Notre Dame is on fire – what was the crisis communication?
When the monumental Parisian cathedral Notre Dame was nearly destroyed in a fire, the whole world was left in shock. Everyone was eager to be updated with the news about the situation– either by traditional media or by social media channels.
Some of the politicians used this tragic event to share their extreme political views while others handled very well this crisis and gained new political points.
All in all – what was the best digital strategy? Are we allowed to improvise when an unwanted event happens (or not respond at all) or should be prepared in advance as much as possible?
Notre Dame is on fire – what was the crisis communication strategy
When the horrible accident in the Notre-Dame cathedral emerged, some popular political figure communicated strategically and in line with the event. Others were not prepared and reacted impulsively.
Twitter, as a digital communication channel that is loved by president Trump, sometimes does more harm than the fire in Notre Dame itself. Amid a massive fight with fire Trump tweeted uninvited advice: “So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!“
Luckily, the response came quickly. France’s Sécurité Civile that handles civil defense and crisis management responded professionally, and the tweet soon went viral: “All means are being used except for water-bombing aircraft which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”
It is evident who has a team of experts for crisis communication on digital channels working behind them and who is a lone wolf that is typing before thinking about any communication strategy. Although they were not prepared literary for this kind of crisis event, they were certainly prepared for procedures and ways of behavior in times of crisis.
We can take for example the French president Macron who has played his crisis communication strategy perfectly. With just a few statements, that were promises to rebuild cathedral within five years, he managed to cause avalanche donations and trigger the whole world around one cause. That shows the real power and the importance of strategic preparation for crisis communication and taking into account the possible crisis when writing the digital communications strategy.
What is crisis communication?
Before we get more in-depth with the importance of strategic preparation for crisis communication, especially in this new digital age, we need to know what exactly crisis communication is.
Let’s start by defining what a crisis is. According to the Institute for Public Relations, a crisis is defined as a significant threat to operations that can have negative consequences if not handled properly. Crisis communication is going in line with that. As defined by Financial Mail a communication crisis is a process by which a business can cope with highly negative issues.
Managing a communication crisis is not easy, because any non-planned and non- strategic move can have enormous consequences on the brand image, profit and overall future of the company. Moreover, digital marketing concepts are taking over and adding another layer of complexity in an already complex process.
The new emerging power of social media has shaped and changed the way we communicate, and the way brands should communicate in any crisis. Digital marketing is slippery ground for any communication crisis that is not done professionally.
Digital channels involve new essential effects – they demand a regular production of content and constant availability for your users. And sometimes this communication is not positive and sweet. Sometimes some unexpected things happen in the public eye – and they are called crisis communications on digital channels.
Over the past years, we have witnessed numerous brands handling their crisis communication in all the wrong strategies. An excellent example of lousy crisis communication with users is Dave Carroll vs. United Airlines, who, after failing to reply to his appeal, recorded the song “United Breaks Guitars” and caused the company to incur millions of losses and termination of the contract.
In this kind of situations, it would have helped to have a complete crisis communication in place, but all too often a crisis communication and team are considered to be an unnecessary expense.
Obviously, you cannot ever prepare and predict in advance the exact same crisis that might happen. Without any doubt, the French Sécurité Civile did not think, even for a second, that their national symbol will be on fire. But they were absolutely prepared. The people, procedures, behavior, materials, and coordination system were prepared for a crisis.
And because of that when the worst-case scenario happened – as the US president advises you how to extinguish a national symbol – their answer came in the right way.
And we can assure you that all companies and brands have or will find themselves in crisis communication, and only a few of them are adequately prepared with a strategy of digital communications.
Why is it important to have a crisis communication strategy?
Digital channels have a new dimension of speed and complexity, and that requires new digital strategies and communicational processes. The best way to prepare for the communication is to have a clear plan and strategy of communications in the crisis that needs to be an integral part of your complete digital communications strategy.
Crisis communication is certainly not something you hope to communicate with your users on social networks, but you have to expect it.
Why is that particularly important for digital channels? In digital marketing, things move and travel amazingly quick. Your response time is decreased to hours or even minutes, and you need to act fast.
Sometimes, that is a good thing, and your posts will go viral. But other times, it can be a communication crisis that came out of nowhere. If that happens, your best chance to survive this crisis is by having a strategic plan and be prepared in advance for the communication crisis.
Because the worst thing you can do is not be prepared for one. Pre-planning and analyzing the potential for crisis communication is a must in your digital strategy. You need to think about crisis communication on digital channels when you will be working on your overall digital communications strategy.
When you are prepared from the beginning of your digital marketing concepts with a strong strategy for surviving a crisis on digital platforms, you will know what to do as soon as the crisis occurs, who is in charge and who should you contact if a crisis occurs.
Now – it’s time for some inside tips for recognizing what is a crisis and shutting it down in the early stages.
Tips & tricks for crisis communication on digital channels
- Define what is a crisis
When few people online say rude or impropriate things about your company that is not a crisis. But if lots of people in high intensity and in the same time, and potentially about the same event, are saying the same negative stuff about you – this is a crisis or potential crisis that will explode soon.
- Monitor what they are saying about you
It’s impossible to know and deal with your crisis communication on digital channels if you are not aware of one.
One of the most natural ways of doing that is by setting up keyword searches and Google Alerts for your brand.
- Create a crisis communication guideline
Create a crisis guideline for how to act when a crisis happens. Your crisis communication plan should describe the exact steps everyone needs to take on digital channels when a crisis emerges. Of course, your crisis communication guidelines should be connected with your main digital communication strategy.
Moreover, your crisis communication plan must describe the steps for every person – including top executives to the most recent employees. Go through the procedure with your staff so you can be prepared in advance. Bottom line – you want to be over-prepared!
If you want to learn more about this topic or you need help with preparing a crisis digital communication strategy, contact us!
