Problem: Crisis Communication Case Analysis
With your assigned partner, select an organization (public, private, or nonprofit) that recently (within the past three years) experienced a "double crisis"-an organizational emergency or crisis handled so poorly or was so protracted/extreme that it led to a secondary PR/corporate reputation crisis. Pull relevant materials from available online sources, including articles detailing exemplary crisis communication management for your team deliberations.
Submit a two page (max) single-spaced case analysis. For the report, summarize the initial emergency/crisis situation in a brief, introductory paragraph. Neatly assemble your responses to each section of the analysis. You may use detailed bullets where appropriate. Address the following:
A. Identify three to five key strategic communication mistakes that occurred in handling the primary incident that ultimately caused the secondary/PR crisis, i.e., reputation damage. Critique, analyze, and provide a better communication strategy/technique for each mistake using course materials for support.
B. Assess and analyze reputation damage (at the time of the initial crisis) in comparison to pre-crisis and current reputation (i.e., three points in time: pre-crisis, during crisis, and now post crisis). Incorporate dimensions discussed in class materials and national/global reputation indices (if applicable) and other available indicators of public and stakeholder opinion/confidence.
C. Find three company statements and/or responses to media questions by a top company official (post crisis). Analyze them for their media savvy and potentially positive (or negative) impact on the company reputation. Use relevant toolkits and crisis communication readings to help with your analysis. Provide the URL of identified videos (if available) and each official statement.
D. Identify three key messages this/your company needs to communicate during media interviews to move forward and repair reputations. These would be critical in preparing to make media statements and handle questions at a press conference to help you "control the message" and/or "steal the thunder" from the media and public.