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In this episode of Overflow, we are joined by Communications Consultant Frank Singleton, Senior Vice President of Ogilvy Communications Worldwide, who is in our opinion one of the best strategists you could ever have on your team regarding crisis communications situations.
In this podcast, Frank demonstrates that in this age of distributing information through a variety of new media outlets including blogs, twitter and other social media venues, having a clear message, determined roles and responsibilities, and analyzed tactics for distributing your own information will ensure that the company or brand can maintain equal weight in the 24-hour news cycle.
User generated content is so ubiquitous today that it has changed the game somewhat in terms of tools, but having a solid foundation regarding communications needs is still of utmost importance.
Having a crisis strategy in place can apply to any organization no matter the size, and as Frank states “it’s not a matter of IF you are going to have a crisis, it’s a matter of when.” A crisis can be anything from internal employee situations or external issues as small as an e-commerce server going down .. but in any case there is a need for a response that will support the brand and maintain the level of trust that you have worked so hard to achieve.
Frank has developed a proprietary program that he calls O.O.D.A. Following these particular steps will help to clarify the response that must be made and initiates the actions required to properly respond.
Orient – - what type of crisis situation are we looking at? Is it a financial, community, internal, etc. etc. situation that must be addressed by the organization.
Observe — get those details down in those first precious early minutes of the situation, so that you can craft a response with the right facts at your fingertips.
Decide — Determine the Who, What, When, Why and How of the plan. This is the decision regarding how this situation is going to be handled.
Action — take the appropriate actions based upon the careful study of the situation.
The topic of Crisis Communications is extremely broad and lends itself to many aspects of strategy and implementation. As a consultant Frank can assist in doing a brand assessment that will expose weaknesses and areas to be addressed, to charting the roles and responsibilities, to conducting “fire drills” to practice implementation of the plan.
He can also assist in media training to provide a level of comfort when dealing with reporters and the media.
To get in touch with Frank you can email him at FESingleton@comcast.net or phone him at (678)316-4237
We would like to get Frank to join us on a regular basis to discuss how to prepare for and execute a plan in the case of a crisis situation, so if you’ve enjoyed this episode and would like to hear more please leave us a message in the comments section of the site.
