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April 16, 2009
Crisis 101: now measured in minutes
The AmazonFAIL and Dominos word-of-mouth crises spread globally in hours because of Twitter. The net effect on Amazon is the loss of some hard-earned goodwill. The net effect on Domino's may be more significant. (Update: Survey results indicate some damage.)
If these two experiences teach CMOs and agencies anything it's that your crisis communication plan should include responding within minutes on Twitter, if even to say "Yes, we're aware of the situation." That won't necessarily neutralize a bad situation, but it will demonstrate a company that's keeping up with the times. When opinions are being influenced by digital-driven word of mouth, that's worth a lot.
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This is why brand managers are in vogue. You need someone constantly monitoring and assessing your brand and interacting with customers. This may even eventually become a c-level department. Who knows? But Domino's and Amazon have a lot to think about now.
This is a wake-up call to PR and executives that social media is more than blogger outreach and putting up a blog to regurgitate press releases. A quick, intelligent, personal response can have an enormous effect. Companies have now been learning this lesson for years. Remember Kriptonite and the bike lock that could be picked with a ball point pen? Walmart and its flog? The scenarios can be discussed up front, an escalation process put in place, and a plan defined for how responses will occur and by whom. Waiting until you have all of the answers in place is a mistake. Get out early and often.
I totally agree on the quick response idea, Ben, even if it is just to let everyone know that more information is coming. I just posted the same sentiment in your Hero's Journey post.
Wow, after all that we have learned through other pr fumbles it is hard to believe that a company's first response it not to talk directly with the public. Today it is so very easy for a company to respond (or even better to begin a dialogue) when something has not gone according to plan.
We all know that no company or person is flawless and just a "We're sorry and we are working on it!" would go soooo far.
Thank you for quick and up-to-date synopsis.
Sandy@catalystranch.com
Thanks for this sharing of your thoughts on our crisis last week. The Corporation and all of us did get hit hard by this. The good thing is the entire world has learned from this. Many people and Corporations have looked at themselves in the mirror over this. My handling of this was unique because I was already deeply involved in Social Media and my Twitter alerts brought me to the issue on Monday. Beth Harte wrote about me and my efforts in her blog.
http://www.theharteofmarketing.com/2009/04/chicago-dominos-gets-social-media-right.html
Thanks Again!
@DPZRAMON
The need for responsiveness is something that so many companies are lagging on. Tools like twitter are great for the masses, but you can use IM's for more personal communications.
