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Tuesday, June 19, 2007
How full is your reservoir?
Your reservoir of good will, that is. The trust people have in you or your business or industry. When the inevitable crisis occurs, will you start with an ample supply of water to put out the fire, or will you be calling in neighboring fire departments?Your reservoir of good will is much the same as your brand ID: what gut reactions do people have when your name is mentioned? If you’re one of the oil companies, that gut reaction calls for some Pepto-Bismol. Who, outside the industry, believes the oil companies are not artificially manipulating costs? Everyone loves to hate the oil industry right now, even Texans and Alaskans! (I speak from personal experience, here.)
How could that distrust, even hate, be changed? Well, Shell Oil is making every effort with town hall meetings across the country by an extraordinarily well prepared executive taking all comers in a calm, courteous manner. But, gee, wouldn’t it have been so much better to deflect most of that distrust and anger in the first place?
Quick, name a charity supported by the brand of gasoline you buy. No? Well, any brand, then. No, Venezuela’s CITGO donations to low-income northeasterners don't count.
No new oil refineries have been built in a decade because the oil companies say it is too expensive to build a refinery with the now-mandated pollution controls. Yet the Shell spokesman made it sound like the industry in general and his company in particular are caught in a financial squeeze between the cost of oil production and Uncle Sam. Do I believe that? Do you?
We’d both be more inclined to believe them if we had reason to feel warm and fuzzy about the oil companies in the first place. Admittedly an oil derrick or tank farm are unattractive poster children for the oil company cause. (Unless you grew up in West Texas and thought they were mighty pretty!)
The point here is that all businesses, associations and governmental agencies must be known for the good they do before the public questions the bad. Your crisis management plan should begin with a detailed public relations plan to create the ties between your organization and your public. Your “brand” should be thought of fondly or at least neutrally by your customers. It’s a long process of walking your talk to create that warm, fuzzy feeling, but it’s miles shorter if you begin the journey before a crisis requires you to climb out of a very deep hole before beginning your hike.
What do you have in your reservoir?
Labels: crisis_communications, crisis_management
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