1. Social Media Crisis Management Tool
Kit

2. SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
The purpose of this toolkit is to ensure the social and customer service teams are equipped to deal with a
crisis situation that may arise within the Social Media environment; whether it’s a small-scale incident or a
larger, widespread Public Relations incident.
When a Crisis Strikes
1. Review Context
Ensure that you gather all of the facts and fully understand the issue at hand. Assess the situation to
determine facts and the potential threat/impact on your brand International brand.
1.Identify Crisis Type
Any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your brand should be considered a crisis
situation.
Type 3: Minor/isolated incident on single Social Media asset (e.g. Fan posts a complaint to the
Facebook page about dissatisfaction with change in service or program)
Type 2: Incident that gains momentum or spreads across multiple Social Media platforms. Any
incident that could be considered threatening/viral in nature (e.g. uploaded content or
media of mishandled paperwork, rude email, etc…)
Type 1: Incident immediately goes viral/gains widespread media attention. Could have long-term
impact on brand equity (e.g. hacking of confidential information, mishandled personal
information, criminal activity by employee, etc…)
2.Determine Communication Team
Identify the internal teams and key contacts involved in the incident. This is imperative to ensure a
seamless process of approving and distributing Social Media communications.
3.Respond in Real-Time
In the event of a crisis, it is vital that your brand responds in a timely and cohesive manner. Silence is
never acceptable, especially within the fast pace of Social Media as it can fuel negativity/misinformation.
Staying silent may allow disgruntled fans to take over the fan page as well as amass negative
momentum. If you cannot provide an immediate answer, acknowledge the consumer’s inquiry and make
note to follow-up as more information becomes available.
4.Address & Resolve the Problem
If the crisis brings a legitimate issue, recognize the problem; thank them for bringing it to your attention
and follow up with the correct steps to fix it. If there is no actual problem but someone perceives it as one,
it’s important to sincerely address their concerns.
Following a Crisis
Continue to monitor the conversation for at least 72 hours following a Crisis Situation to ensure that any
remaining conversations are moderated and addressed.
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3. SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS TOOLKIT
Table of Contents Page #
·OVERVIEW: CRISIS MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT 4
·UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIA TYPE 5
·SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES & BEST PRACTICES 6
·SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATION PROCESS 7
·FOLLOWING A CRISIS SITUATION 10
• POTENTIAL CAUSES OF CRISIS SITUATION 11
·APPENDIX A: CASE STUDIES 21
oBoingo 21
oCodero 21
oDomino’s Pizza 22
oRed Cross 23
oFord Motor Company 24
oIcelandic Volcanic Ash – Airline Industry 24
oNestle 25
·APPENDIX B: KEY CONTACTS BY MARKET
27
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4. OVERVIEW: CRISIS MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT
This Crisis Management Toolkit is intended to serve as a communications guide for
conversations taking place in Social Media platforms, as well as a resource for how to
respond to potential crisis situations as they occur. It is vital to ensure that your brand is
visible and actively participating in the Social Media space before a crisis occurs; this
will ensure that the information shared by your brand during times of crisis is credible
and valued.
This toolkit will help you quickly identify, categorize and address potential and actual
crisis situations that may arise in the Social Media landscape. It is important to follow
the proper communication measures as outlined in this document to diffuse and ideally
resolve the situation.
The Best Practices and examples provide high-level guidance in the event of a crisis
and the measures to address in Social Media, however, the overall crisis management
plan must also take into account additional organizational/circumstantial considerations.
Note: These recommendations should serve as guidance; your team’s response to
individual situations should adapt to take into consideration the individual circumstances
of each situation as it occurs.
Objectives
Prepare Social Media Team Leads to:
•Listen/Monitor. Monitor and identify potential crisis situations within Social Media
before they escalate.
•Evaluate. Identify scale and the appropriate environments to address crisis.
•Be Prepared to Respond Promptly. Immediately contact the Corporate
Communications team - a crisis can gain momentum quickly in Social Media
environments so it’s critical (at minimum) to acknowledge these consumers publicly and
deliver a consistent, corporate approved response.
•Communicate. Establish a flawless communication chain with your local team
and the Corporate Communications team to ensure transparency and cohesion of
messaging across global outlets (if necessary).
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5. UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIA TYPE
Traditional Media (e.g. TV, Print, etc.)
Public Relations traditionally revolved around managing and controlling the flow of
information between organizations and the public in the form of official press releases
and public statements. In the realm of Social Media, news travels at real-time speed
and any delay in response is perceived as being too slow and inadequate.
