Chinese Whispers

Ever play chinese whispers when you were a child? You whisper one thing into someone’s ear and they hear it as something else and transfer it on to the next person. It was fun then, but now that we’re all grown up, most of us have seen for ourselves what the wrong piece of information can do in the business world.

A rumor is like a virus; it spreads as fast and can be as devastating. It happens to celebrities every day, especially in the tabloids. It can greatly affect popularity when someone’s favorite celeb is depicted negatively, even if it later turns out to be untrue.

On a larger scale, a simple rumor can put the reputation of a company at stake. In 1994 an email was circulated which stated that an executive at Procter & Gamble appeared on TV and said that he was a Satanist, and that the profit from the company went to Satanism! After the company’s image had been distorted in the eyes of the public, it turned out that the rumor was false and that no executive had been on TV at all.

So why is it that people take whatever they hear for granted as truth, without double checking the facts? The answer is easy, it just requires less mental and physical energy. Psychological studies have suggested that people choose to believe what they hear, not because they are gullible, but because it’s easier and doesn’t require much energy. It’s easier to believe something because everyone’s saying it rather than going through the hassle of researching it to make sure it’s fact and not fiction. So the question here is what would prevent the actual rumor from spreading like the plague?

In PR we handle the problem as soon as it starts, and even prepare for it beforehand, because speed is the name of the game. Involving online media as much as possible is essential and this includes posting videos on YouTube and comments on blogs. Being transparent with traditional media, maintaining good relationships with them and giving them a firsthand look in on events is a reliable way to help discredit rumors at an early stage - before they do damage that sometimes cannot be undone.

Crisis Management

A crisis is an act that can occur anytime, simply because they are – mostly – completely beyond the control of the people they affect. While the ability to control the appearance of a crisis isn’t possible, the ability to handle it correctly is, which is where the role of PR comes to the fore and becomes crucial in creating a positive (or at least less negative) outcome.

It is also possible to prepare for crises by having set out beforehand potential risks, and methods with which to handle these risks in case they arise as crises. Despite the best-laid out plans however, the unexpected can always develop, and so flexibility and adaptability are key in preparing for a crisis.

Crises are different from other problems that companies may face because a crisis by its very nature is an unpredictable, dramatic situation that can pose a serious threat to the company and its performance. Crises by their very nature are often very attractive to the media, and media coverage of a crisis often exacerbates the situation, which means that companies usually only have a very small timeframe in which they can respond to a crisis before it spirals out of control. It is this combination of unpredictability, spectacle and timeframe that makes a crisis so unique.

Different things that can be categorized as a crisis include rumors that threaten the image or even the existence of a company, deception or misconduct on the part of the company which when discovered leads to a crisis and even unexpected changes in the environment in which the company operates.

Natural disasters, for example an earthquake, can destroy a real estate company’s properties; while the trial of a company’s CEO can wreck an entire company’s stock market performance. How a company reacts to these situations can have drastic, long-term effects, and can many times be the pivot on which the company’s very existence balances.

One of the key elements when dealing with a crisis is to act quickly. Time is short when it comes to such situations and the longer it takes for a response the worse the situation becomes. It’s also very important to communicate honestly about the reality of the situation. Trying to hide the facts will simply result in the crisis becoming worse, so companies should always be truthful – in worst case scenarios, rumors and untruths escalate and feed off themselves until they reach a stage where it is simply impossible to rescue any sort of positive outcome, and PR is relegated to damage control.

A quick and honest response helps establish and maintain trust with the public, and when communicating during a crisis the perceptions and opinions of the public should be taken into account. After overcoming a crisis, it’s always important to take measures to avoid a similar situation from occurring again.

The credibility of an organization is to a large extent dependent on the public’s perception of how they acted during a crisis. No company wants to lose all it has worked for as a result of a crisis that was mishandled; this is why professional and strategic crisis management methods should be used whenever a crisis occurs and more importantly, before it happens.