Crisis communicators have a reputation in the wider media as smooth operators – highly professional individuals that are able to think on their feet and provide damage limiting sound bites totally of the cuff. They conjure images of oases of calm in a sea of company HQ chaos, quietly administering instructions to press officers desperate for an answer for the attack dog journalists baying for blood through their BlackBerrys.
But do these mythical individuals really exist? Is this method of ‘damage limitation’ by one divine
individual really effective? Unfortunately not – boringly, effective crisis communications requires careful planning, honest internal communication, and a consistent message.
Take for instance Vodafone’s recent mishandling of the tax avoidance protests – the companies high profile stores were picketed by protestors angered at the companies reported unpaid tax bill of £6 billion.. Although these protests were undoubtedly executed by media savvy communicators, the titan UK brand was left looking amateur at best. When asked about the companies response to the protests, Bobby Leach, Group Communication Chief said “You have an uphill battle if you take a proactive stance, with the risk of it becoming very high-profile if you do. Then you run the risk of making yourself more of a target.” With the speed and viral nature of the online sphere this is a dangerous game to play, withmock up’s of the Vodafone brandalready doing the rounds in social media.
Crisis communications is not easy, and a company can never prepare for every eventuality. But if the world’s largest mobile communications company can be found lacking, what hope do the rest of us have?
