| Research by Oxford Metrica shows that it is not | | | | Failing to do this leaves the organisation |
| the fact of suffering a crisis that damages a | | | | frighteningly vulnerable in today's world. If a crisis |
| business - in reality no business can eliminate the | | | | is gestating online then the organisation must have |
| possibility of a problem- rather, what really counts | | | | the capability to also manage it online. Sticking to |
| is how the organisation is seen to manage the | | | | traditional media has the potential for at least |
| crisis: take control quickly, respond professionally, | | | | three negative results. Firstly, you may fail to |
| and communicate well and the organisation is likely | | | | reach those people most affected and concerned |
| to prosper. Dither, hide or appear to be uncaring, | | | | by the crisis - the people talking about it online. |
| and tough - even terminal - challenges may lie | | | | Secondly, you lose the opportunity to engage |
| ahead. | | | | with the online community which has the power |
| As a result, thorough crisis preparedness is | | | | to spread positive messages about what the |
| essential so that the organisation can be off the | | | | organisation is doing to deal with the situation. And |
| starting blocks like an Olympic sprinter. And - just | | | | finally, you may further escalate the situation by |
| like athletics - what used to be speedy enough to | | | | communicating bad news to people who were |
| win a gold medal is now far from world class. | | | | previously unaware that there was a problem. |
| They used to say that the first 24 hours of a | | | | The key to success is the combination of |
| crisis were crucial. The speed and spread of crises | | | | traditional reputation management insights and |
| today - largely driven by the immediacy and | | | | expertise, and the application of the latest on-line |
| reach of on-line media - makes a mockery of this | | | | reputation management tools to get the message |
| golden rule. Being prepared before the crisis | | | | through. |
| breaks, and being able to respond almost | | | | As the start point for online reputation |
| instantaneously allows organisations to retain | | | | management, companies should:oDevelop crisis |
| control over their destiny. | | | | management "dark sites" to respond quickly, |
| This means that all of the old lessons of crisis | | | | clearly and effectively to emerging issues and |
| preparedness still apply (but more so):oUnderstand | | | | incidentsoEnsure that it has identified and set up |
| your areas of vulnerabilityoDevelop and implement | | | | the infrastructure to communicate via social media |
| crisis management plans and processesoRehearse | | | | such as Twitter and FacebookoImplement online |
| the plan and enhance itoTrain your people, | | | | media monitoring to track what is being said |
| especially those required to act as a | | | | about them in cyberspaceoEmploy search engine |
| spokesperson in a crisisoMonitor the | | | | optimisation to ensure the company's perspective |
| landscapeoEngage in pro-active issues | | | | is heard loud and clear rather than being swamped |
| management | | | | by the views of othersoDevelop the capability to |
| But the power of online media presents a new | | | | quickly create content - latest information, briefing |
| and potentially scary dynamic. Digital media has | | | | papers, podcasts, blogs - for online media |
| enormous power to both create and destroy | | | | The internet has the power to spark and spread |
| reputations. And many organisations are still | | | | a crisis: but used effectively, digital tools have |
| grappling with how to harness online media in the | | | | enormous potential to help organisations prevent |
| face of this potentially business-critical challenge. | | | | and manage them too. |