Social Media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)
Social Media platforms enable information to be instantly shared and make it readily
accessible. In a crisis situation, this often leaves the “Public” in control of the initial
messaging while traditional media communications try to catch up with approved
statements.
Benefits of Social Media
•Quick implementation with direct access to the public (no media filter)
•Effective tool for informing people during a crisis
•Allows brand to influence the message
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6. SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES & BEST PRACTICES
Establish Communication Strategy
1. Establish Response Channels: Ensure that you maintain a well-established
Social Media presence; this will enable you to reach consumers via Social Media
during times of crisis. Ensure seamless communications between local Social
Media teams, Corporate Communications and local Brand teams on a day-to-day
basis and develop a strategy for crisis communications in advance. (See Case
Study: Domino Pizza)
2. Monitoring: It is important to monitor ALL Social Media environments (even those
in which your company does not have an established presence) so that you can
address issues that arise about your company and the crisis situation. It is critical
that any potentially threatening mentions be immediately passed along to the
local Brand/PR team for close monitoring. (See Case Study: Boingo)
3. Visibility: Make sure your fans know where to find you. Place links to your Social
Media profiles on your online and offline assets.
4. Timing: In the event of a crisis, work with Corporate Communications to
immediately prepare your communication strategy; it is vital that you are able to
reach your fans and followers in a timely and cohesive manner.
5. Messaging: Develop a messaging plan and determine the appropriate Social
Media environments for distribution. In most instances, you will only use this
messaging reactively, in response to consumers who bring up the issue on a
branded asset.
6. Be Authentic in your Response: DON’T Talk AT your fans and followers; engage
in a two-way dialogue where you answer specific questions and ask for
feedback. Humanize your brand by allowing consumers to see emotion and
always respond with professionalism and transparency. (For example: Take
advantage of YouTube and release a statement from an executive sharing their
thoughts and knowledge on the situation.) Responses should be positive,
proactive and action-oriented. Silence is never acceptable, even if you cannot
provide an immediate answer, acknowledge the consumer’s inquiry, reply with a
placeholder response to acknowledge the crisis and make note to follow-up once
more information is available.
Ex: We are currently looking into the situation and as soon as we have more
details, we’ll be sure to let you know. Thanks.
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7. SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Assess Scale of Incident
While it is impossible to predict all of the potential crisis situations that may originate
within or outside of the Social Media environments, it is important to always monitor
mentions of your brand and listen to communications across all branded assets. Social
Media is living and breathing 24/7 and has the ability to escalate one statement into a
viral phenomenon overnight. People are talking about your brand regularly and openly,
and so it’s the role of brand teams to listen, moderate and respond (when appropriate)
to these conversations.
1.Identify Crisis Type
Any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your brand should be
considered a crisis situation.
Immediate Escalation:
Any situation that requires immediate or prompt escalation must be treated as a
Type 1 Crisis.
Evaluate Cause of Crisis
A crisis can arise from within Social Media (e.g. YouTube video that goes viral) or a
crisis within the industry or branded event can spark outrage in Social Media. A crisis
can arise from a variety of causes including but not limited to legal disputes, human /
clerical error, unauthorized procedures, inadequate quality control, misuse of
confidential information, bad press from partnering brand or talent, etc. and is usually
fueled by negative media (social and traditional) attention. Typically, negative press
turns into a crisis situation when the media and general public react in a disapproving
and accusing manner.
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8. LOGISTICAL SERIOUS
CRISIS TYPE 3 TYPE 2 TYPE 1
An incident that gains Incident immediately
momentum or goes viral and gaining
Minor or isolated
spreads across widespread media
incident on a single
multiple Social Media attention. Could have
Social Media asset:
assets. Any incident long-term impact on
Situation (e.g. Fan posts a
that is threatening / brand equity. (e.g. User
complaint to the
viral in nature. (e.g. generated content
Facebook page about
Video footage of depicting brand in a
service)
stateroom flooding negative light that goes
onboard) viral)
Immediately contact
Social Media Agency
Social Media agency Corporate
immediately contacts
has authority to Communications with
Local Brand Team
Action immediately address proposed response /
and Corporate
incident to appease acknowledgement.
Communications to
situation. Notify Legal Team
devise a response.
immediately.
Continuously monitor
Communicate to
Closely monitor situation across all
Global Brand Team,
situation and Social Media
Next Steps Corporate
communicate with environments.
Communications and
Local Brand Team. Communicate to
Legal.
Executive.
2.Determine Communication Team
WHO: Individuals key to the situation.
