For those of you who attended my “Effective Issues Management in this Digital Age” workshop at the CPRS National Summit in Banff last week – and even for those of you who didn’t – here’s a wrap up of the great questions that were asked:
Q: How can we enable our team to respond to an issue within 1 hour when, even though they’re monitoring social media, they may not catch wind of it right away?
This is an excellent question, and a common fear. The best answer that I can provide is that it can happen. Sometimes an issue will stir up on a different platform or without the use of hashtags and you may not always be the first to hear about it. However, if you’re monitoring social media in real-time, you will become aware of the issue as it grows and really turns into an issue in need of your attention. That said, what’s truly important is that you make sure that your frontline is fully capable of:
- Identifying the signs that indicate that something is an issue
- Answering / responding to a growing issue appropriately and in real-time
- Identifying the trigger points that indicate that an issue needs to be escalated to the crisis team
- Spotting the positive PR opportunities that are hidden in every issue – and able to transform the issue into that positive PR opportunity
Q: How does a digital issue differ from a traditional issue?
It doesn’t. An issue is an issue and a crisis is a crisis. Today’s reality is that no matter where an issue – but especially a crisis – originates, it will develop an online presence. Social media and the online landscape provide unique communication opportunities for individuals and organizations. Opportunities that, when leveraged effectively, can connect you closer to your stakeholders on a human and personal level. It also presents risks of viralization and losing very public control. However, in terms of digital vs. traditional issues, the core definition of an issue (and a crisis) remains the same, no matter where the situation occurs. This is why I get so annoyed with the term “social media crisis”!
Q: Should organizations allow their team to tweet from their own accounts to make the experience more personal?
Ah, what an awesome and important question! Making communications between your organization and its stakeholders more personal and memorable is so important – for marketing, brand awareness and crisis preparedness. However, as we saw with the case of Phonedog vs. Kravitz there is risk in allowing employees to tweet from their own accounts, or tweet from accounts that have their name + your organization’s name in the handle. This is not to say that this strategy won’t work for your organization, it’s just to say that there are risks that need to be identified and planned for before embarking on such a path.
Here are some interesting reads to provide more insight on this subject:
- Do Social Media Accounts Legally Belong to the Employer or Employee?
- Can You Sue Former Employees for Social Media Accounts?
- Local and International Laws for Protecting Your Social Media Accounts
- How to Create Policies to Legally Protect Your Brand’s Social Media Accounts
Q: Why was “United Breaks Guitars” a crisis rather than an issue?
There are two reasons that made “United Breaks Guitars” a crisis for United Airlines, rather than an issue:
- Remember! The definition of a crisis is: A negative situation or event that occurs that impacts, or risks impacting, the organization’s reputation and/or bottom line over the long-term. In this particular case, within 4 days of the video being posted to YouTube, United Airlines’ stock price fell 10%, costing stockholders about $180 million in value. (Source: Wikipedia)
- This was one of the first two major crises that an organization faced that originated and unfolded online (the other was the Domino’s Pizza incident, and both crises occurred in 2009). Because it was the first of its kind, it garnered mass media attention and had a direct impact on United’s reputation and bottom line.
Here are some interesting reads on the United Breaks Guitars crisis:
- Interview with Dave Carroll: How Businesses Can Protect Themselves From Social Media Crises
- Interview with Taylor Guitars: The Power of Real-Time Communication
Thanks to all of you who attended and participated in my workshop. I had a great time discussing issues management with you all!
Workshop: Effective Issues Management in this Digital Age
Attendees learn how to identify issues in the early stages, assess the risk that they present to the organization, prevent them from escalating into crises and, most importantly, transform them into powerful PR opportunities for the organization. Learn more here.
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
I do believe the "United Breaks Guitars" can be a simple issue, if handled well at the first place. The musician gave the company enough time — six months — to deal with it properly, and even warn before take next move. But the company chose to ignore and further despise the possible power generated by a outraged public figure. The case finally spiraled out of control and turned out to become a crisis.
Today, United Breaks Guitars may not have turned into a crisis for the airline company. And you're right, the airline had 9 months of opportunities to make it right with Dave Carroll before he took to YouTube.