Communicating your way out of crisis
Crisis communication seems to be the hero of today’s times in salvaging the face of the brand and has now assumed heightened importance
Crisis communication seems to be the hero of today’s times in salvaging the face of the brand and has now assumed heightened importance, with the recent incidents of Airtel and BlackBerry.
Bharti Airtel
When Bharti Airtel, one of the country’s largest telecom providers by subscriber base, faced a network outage of its services due to a fire in its central point of presence located at Malad in Mumbai, it affected not only individual consumers but corporates as well, including a few leading banks, media companies and Central and Western Railways. The fire incident resulted in delay in emails, voice and data services over and above intranet and connectivity issues. With a subscriber base of reportedly around 3.7 million subscribers in Mumbai and 9.2 million customers in Maharashtra, Airtel made an active use of social media and gave Twitter updates on work in progress to restore the network to its subscribers. This was supported by statements issued to the media and ongoing communication in the form of an advertisement to its customers reassuring them that their network was up and running.
Where the brand fell short was in action, despite the statements and the advertisements, the network was not completely up and running leading to quite a few disgruntled consumers. In a day and age where communication is vital, no individual or corporate can afford a lapse. However, all in all the outage does not seem to have led to extreme condemnation from customers, this can be attributed to receiving communication in different forms, from the company as opposed to an indifferent service provider, another factor could be the fact that a large number of consumers were away for Christmas and new year.
Research in Motion
In a similar case, on October 11 2011, users of Canadian mobile handset manufacturer BlackBerry experienced a three-day disconnection due to its centralised server failure. With agitated users worldwide, the company understood the need for damage control and crisis management. It posted a video apology to all users. Micheal Lazaridis, Founder of Research in Motion or RIM, the BIS server for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, apologised for the outage that was experienced for 3 days in these areas. Although no clear reason was given for the problem Lazaridis alluded to system instability being the cause. This instability could be the result of congestion or just a glitch. Blackberry has promised that they are working on the issue. However, many believe that the crisis that had attracted global attention was poorly managed.
The apology message came two days after the server reported failed. Initially, it appeared as if the mobile company did not respond in a timely manner. Constant media reports worsened the situation. On this issue, Lazaridis promised that BlackBerry was doing everything in its power to sort this out. “We’re seeing steady improvements,” he said. The second blow came when The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft and Nokia “in recent months flirted with the idea of making a joint bid” for RIM. The rumour of BlackBerry buyout added fuel to fire. The very next day Reuters reported that Amazon.com had briefly considered acquiring RIM last summer.
RIM’s stock reached 12.9 per cent above the previous day’s closing price. This sent positive signals to RIM as many heaved a sigh of relief that it will salvage some of the company’s lost share value by paying a premium price. Low sales figures and identity crisis of BlackBerry’s Tablet- Playbook also spelled trouble for the company. Tech experts said that RIM went against its USP to create a non-enterprise tablet. The Indian division of RIM recently slashed the Playbook tablet price by 50 per cent. With agitated users as well as disappointed investors globally, BlackBerry slowly disseminated information to its consumers about the measures the company was undertaking. There was, however, little plan in place to respond to media reports.
Lessons in crisis management
Some big Indian and global brands like Cadbury, Nokia, Coca Cola and ICICI taught the industry a few communication lessons in crisis management. As Tejal Daftary Director of Criss Cross Communications says “Whenever any company faces crisis, especially in sectors such as telecom, it is best to highlight the problem, explain the steps undertaken by the company to resolve the problem and keep the audience informed on regular basis by way of single communication.” Supported by Risk Management expert of a leading global bank which has a strong presence in India, “Today, nothing escapes the media and the end customer can decide the fate of any large organisation. In this competitive market, the customer always has an alternate option and timely communication can help swing the match in ones favour. Lack of it, can spell doom for the largest of corporates. Corporates must realise that when the customer suffers, they will pay the ultimate price for their negligence.” While some learn, some continue to remain tight-lipped when a crisis approaches. However, the order of the day seems to be ‘Communicate when in crisis’, this can either make or break your much loved and reputed brand or take it to a new level altogether.
According to Veena Gidwani, CEO, Madison Public Relations, “All businesses are susceptible to crisis, which happen unannounced, most often resulting from factors totally beyond their control. Some crisis like the Nokia Battery failure, the recent fire at the Airtel Malad Technical Centre, have an impact on the day-to-day functioning of millions of people. The credibility and reputation of organisations is heavily influenced by the perception of their responses to key stakeholders during crisis situations. The organisation and communication involved in responding to a crisis pro-actively and promptly is often a big challenge in businesses. In a crisis situation stakeholders need to be assured that the organization is keeping their interests uppermost and doing everything in its control to overcome the situation with minimal damage.”