Should a crisis arise in the Social Media space, the following people will be the key
contacts for approving and distributing Social Media communications.
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9. Develop Plan of Action
Review context
Ensure that you gather all of the facts and fully understand the issue at hand and
assess the situation to determine facts and the potential threat/impact to your brand.
Respond Quickly & Remain Transparent
Be ready to respond immediately and aim to respond to a crisis situation within 24
hours. Often times, in a crisis situation, critical time is wasted running responses
through different committees or approval processes. This time-lapse is amplified within
the real-time framework of Social Media channels which further fuels the crisis situation.
It’s important to respond in real-time with a positive and rational tone, even if only to
acknowledge the issue. Acknowledgement helps to diffuse hostile or emotionally
charged situations, ignoring issues or waiting too long to respond can quickly tarnish
your brand’s reputation. Whether your company is at fault or being wrongly accused, it
is vital to respond quickly, be honest and tell the whole story in your communications to
the public. (See Case Study: Nestle)
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10. FOLLOWING A CRISIS SITUATION
Keep Communications Open
·Internal Communications: Determine the appropriate positioning, message and
outlet(s) for your communications. Develop and distribute FAQs to be utilized
throughout the company to ensure intelligence throughout the company and consistent
communications across all media outlets.
·Consumer Communications: Establish and maintain a presence with your
consumers by engaging in two-way communications. This relationship will greatly
benefit you in times of crisis and consumers will be more apt to listen to your
messaging.
(See Case Study: Icelandic Volcanic Ash – Airline Industry)
Be Real
In Social Media, consumers want a human response. Don’t hide emotions, by doing so
you will risk losing credibility. Open up and share updates and information regarding the
issue – this will reassure consumers that actions are being taken. Make sure to address
issues and emotions and give credence to perceptions whether they are correct or not.
(See Case Study: Boingo)
Address and Resolve the Problem
If the crisis brings a legitimate issue to your attention, recognize the problem; thank
them for bringing it to your attention and follow up with the correct steps to fix it. If there
is no actual problem but someone perceives it as one, it’s important to sincerely
address their concerns.
(See Case Study: Codero)
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11. Potential Causes of Crisis Situations
NEGATIVE PRESS
Negative press can stem from a variety of instances related to:
·Brand/Employee
·Current Events
·Events/Promotions
·Partnering Brand/ Sponsored Artist
·Product/Service
Negative press, regardless of its origins, will be voiced throughout Social Media
channels. With the proper listening tools in place, your brand will be able to identify any
bad press before it becomes widespread. Any potentially threatening media attentions
should be taken seriously and closely monitored as any one mention can spread virally
in Social Media.
Consumers may defend or attack your brand and therefore, it’s vital that your brand is
prepared to deal with this sudden shift in consumer sentiment. It is important to quickly
identify and understand the issue at hand and be prepared to address the negativity and
determine the appropriate Social Media channels to communicate through.
Brand/Employee
In the event that a current or past employee’s actions create negative press, it is
important to work with Corporate Communications to have a prepared response ready.
Make sure to reassure all fans that the event was isolated and is never tolerated by your
brand. By responding honestly and in real-time, you will have the ability to re-establish
trust among fans that may be enraged by the incident.
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12. Example
Insert sample and screenshot
Note: (See Case Study: Domino Pizza and Case Study: Red Cross)
Current Events
Occasionally, a current event may arise that affects your industry, a specific market or a
sponsored event. Natural disasters and other events beyond the control of your brand
that negatively impact business should be addressed and acknowledged in Social
Media as conversations arise.
In the case that a live event must be postponed or cancelled, communications should
immediately be vetted through all relevant Social Media channels to let fans know the
situation. In most cases, fans will express disappointment, but typically will not blame
the brand. It is important to respond immediately to those who are expressing
disappointment, anger or confusion to ensure that they have received the correct
information.
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13. Examples
Insert sample and screenshot
Note: (See Case Study: Icelandic Volcanic Ash – Airline Industry)
Events/Promotions
For all events, the local Social Media Team should be briefed on the event (have all
event FAQs on hand) and be prepared to address any incidents in the Social Media
environment should they arise. With Smartphone capabilities at events, it’s possible that
incidents may make it online, even before the onsite team hears of the incident.
If possible, a member of the local Social Media Team should be on-site as a member of
the Event Team to both ensure seamless communications between the event staff and
the Social Media Team as well as provide real-time updates to the relevant Social
Media assets.
Before, during and after the event, the Social Media Team should closely monitor all
conversations pertaining to the event to alert the onsite Event Team of potential threats
or other issues.
