Guidelines for PR Crisis Planning

It goes without saying that emergency preparedness is my sweet spot, but a related topic is the notion of PR crisis planning.  Public relations has always been an important part of utility communication strategies, but with the advent of social media over the last 15 years or so, it’s no longer just important – it is absolutely critical.

Why and How You Should Engage in PR Crisis Planning

Any social media campaign can go viral at any time and for any reason.  And if the message is a negative one, you’d best have a damage control plan in place that can be executed at a moment’s notice.   

The key objective for any PR damage control plan is to contain the crisis in a way that improves your ability to control the narrative, protect your reputation, and squash any misinformation.  Always remember that it is far better to be proactive than reactive in these situations.  Also important is to incorporate PR damage control tactics into emergency exercises and drills to practice and identify process gaps.

According to this Forbes article, there are 5 important steps that any company, including a gas, water or electric utility, must take when it comes to PR crisis planning.

1. Think about the areas where the company is most exposed to risk.  This will provide you with the scenarios for which messaging can be developed proactively so that it can be deployed if needed.  For utility companies, this would include things like worker injury, equipment-triggered wildfire activity, customer electrocution from downed wires, a gas explosion, water contamination, water lead poisoning, water main break, etc.
2. Develop messaging for each scenario identified in step #1. 
3. Develop your media plan by identifying and essentially queuing-up the communication channels that will be used, such as TV, radio, social media, website, press conferences, internal communications, call center scripting, etc.
4. Identify and train the people who will fill the roles necessary to execute the PR damage control plan.  This might include the designation of a spokesperson, media coordinator, online publisher, etc.
5. Be ready to take responsibility.  If the company made a legitimate mistake, own up to it, convey the root cause and promise to take the steps necessary to ensure it doesn’t happen again.  Accountability fosters credibility, a critical asset when the company’s reputation is attacked.

The bottom line is that you want to be able to address a PR emergency quickly and effectively, and the only way to do that is to take PR crisis planning seriously.