Prepared for the worst
Posted by Tom Gable
Forbes.com reported that the Communist Party in China moved “at broadband speed” to try and take control of the breaking news and “avert a public relations catastrophe months before celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic.”
The current approach is in stark contrast to the earlier handling of riots in Tibet that cast Party leaders and China as authoritarian villains and thugs. The difference? Forbes said: “The government was ready to handle a PR crisis with a sophisticated authoritarian strategy, and clearly has been crafting this strategy since the disastrous handling of the Tibet unrest last year.”
Preparedness and speed are essential to success in crisis PR, as covered here earlier this year. A review of the detailed Gable PR Crisis check list and crisis management programs conducted over the years for many clients had common threads. The most successful programs included:
1. Developing a crisis PR plan well in advance
2. Rehearsing the plan regularly (including surprise mock disasters)
3. Setting up news tracking, media and social media and other research tools for 24/7 monitoring
4. Launching your plan and responding immediately to even the slightest hint of pending crisis, even if only to let all targets know you don’t have all the answers but will get back to them as soon as you do
5. Following up consistently and in a human voice
6. Being aggressive at countering rumors and inaccurate information
7. Analyzing the trends in coverage, buzz
8. Adjusting the program as needed to meet new issues, attacks
China appears to be following most of these, excepting No. 5, which doesn’t appear to be in their game plan historically or currently.
Photo credit: Amy Gwen
Tags: Crisis PR, government, issues management, media, news, social media, worldwide
