Sunday 8 July, 2007

Crisis Communication

Crisis communications are generally considered a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. These challenges may come in the form of an investigation from a government agency, a criminal allegation, a media inquiry, a shareholders lawsuit, a violation of environmental regulations, or any of a number of other scenarios involving the legal, ethical, or financial standing of the entity.

Many organizations suffer extensively because they do not have proper crisis communication strategy setup. On February 2007 JetBlue had one of such crisis due to delay. 9 planes filled with passengers sat on the tarmac for more than 6 hours with no food, drink or polite handling, poor decision making, and a complete system breakdown that (even more frighteningly) indicates that JetBlue doesn't have the infrastructure or policies to cope with challenges that are going to crop up from time to time in the airline business. Now that was a serious situation and to come out of this situation JetBlue needed to execute the best in crisis communications.
Here's what JetBlue did do right:

  • " I'm mortified," said CEO David Neeleman on February 19th, acknowledging responsibility, and getting that acknowledgment, and his vision for making things better covered in major print and broadcast media
  • Put customers first. JetBlue built its reputation on customer service so last week's events really hurt. Yesterday, nearly a week since the problems, they released a Customer Bill of Rights feature it on the JetBlue homepage.
  • Brought CEO Neeleman to customers via a heartfelt conversation delivered via a YouTube video.

According to Nancy E. Schwartz, Nonprofit marketing expert, JetBlue should have done more than what CEO David Neeleman did. She pointed out some great logical solutions in her blog.
Here is an interesting article where the author created a model of crisis and discussed several dimensions of crisis. Examining the dimensions of a crisis, which executives can clearly recognize and relate to, helps the public relations counselor provide truly meaningful, strategic advice. It is this kind of analytical approach that helps senior management avoid career-defining moments, unless the moments are deserved.

The most important communications strategy in a crisis, particularly in the first few hours, is to be open with the public by being available to the news media. There are several contradictory theories regarding what to tell and when to tell. According to Frank Corrado it should be “Tell It All, Tell It Fast!” and some other says “Tell as much as you can, as soon as you can”. Both of these theories may have some pros and cons, but organization needs to be careful and wise.

Bill Patterson pointed out some most important rules of crisis communications:

1. Have an in-depth crisis communications plan that includes dealing with the media, the community and your employees.

2. Make sure the crisis team has been professionally trained in doing hard news interviews.

3. Name a spokesperson and two back-ups today. Do not wait for the crisis to occur.

4. Deal with the crisis head-on. Do not hide out.

5. Respond to reporters’ questions immediately. They expect a return call or an on-site interview within 10 minutes of the request.

6. Never lie. The big lie would be stupid but many executives tend to tell the little white lie. When you even think of telling a lie in a crisis situation, say the name "Richard Nixon."

7. Never go off the record. In a crisis there is already much confusion. Do not add to it. Tell a reporter only what you want to see on the front page of the local paper.

8. Practice implementing your crisis plan by going through a mock crisis once a year. Do not forget the news media element during the practice.

Crisis communication is very important function of organizational communication. Organizations must handle it very carefully before it’s too late.

21st Century Communication Trends

“The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.” Joseph Priestley

Hey its 2007! Who bothers to write a letter, put it into an envelope, stick some stamps and then drop it to a letterbox? At least I don’t. Gone those days when I people used to wait for the postman to deliver letters from our nearest and dearest one. Now we just do is dial up the number and call. What could be simpler than that? If we do not feel generous then just write an email or IM. That’s the generic picture of 21st century communication trends. The magic touch of technology is everywhere.

21st century communication trends can also be seen in workplaces. People no longer send memo or notes from desk to desk, instead they send email, instant message. As I pointed out in my previous blog that fewer people actually meet face to face for a team project. Instead, they rely on various modern technologies such as email, intranet, VPN, net-meeting, video-conference and various customized team suit applications depending on the requirement. These kinds of technology not only help in faster communication but also reduce the need of paperwork. Boeing designed its flagship aircraft Boeing 777 without any paperwork. The 777 was the first airplane to be completely designed with computers, which insured the internal consistency of its parts. Using computer-assisted design and manufacturing software, Boeing engineers were able to take their numerically-controlled machine tool settings directly from their plans.

Another interesting development is CEO Blog. This is a great communication tool which helps the CEOs to put forward their opinions about things, ideas and public relations. As Sun Microsystems COO Jonathan Schwartz says:

There’s no fundamental difference between giving a keynote speech in Shanghai in front of 30,000 people and doing a blog read by several million people.

The trend of blogging CEOs and other high level executives has been taken up with such fervor that an international CEO Bloggers’ Club has been started especially for such corporate bloggers. In fact people started ranking these CEO Blogs.

Time change, people change so do technology. Since the internet became public in 1995, communication technology has changed the way we communicate. What may seem advanced technology today is bound to become obsolete tomorrow. It’s just a matter of time. But at the end of the day I do agree with the fact that the more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.

Saturday 7 July, 2007

Internal Communications

"Extremists think "communication" means agreeing with them."
Leo Rosten (1908 - )

According to a Harvard Business Review study of Project Management Best Practices in Global 500 Enterprises face-to-face meetings and interaction in the work place is declining rapidly – and instead many teams are working virtually. Among the results from the study:
Fewer than 4% of teams ever meet physically as a whole.

  • Fewer than 17% even have individual team members meet in person.
  • More than 66% of teams include members from at least three time zones.
  • 57% are cross-functional.
  • 48% extend beyond company walls to include outside contractors, agencies, counsel, outsourcers and other third parties.

The above studies not only suggest the importance of communication for an effective team work but also point out that traditional face-to-face communication is getting harder. While technology has opened up new possibilities for communicating to staff, in practice the best results are often achieved through a mix of traditional and contemporary media. Moreover, if internal communications are to be fully effective, management has to have a genuine commitment to creating a dialogue with staff that involves as well as informs them. Consider the case of software industry.

Almost every major software corporations have development centers scattered in various parts of the world. For any given project, these development centers work on certain parts of the project. If they did not have effective internal communication then completing such complex tasks would have been impossible.

Most experts on organizations, management and leadership, assert that effective communications is the foundation for effectiveness in any type of organization. They assert there can't be too much communication. Some leaders misinterpret communications to be the same as paperwork or bureaucracy and so they're averse to a high degree of communications. As leaders and managers mature, they realize the need to effective convey and receive information, and efforts at communications (internal and external) increase substantially.

Common Causes of Problems in Internal Communications:

1. If I know it, then everyone must know it.

2. We hate bureaucracy -- we're "lean and mean."

3. I told everyone, or some people, or ...?

4. Did you hear what I meant for you to hear?

5. Our problems are too big to have to listen to each other!

6. So what's to talk about? 7. There's data and there's information.

7. If I need your opinion, I'll tell it to you.

Lastly, communications problems can arise when management simply sees no value whatsoever in communicating with subordinates, believing subordinates should shut up and do their jobs.

Clampitt (2005) lists three approaches managers use to communicate with their employees.

Arrow approach – This is one way communication approach where message is clear and target audience known. Problems arise when it is taken for granted that information is mostly transmitted by words and that recipients are passive receptors.

Circuit approach – This is two way communication approach. It assumes that communicating is grounded in mutual understanding. Problems arise because of the myopic view that understanding will lead to agreement and that this understanding should be the sole goal of communications.

Dance approach – Communications are achieved through an intricate combination of the practice, understanding, and intuition. It believes that the communication involves the coordination of meanings, the understanding of common rules, and the recognition of patterns between two or more people.

Now every organization is taking internal communication more seriously. Managers have understood the effectiveness of internal communication as a motivational tool. With the sophisticated technology available to communicate with the employees today, the most important factor in internal communications beings with the manager who cares to listen to the employees and get to know who they really are as individuals. One of the examples is Nokia. In 2006 Nokia launched internal news hub aimed at Nokia personnel worldwide, allowing employees to publish their comments about current news items. This feature was added due to requests from employees, and has received very positive feedback. It has increased Nokia’s internal engagement capabilities by generating meaningful conversations on a wide range of business topics. Nokia News Service is accessed by approximately 156,000 readers, on multiple occasions, each month.

