Crisis: Controlling the Threats and Seizing the Opportunities

Be Firm

It was the type of lawsuit a lot of big brands would ignore. A California woman filed suit against Taco Bell in 2011, claiming the fast-food chain didn't have enough beef in its beef taco. The lawsuit, which quickly sought class-action status, was a head-scratcher: There was no study to suggest that Taco Bell's fillings were, as the lawsuit claimed, only 35% beef, with additives, chemicals and preservatives making up the rest.

Taco Bell's lawyers and communications staff decided that there were too many risks to downplaying the lawsuit, so they decided to aggressively fight the allegations. Taco Bell escalated the matter in court, threatening a counter-suit that claimed the allegations were false and designed to hurt its business.

Then came the public relations fight. Taco Bell bought full-page ads in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other newspapers, stating: “Thank You for Suing Us. Here's the Truth About Our Seasoned Beef.” The ads went on to stress that the Taco Bell filling was a full 88% beef, and even laid out its recipe. They ended with an unambiguous statement: “We stand by the quality of our seasoned beef 100% and we are proud to serve it in all our restaurants. We take any claims to the contrary very seriously and plan to take legal action against those who have made false claims against our seasoned beef.”

The company's social media channels echoed the same message. The CEO distributed a YouTube video on which he talked about the quality of Taco Bell's products. Taco Bell's Facebook page gave away coupons for free tacos. And executives made the rounds in broadcast and print media.

The result? The initial lawsuit was dropped without any payment or concessions to the plaintiffs. In the end, no one questions what goes into a Taco Bell taco ' no small feat for a fast-food company.

A crisis can be an opportunity to emerge stronger, but it takes a strategic and aggressive response.

Be Early

The best time to plan for a crisis is before one happens. Some crises, like the Taco Bell lawsuit, are external and hard to predict. However, many crises stem from internal failings.

To get in front of these scenarios requires a full assessment of a company's risks and, most of all, an honest discussion. You can't fight what you won't name ' if executives are loose cannons, if products have potential liability, or if financial transactions are not adding up.

Once you've done your due diligence, it's time to develop your crisis plan. Executives and board members should consult with their communications teams ' both internal and external. During that time, PR professionals can devise the right message to ensure that stakeholders are up to speed and ready to move.

Not being involved early can often confuse the message. Take the case of retailer Men's Wearhouse and its founder George Zimmer. The company's board fired Zimmer, long the public (and outspoken) face of the brand, but issued just a short statement that didn't give a reason for the termination. That allowed Zimmer, himself a marketing and messaging genius, to manage and control the story.

Zimmer was vocal about his disagreements with the board, and, because he was the only person willing to go on the record, he painted the directors in an unfavorable light, all to his own professional benefit. It was almost a full week after the firing that the company's board issued a more complete statement, giving what seemed like a valid reason for parting ways: Zimmer had discussions about taking the company private, without involving his board of directors. The delay in communicating, though, made the company and the board appear as it had been caught off-guard.

Be Unambiguous

In 1982, seven people in Chicago died after taking Tylenol that was laced with cyanide. There was widespread panic and fear about the ability to tamper with medication, and with Tylenol in particular. Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer, had every reason to simply try to reassure the marketplace that its product was safe. After all, the deaths weren't related to the medication itself. How can you blame a company for criminal acts by sick outsiders?

Instead, Johnson & Johnson famously recalled every bottle of Tylenol on the market, at great expense. The reason? The company's strategic value put consumers over profits, and the safety of its consumers was paramount. It wanted to send the most unambiguous message possible that it took its role seriously, it cared about its consumers and it would do all it could to ensure safety. No one could ever accuse Johnson & Johnson of putting profits first.

In the end, Johnson & Johnson reintroduced a tamper-proof bottle that allowed it to swiftly regain market share. In fact, as the first mover in tamper-proof packaging, it caught its competitors flat-footed. Best of all, its reputation was not only unscathed by the tragedy, it improved.

Language has power, but words must be followed by action. In any crisis, stakeholders want to see visible, out-front signs that a company understands its situation and is handling it. There should be no question about the action underlying a crisis. A crisis-communications strategy is responsible for that.

Be Complete

Even if you can't anticipate a crisis, you should have a plan in place before you need it. This will mean working with counsel on the legal side, forming a decision-making team and deciding upon how to communicate best that message ' both internally to employees and externally to clients and clients.

No crisis strategy can be effective if any messaging medium is ignored. In a social'media-driven world, that means outreach on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You'll need to identify influencers both inside and outside media ' and you should think about how to utilize digital-video channels like YouTube, broadcast and cable television, and newspapers and blogs.

No one likes to go through a crisis, but, when one arises, company leadership should see that the situation is as much an opportunity for brand-building as a challenge for brand erosion.

Jennifer Connelly is CEO and founder of JConnelly, a communications and marketing firm. She may be reached at [email protected] or 646-922-7770.