MSLGROUP Crisis Network is a global network of 50+ MSLGROUP crisis experts, with deep vertical expertise across industries and geographies, connected to each other by our proprietary People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform. For more, see: http://crisis.mslgroup.com
3. MSLGROUP Crisis Network!
MSLGROUP Crisis Network is a global network of our 50+ crisis experts,
with deep vertical expertise across industries and geographies, connected to
each other by our proprietary Peopleʼs Lab crowdsourcing platform. !
For more, see: http://crisis.mslgroup.com !
5. The end of trust!
Crisis management in todayʼs fragile world is intrinsically interlinked with
global shifts in trust and power between individuals, influencers and
institutions. !
“In times of crisis, executives are seen as imbeciles, and in times of euphoria, they are seen
as geniuses.”!
SERGE TCHURUK, Former CEO, Alcatel SA!
Photo from p22earl on Flickr!
6. Power to the people!
Trust in all institutions, including corporations and governments, is at an
all-time low across the world. People believe that only they themselves
can come up with innovative solutions to our most pressing problems.!
Photo from untitlism on Flickr!
7. Every crisis is global, social, viral!
Corporations need to master three interplays shaping crisis: the
interplay between mainstream media and social media, the interplay
between local and global dynamics, and the interplay between crisis
planning and response. !
Photo from Gamma-Ray Productions on Flickr!
8. Interplay between mainstream and social!
The boundaries between mainstream media and social media are
burring as online influencers are linking to media stories and news
organizations are quoting online influencers.!
“Technology is shifting the power away from the editors, the publishers,
the establishment, the media elite. Now itʼs the people who are in
control.”
RUPERT MURDOCH, Chairman and CEO, News Corporation!
Photo by Ben Chau on flickr!
!
9. Interplay between local and global!
No crisis is truly local in our interconnected world, as memes or
hashtags can spread globally in seconds on the social web, yet local
considerations must be factored into crisis planning and response.!
“Sometimes when you come through a crisis you become better listeners...”!
ANN MULCAHY, CEO and Chairman, Xerox Corporation!
hoto from h.koppdelaney n Flickr!
10. Interplay between planning and responding!
Itʼs critical to plan and prepare for crisis scenarios, but itʼs even more
important to respond to emergent crisis situations authentically, without
over-reliance on scripted messages.!
“When you have a crisis, the crisis itself becomes one of your biggest asset if that crisis is
bad enough. Everyone get very modest and humble and listens. If you need do rough things,
you do rough things.”!
CARL-HENRIC SVANBERG, CEO, Ericsson!
Photo from alancleaver on Flickr!
12. The news curve!
All news stories develop in a similar manner, following the news curve.
The news curve has four stages: breaking news, context, analysis and
archival.!
Attention!
2! Context! 3! Analysis!
Has something similar Why did it happen and
happened before?! what does it mean?!
1! Breaking news! 4! Archival!
What happened? With Off the front page and
whom? Where?! the evening news.!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
13. The news curve!
The news curve is becoming shorter in the ʻbreaking newsʼ and ʻcontextʼ
stages, but longer in the ʻanalysisʼ and ʻarchivalʼ stages. The news curve
is also becoming more fragmented.!
Attention!
2! Context! 3! Analysis!
More
fragmented,
but more viral!
1! Breaking news! 4! Archival!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Shorter head! Longer tail!
14. Social media and the news curve!
Social media and search are playing an important role in re-shaping the
news curve. Different social media behaviors play different roles across
the four stages of the news curve.!
Attention!
2! Context! 3! Analysis!
Sharing links via Sharing opinions
hashtags! via blog posts!
1! Breaking news! 4! Archival!
Sharing stories via Searching for
retweets! stories via Google!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
15. Overlapping news curves!
Each news story leads to clusters of related stories, leading to
overlapping news curves. In fact, each news curve consists of a cluster
of smaller news curves.!
1! +! 2! +! 3!
Attention!
1! 2! 3!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
17. The crisis curve!
The four stages in the crisis curve correspond to the four stages in the
news curve, and social media makes it more difficult to control a crisis.!
Attention!
2! Spotlight! 3! Blame Game!
Sharing links via Sharing opinions
hashtags! via blog posts!
