towards repairing the school’s suffering reputation, including donating $1.5-million of profits received from the renowned football program to sex crimes advocacy projects, discontinuing the school newspaper’s sex column, and providing a town hall- type venue where concerned students could present their questions and concerns directly to school officials (Sauer, 2011). Ultimately, these steps are proper; however, the only means of reclaiming and recapturing the admirable reputation that Pennsylvania State University once held is time and requires purging those administrators who appear sullied by this controversy. This does not, however, mean that Pennsylvania State University is languishing. According to Reuters (Shade, 2011), applications to attend Pennsylvania State University have increased in the last year, and the current school administration, as well as alumni, are uniting to restore the trust between the school and students.

Further, Singer (2011), a crisis communications and reputation management specialist, outlines the steps necessary for the school to truly enhance its brand. Singer highlights cleaning the slate by terminating any employees explicitly related to or having perpetuated the crisis, creating a team-centric leadership culture by restraining the political power of any one person within the school (especially the lead coach), and living the values that are proffered by the school (e.g. “Success With Honor”). If the crisis is handled appropriately from this point forward, the school’s reputation will be judged not the crisis itself.

Discussion

Coombs (2012), Fearn-Banks, (2011), and Hendrix and Hayes (2010) all agree that crises are unexpected events that are difficult to anticipate; however, the communications focus should not be placed on specific problems that have a low probability of materializing but to have broad and general preparations in place to address unanticipated concerns as they arise.

Hendrix and Hayes (2010) provides an emergency checklist that organizations could adopt to better prepare to respond rapidly to a crisis. Analyzing the Pennsylvania State University response in retrospect by applying the concepts within this checklist will show how poorly prepared the administration was in responding to this crisis. What is glaring in the analysis is that the administration was on the defensive throughout the entire crisis. It seems that they were either unwilling or unable to get in front of the story. Hendrix and Hayes, as well as Coombs (2012) recommends utilizing a central resource as a clearinghouse to disseminate information to and from external publics. This communications center could also serve as an incident knowledge-base for those internal publics requiring more information. Further, preparation, again, is explicitly stated and is a requirement to quickly respond to media inquiries within the hour recommended. Although it is unclear if Pennsylvania State University incorporated a public information center, it was clearly not effective if it was, indeed, instituted.

Another issue that was contentious throughout the crisis and gave the appearance of a cover-up was the lack of full disclosure on the part of the university. It is understandable that the administration might have been caught off guard; however, this is no excuse to appear defensive and largely silent.

The Pennsylvania State University administration later contracted with a public relations firm to restore the reputation of the university. This should have been done much earlier.

References

Coombs, W. T. (2012). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning managing, and responding (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Fearn-Banks, K. (2011). Crisis communications: a casebook approach (4th ed). New York, NY: Routledge.

Garcia, T. (2011, November 9). Paterno announces retirement, says Penn State has bigger issues to address. PRNewser. Retrieved from http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/paterno-announces-retirement-says-penn-state-has-bigger-issues-to-address_b29902

Hendrix, J. A. & Hayes, D. C. (2010). Public relations cases (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Officials seeking alleged abuse victims. (2011, November 9). ESPN.com. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7203566/penn-state-nittany-lions-sex-abuse-case-officials-arraigned-police-seek-alleged-assault-victim

Sandusky, Penn State case timeline. (2011, November 9). ESPN.com. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7212054/key-dates-penn-state-sex-abuse-case

Sauer, A. (2011, December 1). Penn State bogs down in PR crisis, but a turnaround already showing. brandchannel. Retrieved from http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/ 12/01/Penn-State-Bogs-Down-In-PR-Crisis-120111.aspx

Shade, M. (2011, December 1). Penn State officials say applications up despite scandal. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/01/us-crime-coach-students-idUSTRE7B00GD20111201

Singer, J. (2011, December 7). The Penn State scandal: crisis as opportunity. The Business of College Sports. Retrieved from http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/12/07/the-penn-state-scandal-crisis-as-opportunity/

Sudhaman, A. & Holmes, P. (2012, January 25). The top 10 crises Of 2011. The Holmes Report. Retrieved from http://www.holmesreport.com/featurestories-info/11377/The-Top-10-Crises-Of-2011.aspx

Trivitt, K. & Yann A. (2011, November 9). Public relations won’t fix Penn State’s crisis. PRSay. Retrieved from http://prsay.prsa.org/index.php/2011/11/09/public-relations-wont-fix-penn-states-crisis/

Zinser, L. (2011, November 9). Memo to Penn State: Ignoring a scandal doesn’t make it go away. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/sports/penn-state-fails-a-public-relations-test-leading-off.html?_r=1&ref=sports

Academia, Emergency Management, Politics, Society, Technology

The Arby’s Public Relations Failure

Using Research in Planning

Hendrix and Hayes (2010) outlines the typical course of public relations using effective means to address the concerns of all stakeholders while promoting the course as the best option. This is only effective, however, if the course is actually the best option. This is where research becomes important. Public relations depends on research to get a true sense of the stakeholder when considering marketing decisions and how the stakeholder might be affected. This research can be useful in both determining the course of action necessary to move forward and to communicate these decisions to the stakeholder in a manner most effective. Without this research to guide decision-making, a company can easily upset an important segment of stakeholders while intending to be portrayed in a very different light.

