
How To Create A Successful Crisis Communications Plan

I was beyond excited to work for Foodmaker, the corporate arm of Jack in the Box, early on in my marketing career. We had just launched a new product called the Monster Burger and I got the opportunity to work on a nationwide brand refresh initiative that was a dream project for me. And then E. coli hit. The outbreak involved 73 Jack in the Box restaurants across the west and was the most infamous food poisoning outbreak in history—killing four children, the majority under 10 years old, infecting 732 people across four states, permanently injuring 178, including kidney and brain damage, and almost bankrupting Jack in the Box.
A PR Nightmare
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A number of memorable things happened after the E. coli outbreak. First, local Jack in the Box franchise owners were on the news talking to the media about how awful things were at their local restaurant. This was notable to me because I hadn’t seen any communications about how to respond to media inquiries from corporate and this misstep was being displayed all over the news.
Second, three days after Jack in the Box was told E. coli had been linked to its meat, it tried to distance itself from responsibility saying others were at fault. It was later learned that Jack in the Box had been warned by local health departments and its own employees that its hamburgers (specifically the Monster Burger due to the size of the burger) were being undercooked, but had decided that cooking them to the required 155 degrees made them too tough. The chain soon after pledged to “do everything that is morally right for those individuals who had experienced illness after at Jack in the Box restaurants as well as their families.”
Third, Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak had received wide media coverage to the point that President Bill Clinton was fielding questions at a local media event about it.
Fourth, at the corporate office, we were being served constantly with lawsuits; it was non-stop. This was officially a PR nightmare.
A Crisis Communication PlanBigstock
Years later I was the Director of Marketing & Communications at Pepperdine University’s business school. I had used my learnings from Jack in the Box to ensure that we had a crisis communication plan in place. This learning paid off tenfold as I encountered late-night and weekend crisis situations at Pepperdine (i.e., campuses closing due to CA wildfires) utilizing this well-prepared crisis communication plan.
During a crisis situation, people need a simple plan of action that is easily understood and can be put in place quickly. I’ve found that successful crisis communication plans have a number of key elements. Here is my checklist that I include in crisis communication plans:
- Identify Crisis Communication Team & Spokesperson
- Develop Key Messages
- Determine What Channels to Communicate Efforts
- Develop FAQ to Answer Questions
- Plan for Media Inquiries
- Develop Internal Communications Procedures
- Train Personnel on Action Plan
- Contact and Media List
- Review & Update Crisis Communication Plan Regularly
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After the dust settled with the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, settlements for individual and class-action claimants reached over $50 million, the largest payment related to foodborne illness at the time. Jack in the Box also lost approximately $160 million in court and from lost sales. Having a well-prepared crisis communication plan comes with many benefits:
- Predicts Crisis
- Reduces Seriousness of Crisis
- Protects Company for Legal Exposure
- Protects Employees & Stakeholders During Crisis
- Aligns Internal & External Messages
- Reduces Time it Takes to Respond to Crisis
- Maintains Company Reputation
- Ensures Business Continuity
Having a well-prepared crisis communication plan can make or break your business should a crisis situation strike.
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If you're conducting an active job search, you've probably realized the traditional methods used to obtain employment are no longer effective. If you only apply for job opportunities using job boards and wait for calls to roll in, it won't get you very far these days. So, we've developed eight tips for conducting an effective job search that will make a noticeable difference.
Here are the basics:
1. Get To Know YourselfBefore starting a job search, getting to know more about who you are and what you're looking for is critical. Write down what your hobbies and interest are, take a self-assessment, and be sure to utilize aides like these affordable career resources.
Your job application includes your resume, cover letter, portfolio (if applicable), and LinkedIn profile. All of these materials are very important to your job search.
Your Resume
This must be well written and organized in a way that a potential reader can quickly see what sets you apart from other candidates. Identify what skills you have, quantify those skills and accomplishments on your resume, and customize your resume for each position you are applying for. By doing these few things, you'll show employers a glimpse of the value you could bring to their organization, and your resume will be more likely to get past the ATS (applicant tracking systems).
Your Cover Letter
It's not enough to write a cookie-cutter cover letter anymore. For an effective job search, write a disruptive cover letter for every job application you send out. It should tell a story and demonstrate why you would be a good fit for the organization.
Your Portfolio
Not everyone will need a portfolio, but if you are in a field that requires examples of your work, a portfolio is crucial to your job search. Include a digital portfolio of your best work. Employers want to pre-screen your work before they decide to call you in for an interview.
Your LinkedIn Profile
If you are not on LinkedIn you don't exist in the employment world. The vast majority of employers use LinkedIn to recruit new employees. Make sure that your LinkedIn profile is optimized and the information listed matches what you have on your resume.
3. Establish A BrandBigstock
Your brand is formed in various ways including in person, on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), and on personal websites and correspondence. You always want to leave a good impression on others, no matter if it happens in person or online.
That's why tip number one is so important to personal branding. You must know what you are good at. You also need to know what skills and expertise you possess that you want to leave with people. This will become your brand.
If you perfect the art of personal branding, employers will initiate contact with you.
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The first place to start when searching for employment is your personal network (former co-workers, family, friends, church members, and even friends on social media). These are the people who know you the best and will be more willing to refer you for an open position.
You must make networking a regular part of your activities, though, not just something you do during a job search. Join organizations related to your field of choice, attend networking events, and become active on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Do what works best for you and be sure to have balance.
