How to face the public relations crisis

Once a crisis arises, the enterprise should first understand that speed is equal to everything, every department, every partner to follow the crisis and act, pulling one hair to move the whole body is one of the first conditions to solve the crisis. If the enterprise in time to lose control of the handling of the crisis, then the impact of the crisis will be with all the public speculation as well as the media coverage of the push and pull and out of control. Therefore, in the shortest possible time after a crisis occurs, a company must focus all the resources it can utilize to resolve the crisis. Many companies in the crisis management system are stipulated in the crisis after the occurrence of a special spokesman for the candidate and the latest news release time, the requirements of the crisis occurred in the media speculation immediately before the public informed of the current situation and the progress of the treatment, and to the public commitment to quickly resolve the crisis. The public must be able to learn about the handling of the incident directly from the company and not from the news media.

The development of any crisis consists of four periods: the sudden, the spreading, the outbreak, and the decline. It is often less costly and more effective to take action to contain a crisis during the initial outbreak and diffusion phases. Once it reaches the outbreak period, the situation will be very difficult to manage.

As the crisis progresses, it gets out of control in time, and as the crisis progresses, a variety of unpredictable factors increase, usually a leaky house, and even an event not originally related to the crisis is perceived by the public as the cause of the crisis. Once the crisis breaks out, it will often attract the attention of the public and the news media, at this time, if the organization can not quickly find out the truth, or the normal channels of communication are not good, no one can come out to release the information, it will cause a crisis in the communication of the information vacuum, the public will use the imagination to fill all the questions, will certainly give birth to a variety of "gossip". The public will fill all the questions with imagination, and all kinds of "gossip" will be born. Soon, the information vacuum will be occupied by rumors of black and white and nonsense. Especially in the case of food and health care products, rumors may bring people's fear, and fear brings about a feeling of maladjustment, which is suspected to be caused by the product, which in turn leads to the spread of another kind of rumor. At the same time, due to the time delay will allow the public to appear to question the integrity of the company, resulting in irreversible effects.

On June 27, 2000, the Japanese company Snow Seal Dairy, a reputable and reliable company in the industry, suffered food poisoning from drinkers of its low-fat milk. It was not until two days after the incident that Snow Print publicly acknowledged this fact, and it was not until almost a month after the incident that Snow Print apologized to the public in the form of a full-page advertisement in the newspaper, and the public thought that it lacked sincerity because of the inconsistency in the reasons for the problem. Snow Print Japan due to the crisis management is not fast enough, product recall and information disclosure is too slow, the countermeasures are not favorable, two weeks of shutdown caused by the direct loss of 11 billion yen, and indirect losses is the Snow Print brand damage is so serious that, according to experts, to restore the original credibility of the time required 10 years.

So how do companies take advantage of the speed? In general, in the moment of crisis enterprises need to take the following measures:

1. In the first time, inform the professional crisis public relations company, the power of the public relations company to carry out the control of the crisis;

2. In the first time, inform the enterprise's staff, a unified tone, to avoid the enterprise staff in the face of interviews do not know what to do;

3. Organize the departments involved in the crisis to take rapid measures to investigate the truth of the incident, the spokesman released the measures taken by the company to appease the public, the organization of lawyers to deal with the victims of the incident;

4. In the first place, the truth to inform the government departments or the relevant authorities, to build up the confidence of the public;

5. In the first place, to guide the media, so that the media along the benign direction for the The crisis is reported.

Two, various treatment attitude analysis

Through the above means, the crisis can be initially controlled in time, which is the first measure to be taken at the moment of any crisis. However, many enterprises in China do not know how to deal with crisis public relations, they are usually at a loss for words, these enterprises face the crisis mentality is usually: the fluke mentality, ostrich policy, shirking responsibility, concealment of the facts, these wrong attitudes not only do not help to solve the crisis, but also will cause a more serious crisis.

Because the crisis state not only leads to market order imbalance, but also brings people's psychological pressure, psychological tension and even psychological crisis. At this time, people lack a sense of security, lack of interpersonal trust, group consciousness is very easy to show the state of hyper-emotional, the public critical ability to decline, the degree of mutual influence and infection increased. At this time, if the normal information communication channels are not smooth, rumors have become a way for people to disseminate information and express their will.

