A Plan A Day Will Keep The Crisis At Bay

“No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Crises are a fact of life. Whether you are a leader, business owner, high government official, or a PR practitioner, one day, you will face one. It is in that instance; you need a plan in place on how your organization will handle the crisis, whether your business is at fault or caught in the crossfires.

It was late in the Summer when our team met to discuss updating our safety plan. In 2005, Feeding the Gulf Coast responded when Hurricane Katrina, one of the top deadliest Hurricanes in history, hit areas of our Mississippi service area. The current staff had heard stories from some veteran employees of how we switched into disaster mode during the recovery period, including siphoning gas out of trucks to help run the generators. However, the majority of the current staff were new, including the CEO, and were unfamiliar with the facility operating in disaster response mode. Thankfully, most of the storms that hit the coast within our service area throughout the years have been minor in comparison. Several of the more significant storms in 2017 hit neighboring food bank’s areas, and we were able to assist by sending food and staff members. However, that only provided staff with a tiny taste of responding to a high-level natural disaster. 

The Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT)

Timothy Coombs, a communication theorist, developed the Situational Crisis Communication Theory to help explain how you should respond to a looming crisis. 

Coombs defines a crisis as “a negative circumstance involving an organization and its stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and investors.”

SCCT identifies three types of crises:

• Victim Crisis: occurs when an organization is blamed but is, in reality, the victim of the crisis.
• Accidental Crisis: occurs when an organization is at fault, but the crisis happens as the result of unintentional actions.
• Preventable Crisis: occurs when an organization willingly puts the organization at risk by intentional steps that lead to a reputation crisis.

Crises come in many shapes and sizes of concern. How a company can quickly respond and handle the situation determines their success in overcoming and maintaining a positive public perception of their reputation. 

In my blog post the other week, I discussed how the University of Alabama responded to a crisis that could have damaged their brand in spite of no connection with the fan that poisoned Auburn’s beloved Toomer’s Corner trees. 

Since Harvey Updyke (the crazed fan) was not a former or current student, faculty, or staff member of the University of Alabama, the university was able to utilize denial, evasion of responsibility by pointing the blame to Updyke, and corrective action by disapproving of Harvey's actions and taking steps to show support for Auburn University. Though Alabama was a victim of the crisis, they were able to quickly utilize tactics from the Image Restoration Theory to help minimize their involvement in the situation and to distance themselves from the alleged wrongdoer. 

On July 19, 2018, a Duck Boat carrying 31 passengers on Table Rock Lake in Branson, MO, tragically sank during a thunderstorm leading to the death of 17 individuals. 

According to the IndyStar news, “a private safety inspector warned the Branson duck boat company in August 2017 that a design flaw meant that water could run into the exhaust pipe and then into the engine, causing some of the crafts' engines and bilge pumps to fail in rough weather.”

The tour group issued a public response, apologizing for the incident and showing remorse for the loss of life involved.

"We remain deeply saddened by the tragic accident that occurred at Ride the Ducks Branson. Our focus from the start has been on the guests, families, and employees who were affected last Thursday. Today, we continue to focus our efforts on the families. We are offering to pay for all related medical bills and funeral expenses, return all personal items from the rescue scene, and assist with any related travel or accommodations that will help the families in their time of need. An event like this deeply touches everyone and we are also providing grief counseling to our employees who have been affected by this tragic accident.We are fully cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Highway Patrol and all federal and state authorities involved in the investigation. The investigation is being managed by the NTSB. Because we are a party to the NTSB investigation, we are not allowed to comment on any aspect of it. However, our job is to cooperate and provide information to those officials and to comfort the families of those affected by this tragic event.Thank you for your support, and we continue to ask that your thoughts and prayers be with the families during this difficult time."

According to Crisis Response Pro, the overall crisis communication response though hindered by cooperating with the NTSB, fell short. 

Tragic incidents are not new for Duck Boat companies. Twenty years ago, Miss Majestic sank to the bottom of a lake in Arkansas, claiming 13 lives. A similar Seattle based company had its own crisis in 2015 to contend with when a boat collided with a charter bus, leading to 5 deaths and several injuries. 