It is advisable for every corporate in the manufacturing or services businesses, to put in place a crisis management plan to handle all possible types of crisis that the business could face and have a separate team to execute it. This helps the organisation communicate in a quick, credible and effective way with media and other stakeholders affected by the crisis. If handled well, it does not have any negative impact on the reputation or equity of the company or brand, but in fact makes it emerge stronger.
Some Case Studies:
Toyota
On January 31, 2010, Toyota launched a major PR campaign to promote the safety and reliability of its vehicles after the Japan-based manufacturer was forced to recall millions of cars after problems with braking, floor mats and acceleration pedals in its vehicles. It effectively used print and television media for public apologies, explanations, and press releases. Toyota went into the crisis management mode to salvage the situation, and announced a fix for the accelerator problem.
Coca Cola
Coca-Cola India a brand synonymous with Open Happiness today, faced a mammoth crisis after a CSE report stated the product contained pesticides which can cause cancer, damage to the nervous and reproductive systems, birth defects, and severe disruption of the immune system. Sales of the product went down by around 30 per cent within two weeks of this incidence. The brand’s a toll free number, Coca-Cola India eKO Management System, CEO Sanjiv Gupta’s open and updated communication supported by rigorous pr campaigns helped get over this catastrophe. Consistent PR campaigns played a huge role in the brand regaining trust and credibility of consumers. Over 50 per cent of its market value was attributed to the brand image and heavy public measures.
ICICI Bank
In October 2008, shares of ICICI Bank plunged 20 per cent in a single day leading to a widespread perception that the bank is facing a liquidity crisis. Quick to tweak its communications strategy, ICICI Bank launched its ‘Power of Belief’ campaign in December 2008 through its web site and other media platforms. Later, the new image of the bank was reinforced in February 2009. It issued a release extolling the ‘virtues’ of belief and presented a list of initiatives which included ‘Read to Lead’ education projects from school students.
Nokia
Nokia India, which controlled a strong 67 per cent share in the Indian handset market in 2006, recalled 46 million BL-5C batteries of Nokia manufactured by Matsushita between 2005 and 2006. Nokia issued a warning over its BL-5C batteries across the world, stating that these batteries may get overheated while charging. It then started a damage control campaign using mediums like advertisement, SMS and an online helpdesk. It also roped in its dealers to manage the crisis by communication with consumers on ground.
Cadbury
On October 16, 2003, the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) seized the chocolate stock at Cadbury’s manufacturing plant in Pune after two chocolate bars of Dairy Milk were found infested with worms in Mumbai. Cadbury took its advertising off the air. It was quick to launch a project aimed at educating retailers. It started an intense PR approach to update the media on the measures it was taking at the manufacturing and storage levels. The company informed media about import of new machineries and change in packaging of its Dairy Milk bars. It also roped in Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan to reassure the consumers of the brand with trust messages.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
TOP STORIES
Surabhi Patodia of Ola joins Practo as Head of Communications
Patodia served over three years at Ola as Senior Manager, Corporate Communications & PR
Surabhi Patodia, former Senior Manager, Corporate Communications & PR at Ola has joined healthcare platform Practo as Head of Communications.
Patodia started her career in Communications with Adfactors PR, where she helped companies going to IPO with their communication plans. She then went on to be a part of Text100, India's premier Technology PR agency, where she worked with brands like Lenovo, Tata Power Solar, to name a few. She joined Ola in 2016, and was instrumental in building a strong narrative for the brand, across India and International markets.
Patodia holds PG Diploma in Public Relations & Corporate Communications from the Xavier’s Institute of Mass Communications, Mumbai and Bachelors in Business Administration from BIT, Mesra.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
ShareIndiGo appoints Chhavi Leekha as Director, Corporate Communications & Brand Reputation
Prior to this role, Leekha worked with Nokia India as Head of Marketing and Communications
IndiGo airlines, part of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, has appointed Chhavi Leekha as Director Corporate Communications and Brand Reputation. Prior to this role, she worked with Nokia India as Head of Marketing and Communications. Her role included setting the direction and leading Nokia's marketing strategy, demand generations, brand strategy, event management, advertising, external/internal communications, corporate affairs &CSR.
Leekha has also worked with Uber India as Consulting Director of Communications and also served a stint at Spice Global as Group President, Brand and Corporate Communications.