More critically, rumors tend to breed in a closed environment. In the information society where freedom of speech is guaranteed and information activities are diversified, rumors are losing their survival environment. Sibutani from the sociological point of view that: the occurrence and disappearance of rumors and information dissemination channels have a close relationship. When people's demand for information is greater than the supply of information through institutional channels, or when information essential to the adaptation of the environment cannot be obtained in time, that is, when people's information needs are not adequately met, rumors are prone to occur. Once the balance between information supply and demand is restored, rumors will naturally disappear.

Interpersonal communication is the most important channel for the spread of rumors. However, the spread of rumors can not find a specific, clear communicator, so it is "through the interpersonal channels of non-professional oral communication".

The most effective way to prevent rumors is to keep them from arising. In today's world of mass communication, it is not difficult to do this. That is, the event that may produce rumors, in advance through the authoritative, normal channels of mass communication, comprehensive and objective reporting of the truth. Easy in theory, not so easy in practice.

It is easy to create rumors and quite difficult to dispel them. Because even if people don't believe rumors, they are still affected by them. Conversely, people can be influenced by the opposite of dispelling rumors, even if they believe them to be true. All actions to dispel rumors actually have two kinds of propagation: one is to make those who have not heard the rumors aware of them, and the other is to try to influence those who already know the rumors. This invariably creates a paradox: disinformation is first and foremost a form of rumor-mongering, one that has a wider impact. After the public is informed of the content of the rumor, for those who knew the rumor originally, the first step is to deepen the impression of the rumor before considering the effect of the rumor; for those who did not know the rumor originally, the first step is to be informed of the content of the rumor before considering the content of the rumor. Because of the fear of rumors to further expand, so our companies will take such as shirking responsibility, hiding the facts and other "public relations means", to do so will directly result in information blockage, making the public mood further up, a variety of speculative rumors, with the development of corporate integrity is also a serious loss.

Crisis is generally characterized by four ****:

First, the public and the media are strongly concerned. If this thing has not yet attracted public and media attention, although it happened, but not a crisis, just an event.

Second, the public is very emotional after a crisis breaks out. This is because the public tends to get its news from the media, and the public trusts the media much more than it trusts companies.

Third, there is a presumption of guilt.

Fourth, if not handled properly, a crisis can be intensely and profoundly damaging to credibility and brand. No matter how big the crisis is, it will pass, but it will leave a stain on the company or government's history that can never be erased.

Based on the characteristics of the crisis ****, we can take a look at a variety of wrong mentality on the hazards of crisis management:

1. The harm of the fluke mentality - the fluke mentality usually refers to peers or competitors have a crisis event, but because of the time or regional reasons, is not a crisis of the enterprise, at this time Enterprises will think that the crisis has nothing to do with them, and thus allow the development of the situation.

Case in point: Fenjiu, as a famous liquor brand in China, is also a typical representative of China's clear-flavored liquor, which was in the leading position in the liquor industry in the early 1990s and even for a long period of time before that. From the earliest folklore about Fenjiu, to the famous Tang poem "A shepherd boy points to the apricot blossom village", to the inscriptions and messages from many national leaders and literati after the founding of the country, its unique cultural connotation has formed the charm of the Fenjiu brand. Back in the last 10 years, Fenjiu was one of the eight most famous wines in China, on a par with Moutai in terms of branding, and ahead of Wuliangye in terms of sales volume. But since the Shanxi fake wine case, FenJiu has been in decline, not only the sales can not be the same, in the price and Wuliangye difference of more than 200 yuan.

The fake wine case originally had nothing to do with FenJiu, but unfortunately, it was in the same place, and later found out the "fake FenJiu". If it is only in the same place, after all, the "fake wine" is not FenJiu, the drinker can also feel at ease. Once the "fake FenJiu" was found out, it blew up. Consumers don't know that this "fake FenJiu" is not a "fake wine", but they know that "fake FenJiu "The company's website has been updated with the latest information about the company's products and services, as well as the latest information about the company's products and services.

