Both the government and enterprises are in an era of public relations crisis. The SARS in Guangzhou is not so much a test of the government's administrative ability as a test of the government's crisis public relations ability. Especially recently, there have been many incidents about the reputation crisis of some enterprises, such as the recall of Wyeth milk powder in the United States, Nestle food containing unknown genes, fujifilm suspected of smuggling, Roche Pharmaceuticals "deliberately creating rumors to promote its drug sales", CLP CECT mobile phone "China Dog" incident, Changhong American "counterfeiting" incident and so on. Faced with the crisis, these enterprises are either helpless or passive.
Looking at the failure of crisis public relations in the above enterprises, more is the failure of crisis public relations communication. As an enterprise in a crisis whirlpool, how to coordinate its own interests, public interests and the credibility of the media, spread the true and objective situation to the public through the most appropriate channels in the shortest time, restore the reputation of corporate brands, minimize the losses of enterprises, and even turn passivity into initiative, which is the principle of public relations crisis. Then, in the face of sudden public relations crisis, how should enterprises conduct public relations and guide communication? Based on years of experience, the author summarizes a set of communication research strategies of "5W 1H".
Why: Why is there a crisis?
Once there is a crisis in an enterprise, the news media and the public will not only ask, why is there a crisis? Consumers also have the right to know. What caused the crisis? This is a sensitive and complicated topic. Faced with the crisis, many enterprises either avoid talking about the incident itself, borrow some reasons, or find some excuses, thinking that they are smart and can muddle through. In fact, this will only make the media and the public more interested in the cause of the crisis. After Roche's public relations crisis, when the media got to the bottom of it, the president of China Company didn't want to stand up and express his views on the enterprise. Instead, he took an evasive approach and never wanted to tell the public the truth of the incident. If the supreme commander or image spokesman of the enterprise was interviewed by reporters at that time, indicating the company's attention to this matter and sincerity in solving the problem, there may not be an uproar today.
As for the public, it is the group that has the greatest influence on the enterprise crisis and the strongest subsequent influence. For example, the "Wyeth milk powder" incident not only affected consumers to continue to buy the brand's milk powder for a certain period of time, thus causing huge losses to enterprises, but also the quality inspection department will continue to pay attention to whether the quality of Wyeth milk powder meets the requirements for a long time in the future and remind consumers from time to time. Among the factors that have a great influence on the public, in addition to the media, government administrative departments such as industry and commerce and taxation also hold the "power of life and death" in the future, and it is also very important to establish good relations with these departments. Competitors will play a role in fueling this public relations crisis. For example, the "harmful theory of microwave ovens" that happened some time ago is said to be deliberately slandered by competitors. It is also very important to establish friendship and honesty between enterprises, especially with competitors on a fair basis.
What: What's your position?
As a crisis public relations, honesty, credibility and frankness are the most important principles, and they are also the most critical factors for the success or failure of crisis public relations. What should we say to the public, media, competitors and victims when a crisis occurs? First of all, we should be sincere, apologize for the occurrence and result of the incident, and even apologize. If it is not caused by the company's own problems, we should also express regret and condolences to the victims.
We should apologize or apologize for the mistakes of the enterprise itself, and at the same time, we should take practical actions to save the losses caused by ourselves for the victims. Instead of acting as a peacemaker, it is counterproductive to fantasize that "big things are small and small things are small." For example, Mitsubishi Motors incident, corporate crisis public relations wording is vague, lacking sincerity and practical actions to recover the victims' losses, causing domestic people to spit on it. As for regret, we should think about why this happened from the perspective of "victims", whether enterprises should improve or give necessary hints to avoid similar things from happening again in the future, and what enterprises should do, rather than those unconvincing reasons and excuses.
The next step is to analyze the whole incident from multiple angles and negatives, and try to think and solve the problem from the perspective of consumers (vulnerable groups).
When: When will you make a statement?