Leekha has completed her MBA from the prestigious Narsee Monjee Institue of Management Studies and BA from Shri Ram College of Commerce.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Aditya Birla Group appoints Sandeep Gurumurthi as Head of Corporate Comm. and Brand
Gurumurthi who was part of the core team that launched ET NOW stepped down from his role as Managing Editor in August 2018
Aditya Birla Group has appointed former ET Now Managing Editor Sandeep Gurumurthi as Head of Corporate Communications and Brand.
Gurumurthi who was part of the core team that launched ET Now stepped down from his role as Managing Editor in August 2018.
He was associated with the channel since inception and besides anchoring breaking news and other special shows, he hosted ET Now's flagship debate show India Development Debate weeknights at 9 pm.
Gurumurthi began his career with national broadcaster DD News, and prior to joining ET Now, he was associated with CNBC TV18,
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Yaap appoints Deepak Singh as Chief Creative Officer
Singh is one of the most awarded creative talents in the country and has won over 1000 national and international awards
Rainmaker Ventures-backed Yaap, the digital advertising agency has appointed Deepak Singh as their Chief Creative Officer. Deepak will be based in the Mumbai office and will oversee all creative functions across the Yaap network in Mumbai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Shillong, Dubai, Singapore & Jakarta. He will report directly to the Board of Directors at Yaap.
Singh is one of the most awarded creative talents in the country and has won over 1000 national and international awards at Cannes, One Show, LIA, New York Festival, Goafest, Adfest, Spikes Asia, Young Guns and more. He has also been on the jury of some of these prestigious festivals and led creative teams across agencies including Leo Burnett, Grey Worldwide, McCann Erickson, DDB Mudra, TBWA, Dentsu and The Social Street.
For the past 3 consecutive years, Singh has led a young team from The Social Street, which has gone on to give an exhilarating performance. He has been instrumental in securing the Creative Agency of the year title for the agency, several times during 2018.
Commenting on his new role, he added, “Saying yes to Yaap was actually not a very tough decision to make for me. Right from the time we first met, Atul had a clear picture of why he wanted to hire me. I am glad he has chalked out a much bigger role for me. Being a young and vibrant company with expertise in Digital Content, Design and Influencer Marketing, Yaap I believe will be a great learning experience for me. I’m raring to go “
Atul Hegde, co-founder Rainmaker Ventures added “Deepak is a welcome addition to the array of Partners we have at Yaap, which has a unique non CEO model, our aim as investors, is to ensure that we are able to attract the best & brightest of talent into the senior management pool at Yap. Within a short span of fewer than 3 Years, Yaap has grown into 70+ people across 7 offices in South East Asia, India & the Middle East and it was the right time for us to bring in a Senior Creative talent. I wish Deepak all the very best and I’m sure he will be a great asset to Yaap. “
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Leo Burnett India promotes Rakesh Hinduja to COO, West
He has been leading the operations of Leo Burnett’s head office in Mumbai as the Executive Director and Branch Head
Leo Burnett has announced the promotion of Rakesh Hinduja to Chief Operating Officer, West. He will continue to report to Dheeraj Sinha, Managing Director, India and Chief Strategy Officer, South Asia and Rajdeepak Das, Managing Director, India and Chief Creative Officer, South Asia.
Hinduja has been leading the operations of Leo Burnett’s head office in Mumbai as the Executive Director and Branch Head.
Speaking about the elevation, Dheeraj Sinha said, “Rakesh is the perfect role model for the new-age agency we are building. His leadership on all the three parameters of People, Product and Profit has been stellar. Under his watch, we have consistently seen spectacular work that has won our brands market-share, and glory at platforms such as Cannes Lions, Spikes and Effies. He has delivered high-quality growth for the Mumbai office, leading the teams to win a new business almost every two weeks. The momentum and buzz at Leo Burnett Mumbai are palpable. Rakesh has been an amazing team player, helping push the Publicis Groupe’s Power of One agenda. Leo Burnett Mumbai’s contribution to our services such as Prodigious has helped Prodigious to become the number one ‘agency production house’ in the country within a span of two years. More than anything else, Rakesh has a never-say-die attitude and he always plays the game with a sense of camaraderie that we really value at Leo Burnett.”
In his new role, Hinduja will drive the Power of One agenda for Leo Burnett in the West. He will help build cross-platform solutions for our clients using our services in Entertainment (Publicis Entertainment), Content (Content Factory), Experiential (Arc Worldwide), Production (Prodigious), Digital (Indigo Consulting and Digitas) and Media (Zenith Optimedia, Ecosys and Beehive). He will lead all the functions of Leo Burnett Mumbai to create world-class work, build a high growth business and create a culture where people come to do the best work of their lifetime.