When the fake wine incident happened in Shuozhou, Shanxi, FenJiu thought it had nothing to do with itself and didn't take any action; when it found out the "fake FenJiu", it started to be anxious, began to denounce the counterfeiting and counterfeiters, and began to ask for the strengthening of the legal system - but the anxiety is for its own sake, not for its own. But this kind of urgency is for their own urgency, not urgent consumer urgency, so consumers will not appreciate, will not feel FenJiu is how great a business.

Gujinggong is a bit smarter, the chairman of the board of directors took advantage of the fake wine incident, published an open letter in the newspaper, pointing out that China's liquor industry should be in the form of legislation to put an end to counterfeiting of this unhealthy wind, and said that the families of victims of the fake wine incident will donate 200,000 yuan of pension, while cautioning consumers to be cautious in the purchase of liquor. This move has caused a large reaction, major newspapers have reprinted the letter of the chairman of the Gu Jing Gong Group, 3-15 special program also conducted an interview with the chairman. Obviously, after such corporate behavior, even if fake Gu Jinggong liquor is found on the market, people will have more sympathy than resistance.

If Fenjiu treats the victims as its own consumers, then why not pay attention to the poisoning of "its own people"? This is a sign of indifference to corporate image and irresponsibility to consumers. Many enterprises in China are basically more gloating than taking responsibility, when the "fake wine" after drinking people to death, under the role of fluke, the first thing that comes to mind is to shirk the responsibility, and hasten to tell everyone that the wine is not my family's. Then who will be responsible? Then, who will be responsible? The answer is: the legal system - human life is at stake, the legal system needs time to improve, this is how irresponsible attitude!

No doubt, Shanxi Fenjiu in dealing with the "fake wine case" attitude on the existence of a fluke - as long as the matter is not their own, they will hang high. However, this kind of fluke mentality not only did not help FenJiu to survive the crisis, but also made the company passive when it found out the fake FenJiu later, until it was ruined later. When many people mentioned FenJiu, they thought that it was the fake wine that harmed such a company. If a company can't even survive the crisis of "counterfeiting", then it is hard to imagine that it can survive the other 11 kinds of crises mentioned before. So even if Fenjiu survived the fake wine crisis, it's hard to predict whether other crises will drag the company down.

In the "hollow milk powder" incident, many regular domestic milk powder manufacturers are also adopting a "fluke" mentality, thinking that it's someone else's product that has problems, and it has nothing to do with them. In fact, after the "hollow milk powder" incident, consumer confidence in the domestic milk powder is bound to be a serious setback, for those who are not well-known brand is bound to cause a serious blow.

2. The danger of the ostrich policy - many companies, in the moment of crisis always think of how to avoid the media interviews, this is the ostrich policy. A dodge, do not face the facts, and do not cooperate with the media to channel public opinion, such a practice is obviously not helpful to the resolution of the crisis.

In the face of the crisis, enterprises must not imitate the ostrich with its head buried in the sand, even if it avoids the problem for a while, but it may be for the greater harm sown the seeds. Like the ostrich as an evasive attitude, casually bury their heads in the sand, unaware of their own great ass is exposed outside. Unilateral avoidance does not prevent the public from being eager to learn about the crisis, and in the absence of adequate information feedback, the public will angrily resist such behavior.

Case in point: Nestlé is a very competitive company, in addition to coffee, its dairy products also have a high market share in the world. 1977, a famous "boycott of Nestlé products" movement suddenly broke out in the United States, members of the American Dairy Action Federation went around to persuade U.S. citizens not to buy "Nestlé" products, and the American Dairy Action Federation members to persuade the U.S. citizens not to buy "Nestlé" products. Nestlé products. The boycott was based on the belief that Nestlé had intentionally ignored the nutritional deficiencies of artificial dairy products and misled consumers for the sake of its own profits. This boycott movement perpetuated the Nestlé baby formula crisis for more than a decade. Nestle USA has been suffering huge financial losses during the decade of the boycott.

When attention first began to be drawn to the problem of infant malnutrition caused by the formula, Nestlé failed to properly address the critical suggestions of social activists and even adopted an indifferent attitude toward the serious moral issues raised by some church leaders. The public felt that their legitimate demands were being ignored and thus became doubly hostile to Nestlé. It was not until January 1984, when Nestlé recognized and enforced the World Health Organization's international regulations on the distribution of breast-milk substitutes, that the International Committee for the Campaign to Boycott Nestlé Products (ICBNC) ended its activities.

In the beginning, Nestlé adopted an "ostrich policy" and ignored the public's demands, which led to a massive boycott. With Nestle's influence and corporate strength, the company was able to overcome the difficulties, but it also paid a heavy price for it. Such an incident occurred in the country has become the "hollow milk powder" incident, which is a more serious "malnutrition" phenomenon, obviously, the domestic enterprises in the face of this problem when the situation is much more complex.

3. The danger of shirking responsibility - in the case where companies believe that the media and the public are unaware of the incident, some companies will hold the attitude of shirking responsibility, thinking that no one knows anyway. This mentality is wrong, paper can't hold fire after all, shirking responsibility may be effective for short-term business, in the long run, things will eventually be exposed, and the enterprise not only lost trust in consumers, but also lost trust in the media.

Case: In 2003, rumors of "Fuji smuggling and Fuji Xerox smuggling" were circulating in the community, and then the news about "Fuji smuggling" was constantly being exposed by the media, and the focus of the problem was more concentrated on the Zhuhai Zhenke. Fuji has been answered with silence, only a "nothing to do with their own" statement shows that it has to escape the Chinese media and public opinion supervision, trying to muddle through the intention. In media relations, Fuji is more "righteous", trying to make the media yield.

Fuji "smuggling" scandal was criticized by peers. Kodak's global vice president Ye Ying declared: Kodak on the Zhuhai real section of the "gray behavior" has long been heard of, Zhuhai real section of the previous "irregularities in the operation" hurt Kodak. Lucky also expressed "extremely dissatisfied" with the mood, and has long been collected about the real branch of the "violation of information", reported to the State Economic and Trade Commission. "In our opinion, Fuji and China-Hong Kong Photo were originally one and the same." "China and Hong Kong photo involved in smuggling, Fuji can not be exonerated!" Fuji became a target.

As for Fuji's alleged smuggling incident, Fuji (China) deputy general manager Masashi Koizumi claimed: "Both Fuji headquarters and Fuji (China) branch , have never invested a penny in Zhuhai Zhenke, in fact, Zhuhai Zhenke is only related to Fuji head office agents. The rumors about 'smuggling' have nothing to do with Fuji."

But the investigation showed that there are more than a dozen companies under the name of "Fuji" under the banner of Zhonggang Photo. Fuji should have urgently take crisis public relations strategy, and strive to calm the crisis, the crisis may bring damage to minimize, in order to save their own hard work for many years in the Chinese market. Regrettably, in its suspected smuggling has been an open secret under the premise, Fuji actually did not take any crisis public relations strategy, but in Zhuhai Zhenke East window after the discovery, simply to push their own a clean slate.

Fuji smuggling and Fuji Xerox smuggling "news is constantly being exposed by the media, and Fuji was exposed after the answer to silence. The statement that "it has nothing to do with them" is also a perfunctory way of shirking responsibility. In dealing with the media, Fuji adopted a "righteous" attitude and tried to make the media yield. Fuji also sent a statement letter to a famous financial media in Beijing, saying that it would resort to legal action to resolve the matter of being exposed. Contrary to expectations, just two weeks after Fuji issued the statement, the Beijing newspaper still used a large part of the Fuji and "film" smuggling incident for tracking reports, and with editorial comments, with the exposure of the "Fuji smuggling" incident to carry out Fuji, as an international company, is determined to bring the "Fuji smuggling" story to an end. Fuji, as an international company, did not show the style in media communication that matches its status as a multinational corporation. After the exposure of the "smuggling" incident, Beijing, Guangzhou and other major domestic media began a large-scale tracking report, is more Fuji and the media discordant relationship exposed.

In comparison, Kodak ranked first in the "best brand in the minds of consumers," "market share" and "brand awareness" and other items, with awareness as high as 81.4 percent. 81.4%, Fuji to catch up with Kodak is by no means a matter of time.

4. The danger of concealing the facts - "family scandal can not be publicized" is an inherent concept in China, this concept is applied to the enterprise crisis management will cause more serious impact than the crisis itself. Not only will the company continue to be affected by the crisis, but it will also have a crisis of integrity.

