Remaining cool, calm and credible
In our regular editorial PublicAffairsAsia examines how global turbulence is testing both governments and corporate communicators
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Effective public relations and corporate communications requires effective and strategic planning.
And so too does effective crisis communications, although this fact is often overlooked by communications professionals who see crises as times of re-activity rather than pro-activity.
In turbulent times effective crisis communicators are in greater demand than ever before.
In China the post-Olympic glory has quickly been replaced by the wash-back from the tainted milk scandal. What some have viewed as the initially lax corporate reporting and official control standards has put the issues of process and transparency back in the frame.
The delays between the alarm bell being sounded and products being recalled has raised a string of questions and led to bad headlines.
As the story began to break around the world, transnational corporations seem to have ignored the basics - leading critics to suggest spin was taking the place of effective precaution and crisis communications.
Despite insisting its product was safe throughout China, Nestle was eventually forced to remove its products from shelves in Hong Kong: making it appear reluctant to respond in precuationary terms to the mounting crisis.
Global crisis
But it is not just in China where communications is being tested in times of adversity. The rumours swirling in Hong Kong about the future of the Bank of East Asia are testing corporate crisis communications strategies.
If banks in these circumstances are not brought down by any fundamental exposure on their loan books, they can be severely impaired by the run which can follow a failure to stamp out rumour and speculative manipulation of the messaging process.
In the US the on-going fall-out from the credit crunch is forcing professional communicators to go into battle with the city rumour mill, the financial press and very febrile political chatter.
Whilst the essence of the crisis relates to fundamental mismanagement of the banking system, mismanagement of the communications process could be the difference between collapse or survival of the next institution to be thrown into a whirwind of speculative fervour.
In Thailand the government has been forced to grapple with crisis and its responses have drawn widespread criticism.
The impact of what many saw as a huge strategic error in calling a state of emergency at a time of normality for most Thais will be felt on the balance sheets of many Thai companies, most notably those in the tourism sector.
The Thai people are unlikely to be forgiving and their response to the latest reshuffle is speculation of a general election in December.
Japan is seeing political turbulence and a communications disconnect between the government and the people it seeks to serve.
The belief that the world’s second largest economy has been denied its entitlement to stability and commitment from its political masters is unlikely to be erased quickly.
And in Malaysia, where politics have been in a state of total flux for nearly 12 months, both sides are engaged in a war of words, expectation management, manipulation and counter-communications offensives.
Adaptability
The need therefore for professional communicators who can both write the battleplan, and then rewrite it upon immediate engagement, is vital.
But as some of the recent political and financial meltdowns have shown, the crisis can be made worse by ineffective, imprecise or delayed responses to urgent and rapidly developing situations.
This is particularly so when forced to confront hostile fire; where contingency planning scenarios should have been well rehearsed.
Those who previously believed that re-activity, procrastination, manipulation or spin are the best ways to manage crisis communications have been left severely wanting by the recent scenarios in which they have found themselves as reluctant players.
Old-hands in these high risk games say the lessons are simple to learn, even if they require gut determination to apply when the chips are down. Think smart, think quick, think honestly. Be credible or be denied a voice.
Put simply, and regardless of temptation, truth should never be the first casualty of a crisis. Given the growth in social and other media, those who believe it is dispensable are likely to pay a heavy price.
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