In the aftermath of a recent oyster contamination which caused a major outbreak of gastroenteritis, Brand Tasmania hosted a workshop to help local food and beverage producers protect their brand reputation.
Michael Lester, a director of M&M Communications who consults to the food industry, was among the presenters. He told attendees that food companies facing these types of crises tend to have the following things in common:
1. They often have risk management plans, but no crisis communication plan
According to Lester, every food company conducts a risk audit but many don’t take the next step and ask themselves how to communicate with stakeholders and the public in a crisis.
“Companies will spend their money on insurance and lawyers, but they don’t think they have to spend their money on a good communication plan to get the message out,” he says.
2. They don’t have a relationship with communications specialists and waste precious time engaging and briefing
Lester says companies don’t need to have a public relations firm on a retainer, but they should at least meet up with one, set up a relationship, and get to know them and let them get to know the business.
“You could also involve them in outlining a communication strategy,” he says. “That might include creating template media releases.”
3. They often haven’t identified key messages and key spokespersons
Companies need to identify ahead of time who will be the spokesperson, according to Lester. Key messages should also be identified at this time and these should include a sincere apology, an outline of the actions being taken by the company, and reassurance that things are under control.
Companies should also create a protocol for informing the media, and they should also decide ahead of time who’s going to write and approve the media releases. Lester says thanks to social media, companies these days need to respond in hours if not sooner, in the event of a crisis.
4. They often want to run and hide
It’s a natural reaction not to want to talk to the media, Lester says, but this will make things worse. You have to front up, he says, because if you don’t, someone else will. “The media hates a vacuum. If you don’t say anything they’ll get someone else to say it.”
5. After initially responding, they want to “leave it and see if it goes away”
Once the crisis is behind them and everything is back on track, many companies don’t want to bring up the past, but they do need to reconstruct their brand after a spate of bad publicity with the help of a professional.
“Once the crisis is over, there will still be a lingering doubt in people’s minds about the quality of your product, so the next step is to do a follow-up campaign to rebuild confidence in your brand,” Lester says.