Alex Fryer, vice president of public affairs with The Fearey Group, suggested that Ride the Ducks could make a comeback from their 2015 incident by taking care of those affected by the crash first. “You do this behind the scenes. Hotel, airfare, anything else you can do for them. But you do that because it’s the right thing to do, not for PR purposes,” Fryer said.

The Gulf Coast Ducks in Mobile, AL found their business called into question when the Branson tragedy hit. Though the Gulf Coast Ducks were not affiliated with the company, they immediately were questioned about the safety of the boats and the likelihood of a similar incident happening locally. 

In a statement of reassurance, Scott Tindle, co-founder of the Gulf Coast Ducks, stressed that their boats operate in a very different situation than the Branson Ducks. "The biggest difference between us and Branson is that we have far stricter Coast Guard requirements," said Tindle. “It operates on a river that serves a coastal shipping port, a whole different regulatory situation than an inland lake.” Tindle went on to say that the company avoids any rough weather and that their drivers had captain’s licenses. 

Unfortunately, the Branson incident still took its toll on the local company, causing insurance prices to escalate. The Gulf Coast Ducks took a brief hiatus until they were able to reopen in 2019. 

“If you don’t have a crisis plan, get started today,” says David Norman, managing director, Kitchen Public Relations, New York. “Crisis management is a very serious business,” said Norman. “Be proactive. It’s almost a form of insurance. You hope you never have to use it.”

New York Times Neediest Cases

A few months after our Disaster Plan meeting, Hurricane Michael made landfall in our Eastern Florida service areas on October 12, as the third-largest storm in our nation's history and the worst storm to hit the Florida Panhandle. Our organization knew we were going to have to be prepared for the long haul.

Days ahead of the storm, the food bank began staging water and supplies at shelters around Bay County. Knowing that the potential of disaster mode was looming, our team was able to go ahead and prepare some message and communication templates. Our team had mentioned the need for a crisis communication plan for a while, especially with neighboring food banks experiencing similar level recovery responses to natural disasters. We talked, we stressed, we researched, but once Hurricane Michael hit, we realized how genuine the need is to have a solid plan in place BEFORE a major crisis knocks on your door. 

With the entire organization in disaster recovery mode, our communications and development team was pulled in several directions that did not involve fundraising or communicating. We quickly knew we had to make those two functions a priority.  

One of our key priorities was to make sure people in areas hit by the storm knew where they could receive help. With cell phone service and power limited, we struggled to figure out how to reach individuals. I still shake my head in embarrassment when I think of the fact that I texted a coworker in the field to ask if digital billboards would help inform people. The answer was a solid NO. 

We found that partnering with radio stations in the area helped distribute the message out that we were there to help. Social Media and Facebook live videos were also successful in helping to tell our story and enlist national and local public support of our efforts. 

When you are in the middle of a crisis mode, whether that is in the form of a natural disaster or a reputation snafu, having a solid plan to refer to is critical. While Eisenhower made the point that you will probably ver away from any well thought out plan, having one as a guide helps keep your organization on track. 

So how does the Situational Crisis Communication Theory suggest stakeholders respond? The theory outlines four key strategies:

• Rebuilding Strategy: The key to this strategy is to focus on rebuilding and repairing relationships between the organization and its key stakeholders. The organization admits fault and condolences for the crisis.
• Diminish Strategy: This strategy aims to remove as much fault as possible from the organization in the middle of the crisis.
• Deny Strategy: Similar to how the University of Alabama deflected blame in the tree poisoning case, this strategy attempts to point the cause of the crisis away from the organization to another cause.
• Bolster Strategy: The key here is to remind stakeholders of the good the company has previously done.

Being prepared is always the best solution to navigate tricky waters when it comes to crisis communication. Sit down as a team and brainstorm potential situations your organization might encounter. Then, plan how your organization could respond to those situations. You might abandon the plan entirely when the day comes, but a crisis is no time to start shooting from the hips.