The Importance of Social Media

Social media outlets (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, et al.) provide a rapid means of communicating with stakeholders. Social media is a useful tool for public relations practitioners to use when addressing concerns of or making assurances to stakeholders (Coombs, 2012; Fearn-Banks, 2011; Hendrix & Hayes, 2010). Lynn Kettleson and Jonathan Bernstein (as cited in Horovitz, 2012), both crisis managers, recommend using social media to quickly assess the public conversation, contribute to the conversation by providing factual and compassionate reassurance, and most importantly, put a corporate face on the response by having a senior executive respond to provide a sense of responsibility to the stakeholders.

Arby’s Social Media Failure

On April 4, 2012, the corporate Twitter account was used to respond to another Twitter account recommending that Arby’s stop advertising on the Rush Limbagh radio show (@Arby’s, 2012). Although Arby’s did not currently advertise on the aforementioned radio show, the response indicated that efforts to “discontinue advertising during this show as soon as possible” are being undertaken. The controversy, however, began when customers replied with their concerns via Twitter. According to The Blaze (Adams, 2012a, 2012b) and Forbes (Walker, 2012), instead of making a public statement regarding the controversy or even addressing the concerns of their customers on Twitter, the customers who complained to the Twitter account were summarily blocked. Walker (2012) decries this action as pathetic, stating “any major corporation […] needs to be able to accept and listen to criticism from customers [….] but using a coercive measure like blocking flies in the face of everything the social media space is supposed to be about” (para. 1).

Just as quickly and quietly as the Twitter accounts of those customers were blocked, they were unblocked (Adams, 2012b). This decision was, again, met with disdain as the company failed to apologize or address the issue publicly.

Arby’s Fails Again

On the heels of the Rush Limbaugh and Twitter controversies, Arby’s, again, finds itself in the midst of a public relations crisis. A month later, A USA Today article (Horovitz, 2012) describes a Michigan teen finding the fingertip of an employee in a sandwich ordered at Arby’s. Though the response from an Arby’s spokesperson was public and included an apology to the teen, it was criticized as being inadequate and potentially harmful to its already damaged reputation. Horovitz (2012) states that no mention of the incident was made on the corporate website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Discussion

The directions of this assignment were to find an incident that was significant or complex enough to require involvement from senior management and, although in both incidents senior management failed to respond publicly and comprehensively, I feel that these two cases did, in fact, require senior management involvement. A rapid response by the public relations team could have addressed the concerns of the company’s apparent political actions towards Rush Limbaugh and reinforce commitments to the customer to provide good and fresh food.

The second controversy could have been addressed quickly by using social media outlets to assure customers that, although food preparation can result in minor accidents for employees, these problems are unusual and every possible step is being taken to ensure the safety of the employees and the safety of the food being served. This would also provide an opportunity to further the corporate image as a caring and compassionate company that understands the importance of a trusting relationship with the customer.

As stated in the opening of this paper, research is important to any public relations program. Tools, such as the survey provided in the appendix, are useful in determining the needs and desires of the various subgroups and demographics of the corporate stakeholders. The data provided by these types of tools can provide direction to future public relations efforts.

References

@Arby’s. (2012, April 4). Response to @StopRush [Twitter post]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/#!/Arbys

Adams, B. (2012a, April 6). Arby’s responds to annoyed Limbaugh fans by blocking them on Twitter. The Blaze. Retrieved from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/arbys-blocks-twitter-accounts-of-customers-upset-over-limbaugh-announcement/

Adams, B. (2012b, April 9). Backpedal: Arby’s immediately regrets its decision to block customers on Twitter. The Blaze. Retrieved from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/back-peddle-arbys-immediately-regrets-decision-to-block-customers-on-twitter-not-ready/

Coombs, W. T. (2012). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning managing, and responding (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Fearn-Banks, K. (2011). Crisis communications: a casebook approach (4th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Hendrix, J. A. & Hayes, D. C. (2010). Public relations cases (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Horovitz, B. (2012, May 17). Finger incident places Arby’s reputation in jeopardy. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2012-05-17/arbys-finger-crisis/55046620/1

Walker, T. J. (2012, April 15). Arby’s makes social media blunder. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjwalker/2012/04/15/arbys-makes-social-media-blunder/

Appendix

Sample customer survey.

1. How often do you eat out at restaurants?

a) very infrequently (less than once per year)

b) annually

c) monthly

d) weekly

e) very frequently (more than once per week)

2. How often do you visit an Arby’s restaurant?

a) very infrequently (less than once per year)

b) annually

c) monthly

d) weekly

e) very frequently (more than once per week)

3. Do you prefer to receive offers from your favorite restaurants?

a) yes

b) no

4. How do you prefer to communicate on the internet (check all that apply)?

a) email

b) websites

c) social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

d) text messaging

e) other: _____________________________

5. In the past year, have you provided a compliment, complaint, or suggestion to any of your favorite restaurants using the internet?

a) yes

b) no

6. How often do you visit the websites of your favorite restaurants?

a) very infrequently (less than once per year)

b) annually

c) monthly

d) weekly

e) very frequently (more than once per week)

7. Do you feel that restaurants can provide meaningful communication to customers using the internet?

a) yes

b) no

8. Are you more likely to visit a restaurant if it was more accessible on the internet?

a) yes

b) no

9. What is most important to you?

a) quality of food

b) price of food

10. Is corporate responsibility to the community and environment important to you?

a) yes

b) no