Last week in our public relations
writing course, we were assigned teams and simulated crisis press briefings to
implement for our classmates. One of the
teams was assigned to develop a crisis plan and execute a briefing for the Costa
Concordia crash last January. Their plan
included a comprehensive response outline, including responses for social media
and the company's website. Overall, I
was very impressed with their professionalism and key talking points for this
simulation!
"Isolated incident"
However, one suggestion for
improvement would be to avoid labeling this accident as an "isolated
incident." The faux CEOs of Costa
and Carnival both used this term occasionally in an attempt to reassure their
stakeholders that an accident of this nature would likely not repeat
itself. While I see the value of that
reassurance, I believe the wording of "isolated incident" has the
side effect of connoting minimization of the event's severity. That effect was obviously not their
intention, and the words "isolated incident" are used quite often in
crisis responses by organizations. However,
I would advise CEOs and spokespeople to avoid the use of that phrase.
I thought that the group's stress on
their cooperation with the Italian authorities lent a significant amount of
strength to their presentation. Also,
they kept a serious yet positive tone throughout the briefing, which conveyed
their wholehearted commitment to remedying the situation. For example, when the customer service
representative (played by Jen Zink) was talking about the reparations being
made to the passengers and families affected, she began by saying that
"what was lost can never truly be replaced." This validates the
emotions felt by the affected customers, showing that the company understands
and sympathizes with their plight.
Overall, the Costa/Carnival group's
press briefing was an effective communication of the company's commitment to
fixing the situation and taking responsibility for the events that
transpired. It is difficult, if not
impossible, for an organization to predict 100% of the possible crises that may
arise due to human error or technical failures.
However, if organizations respond as this group did in their simulation,
they will likely survive such a crisis.
Last
Friday, Newhouse welcomed back many distinguished alumni for "PR
Day," a day of lectures and discussions aimed at providing current
students with valuable insights into their future careers. The morning session was led by Jim Olson,
Vice President of Global Corporate Communications for Starbucks. Equipped with twenty-one years of experience
in the field since graduating in 1991, he shared his, and Starbucks', vision of
what "21st Century Leadership" means.
The
lecture began with Olson explaining the transformation of Starbucks from a
company of "commoditization" to one based on values and experience
that began in 2007, with a memorandum from Howard Schultz to the corporate
leadership. In this memo, Schultz
stressed that in order to not fail as a corporation, they must get back to
"the core" of the company: the Starbucks experience. The tumultuous period following this memo
included a sharp dive in stock prices and store closings to re-train
employees. However, as Olson put it,
"it was an investment we had to make."
"Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time"-Starbucks' mission statement
In the
years since Starbucks' dramatic transformation, the corporate leadership,
particularly Howard Schultz (CEO), has led the company toward a unique business
strategy based on values, community and social responsibility. Rather than corporate social responsibility
(CSR) being a function only of the public relations or community relations
department, the values behind CSR drive all decision-making at the
organization. For example, in August
2011, as the United States seemed to be drowning under a weight of debt and
unemployment, Schultz saw himself in a unique position to make a change in the
communities in which Starbucks operates.
With Olson and the communications teams' help, Schultz and Starbucks
began inspiring CEOs to take a serious look at the state of federal politics
and to focus on job creation within their own organizations rather than petty
partisan arguments. Rather than being
reactive in their approach to CSR, and only implementing programs directly
linked to a tangible ROI for the company, Starbucks was proactive in
"using its scale for good" across the country.
The
idealist inside each of the many public relations students attending this
lecture was inspired by Olson's presentation.
Could this be the business of the future?! Corporations holding strong
to their mission, making business decisions based on values, not just financial value?!
If public relations as a practice goes the way that Newhouse teaches us
to practice it, I'd like to think this will be the business environment of the
future. Fundamentally, the success of
every organization is linked directly to the well-being of its
constituents. In order to be successful
in business, organizations must also be successful in people. As Olson informed
us, "a successful business all starts with culture."
