Crises Require Quick Action and Careful Messaging to Ensure Others Don’t Tell the Story
When a public relations crisis occurs, there are generally two options to take:
- Assess the situation and respond with appropriate messaging to define the situation and the best steps forward, or
- Hide in the sand and hope the issue blows over with minimal reputational damage (but good luck with this option).
These two choices are generally the only two available during a crisis, regardless of the situation, and what that situation is can vary greatly:
- Someone saying, or even tweeting, something inappropriate, like Elon Musk sharing and then deleting a conspiracy theory on Twitter;
- A natural or manmade disaster causes significant devastation, such as Hurricane Ian did only a few weeks ago and saw disaster relief organizations jump into action; and
- An organization coming under question for not following its own standards and protocols, much like the NFL and the injury to Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Option one is of course what Xenophon recommends to clients if they are preparing for an issue to arise, or when a crisis is at hand. This is because option one allows clients to:
- Define the narrative that media are sharing to audiences, which offers an opportunity to steer the conversation or news cycle in a favorable direction;
- Accept that there is an issue and admit responsibility (if it was their cause) publicly and share how the response will move forward;
- Control the story or crisis at hand and tell their side to clarify what is happening;
- Share messaging, whether that’s on social media or in traditional media, to the proper audiences.
Option two however, which may lead to individuals or organizations going silent when they shouldn’t, often leads to media and/or the public defining the narrative for them. Without a response to a crisis, this will naturally lead to a narrative that is negative and harms one’s reputation (likely long-term).
Look at the NFL, following Tagovailoa’s injury back in September. Rather than coming forward and stating the concussion protocols need revision, the NFL said their system didn’t fail the quarterback when he first showed sign of wobbliness after getting hit on September 25. However, four days later, he suffered a severe concussion on September 29.
Between these two games, and immediately following, journalists, sports commentators, fans and more, defined the NFL as an organization that doesn’t care about the wellbeing of its players. This image isn’t new, but Tagovailoa’s clear sign of distress and being allowed to play hardened that reputation until the NFL was forced to update its concussion protocol on October 8 – nine days later.
Although no two crises are the same, preparation and training is paramount in how to respond and manage a crisis. To learn more about Xenophon Strategies’ in-depth crisis response communications services, please visit: https://xenophonstrategies.com/services/crisis-communication/.