More
fragmented,
1! Flash Point! but more viral! 4! Resolution!
Sharing stories via Searching for
retweets! stories via Google!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Shorter head! Longer tail!
18. Overlapping crisis curves!
Like overlapping news curves, clusters of related crisis stories lead to
overlapping crisis curves that build upon each other.!
1! +! 2! +! 3!
Attention!
1! 2! 3!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
19. Interplay between social media and
mainstream media!
The interplay between social media and mainstream media shapes the
crisis curve, with online influencers linking to media stories and media
quoting online influencers.!
Attention!
2! 3!
1! 4!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Newspapers/ Blogs/ Twitter/
Television! YouTube! Facebook!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social
media. The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.!
20. Three types of crises!
Based on the interplay between mainstream media and social media at
the flash point stage, crisis situations can be categorized into three
types that need different approaches.!
Attention!
1! Real world!
2! 3!
2! Slow burn!
3! Flash mob!
1! 4!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Newspapers/ Blogs/ Twitter/
Television! YouTube! Facebook!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social
media. The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.!
21. The ʻreal worldʼ crisis!
A real world incident (oil spill, financial scam, sex scandal) precipitates
the crisis. Mainstream media puts a spotlight on the crisis while social
media amplifies the crisis.!
“Turbulence is a time to focus on what matters most to your business... It is a time when
waste and duplication need to be shed, and it is a time... to continue to communicate with
consumers.”!
MUHTAR KENT, President and CEO, Coca-Cola Co.!
!
Photo from mugley on Flickr!
22. The ʻreal worldʼ crisis!
A real world incident (oil spill, financial scam, sex scandal) precipitates
the crisis. Mainstream media puts a spotlight on the crisis while social
media amplifies the crisis.!
2! 3!
Attention!
- Triggered by
real world
incident!
!
- Driven by
mainstream
media! 1! 4!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Newspapers/ Blogs/ Twitter/
Television! YouTube! Facebook!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social
media. The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.!
23. Example: BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill!
During the protracted BP Gulf of Mexico crisis in 2010, the flash point
was the oil spill itself, but social media played a critical role in the
spotlight, blame game and resolution stages.!
Source: BP Spills Coffee viral video!
24. The ʻslow burnʼ crisis
!
Social media conversations (product quality, customer support,
employee discontent) build up into a crisis and are picked up by
influential bloggers and even mainstream media.!
“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each
tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can
each tell 6,000 friends.”!
JEFF BEZOS, CEO, Amazon!
25. The ʻslow burnʼ crisis!
Social media conversations (product quality, customer support,
employee discontent) build up into a crisis and are picked up by
influential bloggers and even mainstream media.!
- Triggered by 2! 3!
Attention!
social media
chatter!
!
- Driven by
social media
conversations!
1! 4!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Newspapers/ Blogs/ Twitter/
Television! YouTube! Facebook!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social
media. The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.!
26. Example: Dell Hell!
In 2005, influential blogger Jeff Jarvis blogged about a series of bad
customer service experiences with Dell, and became the focal point of
the Dell Hell crisis.!
Source: Dell Social Media Command Center!
27. The ʻflash mobʼ crisis!
A social media meme (Greenpeace campaign, anti-brand hashtag, anti-
brand video) creates a flash mob, turns into a crisis, and is picked up by
mainstream media.!
“If [social media activists] can bring down the Egyptian regime in a few
weeks, they can bring us down in nanoseconds.”!
PAUL POLMAN, CEO, Unilever!
28. The ʻflash mobʼ crisis!
A social media meme (Greenpeace campaign, anti-brand hashtag, anti-
brand video) creates a flash mob, turns into a crisis, and is picked up by
mainstream media.!
- Triggered by 2!
Attention!
3!
social media
meme!
!
- Driven by
social media
conversations!
1! 4!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Newspapers/ Blogs/ Twitter/
Television! YouTube! Facebook!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social
media. The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.!
29. Example: Greenpeace vs. Nestle Kit Kat!
In 2010, Greenpeace created a viral video led campaign to protest
against Nestle and protestors hijacked Nestleʼs Facebook page and
filled it with abusive comments and Nestle Killer profile pics.!
Source: Greenpeace!
31. Social media and crisis comms!
MSLGROUP has created a crisis planning and response toolkit that
includes tools and best practices for leveraging social media at each
stage in the crisis curve.!
Attention!
2! Spotlight! 3! Blame Game!
Plot heat map of Shape narrative
crisis flows! via owned media!
1! Flash Point! 4! Resolution!
Track early Optimize for
warning signals! search results!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
0! Before Crisis!
Plan for crisis
scenarios!
32. Plan for crisis scenarios!
Itʼs critical to map out crisis situations and plan for alternate scenarios in
advance, in order to respond to them effectively.!
Mapping out
alternate crisis
scenarios and
planning for
their best,
worst and most
likely cases Worst Case!
can help
respond to
them
effectively.!
Most Likely!
Best Case!
Negative! Neutral! Positive!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social
media. The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.!
33. Plan for crisis scenarios!
Different aspects of crisis planning play different roles at different stages
of the crisis.!
Attention!
2! Spotlight! 3! Blame Game!
Spokesperson & CMS-based crisis dark
message mapping! site for response!
Wiki-based crisis war
room for collaboration!
1! Flash Point! 4! Resolution!
Scenario, influencer Keyword-based search
& keyword mapping! & social marketing!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
34. Track early warning signals!
In the flash point stage, social media can be used to track negative
social media chatter, identify issues, and resolve them, before they turn
into a crisis.!
Identifying
negative social 2! 3!
Attention!
media chatter
early can help
plan for and
even prevent
the crisis,
especially in
the case of a
slow burn 1! 4!
crisis.!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Negative! Neutral! Positive!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social
media. The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.!
35. Plot heat map of crisis flows!
In the spotlight stage, social media can be used to plot a heat map of
the crisis flows between social media and mainstream media and
identify influencers hubs.!
Identifying
Attention!
influencer hubs
can help 2! 3!
change the
crisis flows
between
mainstream
media and
social media.!
1! 4!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Newspapers/ Blogs/ Twitter/
Television! YouTube! Facebook!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream media or social
media. The size of the circle represents the influence of the story.!
36. Shape narrative via owned media!
In the blame game stage, social media can be used to shape the
narrative, especially by leveraging owned media channels to reframe
the issue more positively.!
Sharing a new
Attention!
perspective via
owned media 2! 3!
at the right
time can help
shape the
narrative of the
crisis and avert
direct blame.!
1! 4!
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Earned Earned Earned
Negative! Neutral! Positive!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream
media or social media. The size of the circle Owned ! Owned
represents the influence of the story.! Neutral! Positive!
37. Optimize for search results!
In the resolution stage, social media can be used to create new contexts
for positive stories, so that the negative stories arenʼt the most
prominent in search results.!
Proactively
Attention!
creating
opportunities 2! 3!
for positive
stories at the
tail of the crisis
curve can help
close the crisis
in a way that
minimizes 1! 4!
ongoing
damage. !
crisis.mslgroup.com! Time!
Earned Earned Earned
Negative! Neutral! Positive!
Each circle represents a story on mainstream
media or social media. The size of the circle Owned ! Owned
represents the influence of the story.! Neutral! Positive!
39. 1. Build crisis preparedness!
Proactively work on crisis preparedness, including crisis simulation
workshops, crisis manuals, crisis collaboration wikis and dark crisis
websites.!
40. 2. Train staff on social media guidelines!
Train staff, including the C-suite, on the new news ecosystem and
guidelines for social media engagement, before a crisis hits.!
41. 3. Create local crisis plans!
Create local crisis plans in collaboration with key influencers, instead of
merely localizing global crisis plans.!
hoto from danprates n Flickr!
42. 4. Plan to communicate firsthand!
Specifically plan for communicating firsthand with all key influencers,
including employees, during a crisis.!
Photo from xavitalleda on Flickr!
43. 5. Build trust assets!
Build trust assets, including the reputation of being rooted in a shared
purpose, strong relationships with key influencers, and strong owned
media channels like blogs and microblogs.!
Photo from pochacco20 on Flickr!
!
!
44. 6. Respond with authenticity!
Respond to the crisis with authenticity, integrity and the will to do the
right thing, not only say the right thing.!
Photo from ngmmemuda on Flickr!