Page 85 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

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6 66 Crisis Communication

When fire strikes – twice

Jim Walsh

Many companies and organizations manage to exist without
suffering from a crisis that disrupts their business. Many others
suffer one crisis in their lifetime. Rarely do organizations feel the
effects of two similar crises in a short space of time.
Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol come to mind. The two crises
that struck Johnson & Johnson within a few years of each other
have been well documented. They are held up as an excellent
example of how to manage a crisis and how to not just protect,
but enhance, the organization’s reputation.
Irish supermarket chain Superquinn also faced two similar
crises within two years in the mid-1980s and although the busi-
ness was severely disrupted on both occasions the company’s
reputation did not suffer. In fact the business – which was
family-owned at the time – went on to expand and last year the
Quinn family sold the business for v450 million. The way
Superquinn handled both crises is an excellent example of how
proper communication and a desire to place the welfare of cus-
tomers and staff in the forefront of its action programme paid
dividends.
The first crisis struck in September 1985. On a Sunday
evening fire broke out in the Superquinn store in
Blanchardstown, a new and growing suburb of the capital city,
Dublin. Blanchardstown was targeted as one of the new satellite
towns being built on the outskirts of the city. It was therefore a
centre of fierce competition for the grocery retail trade.
Apart from Superquinn there was also a Quinnsworth Store
(now Tesco) close by and a Dunnes Store in the area.
Quinnsworth and Dunnes were the clear market leaders in the
retail grocery sectors. Between them they had almost half of the
national trade in the sector. Superquinn on the other hand had
only a handful of stores concentrated in the Dublin area. In
order to compete with its larger rivals it had set out its stall as a
provider of quality fresh food and a reputation for innovative
customer service.
It was the first grocery chain in Ireland to establish customer
focus groups, the first to provide in-house offerings in fresh meat
and bakery, the first to provide child-minding playrooms, the
first to provide umbrellas for customers when it rained and the
first to remove confectionery from beside checkouts in response