Commenting on Rakesh’s promotion, Rajdeepak Das said, “Rakesh is always there, backing great creative work and making integrated thinking happen for our clients. He has been an essential part of the journey to get where we are today. This elevation is much-deserved and will take all of us to greater heights.”
Talking about his promotion, Rakesh Hinduja said, “I am happy with my journey at Leo Burnett – a new-age, solution-providing ‘Wave 3’ agency. I’m proud of the brave we have work done and I am hungry for more. Hereon, there are a lot of exciting things to do and in quick time. I want to take a critical pause here to thank all our clients and the Burnetters for their belief in me.”
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Publicis India appoints Neeraj Bassi as Managing Partner & Chief Strategy Officer
Along with Srija Chatterjee and Bobby Pawar, Bassi will help in fostering collaboration and delivering on the Power of One synergy across the Groupe
Publicis India has announced the appointment of Neeraj Bassi as Managing Partner & Chief Strategy Officer. Neeraj will work from the agency’s New Delhi office. Along with Srija Chatterjee and Bobby Pawar, Neeraj will help in fostering collaboration and delivering on the Power of One synergy across the Groupe.
With over two decades of professional experience, Neeraj has worked with some of the world’s most renowned brands including Coca-Cola, Asian Paints, Cadbury, BMW, KFC, Adidas, Samsung, British Airways, WeChat, Voltas, Audi, HSBC, Max Life and Tata Singapore Airlines – Vistara among others.
He joins Publicis after a brief stint as an independent Consultant where he provided strategic guidance and brand solutions for multiple clients across various categories. Neeraj has worked with some of the top market research networks such as TNS, IMRB, and NFO and led the Strategic Planning function in advertising agencies including Cheil, Ogilvy, JWT, McCann in India and abroad. Neeraj has also won multiple awards across reputed award festivals that recognise effectiveness such as Effies (India & APAC), AMES, WARC, etc.
Announcing the new appointment and welcoming Neeraj aboard, Saurabh Varma, CEO, Publicis Communications, South Asia said: “In Neeraj, we found a partner with a shared vision of driving a deeper level of integration within the Groupe by leveraging the Power of One model. Neeraj’s vast experience and media neutral planning approach will help clients in building a holistic brand experience which will aim to create one-to-one consumer engagement, at scale. I look forward to working with Neeraj and wish him the best of luck.”
Welcoming Neeraj to the Publicis family, Srija Chatterjee, Managing Director - Publicis Worldwide, India said: “Neeraj joins at a time when the Groupe is implementing a profound transformation which puts our clients front and centre of everything that we do. His wealth of experience of working across diverse sectors and with cross-functional teams will help build a narrative around our clients’ business and marketing transformation that connects data, content and technology in an omnichannel world. I’m excited to welcome Neeraj to the Publicis Groupe family, and we look forward to him riding the next strategic wave at the agency.”
Bobby Pawar, MD & CCO - Publicis Worldwide, India added: “I’ve always believed great work is born out of a strong partnership between strategy, creative and clients. Neeraj Bassi has a history of creating strategic platforms that killer ideas can springboard from. His cross-platform approach to planning will also be a huge asset to our march towards the future of creativity. It also helps that he is fun to be around. I can chat with him for hours; the chemistry is very important when you are going to be more or less living out of each other’s metaphorical pockets.”
Commenting on his appointment, and his plans for the agency, Neeraj Bassi said: “I am really excited to be part of Publicis India and looking forward to partnering Bobby and Srija to create stellar work that stands out in the market. Working with clients as an independent consultant has given me insight on the primary concerns of CXOs and how communication can help resolve them. Clients today need an omnichannel approach to planning that focuses on identifying and solving their business problems holistically, rather than getting trapped in a discipline-specific approach. I am fascinated by the way all Groupe companies have come together at Publicis to create Power of One, and I look forward to wielding this power to build successful campaigns for our clients.”
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Airbnb appoints Google's Aristotle Balogh as Chief Technology Officer
Balogh formerly served as Vice President of Engineering, Application Storage, Indexing and Serving at Google
Airbnb has announced the appointment of Aristotle Balogh as Chief Technology Officer, according to media reports.
Balogh is expected to begin his tenure with Airbnb in November and will head the engineering and data science teams. He will also be in charge of infrastructure, information security and IT, as well as engineering for payments and community support.
Balogh formerly served as Vice President of Engineering, Application Storage, Indexing and Serving at Google, where he was instrumental in developing the infrastructure and data platforms of Google Search. He also worked as Chief Technology Officer at Yahoo and VeriSign.
According to reports, the company is expected to file for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) next year and Balogh's appointment comes at a time when Airbnb is still without a Chief Financial Officer after Laurence Tosi stepped down from the role earlier this year.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp