Occasionally, a public relations disaster comes along you know will last long in the memory.
Bob Diamond probably knew it wasn’t going to be the easiest of days today. Barclays have just been hit with a whopping fine of over £59million for manipulating the Libor rates (these are the interest rates that banks work with between one another). Plus he has had to forgo his no doubt sizeable bonus.
This is a good story and for all those banker bashers out there this can only add fuel to the fire in a week where RBS are still trying to rectify a software problem that was allegedly down to human error.
However, for me the most interesting part to this story is how I heard about it first – not on the radio or TV but via my colleague who is monitoring twitter – the tweeters are out in force and commenting to their hearts delight.
So here’s the thing, if you are about to announce bad news don’t expect to have the calm before the storm whilst the papers get their story together and the news editors of BBC, Sky and ITN frantically try and find a team to cover the story; it will be out there before you know it.
So be prepared – make sure you have a media plan, a social media strategy. It’s not a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity. It’s just as vital now to monitor the manic world of blogs and tweets as it is making sure your spokesperson is prepared for that key interview.
That’s why crisis media training is crucial these days. Make sure your comms team is confident and trained up to know how, when and where to respond to a story breaking at a hundred miles an hour. It can mean the difference between re-establishing credibility and taking control or a complete loss of trust in your reputation. The choice is yours!
If you would like help with your crisis management strategy or plan please contact us here.
