Crisis Communication: Why Investing Now Can Save Your Brand Later
In the last year, the agriculture industry has seen layoffs and resulting negative backlash towards corporate decisions, social policy retaliation campaigns, disgruntled customers making waves on social media, hiring decision backlash, and influencer misstatements. And there’s more coming with potential trade wars and tariffs affecting supply chains and decisions.
Your business will face a crisis. It is as inevitable as an accounting error. It’s impossible to avoid no matter how careful you are. And while you can’t avoid it, you can be prepared to make the most of whatever time you have before you engage and ensure that your immediate reaction doesn’t make it worse. You have a role that impacts how bad it gets and how significant and long-term the lasting effects will be. Now is the time to prepare.
Why does crisis planning matter?
Crisis planning helps you make the most of the limited time you have to respond in a crisis. Consider these real-world examples:
Time between an FBI raid and a national network call to the related trade association - 1 hr 28 minutes.
Time it took for the press to arrive on the scene of a fatal industrial accident - 6 minutes.
Time it took for the PR team to flag a CEO’s controversial social media post - 1 hour. It was another 15 hours before investors and media took to the phones.
Time between a CFO’s DUI arrest and clients calling with questions - 1 day.
You have the opportunity now to take steps toward readiness. How far you take your planning will directly impact your ability to manage through a crisis. Planning helps you:
Stay Calm Under Pressure: A plan provides a sense of control in a chaotic situation, allowing you to make clear-headed decisions and avoid reactive missteps.
Protect Your Reputation: A swift, well-coordinated response can help preserve your brand image and maintain stakeholder trust.
Navigate the Narrative: By proactively communicating, you can shape the story and prevent misinformation from spreading.
Minimize Damage: A well-executed plan can help reduce financial losses, legal challenges, and long-term reputational damage.
Investing in a proactive crisis communication strategy is not just a smart idea, it's a necessity for any organization that values its reputation and long-term success. A well-crafted crisis communication plan protects you from the worst potential outcomes, enabling you to respond effectively and efficiently.
Crisis planning is a double solution.
It allows you to tackle the what if and solve logistics problems in those scenarios before they arise.
It best positions you to get through the crisis with as minimal a negative impact as possible.
Investing in small, consistent actions now can compound into better outcomes when that crisis does come. There is a significant range when it comes to crisis planning.
Entry Level Planning - Every business leader can identify likely threats and crisis scenarios, internal and external, and consider possible next steps. Once you know what may be a threat, you can begin to sketch out reactions, from what we would do, to who needs to know and can help. It’s impressive how even this small step can get you started on a stronger footing when a crisis occurs.
Elevated and Elite Planning - Formal crisis planning ranges from facilitated analysis and written plans to drills and live exercises. These efforts go a long way to make response logistics more direct and controlled when crisis occurs.
Most crisis communication plans have common key elements, but like all public relations, the best solutions are custom-tailored to your business and goals.
Crises will come. The only question is, will you be ready? Investing in crisis planning now is an investment in your brand's future. It's the key to navigating challenges, protecting your reputation and emerging stronger than ever.
Ready to take control? Rooster Strategy can help you develop a comprehensive crisis communication plan tailored to your specific needs and industry. Contact us today to learn more.
Jessica K. Robinson is a Chief PR & Content Strategist for Rooster Strategy. She has worked in communications for nearly three decades both covering crisis as a reporter and leading response. Real-time responses she has orchestrated include an emergency plane landing, natural disasters, product recall, executive exposure, layoffs, fatal industrial accidents and corporate FBI interventions, among others.