Page 203 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

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1 184 Crisis Communication
public perception liability they’ve created or the long-term opportu-
nity this offers for interest in advocacy groups.
Companies may try to recover from a crisis by setting up an educa-
tion programme, or posting educational information on their site. Yet
the issue will remain in the public view, and will likely morph and
expand because that’s how interest groups keep the issue and their
agenda current.
These interest groups are just doing in their own communication
and advocacy what corporations often do in their own marketing – re-
inventing themselves. Companies revise their product or service, they
modify and re-launch their product to meet changing market condi-
tions, all in an attempt to keep their product relevant and interesting
to customers. Interest groups do the same thing by charting social and
policy changes, responding with a new issue and agenda and reinvigo-
rating their outreach communication to keep the crisis and issue in
front of the public and policy makers.
Public relations practitioners face the unpopular task of reminding
their management that crises linger and change. Monitoring and con-
stantly reassessing these issues, and assigning valuable corporate
resources to the problem, is the cost of remaining vigilant.

Confusing facts with perception

‘If they could just understand the facts.’

How often do we hear, ‘If we could just make these people understand
they’d see how wrong they are’? In the business world we work with
facts, but in the sphere of public affairs we deal with perceptions.
Business people make their living from presenting information and
persuading people to their point of view. They use facts and figures,
research and data, testimonials from satisfied customers, all to con-
vince colleagues, partners and customers that their position is right.
Yet when faced with crisis-laden video pictures, blogs gone wild,
interest groups presenting their information (or disinformation)
across new media, companies don’t know how to respond. They issue
releases and fact sheets while the other side is delivering sound bites
and emotional videos.
Facts are important, but companies need to speak in human terms,
understanding the emotion of the issues, not just the facts. Find
people to tell your story, get executives out of their offices and in front
of their stakeholders. Speak in terms that say, ‘We understand’, and