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Target positions that you would like to have and companies that offer those types of positions, then see if you have any connections to company insiders (referrals are the leading source for obtaining interviews).
How do you figure out which companies to target? Create an interview bucket list—a list of 10 to 20 companies that you would love to work for that also hire for your skill sets.
Be proactive and contact hiring managers, even when there aren't open positions posted on their company websites. Introduce yourself and see if you can obtain an informational interview to find out more about the company and what they look for in candidates.
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After you've targeted the companies that you feel passionate about working for, put together a plan that will help you get hired at one of them.
Regularly evaluate your plans and strategies and stick with things that have had positive results. If what you are doing is not bringing results, it's time to try a new approach.
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Once you have taken the steps to apply or inquire about a position, follow up with employers. Send a quick note that reiterates your passion for the company and desire to work there, and share an interesting article or video that you think they would find interesting. It's about providing value in the little ways that you can to strengthen the connection.
The goal is to stay at the forefront of the hiring manager's mind so when they need to fill an open position, you'll be at the top of their list to contact first.
8. Increase Your Marketability While You SearchBigstock
Don't get comfortable with your accomplishments. Continue to develop your skills and gain more experience while you are conducting your job search—and even when you are employed.
In your career, if you're not growing, you're dying. Seek professional development opportunities to make yourself more marketable to employers. Work on your career every day. To truly stand out in a competitive job market, you can't afford to think you have what it takes to get hired. You need to prove it.
Always be looking for opportunities to grow your career!
In order to conduct an effective job search, it's important to follow the tips above.
School doesn't teach us how to get the job. So, don't be so hard on yourself! You can (and will!) find a job. Give these steps a try and see how much of a difference it makes in your job search.
Need more help with your job search?
We'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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The marketing funnel is now referred to as the full funnel, cutting across every interaction the consumer has with the firm—from awareness through consideration and purchase.
The full funnel considers the journey of the suspect, the prospect, and the customer. More than ever before, we are closer to being able to capture all of these moments of truth by using these tools:
- Open gardens and APIs
- Advertising ecosystems
- Marketing ecosystems
- CRM solutions and more
- Customer data platforms (CDPs) what I called CDPs 2.0 or tools line Snowflake
(Quick history tangent: The marketing funnel leveraged prospect and customer databases. When CDPs were developed, these databases were integrated. I refer to enhancements to current CDPs, including the integration of real-time data and prospect/customer states, as CDP 2.0.)
These tools, especially CDP 2.0, have improved our ability to connect the dots across the full funnel allowing us to capture these events and experiences, to track more of the journey.
The full funnel includes sales, customer management, and other moments of truth. A snapshot of the prospect or customer can be captured and stored in the CDP 2.0 for future analyses and action. This connected ecosystem allows marketing, sales, and customer professionals to optimize the full funnel at all points along the journey, from early awareness and exploration of options in various channels to product or service purchases. Additionally, the full funnel allows us to understand how customers advance in their journey or relationship, engaging with the brand's products and services or buying additional products thereby deepening their relationship. This idea of knowing or understanding both the marketing and sales funnels advances the relationship and gives the firm a leg up in designing the right offering and overall experience.
This chain of events view is a step change in our thinking. Previously, using the marketing (or sales) funnel, businesses focused on optimizing dropouts. With technology giving us a more robust, more comprehensive view of prospects, customers, and their behaviors, we can analyze what activities and engagements led to a sale. What led to someone dropping out of an application or a pipeline for a particular product or service? There are micro-pipelines that we can now analyze and optimize. We can understand the profile of specific customers and the media that they came in on. Does that SEM channel or keyword the consumer searched create a customer? More importantly, will it create a profitable customer? We can decide on where to spend the next marketing dollar based on impact and plan for better customer journeys and outcomes.
Gone are the days of only looking at marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-qualified leads (SQLs). Now we can examine the full view of everything and view MQLs/SQLs as micro-optimizations with the broader, fuller customer picture in mind.
So What Business Activities Are Supported By The Full Funnel?Bigstock
1. Manage contacts across more channels, including the metaverse and AR/VR
2. Quickly recognize customers and prospects in any channel
3. Understand what conversations, offers, and interactions work at the micro level and in real-time (not just at the segment level)
4. Understand how people score on various algorithms at different points in time and across channels to increase relevancy and reduce friction
5. Understand customer and prospect value as well as potential value over time
6. Understand channel usage and behavior in real time and across channel types
7. Understand the consumer journey from suspect to prospect to customer
8. Partner with and understand third-party data where it adds value for the consumer
9. Leverage auto ML/AI to learn in real time and consider the full multidimensionality of the data in the CDP 2.0
10. Understand service events and outcomes, especially their impact on the customer journey
So, if you are thinking about canceling your investments in your CDP, reconsider.
In summary, the connected ecosystem powered by cloud solutions (including CDPs of the 2.0 variety) and Analytics as a Service (AAAS) has provided many opportunities for the entire organization to work together to understand more about prospects and customers than ever before. The focus on pipelines and deal dropouts has been supplanted by looking at the comprehensive full funnel from top down, from digital advertising to predicting churn from multiple relationship customers.
I look forward to your thoughts on how your firm has changed its view of funnels, CDPs, and the idea of the 360 view of the customer.
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Originally posted on: https://www.workitdaily.com/crisis-communication-plan