Presentation given at the 3rd International Consumer Brand Relationships Conference, www.consumer-brand-relationships.org
Copyright by
Mariana Victorino, Catholic University Portugal, Portugal
No Cookies No Problem - Steve Krull, Be Found Online
The catalyst effect of Social Media in crisis communication management in the context of brand reputation threats
1.
The catalyst effect of social media in crisis communication management
Mariana Victorino
Catholic University, Portugal
Managing Director of Porter Novelli Portugal (Omnicom Group)
3rd International Consumer
Brand Relationship Colloquium
26-‐28 September, 2013, Winter Park (Orlando), Florida, USA
2. Table of Contents
Introduction
Research problem description
Research question & hypothesis
Theoretical framework
Research methodology
Case Study: Ensitel social media crisis
Results and discussion
Conclusion
3. Why crisis communication & social media?
often results in the practice of public
relations getting ahead of research.
The practice of crisis communication
is ahead of research in terms of social
Coombs, W. Timothy and Holladay, S., 2008. Comparing apology to equivalent crisis response strategies: Clarifying apology's
role and value in crisis communication. Public Relations Review. Volume 34, Issue 3, September 2008, Pages 252 257
4. Why crisis communication & social media?
social media in public relations professional
publications, research is still needed to
provide evidence-‐based guidelines to make
the business case for integrating social media
into crisis management practices
Jin, Y., Liu, B.F. & Austin, L.L., 2011. Examining the Role of Social Media in Effective Crisis Management: The Effects of
Crisis Origin, Information Form, and Source on Crisis Responses. Communication Research. Available at:
http://crx.sagepub.com/cgi/doi/10.1177/0093650211423918 [Accessed November 19, 2012].
6. Research question
of social media acting as a catalyst to the
strategy to manage situations that threaten
7. Are brands prepared to manage situations that may have a negative
impact in their reputation, in the context of social media massive use?
Are brands aware of the risks and consequences of not being prepared?
What methods and procedures do they use in order to be prepared?
Did social media contribute to change the way brands relate to their
stakeholders in the context of a reputational threat?
Complementary Questions
8. Did crisis communication management paradigm change in result of social
media dissemination?
Did social media bring about added difficulties or challenges for crisis
communication management?
How can brands manage crisis communication in Web 2.0 context?
Do brands need new strategies to manage effectively their crisis
communication strategies? Which strategies?
Complementary Questions
9. Hipothesis 1
The massive use of social
media entails a larger
exposure to threats for the
reputation,
demanding the definition
and implementation of new
and adjusted crisis
communication practises.
Hipothesis 2
Brands did not have
established practises for
managing crisis
communication and, due to
the massive use of social
media, they are experiencing
increasing threats to their
reputation, which is leading
them to develop and
implement these
methodologies.
Hypothesis Definition
11. Corporate Reputation
Reputation as an asset (intangible, but manageable by the brand); as an
assessment (a value judgement by the stakeholders); uma awareness
(global perception, collective representation Barnett & Lafferty (2006)
Reputation as a combination of an economic asset (reputation-‐capital), a
representation (image) and a judgement (reputation) Fombrun (2001)
Table 1 -‐ Barnett & Lafferty (2006)
Goal: to establish the relevance of defending corporate reputation from possible
threats that may affect brands, through crisis communication strategies which are
adjusted to the context of the new media.
12. Crisis Communication
Crisis
Communication
Definitions
Models
Acceptance
Approaches
Situational Crisis Communication Theory
Coombs (2007)
Learning Barrier Model & Mindful Leaning Model
Veil (2010)
Interdisciplinary Normative Theories
Ulmer (2012)
13. Crisis Communication (cont.)
Situational Crisis Communication Theory Coombs (2004, 2007)
Crisis Responsibility Crisis History
Organizational Reputation Prior relationship reputation
Behavioral intentions Crisis response strategies
Learning Barrier Model & Mindful Leaning Model Veil (2010)
Incorporate learning
Importance of the warning signals
Influence
14. Deepen the knowledge of
the new media
Postman (2011): creation of
online contents; easy ways ro
comment, complete and share;
develop relatioships with others
which are doing the same.
