Crisis Management And The Importance Of It’s Aspects
Crisis communication and crisis management are two essential aspects of public relations. A crisis is almost inevitable to most companies. Episode 32 of The PR Podcast by Jodi Fisher with guest speaker Molly McPherson discusses a lot of different aspects of managing a crisis and the some of the steps for before, during, and after a crisis. McPherson defined a crises as “when your reputation is no longer in control” (Fisher, McPherson, 2021, 10:25)
Forbes published an article titled the “13 Golden Rules Of PR Crisis Management” which discusses the main rules for a company handling a crisis. There are many tactics used to try and smoothly, efficiently and effectively handle a crisis. One of the tactics I found to be the most important is “Be Prepared”. Being able to anticipate potential crisis’ and create internal protocols for handling them before they happen is extremely important (Forbes Agency Council, 2022). Being prepared for a crisis can include keeping in touch with key stakeholders to help get an idea of potential risks, as well as communicating with customers and analyzing the feedback they are giving your company (determ, 2024).
Another aspect of preparing for a crisis is establishing a team specifically trained for these type of situations. This includes assigning specific roles to team members, regularly rehearsing with the crisis management team, and establishing who will be part of the Contact Information Center (Moore, 2024, Managing Issues and Crises). Team members and leaders in this positon should be able to express empathy to those impacted by the crisis on top of being able to promote cooperation and gather feedback (Moore, 2024, Managing Issues and Crises).
Molly McPherson offered some advice that I thought was super insightful about handling a crisis.
“I think if you shore up your mission, your values, your leadership communications. If you have leadership on board, if you have your board on board,if you have all the communication tools that you need, you are prepared for a crisis in my opinion. Because even if it happens to you, you’re going to have all the resources you need. You have trust. You have your resources. And you have your staff. Then you’ll get through it” (Fisher, McPherson, 2021, 14:20).
Essential: Preparedness And Communication
One organization who used the tactic “Be Prepared” is PepsiCo, Inc. PepsiCo, Inc. had to deal with a syringe hoax in 1993 where consumers where finding foreign objects, such as syringes, in cans of Diet Pepsi (Holmes,1993). The first case of a syringe found in one of the cans was reported by an elderly couple from Tacoma, Washington. They had allegedly found the syringe in the can of Diet Pepsi after they had left it out overnight. They proceeded to call their lawyer who in turn notified local health officials, press, and police which is the initial cause of the news starting to spread (Holmes,1993). More cases followed shortly after which included foreign bodies such as two pins, a sewing needle, a loose screw, a crack vial, a bullet, and unknown brown goo (Holmes, 1993).
PepsiCo, Inc. quickly become aware of the severity of the issue and took action as soon as possible. The company pulled together a team of 12 company executives. These executives where the center of the crisis team until the problem was resolved (Holmes, 1993). Being prepared to pull this team together and have the executives in mind they were going to use was extremely beneficial to the company.
Very quickly, the companies president at the time, Craig Weatherup, was in TV newsrooms explaining in detail with multiple resources the actual logistics of the production process and how it was essentially impossible for a foreign object to find its way into a can during the manufacturing (Holmes, 1993). PepsiCo, Inc. was adamant that the foreign objects were placed after purchased and opened. FDA Commissioner David Kessler also quickly partnered with the company in their defense to further explain how unlikely this situation was (Holmes, 1993).
PepsiCo, Inc. quickly created their team, maintained transparency, and frequently updated the public which was essential to the success of their crisis management. The company thankfully had heat taken off of them when a surveillance camera from a supermarket caught a woman insetting a syringe into a can of Diet Pepsi. Multiple arrests came from filing false reports of tampering and PepsiCo, Inc. stood by their claim that it wasn’t possibly their fault (Holmes, 1993).
All of the tactics used by the company, especially the preparedness of the PR team and company as a whole was essential to saving the reputation of PepsiCo, Inc. and managing the crisis in the best way possible. In my opinion, the tactic “Be Prepared” is the most important and so essential for companies in their crisis management plans.
Key Words/Tags
Crisis, management, preparedness, communication
References
Council, F. A. (2017, June 20). 13 Golden Rules Of PR Crisis Management. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/06/20/13-golden-rules-of-pr-crisis-management/#791714d21bcf
Determ. (2024, October 7). 9 Vital Steps of Crisis Communication for Successful Outcome. Determ. https://determ.com/blog/steps-of-crisis-communication/
Fisher, J. (2015). 32. Crisis Communications with Molly McPherson, Author of “Indestructible” by The PR Podcast. Spotify for Creators. https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/theprpodcast/episodes/32–Crisis-Communications-with-Molly-McPherson–Author-of-Indestructible-e10g938/a-a5gi1f9
Holmes, P. (1993, July 6). How the Pepsi Syringe Hoax Fizzled (1993). Www.provokemedia.com. https://www.provokemedia.com/latest/article/how-the-pepsi-syringe-hoax-fizzled-(1993)
Moore, J. (2024). OU Sign In. Ou.edu. https://canvas.ou.edu/courses/355766/files/112062231?module_item_id=6982831