This presentation documents how I used an employee social intranet, a customer community, and social media channels to resolve a product crisis.

1. +
Crisis Communications in
the Digital Age
Deirdre Walsh
Marketing Director

2. +
The Reaction
When I start talking to executives
about crisis communications in the
digital age, I often get a response like
this guy!
That’s because people have one
definition of a “social crisis.”
They imagine situations like….

3. +
Employee Tweets Something
Inappropriate from a Brand Channel

4. +
Employee Isn’t Transparent

5. +
Marketing Doesn’t “Get It.”

6. +
BUT…..Social Can Be Your
Best Friend During a Crisis
And I should know.
6

7. +
In My Role, I’ve….
 Lead communications strategy and execution for several issues
around products, financials, litigation, natural disasters,
investigative journalism, environmental issues, etc.
 Trained more than 100 executives and public officials
worldwide on how to handle communications in high-pressure
environments
 Provided internal and external clients with dynamic crisis
simulation exercises
7

8. +
Case Study: Product(eev) Issue
8

9. +
In 2012, my company, Jive, acquired the
task-management tool Producteev.
Adopted by more
than 100,000
businesses and
1 million people

10. +
The press and analyst coverage
was very positive.

11. + A few months later, in true marketing
fashion, we created a new logo,
launched a new website, and hosted a
big press event in NYC.

12. +
On May 21, I Woke Up To This….
 I didn’t know the user. I didn’t know what he was referencing
(we do lots of acquisitions). I didn’t even know who managed
the website Contact Us form.
 So I turned to our employee network to get some answers and
then publically responded.

13. +
But the Social Swarming Began

14. +
And I Watched Twitter Explode
Producteev end users took to social channels to complain. There
were big issues like, “I can’t access my service” and “I want a refund
since the product is now free” to “I don’t like the stars in the UI.”
For the first time in company history, our sentiment was negative.

15. +
My Team was Spread Across the
Country so I Turned to Social.
15
PR Team
Community Managers
Social Media Managers
Me
Support and Product Teams

16. +
Employee
Intranet
I Used Social Technologies to Centralize
& Coordinate Communications.
Customer
Community
Social
Media

17. +
Social Intranet: Share Insights

18. +
Social Intranet:
Corporate Alignment

19. +
Social Intranet: Action Items

20. +
Customer Community: Updates
JIVE CMO

21. +
Customer Community: Support

22. +
Customer Community:
Product Ideas & FAQ

23. +
Social Media:
Real-Time Communications
Changed sentiment
through open communications
and strategic coordination.

24. +
Results By the Numbers
 Became the command center. Updated current messaging for
employees, specifically support and sales. Additionally provided
regular customer updates.
 The actual product issue lasted 8 days but we were able to
change sentiment to positive by day 1 and level out the volume of
social conversation by day 4.
 Sent more than 400 personal messages on Facebook and Twitter
answering questions, addressing concerns, providing updates
 Monitored and addressed 300 unique discussion threads and 500
new users in the Producteev group in the online community

25. + Want to Learn More about How
Social Can Streamline Your
Crisis Communications Efforts?
Connect with me!