Understand the role of social
media for brands
Bradley (2011): enbrace its use,
like a decade ago the use of
internet was embraced. Without
internet the brand exist.
Anticipate the impact of social
media on brands crisis
communication strategies
Jin et al. (2011): public
increasingly use social media
during crises and consequently
crisis communication
professionals need to
understand how to act
strategically to optimize these
tools.
Social Media
15. Social Media (cont.)
Social-‐Mediated Crisis Communication Model -‐ Jin, Liu & Austin (2011)
16. Methodology
Interviews with experts in this field (communication professionals
and academics, communication and marketing directors and
journalists) direct qualitative data;
Interviews with representatives from brands affected by crisis
situations triggered by social media between 2010 and 2013
direct qualitative data;
Identification and qualitative analysis of situations triggered by
-‐
based situations to determine which theories, mechanisms and
tools provide the most effective approaches.
Secondary quantitative data (European Crisis Communication
Barometer Quadriga University -‐ Germany; Companies and crisis
in social media Spirituc/ Guess What PR
Ensitel Case
Study
17. Ensitel Social Media Crisis
The Turning point of a communication strategy
February 2009
Customer intent to exchange
a damaged mobile phone is
denied by Ensitel.
Starts to post in her blog
repporting her bad
experience.
May 2010
Customer sues Ensitel but
looses the case.
Posts in her blog become
more negative and frequent,
putting the blog in first place
in search engines.
December 2010
Ensitel sues the client with
the aim to intimate her to
delete the negative posts
from the blog.
During December 2010
A wave of solidarity towards the
blogger is generated and hundreds of
supportive comments and messages
are sent to her. Groups to boycott
Ensitel are created on Facebook.
The online crisis transpires to the
tradicional media with the accusation
of Ensitel trying to limitate the
blogger's freedom of expression.
Ensitel deletes negative comments
from its Facebook page.
Hundreds of negative comments
appear in Ensitel's Facebook page.
The brand decides to withdraw the
lawsuit and apologizes to the client.
Ensitel realizes it had totally lost
control over communication and hires
a PR agency.
January 2011
After online and offline negative
news had exploded, as well as
the reactions in social media, a
new approach to the brand's
communication strategy is
agreed among the company's
board.
August 2011
The online and offline media
coverage reverted from 55
negative articles in January to 18
positive ones en August.
A totally new communication
approach was consolidated.
18. Results and discussion
Social Media
24 posts in the blog
575 negative comments on
facebook page
3 boycott groups created on
facebook
Search interest on Google rose
from 60% for Ensitel and 100% for
the blog
Creation of a Wikipedia entry with
links to the blog, traditional media
articles and relating to the
Streisand-‐effect.
Traditional Media
113 negative articles about the
issue were published afterwards
46% on print media; 48% online
media; 5% on TV
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
3 3
8 8
14 14 11
18
1 4 7 7
55
12
8 6 7 4 2 0
4 7 7 4
Ensitel -‐ Media Coverage 2011
Positive
Negative
19. Results and discussion (cont.)
Interview with Managing Director:
Prior to the event he have hired a PR agency
Ensitel had a slow and inadequate reaction due to
total inexperience to deal with social media, but also
to manage communication
regognition of its mistakes contributed to
regain the clients and preference
The help of crisis communication experts was crucial
The brand learnt and changed for the better
20. Preliminary conclusions
Brands are often unprepared to deal with crisis
situations that involve social media
Role of specialists in the education of brands to
deal with social media
Social media are leading to changes in the way
brands relate to their stakeholders
Social media brought added difficulties to crisis
communication management
Social media entail a larger exposure of threats
and demands for the
definition and implementation of new and
adjusted crisis communication practices
21. To sum up
Embracing a proactive attitude towards the integration of the digital media
in brands'communication strategies
Developing an articulated crisis communication strategies in online and
offline media
Mapping the stakeholders involved and definition about ways of
engagement in a transparency and openness assumption attitude
Learning from negative experiences and extracting the consequent key
learnings and corrective measures
Consider reputational and communicational impacts and not only technical
or legal ones
Changing leadership mentalities concerning the use of social media and the
importance of crisis communication
Some principles which support the importance of defining crisis communication
strategies in the context of the rise and dissemination of social media: