Building a Crisis Communication Plan for Your Brand

A brand crisis can strike at any time. It could be a product failure, a data breach, a viral negative review, or an employee scandal. When a crisis hits, the first few hours are critical. In this high-pressure situation, having a pre-prepared plan can be the difference between a well-managed response and a chaotic reaction that makes the situation even worse.

A crisis communication plan is a strategic playbook that outlines the steps your organization will take to respond to a crisis. It's about being prepared so that you can communicate quickly, effectively, and consistently to protect your brand's reputation.

The worst time to create a crisis plan is in the middle of a crisis. Here's how to build one before you need it.

Key Components of a Crisis Communication Plan

Your plan doesn't need to be a 100-page document. It should be a clear, concise, and actionable guide.

1. Identify Your Crisis Team

The first step is to define who is on the crisis communication team. This is a core group of decision-makers who will be responsible for managing the response.

• Who to include: This typically includes the CEO or business owner, the head of marketing/communications, and potentially your legal counsel.
• Define Roles and Responsibilities: Clearly state who is responsible for what. Who is the primary decision-maker? Who will monitor social media? Who will speak to the press?
• Create a Contact Sheet: Have an up-to-date contact sheet with the 24/7 contact information for every member of the team.

2. Designate a Spokesperson

You need to have a single, official voice for the company during a crisis. This ensures your message is consistent.

• Who it should be: This is often the CEO or a senior communications executive. They should be calm, credible, and well-trained in media communication.

3. Establish Your Monitoring Systems

How will you find out about a crisis in the first place?

• Set up monitoring tools: Use Google Alerts and social listening tools to monitor mentions of your brand in real-time.
• Establish an internal reporting system: Make sure your employees, especially your customer service team, know how to escalate a potential issue to the crisis team immediately.

4. Prepare Holding Statements and Templates

You can prepare templates in advance for different types of potential crises. A holding statement is a brief, initial message that you can release quickly to acknowledge a situation while you gather more information.

• Example Holding Statement: "We are aware of the incident involving [brief, factual description of the incident] and are currently conducting a thorough investigation. The safety and trust of our customers is our highest priority. We will provide a further update as soon as we have more information."
• Other Templates: You can also prepare templates for press releases, social media updates, and customer emails for different scenarios.

5. Identify Your Key Stakeholders and Communication Channels

Make a list of all the audiences you will need to communicate with during a crisis.

• Stakeholders: This includes your employees, your customers, your investors, your suppliers, and the general public.
• Communication Channels: How will you reach each of these audiences? (e.g., internal email for employees, a press release for the media, social media updates for the public).

6. Define Your Post-Crisis Follow-up Process

The plan shouldn't end when the immediate crisis is over.

• Communication: Plan to communicate what you have done to resolve the issue and what steps you are taking to prevent it from happening again.
• Analysis: Your plan should include a process for conducting a post-mortem analysis to learn from the crisis and to update your plan for the future.

How to Use Your Plan

• Keep it Accessible: Your crisis plan should be stored in a place where every member of the crisis team can access it instantly, at any time.
• Practice and Drill: For larger organizations, it can be helpful to run a simulated crisis drill once a year to test your plan and ensure your team is prepared.
• Update it Regularly: Review and update your plan at least once a year to ensure that the contact information and procedures are still current.

Conclusion

You can't predict when a crisis will happen, but you can prepare for it. A well-documented crisis communication plan is an essential insurance policy for your brand's reputation. By thinking through your response strategy in advance, you can ensure that when a crisis does strike, your team is ready to act with speed, confidence, and professionalism, allowing you to navigate the challenge in a way that protects and even enhances the trust your customers have placed in you.