NOVEMBER 2014 BCBusiness 25 pEtE RyaN
intel
W
hat constitutes a PR crisis
for an organization runs the
gamut from the somewhat
comical—Lululemon's
see-through pants—to the
deadly serious, including the recent
Mount Polley mine tailings pond
breach. Yet while the gravity of a
crisis can vary, the approach needed
to control the damage is similar.
"Every company that deals with
commodities and the public should
have a crisis communications plan,"
says Alyn Edwards, founding partner
of Vancouver-based PR agency Peak
Communicators. Always planning for
the worst may seem like a paranoid
way to run a business, but doing
so allows a company to seamlessly
address a crisis rather than fumble in
the media spotlight.
Edwards says to start by establishing
your company's crisis management
ethos, which should include being
open and transparent. Next, list your
crisis communications team—which
ranges in size and composition
depending on how big your business
is, but can include lawyers, consultants
and stakeholders. The main part of the
plan should consist of a list of scenarios,
each with topics (i.e. cause, alert to
general public) and at least three key
messages per topic. Dave Pinton,
BCIT
acting manager of media relations and
a media public relations instructor in
the
BCIT School of Business, says that
planning and rehearsing key messages
"sounds a little bit calculated, but the
fact is, if you're used to thinking that
way, then you're probably going to
start to respond the right way when the
pressure's on."
Issuing a public statement should be
priority number one, and Edwards says
getting a statement on your website—
which can be a video of your
CEO—gives
the media a personal message to quote.
"It just takes minutes to do a video,"
he says. "That would be straight to the
camera, first of all apologizing for the
inconvenience, explaining it and then
advising people on what they can do."
Both Pinton and Edwards advise
matching the spokesperson with
the gravity of the situation, which
means a media-trained executive
should be available to address the
press and public. The importance of
media training—knowing the proper
demeanour and how to deliver a
I t ' s y o u r
b u s I n e s s
When
Disaster
Strikes
Every business crisis, no
matter how dire, needs a
premeditated action plan
by Kristen Hilderman
p u b l i c r e l a t i o n s
11/14
y
2 6 v i s u a l l e a r n i n g
2 7 a s i a
2 8 c a l e n d a r
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