1. Crisis Communication
Strategy and Action Plan
Bhargav
CEO
Glutton FMCG

3. PURPOSE
• It provides policies and procedures for the
coordination of communication within the
organization, and externally between Glutton
FMCG and its stakeholders, the media and the
public in the event of an emergency or controversial
issue.
• It also includes procedures for the rapid
identification of potentially harmful situations and
the methods for responding to the situations quickly
and effectively.

4. CRISIS
• Reported cases of food
poisoning, nausea, vomiting and high fever
• Traces of dangerous EColi bacteria found in the
cold drinks; fungus found in fruit juices and food
products
• Glutton FMCG considered responsible for the crisis
• Brand image threatened

5. Objectives of the Plan
A. To factually assess the situation and determine
whether a communications response is warranted.
B. To assemble a Staff Crisis Team that will make
recommendations on appropriate responses.
C. To implement immediate actions to:
• Identify audiences that should be informed about
the situation
• Communicate facts about the crisis
• Minimize rumors
• Restore order and debrief necessary audiences

6. 10 Steps of Crisis
Communication
1. Identify the Crisis Communications Team
2. Identify Spokespersons
3. Spokesperson Training
4. Establish Notification Systems
5. Identify and Know the Stakeholders
6. Anticipate Crises
7. Develop Holding Statements
8. Assess the Crises Situation
9. Identify Key Messages
10.Riding out the Storm

7. 1. Identify Your Crisis Communications Team
• Crisis management team should be formed including
o Organization CEO
o Firm's top PR Executives
o Legal counsellor
• If in house PR Executives are not sufficient an agency or
organization consultant can be hired.

8. 2. Identify spokespersons
• In each team, individuals should be authorized as a spokesperson for the
organization.
• Team of spokespersons should include
o Organization CEO
o Other spokespersons should be identified and trained in advance
• Required for internal and external communication example:
o On camera
o Public meeting
o Employee meeting

9. 3. Spokesperson Training
• All stakeholders (internal and external) are just as capable of
misunderstanding or misinterpreting information about the organization as
the media, and it's our responsibility to minimize the chance of that
happening.
• Spokesperson training teaches you to be prepared, to be ready to respond
in a way that optimizes the response of all stakeholders.

10. 4. Establish Notification Systems
• In today's time we have several phone numbers, more than one email
address, and can receive SMS (text) messages or faxes.
• Instant Messenger programs, either public or proprietary, are also very
popular for business and personal use.
• We can even send audio and video messages via email.
• Notification systems allow you to rapidly reach your stakeholders using
multiple modalities thus increasing the chances that the message will go
through.

11. 5. Identify and Know Your Stakeholders
• It is important to identify that who are the internal and external stakeholders
that matter to your organization
• Ensure that they receive the messages you would like them to repeat
elsewhere.

12. 6. Anticipate Crises
• Be proactive
• Gather your Crisis Communications Team for long brainstorming sessions
on all the potential crises which can occur at your organization
• Two immediate benefits to this exercise:
You may realize that some of the situations are preventable by simply
modifying existing methods of operation.
You can begin to think about possible responses, about best case/worst
case scenarios, etc. Better now than when under the pressure of an actual
crisis.

13. 7. Developing holding statement
• Since crisis can never be predicted “holding statements” can be developed
in advance to be used for a wide variety of scenarios to which the
organization is perceived to be vulnerable.
• An example of holding statements by a hotel chain with properties hit by a
natural disaster — “We have implemented our crisis response plan, which
places the highest priority on the health and safety of our guests and staff.”

14. 8. Assess the crisis situation
• Assessing the crisis situation is one of the most critical step and adequate
information has to be collected before reacting to the situation.
• A hastily created crisis communications strategy and team are never as
efficient as those planned and rehearsed in advance.

15. 9. Identify key messages
• The crisis team already knows, categorically, what type of information its
stakeholders are looking for.
• So, the message should be simple. It should not be more than three main
messages for all stakeholders.
• The messages should be audience-specific .

16. 10. Riding out of the storm
• Some of your stakeholders are not going to react the way you want them
to, whether the news is good or bad or how well u have prepared and
responded to them.
• So, Firstly,Decide if another communication to those stakeholders is likely to
change their impression for the better.
• Take an objective look at the reaction(s) in question. Is it your fault, or their
unique interpretation?

17. Conclusion
• Required strategies helped us overcoming from the bad situation.
• With help and support of management and employees we are able to
come out of the situation by reaching to a feasible solution.