Coming back from a brand disaster can be tricky, but there are some things you can do to stop that giant snowball from rolling down the hill once it’s started.
Whether you are a big business or a small one, local or international, the rules for managing negative brand reputation are the same. Here are 5 tips to help you protect your brand if disaster ever strikes by Sarah Hawes of Izzy PR.
Face the music
Don’t shy away from a situation. When something happens, you’ll be in a panic, with thoughts flying about all over the place, so you need to step back, gather the facts and think carefully about what you are going to say – for reputational reasons and liability too.
You need to get the facts and ensure you are consistent and informed. Ask everyone involved so that you know every detail – small errors can trip you up massively later on, once again undermining your intentions and credibility.
Be honest and transparent
Hold your hands up – if something’s gone wrong, admit it. Even if you don’t know why it’s gone wrong, admit that something has gone wrong and advise what you’re doing next…investigating, fixing, contacting customers, fixing etc.
If you have media asking for responses, the worst thing you can do is to ignore them or bat them off.
Engage with them – find out what they know and what they want to know. You will look much better for it to your customers, partners and stakeholders.
It might be that you can only give them sketchy details at first, but give them something, then let them know when to come back for more.
In the industry, we call it ‘feeding the beast’ – if you help them, they are less likely to go looking and surprise you with information or a publish a story that you don’t know is coming.
Apologise
If something has gone wrong that has impacted others, say sorry.
Don’t go on the defensive or look for blame.
Your first statement should include that you’re sorry, literally, hands up in the air and that you’re co-operating to find out what’s happened and will comment further when you can.
Saying sorry isn’t admitting liability – you’re sorry for the situation and understand the impact on them.
Act fast
The faster you deal with a bad reputation crisis, the better your chances are, of getting on top of it – or even ahead of it.
Still be careful and cautious, but make sure you are punctual – if something has gone wrong, the worst thing you can do is look like you have better things to do that deal with it.
Choose your words wisely
When a crisis happens, you need to think about what you say, who you say it to and when you say it.Don’t just blurt everything out – you might be opening another can of worms! Give the media or your stakeholders, the information they are asking for – in the early hours and days, they will want clarity – what’s happened, why and what you’re doing about it.
Be helpful, but not too over-helpful, because you want to contain the story, not give it legs to turn into another one. Taking some outside help from a communications crisis specialist is very much advised, because they come to the situation with fresh eyes, no attachment and can take the emotion out of it. They won’t panic. They will also be well-versed in what to say, how and when.
