1. Responding to Crisis: Assessing Situational Crisis
Communication of the Costa Concordia Crisis
A case study of the Costa Concordia Crisis January 2012
Tine Grarup, 286495
July 28th 2012
Corporate Communication in Crisis and Change
MARSTER of ARTS in CORPRATE COMMUNICATION

2. Agenda
The Findings
Crisis, Predictability & Control
Crisis Preparation
Questions and Comments
Framing
Corporate Spokesperson
Crisis: Ready or not?

3. The Findings
• Situational Crisis Communication Theory
▫ Matching crisis response to the crisis situation
• Recommendations and normative guidelines were not followed
▫ A mismatch of contradicting response choices
• Yet... Corporate reputation survives
• Questioning the effect of standardized theoretical norms
▫ What could the effect of crisis preparation have had on the Costa Concordia crisis

4. Crises, predictability & control
Unbelievable
…but…
Predictable
Plan for what you can
expect, and do your
best to prepare for
what you can’t
Careful preparation in advance can help ensure corporate
survival when crisis strikes, especially in the new media age
where news often skip the traditional information route.

5. Crisis preparation
First, when possible
• Have structures and procedures in place to facilitate a fast
response
• Acknowledge that in today’s media world you cannot get in
front of the story
Most credible, always
• Have a robust presence in both traditional and social media
• Be constant in your communications, also during a crisis
Forces planning, preparation and practice to enable success
Surprise Panic
Preparation can improve crisis outcome and brand advocates
Step 1:
Diagnose vulnerabilities
Step 2:
Crisis management team
Step 4:
Spokesperson
Step 6:
Communication protocol
Step 7:
Crisis management plan
Step 3:
Internal corporate policy
Step 5:
Monitoring social media
Crisis Management Plan

6. • All crisis communications are done in a negative environment
• Story-building construct frames for sense-making
• Tell the story you want people to know
• The frames are created and altered through interaction
• Reframing might be necessary
Framing
You decide yourself what you
want people to make sense of…

7. Corporate Spokesperson
Myth 1:
Only the CEO can speak for the company
• Often chosen for skills that do not include
communication, influencing or persuasive
conversation
Business
executives
Gallup poll of honesty and ethics of professions (2011)

8. Corporate Spokesperson
The corporate spokesperson should be…
• Somebody who handles themselves well under pressure
• Somebody who is available to the press
• Somebody who has media training or is able to conduct themselves in
front of the media and on camera
• Somebody who comes across as being very sincere, honest and real
• Somebody who knows the situation

9. Myth 2: There must be only one spokesperson
• Valuable to have different spokespersons as long as their roles are well
defined and clearly understood by the media
• Speak with one voice does not necessary mean one person but rather
consistency
Crisis preparation will ensure consistency and most likely also limit mistakes made
Corporate Spokesperson
“We will use all of his statements against him”
Mike Eidson, personal-injury lawyer

10. No matter if you like it or not, crises will
happen, and being prepared, learning from your
mistakes will help ensure the crisis outcome
Learning from Lean and Kaizen principles
Continuous improvement

11. Thank you for your attention

12. Refences
• Anthonissen, Peter F. Crisis Communication – practical PR strategies for reputation
management and company survival. Kogan Page: London, 2008.
• Bernstein, Jonathan. Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management. McGraw-Hill. 2011
• Coombs, W. Timothy. Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and
responding. Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA, 2007.
• Grarup, Tine. Responding to Crisis: Assessing Situational Crisis Communication of
the Costa Concordia Crisis. Corp. Comm. In Crisis & Change. 2012
• Hanks, Douglas. “Costa Concordia wreck leaves hostile PR wake for Carnival Cruise
Lines”. The Miami Herald. Jan 24, 2012.
• Lewis, Laurie K. Organizational Change: Creating Change Through Strategic
Communication. Wiley-Blackwell: West Sussex, 2011
• Ruff, Peter & Khalid, Azid. Managing Communications in Crisis. Gower. 2003
• Pictures are from Google