Friday 6 July, 2007

Media Relations

“If you don't know what to do, call the media and at least give the appearance of doing something.” David Peterson


One of the most critical areas within any corporate communication function is the media relations department. With the growth of television and internet, media relation function has become more critical because of the speed of information transfer. Now that companies are going global, it’s very critical for the company to have good relationship with the media so that during crisis Company can take advantage of it.

Today, so many websites, TV channels, Magazines, news papers are dedicated to business news that it is virtually impossible to find a topic or company that is not covered thoroughly. Today consumer generated news, socal networking, blog etc plays a major role in media relations. Most importantly media do not get excited about good news and good things that companies do. Instead, they are more interested in the bad news because people are more interested in gossips. This helps media to sell more.

"At best, good media relations, one of the ranges of tools within the discipline of public relations, could even prevent a business catastrophe by safeguarding company’s reputation and profitability"

Nothing boils the blood of any journalist or beat editor more than unknowledgeable media relations people. According to Bill Arnovich, Media Relations Specialist,

“You not only hurt your chances of securing media coverage for clients, but you also make it harder for the rest of us who actually prepare themselves before they engage any media pitching assignment. It pays in the long run, and it’s a good practice.”

With that in mind, here are 6 tips to building better relationships with the media:
  • Identify who you are and why you are calling.
  • Ask if this is a good time to talk. If it isn’t, ask the reporter to suggest the best time you should call back. Never ask a reporter to return your call. If it is a good time to talk, proceed to the next step.
  • Let the reporter know you are familiar with the publication or with stories she writes about.
  • Explain the idea in a sentence or two.
  • Explain quickly why readers will care.
  • Ask if the reporter is interested.
  • Avoid sayin "no comment"; explain why you can't answer and promise to get back to the reporter when you can.

Following those simple six steps consistently can make all the difference in the world between a productive day and one that ends up empty handed.

Thursday 5 July, 2007

Corporate vs. Product Advertising

Corporate advertising is different from product advertising. Corporate advertising seeks to benefit the image of the corporation as a whole rather than its products and services alone as in product advertising. A major difference between corporate and product advertising is who pays for each of the two types of advertising. A company’s marketing department typically is responsible for all product-related advertising and pays for such ads. Corporate advertising, on the other hand, falls within the corporate communication area and either comes out of that budget or, in some cases, is paid for by the CEO’s office.

There are different types of corporate advertising such as advertising to reinforce identity or reputation, advertising to attract investors and advertising to influence opinions. When Coca-Cola was in between pesticide controversy in India, the company used well renowned actor for
advertisement to reinforce corporate image. Companies use advertisements to attract investors. Issue advertising is used to respond to external threats such as environment, government etc. now-a-days it’s common to see these kinds of advertisements by all major corporations to establish good corporate citizenship image. A good corporate advertising program can clarify and enhance a company’s reputation, and the absence of one can hurt the company, especially during crisis.

The purpose of product advertisement is to increase awareness and selles. The relationship between corporate advertising and sales is less clear than that between product advertising and sales, because corporate advertising is meant to do things that eventually boost but likely won’t directly or immediately do so.

Identity, Image, and Reputation


I do not know if any mobile phone ever made headline even before its launch or people queued outside the shops for days to get it on the first day, except iPhone by Apple. So, why people are so crazy about iPhone? Why it’s the most hyped phone ever? Of course it has some great technologies built in but one of the reasons is Apple’s identity, image and reputation. When people think of Apple Inc, first that come into mind is that it’s the “one of the most innovative companies in the world”. Yes that’s what an image is- it is the organization as seen from viewpoint of its constituencies. Identity, image and reputations are the elements that separates a company from similar other companies.

Given how every industry today faces global competition and companies are trying to manage the limited resources, and organization’s identity and image might be the only difference that people can use to distinguish one company from the next. That is why people prefer an Apple iPod than a Creative Zen even though Creative products are more feature rich than Apple iPod.


Image, identity and reputations cannot be built in one day. A company needs to work hard to build them. There are some complex and hard tasks are needed to be executed in order to build successful image and identity. First thing the organization needs to do is conduct an identity audit by an external “identity firms”. This helps to find out how does the general public currently view the organization? Next goal is to clearly define its objective and goal. Here consistency is the key. An organization’s vision should manifest itself consistently across all its identity elements, from logos and mottos to employee behavior. Next step is- develop designs and names. This is a step that simply cannot happen without the help of consultants because so many names are already in use that companies need to avoid any possible legal issues. Next is develop prototypes. Once the final design is selected and approved by everyone involved, consultants develop models using the new symbols or names. Once the prototype is done company must launch and communicate. Companies can use various communication technologies to do that. He final step is implementation. Implementing an identity program is a communication process involving lots of interpersonal savvy and coordinated approach to deal with many constituencies.