We should deal with the public relations crisis as soon as possible, so that enterprises can take more initiative and gain social sympathy and understanding. Enterprises' choice of time is inseparable from the development of the situation. Generally speaking, in case of crisis, enterprises should express their views quickly. This position should not only be frank, but also be "polite and restrained", leaving room for manoeuvre for yourself. Enterprises should judge and determine the crisis at the first time. Is it a crisis of trust, brand, service or product? After communicating with the top management of the enterprise, immediately show your position on the situation, gain the trust of the public and the media, and avoid being irrelevant to the suspicion of the media and the public. For example, in Roche's public relations crisis, Roche "failed to seriously discuss how to answer reporters' questions within the system, and as a result, it answered irrelevant questions when answering reporters' questions, which was full of loopholes. Tamiflu can cure bird flu for a while, there is no clinical trial for a while, and it is only effective for influenza A and B viruses for a while. " This means that the enterprise did not determine the nature of the matter, did not judge the progress of the whole situation, and did not choose the right time to express its position in crisis public relations.
In the crisis public relations of enterprises, in addition to showing their attitude quickly and timely, they should also communicate with the media and the public in time according to their own investigation and handling of the crisis, and maintain good information channels with the public after the enterprise crisis is completely handled, so that consumers can have good loyalty and trust in the enterprise.
Where: What kind of communication channels are used?
Public media communication and word-of-mouth communication are two important forms of enterprise crisis information communication in crisis public relations. For the public's word of mouth, the controllability is relatively poor, but for the mass media, it can be completely controlled and guided by government public relations and media public relations, so that the situation develops towards a benign channel and affects the spread of word of mouth.
Media communication should pay attention to timeliness and rapidity, and pay attention to the channels of communication, whether it is TV interviews, press conferences or briefings, or statements, which are worth studying by enterprises in crisis. In the past two years, the development of the Internet has sprung up. Some media and some professionals first learned this information through websites. In particular, some large enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises not only release information to the public in time through their own websites, but also establish friendly relations with well-known portals, which is undoubtedly a good channel to deal with the public relations crisis.
How to: How to carry out crisis public relations?
After the public relations crisis comes out, how do enterprises deal with it? Press conference is a common way after the crisis. The objectivity and authenticity of news media reports will change the image of crisis enterprises. In crisis public relations, there are usually two kinds of media and coping media. With the help of the media, it means to release crisis-related information, reduce losses, control the incident in an unfavorable direction as soon as possible, and stabilize the emotions of victims and their families. Respond to the media mainly by accepting interviews and asking questions. Holding a press conference and giving interviews to the media provides an excellent communication opportunity for the company to let the media really know what happened and what remedial measures the company is taking. For enterprises, enterprises have mastered the initiative and directly controlled and guided the relevant information of related events.
At the same time of holding a press conference, some media reporters, direct consumers and relevant experts and scholars can be invited to visit and inspect the enterprise on the spot, so that visitors can know the most real situation on the front line and enhance the relationship between the enterprise and them.
When holding a press conference, we can carefully plan and package some positive factors in crisis handling or the achievements reached by both parties, so as to attract the attention and reports of the news media again. News reports after the crisis basically ended mainly give the public an impression that all measures taken by enterprises are responsible for society, so as to enhance the public's trust in enterprises or organizations.
The above is the specific explanation and explanation of "5W 1H" in crisis public relations communication. It is only a rough framework, and it needs to be flexibly arranged and applied for different public relations crises in practical application.
2. Informal communication
-It is a kind of free communication based on daily interpersonal relationship. It has no clear norms and systems, is not bound by the formal organizational system, is not limited by time and place, and has no fixed media, just like a "free market" for information circulation. In informal communication channels, there are often some gossip and rumors, some of which are purely rumors, so we should be good at distinguishing them. In short, corporate public relations departments and public relations personnel should fully understand the role of informal communication.
Informal communication includes talks, symposiums, suggestions, etc. Characterized in that:
1. Single line type
Step 2 gossip
3. Cluster type
4. Casual style