Case in point: On March 25, 2004, the Shanghai media reported, "According to the authorities, 'Xismin' can cause side effects in the cardiovascular system, and there have even been cases of people dying from eating it." Recently, the dermatology departments of some hospitals in Shanghai have stopped using "Restoril". Some experts believe that acepromazine (restorative) is a long-acting drug, through the liver for metabolism. People with good liver function can metabolize it immediately. In people with poor liver function, the metabolism time grows and the blood concentration rises, thus causing cardiovascular toxicity and even death. Therefore, the news of the toxic side-effects of the resting minerals, as soon as the news broke out, Xi'an Janssen was immediately criticized from all sides.

Xi'an Janssen only issued a "Reminder on the Proposed Changes to the Instruction Manual for Astemizole Tablets" to the doctors concerned at the end of 2003. Other than that, XJSC did not indicate that it wanted to withdraw all of its products, and Wang Peng, the public relations department of XJSC, said that it did not want to give more explanations about the toxicity of the product and other issues.

Despite the reluctance of Wang Peng, who represents Janssen, there has been a great deal of media coverage, some of it speculative and some of it skeptical. Perhaps by trying to control media opinion through its "unwillingness to explain", Xi'an Janssen has actually lost control of the media.

Three, how to deal with the news media

When the crisis comes, the enterprise should have the courage to face the crisis public relations, with a responsible attitude to show in front of the public, to channel public opinion, and the media together to tide over the crisis. The right way to do this is as follows:

1. Respond quickly

Since we live in the era of 24-hour news rolling and information is constantly updated, companies must respond to a crisis instantly. Any delay could be mistaken for a crime, and the resulting damage to a company's credibility and business could be irreparable.

2. Combine with a professional PR company to deal with the crisis

Because of the limitations of the company's own resources and its ability to deal with related issues, it is often necessary to use a professional PR company to **** with the crisis. The PR company will be able to control the impact of the crisis quickly with its rich operational experience and media resources.

3. Get the CEO to step in

The CEO's public image and leadership position are irreplaceable, and the CEO cannot hide in the most critical times for the company. the CEO should express concern to the company's stakeholders, calm fears, and ensure that stakeholders maintain a proper understanding of the crisis. Importantly, the CEO also needs to unite and boost the morale of the company's employees. the CEO cannot sit back and take charge at this point while other top executives charge in.

4. Don't speculate on unknown facts

If you speculate on facts you don't know, that speculation may prove to be wrong in retrospect. If this happens, you may find that your key stakeholders: employees, government administrators, and the public will find it inexcusable. The media, in particular, will question you if they feel you are being deliberately misleading. If you don't know the truth, you should simply admit it and say that you will investigate and get the results back to the media in a timely manner.

5. Don't hide the truth

If things are going badly, you should state the truth straight away and not try to cover it up. Otherwise, you will see a much worse end. During World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, "The belief that a bad situation will soon go away on its own is very wrong leadership behavior."

6. Open the door to media interviews

The obligation of the media is information reporting. For the media, news is a fleeting and highly competitive commodity. They want to get the "scoop" to beat their competitors in the marketplace. Newspapers with bad news sell more than those with good news. Therefore, when a crisis occurs, the media take a special interest in it. A company cannot change this situation, at least during a crisis, so it should accept the media's coverage and actively cooperate with them. All the company can do is try to control the situation.

7. Speak with one voice

The crisis team, which may consist of three or four members as well as a number of expert advisers, should basically make sure that all the company's messages are harmonized and that only a spokesman for the company can speak to the media. But all managers should communicate the same message to employees and other risk-takers, such as government regulators and customers.

8. Communicate Frequently

Frequently update information provided to the media, employees and other stakeholders to prevent rumors and uncertainty from spreading. Take all questions seriously. Pay attention to media deadlines. In the current era of 24-hour media news cycles, it may even be necessary to have someone manning your own crisis media center around the clock. It is also important to notify the publicist of the progress of the crisis management at the first opportunity to ease public tension.

Handling a crisis responsibly is not only about saying it, but also about doing it. In addition to communicating with the media at all times, a company should also communicate with the public at all times through action. Because only action can really solve a crisis.