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14. Example
Insert sample and screenshot
Partnering Brand/ Sponsors
In the event that a partnering brand or sponsor speaks about your brand in a negative
or defamatory manner, the issue should be immediately addressed. It should be made
clear that your brand does not condone such behavior and an apology should be made
to those who may have been offended.
Product/Service
Any mechanical defects, customer service, quality or availability complaints that have
gained negative press should be addressed immediately. Whether the fault is on the
brand or not, Social Media communications should remain transparent, honest and
conversational to keep fans informed of the next steps towards a solution.
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15. Examples
Insert sample and screenshot
Technical Changes/Interruptions
Any planned technical changes to the assets (website, online booking, Facebook page,
etc.) should be carefully planned in advance and communicated to consumers via the
appropriate Social Media channels to notify them of the changes.
Any unexpected interruption should be addressed in a timely manner to explain the
cause of such disruption. Always remain transparent and apologize for the
inconvenience.
Note: (See Case Study: Codero)
Additional examples specific to your brand include but are not limited to:
• Insert specific brand examples
These are just a few of the occurrences that could lead to a “Crisis” situation in Social
Media for your brand. Please be aware that you may also need to respond in the event
that a similar situation affects a competitor or your industry as a whole.
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16. APPENDIX A: CASE STUDIES
Boingo
After an email campaign test went awry, consumers were spammed with repeated test
emails from the company over a weekend. Thanks to Boingo’s close brand monitoring
and established social communication channels, the situation was immediately
identified and the issue able to be addressed and resolved with immediacy. The CEO
issued a personal message across all Social Media channels including Twitter,
Facebook and their corporate blog to reach out and apologize to their consumers for the
incontinence.
Lesson from Boingo:
Admit your mishap immediately and communicate through relevant channels to address
those expressing complaints in a personalized and genuine response. Consumers will
relate to a real voice and will generally be more accepting of the apology.
Source: http://jontusmedia.com/case-study-social-media-crisis-management/
Codero
Codero, a web-hosting company experienced a power outage which sparked
conversations of frustration on Twitter. Codero immediately addressed the negativity by
not only posting a YouTube video update but also directing their Facebook fans to
watch their real-time updates on Twitter in addition to the video response.
Lesson from Codero:
Codero remained transparent by responding in real-time to issues associated with the
power outage and promised to disclose the full incident report to inform consumers of
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17. exactly what caused the incident. By facilitating conversations and addressing harsh
criticism, Codero received positive feedback for their commitment to customer service.
Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-social-media-for-crisis-management/
Domino’s Pizza
Within two days of a video of two Domino Pizza employees preparing pizzas in
unsanitary ways being posted to YouTube, the video became viral attracting over a
million views. Domino’s immediately dismissed the employees after being alerted but
kept the public in the dark with no statement. After three days had passed, a Twitter
account was created to address negative comments that were running rampant and the
CEO posted a personal message via a YouTube video to address the situation and
reveal actions being taken by the company to ensure the highest food preparations are
being enforced in all of their locations.
Lessons from Domino Pizza:
Don’t underestimate the power and speed of Social Media and make sure to establish
communication channels within Social Media before a crisis strikes.
Source: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/26379.asp
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18. Red Cross
After an employee of the Red Cross accidentally tweeted as @RedCross from her
HootSuite account (a platform that allows people to manage multiple profiles)
the Red Cross immediately took the following steps to resurrect the situation:
1.Deleted the tweet
2.Tweeted this statement to apologize:
With the quick action and human (even a bit humorous) response turned this potentially
detrimental situation around. In fact, Dogfish Head jumped on the opportunity to blog
about the incident and even encourage people to donate blood by spreading the
message on Twitter with the hashtag #GettngSlizzerd. Many bars even joined in the
action and offered free pints of Dogfish Head to people who donated blood.
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19. Lessons from Red Cross: React quickly and issue a genuine apology. Red Cross did
a great job of remaining transparent and flexible by even thanking Dogfish Head beer
for their support. This is a great example how a potential crisis situation can be turned
into a positive outcome.
Source: http://mashable.com/2011/02/16/red-cross-tweet/
Ford Motor Company
Ignoring the sensitivity of the situation, Ford’s legal team issued a cease-and-desist
notification to a fan website that was selling unlicensed Ford logo products. Although
Ford had the legal right to take that action, they failed to foresee the potential backlash
and word quickly spread about how Ford was bullying their own loyal fans through
Twitter and other channels. Thanks to the transparency and real-time tweet updates
from Ford’s Social Media team, the potentially disastrous situation was kept under
control. Within 24 hours the situation was calmed by untimely coming to an agreement
with the fan where he was allowed to keep his URL under the condition that he ended
the selling of counterfeit goods.
