Tag

crisis communications

Jan 06
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2021 in Review: From a Beer Brewed to Pair with Duke’s Mayo to Leadership Changes

By Public Relations

As we begin the eleventh year of business for Jaggers Communications, I can’t help but reflect on our most recent history, the rather unusual past two years. 2020 and 2021 were not business as usual for anyone. For Jaggers Communications and, I imagine, much of the public relations business in general, this is what kind of work dominated:

  • Transitions. It’s always been true that we help clients navigate a change in leadership, crafting the language that communicates consistency, inspires confidence, and reassures an audience that despite (or because of) a change in leadership (or in services), that the show can and will go on, and how. We saw quite a bit of that the past two years and anticipate with the continuing pandemic, impact of climate change, and economic difficulties brought about by the aforementioned, we will continue to provide services related to corporate and nonprofit transitions.
  • Crisis. Ah, yes. There was plenty of crisis work, and not all related to the pandemic, either. We specialize in crisis communications work and while we often get called when the crisis is well upon a client, we are truly thrilled to work with clients to prepare in advance of any crisis which may befall them. It is possible to prepare, and clients are always glad when they’ve taken time in advance to think a potential crisis through.
  • Celebration. It’s not all gloom and hair on fire in the PR world. In fact, we had many reasons to celebrate client successes, then reap the glory as those successes were picked up by national and regional media outlets, increasing their reach and brand recognition. 2021 was a banner year for this and who would have thought a mayonnaise-inspired beer would have been the subject of much of that coverage?

We look forward to seeing what this year will bring, and what surprises might be in store!

 

Sep 23
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Social Media in a Crisis: How to Help the Search for Hannah Graham

By Crisis Communications, Social Media

The city of Charlottesville, the surrounding counties, and the University of Virginia community have been dealing with a crisis for the past week. On September 13, Hannah Graham, an 18-year-old second year student at UVa went missing.

Social media really lights up in a crisis, and can be useful for those trying to share a message, such as the tweet below from Charlottesville city government, encouraging witnesses to come forward.

 

People who may not normally pay attention to Twitter or Facebook are tuning into these platforms to try to get the most up-to-the-minute information. These platforms can be helpful for that, and it’s good to see the news organizations live streaming press conferences and sharing news updates as they are available. A couple of ways to stay on top of these are to follow the hashtag #hannahgraham on Twitter and to like the pages of local news organizations reporting on the unfolding story. https://www.facebook.com/NBC29 is one, and https://www.facebook.com/Newsplex is another.

In all crisis communications, one of the main rules is to refrain from speculation. Speculation can hurt a criminal case, it can distract from the mission at hand, and does not assist law enforcement in doing their jobs.

Here are five things you can do to help in the search for Hannah Graham:

  1. Share updates on Facebook from official sources to gather volunteers to search for Hannah, that share the WANTED poster of the person of interest in the case, and the tip line information to help make it accessible to anyone who might have a lead.
  2. Retweet sources announcing press conferences or other news the Charlottesville Police Department wants shared.
  3. Use the hashtag #hannahgraham to become part of the search stream on Twitter.
  4. Steer clear of fueling rumors or speculation about the case by staying out of online conversations about it.
  5. If you have something relevant to share, contact the police department, not the media.

Let’s all try to stay focused on helping the law enforcement professionals in this difficult case.

 

Feb 05
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Transparency and the Crisis Communications Client: Five Questions to Inform Decisions

By Communications, Crisis Communications

As I’ve said before, I love crisis communications. There’s something about the challenge of taking a bad situation and getting the best out of it, that I enjoy. The opportunity to tell the story of a company’s good works in a community that has been hurt by it (think BP), to humanize a brand, or to help rebuild a reputation that has all but been ruined is a challenge I like.

But of course, sometimes that means engaging a client that people don’t like. Or that has done something to harm the environment, or people’s lives or livelihoods. It means defending, in some cases, the indefensible. In public relations, the BIG money often comes from the indefensible industries; tobacco, legalized gambling, chemical production, firearms manufacturing, and the like, all fairly unpopular sectors with a great many haters.

So how does a PR firm decide it’s worth taking on a client that, on the surface, seems to have NOTHING positive to say?

Here are five questions to carefully consider before engaging with a crisis client:

  1. Does the client share the same values as you and your firm? 
  2. Has the client demonstrated the ability to take and follow other professional counsel (e.g. legal counsel)?
  3. If the client has committed past sins, is that now over, and are you confident the client will not repeat the same mistakes?
  4. Has the client expressed true remorse and demonstrated a commitment to change, in both words and actions?
  5. Is there a benefit to your firm, either financially, from gained experience or as a future case study, to enable other crisis work?

If you and your firm aren’t satisfied with the answers to these questions, it’s probably wise to walk away, and allow other counsel to take on the work.

What other considerations are there when considering crisis work? 

Oct 25
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Communicating in a Crisis: Chris Dumler’s Challenge

By Communications, Crisis Communications

Albemarle County Supervisor Chris Dumler was arrested on felony sex charges last week and now, local news organizations can hardly report about anything else. But what is there to say? Besides the news of the charges, Dumler has a need to stay out of the spotlight. Yesterday, the Newsplex reported that Dumler has canceled public appearances and the community waits to see if he will emerge to address his constituency, particularly in a board of supervisors meeting scheduled for November 7.

There is a distinct difference between a public figure and one who holds elected office, when crisis communications is needed. A public figure can remove themselves from society for a cooling-off period. An elected official will, at some point, be forced to address his or her constituency, particularly to either resign or express intent to continue in his or her public role. People think they have the right to know the truth in a crisis and demand transparency from those in the public eye. They  don’t always get what they want.

There have been notable examples of people (politicians and celebrities) who have successfully emerged, over time, with reputations restored or, at least, forgiven or newly accepted by the community. Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Bill Clinton, Winona Ryder, Gary Hart, Sarah Ferguson — it’s a long list. It remains to be seen how Lance Armstrong will emerge from his own reputation crisis, but we’ll be watching that, too.

It CAN be done, but not without damage done, amends made and a debt served either publicly or in a judicial sense.

From last night’s broadcast:

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/Christopher-Dumler-Cancels-Public-Appearances-One-Week-After-Arrest-on-Sex-Charges-175688391.html

 

Update: 10:37am Thursday, October 25, 2012

Dumler Releases Statement Saying He Won’t Resign

Jun 13
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Nine Tenths of Crisis Communications is Stifling the Rumor Mill

By Communications, Crisis Communications

It seems the majority of the Charlottesville community is in violent agreement about the mishandling of the resignation of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan. I am continuing to focus on the communications gaffes; above all, the assumption that the Board of Visitors could “control” the message by releasing the news on a Sunday morning. As the lack of information perpetuates, now three days past the announcement, speculation abounds.

When releasing sensitive information to the public, it’s important to be clear, specific and as transparent as possible. The Board of Visitors’ failure to do this and satisfactorily provide the explanation of how the dismissal/resignation occurred and why has only served to fuel the collective imagination of the community. And boy do our imaginations run wild.

How much better it would have been, if the messages had been delivered in an organized, clear and cohesive manner. How much less damage control would University staff have to do, if clarity were employed, if planning of message delivery had been managed and a group effort was evident.

I’m not addressing here the obvious issue of the resignation not making a lot of sense . . . but rather the failure to appropriately communicate it to the world.

If you’re trying to avoid the extra work of putting out rumor fires, be up front with your information in the first place.