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Top Tips.

profile plus: how to manage the media in a crisis

There are two types of organisations – those that are prepared for and are able to manage a ‘crisis’ and those that are unprepared and are forced to react in haste to influence the best possible outcome.

It’s useful first to define what we mean by ‘crisis’. Many organisations assume they will never be in a crisis situation, but for the purposes of this article we are referring to operational problems such as the recent outbreak of the Norovirus, a flood or fire which closes down part of the hotel, an accident involving a customer or staff, financial mismanagement – the list is numerous and with fast, easy worldwide communication, the damage to your business and reputation can be far reaching and long-lasting.

Having a crisis communications PR plan in place is like taking out insurance. You hope you’ll never need it, but you are very relieved to have it in place should a problem arise!

When a crisis strikes it is invariably unexpected, frequently complex and you will probably be more concerned with resolving core operational issues than considering how you are likely to be perceived by your stakeholders and the media, or indeed what impact the situation will ultimately have on your business.

There are a few basic steps you can take before a crisis occurs:

  1. 1. Have a plan in place - No two crisis situations are identical and not all can be resolved, however, if you have created and put a crisis PR plan in place in advance you will be in a much better situation to resolve any situation and minimise the damage to your business and its reputation (and dust it off every six months – it may need to be updated!).
  2. Don’t lock the stable door after the horse has bolted – It would be very hard to meet and brief a PR agency about your business, and about a crisis, in the middle of an operational nightmare. Time is always short, so it’s better to be prepared and develop a relationship with a PR agency beforehand. Ensure they are briefed fully and understand your business and how it operates, who your customers are, who your main stakeholders are and any potential issues that could arise.
  3. Communicate, communicate, communicate – It won’t just be the media that you will need to communicate with in the event of a crisis. Ensure the plan covers other stakeholders – staff, shareholders, directors, guests, customers, the local community, the general public - as well as the media.
  4. What’s the message – Ensure the right tone of message is used for each distinct audience.
  5. Technology – We live in a 24/7 media world. When a crisis occurs, it can escalate quickly due to the quick transmission of news. Use technology to your advantage – think e-newsletters; text messages; online news releases; the press association and ensure that your website is updated regularly so that people are kept informed.
  6. Controlling the message – In the event of a crisis, have only one media spokesperson and ensure that everyone knows who that person is and in the event they are away or offsite, who the deputy is. This allows your message to be controlled. Advise employees what they need to do if approached by members of the media.
  7. Ensure your media spokesperson is confident in front of the camera or if taking a journalist’s call. It is useful for key personnel to be trained in media handling in advance - what to do and say, particularly when the media spotlight is on them.
  8. After the event – plan how you are going to build your business’ reputation after the crisis has settled. It may be that the skills of a PR agency will be required to help rebuild your reputation and to ensure that no long term damage is done.

profile plus: Top Tips from Profile Plus, Edinburgh

Who is Profile Plus?
Profile Plus is a niche leisure and lifestyle PR agency, specialising solely in PR for this sector. Its clients are in the travel, food, drink, health and beauty, events and retail sectors.

Based in Edinburgh but with a local, national and international reach, Profile Plus has earned a reputation over the last ten years for exceeding clients’ expectations through its creative thinking, effective tailor-made solutions and meticulous execution.

Kerry Teakle, a senior account executive at Profile Plus, gives an insight into why you might look at hiring an agency and what they can do for you. Watch out for further tops tips from Profile Plus including advice on managing a crisis.

1) Why should you hire a PR agency?
PR is an important part of the marketing mix. If you want to increase enquiries and sales, drive traffic to your website or raise the profile of your business in the media, then it’s time to consider hiring the services of a PR agency. It can be a more effective use of your budget than advertising as people always put more value on editorial comment and coverage then something that is obviously paid for.

2) Think you can do it yourself, think again?
Sometimes it is easy to think that you can do the job yourself, but undertaking a task with which you are not familiar will be time-consuming, daunting and not necessarily an efficient use of your time. It is more cost-effective to concentrate on running your business than a half hearted attempt at PR. A PR agency should have very good contacts and be talking to the media on a daily basis, plus know how to ‘sell’ a story into them. And when you don’t have any news, a good PR agency can work in association with you to create a new angle that will provide a good hook to gain coverage.

3) What services will a PR agency offer?

  • National, regional and local media relations – There are many services that a PR agency will offer and it is by no means limited to just achieving media coverage although this can be a key element. At Profile Plus, we talk to the media on a daily basis and because we specialize in a niche sector, when we’re talking to them we will often offer more than one client’s news, making it a cost effective solution for everyone. The media also contact us on a daily basis for story ideas so we are well placed to sell your products or services, and even when you don’t have much news, we will come up with creative concepts that will achieve coverage.
  • Strategic PR solutions – we can help you look at the bigger picture, showing you how to integrate all your marketing plans and ideas.
  • Corporate, consumer and trade PR – Depending on whether it is a trade or consumer campaign that you are planning, a PR agency will offer advice on the appropriate media channels to use. They will be able to suggest print opportunities as well as broadcast and online. Media coverage will help build awareness of your company and promote specific messages to the target audience.
  • Issues and crisis management – Never say never; it can happen! Think of a crisis communications plan as an insurance policy - it makes business sense to have a crisis and issues management plan in place in case of the unexpected. A crisis can be anything from an employee injury, to needing to recall stock or dealing with health and safety issues that might affect both the general public and/or your employees.
  • Internal communications – your staff are an invaluable resource. Give them pride in working for your company by communicating with them regularly.
  • E-communications and newsletters – regular e-communications and newsletters are a cost-effective way of keeping in contact and helping drive custom to your website or hotel, spa, restaurant. Not to mention helping the planet through saving paper.
  • Media training – if the nature of your business is controversial or you are being asked to give interviews for the media, ensure that key personnel are trained. That way you can ensure that your key business messages are communicated and that personnel are taught how to respond positively to negative or awkward questions.
  • Competitions and reader offers – at Profile Plus, we regularly place competitions and reader offers for our clients in the national and regional media. They can be a very effective way of getting your key messages across and bringing in new business.
  • Event organisation – a PR agency should have good contacts with key suppliers in this industry and will be able to oversee the event and help create a memorable occasion. They can offer advice as who to invite and where to hold it plus there may also be great PR opportunities, which an agency will look to leverage in the media.

4) How will I know if the campaign is working?
• When you start working with a PR agency, a plan of PR activity would be established, setting targets to achieve over the year, e.g. number of press releases, column opportunities to be placed, press visits, profile opportunities, business features and promotions, as well as ongoing media liaison.
• The quality of images is very important. Often a publication will only run a story if the images are very strong.
• The PR agency will normally provide a monthly or quarterly evaluation report, along with coverage, showing the return on investment.

What do others say about Profile Plus?
Profile Plus did an outstanding job planning and executing our corporate communications strategy.
Jonathan Brown, The Drambuie Liqueur Company Ltd

The coverage generated by the releases has been well beyond our expectations, both in terms of titles and reach.
Graeme McDiarmid, Crerar Hotels

“The team at Profile Plus are a pleasure to work with. Not only do they provide me with regular targeted releases, but they are always ready to help with any last minute requests I might have.”
Chantelle Thorley, RSVP

So how do you get in contact:
Robyn Glynne-Percy
Profile Plus (UK) Ltd
78 The Shore
EDINBURGH EH6 6RG

www.profileplus.co.uk

Tel: + 44 (0) 131 554 6111
Fax: + 44 (0) 131 554 6445
email: rgp@profileplus.co.uk

Lightershade: Growing Websites 101

A website is a living thing that needs nurturing, feeding and occasionally pruning for it to grow. All too often we see sites launched with a huge amount of backing and resource; only to be left to wither and die through neglect soon afterwards.

For websites to be effective it is imperative that they are continually maintained, updated and improved to meet the demands of a changing marketplace.

Taking a cause and effect approach is a useful way to help your website grow. You can monitor the immediate reaction of the market place to any change you make and measure the impact of that change. Conversely you can measure the impact of no change.

Here is a short checklist of the things you should have in place before moving forward:

  • Start with a plan: Have a clear website maintenance plan
  • Identify your goals: Make sure these are clear and easily tracked
  • Track activity: Include both website traffic and conversions/actions
  • Understand your audience: As well as what you are presenting to them
  • Be prepared: To change and adapt to the changing audiences and environment
  • Commitment: Be committed to making this a part of your business

Once the groundwork is in place you can then move forward. Start by making a monthly commitment to review the website looking at traffic usage, outdated content, types of enquiries and even the competition. Having regular measurements and reviews provide a benchmarking mechanism so that you can consistently measure the impact of any improvements or changes to the site.

There are a number of free tools that allow you to track and measure your effectiveness including Google Analytics and Page Ranking. Use these tools to give you the information you need. Identify clear goals, calls to action and conversions and track these. Understanding how and when you achieve these goals will help you focus future efforts. If you are unsure about the results then try different things, but be clear about what you're doing so that you can measure its effect and know quickly if it's something you should keep doing. All this is not only possible, but relatively easy with the help of a few simple tools.

In respect to the search engine optimisation (SEO) buzz in the marketplace, maintenance plays an critical role. Updating your site with new and changing content will have a dramatic effect on your SEO performance. This is seen both objectively by search engines rating higher for changing content as well as subjectively through potential links and references to your new content.

It's important to make your website work for you, for it to be part of your daily awareness and activity, if it's critical to your business. If not, then make it easy to update and maintain. There is no point in putting up news articles if you only update them once a year.

A website should never stand still. It must evolve and adapt to its changing environment. But to do that it needs constant care. Give it the attention it needs and it will grow and deliver the results you expect from it.

Praise from the 2007 event:

"I thought they were all excellent speakers and all with an interesting and relevant story. The time just flew by as the whole day was so interesting."