Lesson from Ford:
Before taking legal action against a brand advocate, you must first consider the
potential backlash of your loyal fans. Instead of approaching the situation as legality by
sending a threatening letter, it’s best to consider the sensitivity of the situation approach
in an amicable manner. This will ease the matter and reduce the risk of tarnishing the
relationship with a brand advocate, or worse, spark a firestorm of criticism.
Although Ford’s initial approach to the situation was poorly thought through, thanks to
real-time and transparent communications via Twitter, Scott Monty (the head of Ford’s
Social Media) was able to effectively remedy the situation and address misinformation...
With a real-time communication channel already established and trust already earned,
Monty was able to reach out to his established following to take control of the PR
disaster and resolve the crisis situation.
Icelandic Volcanic Ash – Airline Industry
Current events can often impact an industry and cause frustration and chaos among
your consumers. These are perfect opportunities to embrace your Social Media
channels to join the conversations and communicate with your frustrated customers.
During the recent Icelandic Volcanic Ash incident, some airlines actively participated in
the communications tweeting updates and info while other opted to stay silent. Airliners
including Scandinavian Airline Systems embraced their Social Media channels to keep
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20. their customers informed, while American Airlines missed out on the opportunity to and
avoided mentions of the event that their consumers were talking about.
Lessons from the Airline Industry:
Listen to what your consumers are talking about and join in the conversation. Even if
the control is out of your hands, consumers will appreciate your participation. By
communicating about relevant and real events and issues, you will gain your consumers
trust and build your brand’s credibility.
Source: http://jontusmedia.com/online-communications-in-a-crisis/
Nestle
Recently, Greenpeace posted a video to YouTube that equated eating a Kit Kat bar with
killing an Orangutan. This video was based on the fact that Nestle buys palm oil, which
is threatening the Orangutan’s extinction due to deforestation.
Nestles Actions:
Nestle quickly had the video removed based on the fact that it violated their trademark.
This decision to remove the video sparked outraged which moved Greenpeace
followers to attack the Nestle fan page on Facebook.
Nestle attempted to defend their page by removing all critical comments and any profile
photos that altered their logo. This strategy only further enraged Greenpeace members
and supporters and caused greater negativity towards the Nestle brand.
On May 19th, under continued pressure Nestle announced their plans to use only
sustainable Palm Oil by 2015.
MAR 19–NESTLE HI EVERYONE – WE DO CARE AND WILL CONTINUE TO
PRESSURE OUR SUPPLIERS TO ELIMINATE ANY SOURCES OF PALM OIL WHICH
ARE RELATED TO RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION. WE HAVE REPLACED THE
INDONESIAN COMPANY SINAR MAS AS A SUPPLIER OF PALM OIL FOR
FURTHER SHIPMENTS. READ MORE: HTTP://TINYURL.COM/NESTLEPALMOIL
APR 13–NESTLE IN A LETTER TO GREENPEACE TODAY, OUR CHAIRMAN,
PETER BRABECK-LETMATHE HAS CALLED FOR A MORATORIUM ON THE
DESTRUCTION OF RAINFORESTS AND HIGHLIGHTS HOW THE TWO
ORGANISATIONS CAN MEET THIS COMMON GOAL. A FULL COPY OF THE
LETTER IS HERE [HTTP://BIT.LY/BJQN0T] BUT IN SUMMARY THE KEY POINTS WE
MAKE ARE…
AND THEN GREENPEACE ANNOUNCES:
SWEET SUCCESS: NESTLE TAKES ACTION TO PROTECT PARADISE
Posted by: rolf | 17 May 10 |
Lessons From Nestle:
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21. Always be transparent in your actions. In this case, the brand was not upfront with their
fans; in Social Media this equates to a lack of community and positions the brand as
censoring consumer’s commentary. By failing to acknowledge the outrage and concern,
Greenpeace supporters were relentless in their attacks and were further enraged by
Nestle removing their content. Instead of talking behind closed doors to resolve the
issue, Nestle could have maintained some positive sentiment on the page if they had
told fans upfront that they were working on a solution to help protect the environment.
It is important to not rely on traditional press releases; you must address the issue on
the medium in which it lives in a timely manner to satisfy disgruntled consumers.
Source: http://www.1goodreason.com/blog/2010/05/19/nestles-social-media-meltdown-a-case-study/
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22. APPENDIX B: KEY CONTACTS BY MARKET
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