In the changing business environment image and reputation is the key for survival. A company that has good understanding of its constituencies and what is important for them can successfully create good reputation programs and implement them.

Wednesday 4 July, 2007

Corporate Communication Relevance

“Without credible communication, and a lot of it, employee hearts and minds are never captured.”
John P. Kotter, Leading Change

Some people may doubt the relevance of ‘Corporate Communication’ function in an organization. Apparently they might think that all a corporation has to do is communicate efficiently with the employees. So they think that HR function is sufficient for all its communication need. But as we have seen that the business environment has changed dramatically since last couple of decades. Communication function is no longer confined within the organization. Now companies need to address various constituents in order earn their trust and build image and reputation. If Coca-Cola did not have proper Corporate Communication function then it would have cost more for the company during the pesticide controversy in India in 2003.

Corporate communication has various functions such as corporate advertising, media relations, marketing communications, investor relations, government relations, crisis management etc. the best corporate advertising creates goodwill and enhances reputation by letting constituents in on what the organization is all about. Good media relations help a company to gain advantage during crisis. Company may want to use marketing communication to advertise product or use investor relations to show company’s value to the investors. For example, Bosch India use various corporate communication campaigns such as ‘Innovations’ campaign, environmental campaigns, industry expo, corporate advertisements, in order to build good corporate image and reputation, advertise products and build investor relations.

One of the important functions of corporate communication is crisis management. If a corporation does not have proper crisis management system then the situation may turn into fiasco. Significant crises that involve the loss of human life (Bhopal or Tylenol) pose enormous challenges for companies trying to make whole the damage that has been done and to regain public trust and confidence. Another example of crisis management is the airline industry’s recent work with the government to enhance safety measures post-9/11. Examples also include situations such as Enron, where the post-scandal strategy appeared to be one of closing ranks and attempting to prevent damaging information from leaking into the public domain.

So we can see that “Corporate Communication” function is very important and relevant to today’s business practice. Without proper communication function it is very difficult to survive in the competitive business world.

Communication Technologies

“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.”
Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876


Information technology is changing continuously and there by affecting the way we communicate. Communication technologies have undergone a revolutionary transformation since past 100 years. All thanks to the science and technology. Now we do not need to wait for weeks to deliver a simple message to the other part of the world. We do not need messenger boys. Massive invisible network of communication technologies help us to reach anyone to any place in any time.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876 few peope considered Bell's invention more than a toy, but it did not take long for people to install telephones in their homes, businesses, or towns. A new era of communication began. Since then communication technologies have under gone various changes. What seemed to science fiction a decade ago is now reality. Cellular phone, internet, intranet, wireless networking, VOIP, video conference etc is now a reality. With the help of these technologies we can communicate with anyone any time within a fraction of a second. We thought telephone is all we need for instant communication. But humans cannot be satisfied. We wanted to see each other while we are communicating. Therefore video conference came into place to satisfy our need. To put life into video conferencing, companies are coming up with new technologies such as Teleportec Conferencing which helps to achieve eye-to-eye contact with all participants.

These communication technologies help companies to achieve high degree of success in communication. One of the important uses of various communication technologies within companies is to build efficient internal communication system. One of successful use of these technologies is
IBM’s intranet – w3.

w3 is a portal to provide one place with personalized access to IBM resources. Integrates content, learning, expertise, collaboration (e.g., Domino applications to a browser, rather than a Notes client) and business applications (Siebel, SAP, and more). It Enables increased productivity through role-based delivery of resources and eliminates development and deployment costs through reuse.

Technology is changing rapidly so is communication technologies. It is just a matter of time when new technology comes and replace existing one. In fact scientists are now working on to communicate with extraterrestrial intelligence (CETI). So it’s just a matter of time when we will find ourselves chatting, or video conferencing or even calling our friends in other planets!