Are you PR war-room enabled?

None of us want a crisis to strike us or our organization… but that is an ideal scenario! Many time, a crisis strikes out of the blue, making the core management team of the organization run for cover! Not just that – when a crisis hits, there is chaos all over, that adding to the already vitiated organization eco-system.

The organization eco-system includes all the stakeholders – the organization and its product and services, the market place, the positioning vis a vis competition, the employee, the financial institutions that have invested in the company, the stock market, and every single public shareholder…. The list is partial, and will depend on the size and scale of the organization.

While the occurrence of the crisis per se, cannot be predicted, the response to such a situation can be planned in advance – and this is what we call a war-room for crisis management. This war-room (primarily comprising of your internal communications pro’s) is ever prepared, and swings into action when there is a crisis – if at all there is one.

This war room will/must have people drawn from the top leadership of the organization (sales, marketing, finance, HR and so on) who will work in tandem with   the core communications professionals and will caliberate the response for any crisis.

The crisis team (the war-room) will be well prepared with all the facts pertaining to the product, service, people, infrastructure, the dynamics of the various markets it which they are present, the relevant information of the prime-competitors etc.

Apart from the communications teams which is well trained to interact and speak appropriately to the media, key resources in the organization are identified time and again (once a year minimum), and they are imparted with the communication finesse in handling all kinds of media queries, when the situation warrants.

A mechanism is put in place is such a way that once any event (crisis) occurs, all the key stake holders in the war-room are connected seamlessly and appraised of the events, the facts, the implications, and the consequences plus the actions that will e taken y the organization in the aftermath of such a situation. This fact brief to the core team – irrespective of where and when  the crisis occurs –  must all be done in 30 to 60 minutes. And post that the team hits the road in tackling the PR front with ease.

While it is the responsibility of the leadership of the organization to calibrate the response to any crisis, the ability to get the message across, in the best way, to all the internal and external stake holders is the key winner in the long term.

That happens seamlessly only if there is a war-room mechanism in place at your organization. With media staying connected 24/7/365, carrying out their social responsibility of disseminating information as it occurs, it is only a crisis war room that can save the day for your organization.

Not just that, your war room will actually impact your long terms interests in a positive way!

So, does your organization have a communication war-room?!

A crisis can strike anytime... is your PR there?

For some reason, the word ‘crisis’ is associated with ‘panic’, and most of today’s organizations tend to immediately get pushed into a panic mode at the distant sight of a crisis. What then happens when there is a real crisis on hand, is anyone’s guess.

There are examples all over of how even the communication savvy leadership/PR team of an organization, gifted with a fair amount of media leverage, gets into a shell and resorts to denial mode when it’s time to speak and write more information, to be virally sent out to every media outlet possible.

The cardinal rule in handling PR in times of a crisis is to get immediately speaking and sending our fact statements to the entire gamut of media houses – including web2.0 and social platforms. The singular intent once the information/details of the crisis is handed out is to deliberately invite media conversations, with the intent of giving more and more details possible.

Never give a remote sense that your organization is shying away from the media – even when the crisis in not your own making, when you shy away, the immediate conclusion is that the organization wants to hide facts.

While there can be well documented papers (by your PR agency or internal communications team) of how to respond when there is a crisis, it’s easy to manage a crisis when some basics are in place.

Just see if these things are in place in your organization, anytime rather always…

-         a designated spokesperson, who will instantly be updated on any crisis that may have hit – he is the points man for all information to be given – facts, details, images, live feed and whatever.

-         Handpicked communication team that swings into action – gets into an auto pilot mode in any mishap – which is connected and networked 24/7/365 to take the crisis PR initiatives. Stay abreast all through the crisis life cycle, and ceaselessly and tirelessly handles all queries from every corner of the globe.

-         a communication mechanism (call it a protocol) which communicates to all the key decision makers and every internal stakeholder in the organization the details and occurrences of any crisis that may have hit, how the consequences will be managed, how internal/external stakeholder interests will be protected, what are the cost consequences and the impact on the organizations’ fiscals et al.

-         a standard template that captures all the finer details of any mishap that may occur, roll it out into the form of a media release, so that the same can be handed to the media fraternity  and follow up questions taken.

-         a mechanism that ensure that all the state authorities are informed of the mishap in the shortest possible time, with as much details as gather-able in the least lead time.

-         a media room which gets activated when such an event happens, where all the journalistic fraternity can report from, with all information fed to them officially, live wire.

These may sound baby steps – yet, in the crisis management plan, many  times its lack of this basic preparedness that brings in misery to the organization, than the actual crisis itself.

Make sure your organization is set ready in the first steps of managing crises.
As the old adage, being well prepared is half the battle won.

That’s true in managing a crisis too.

You get good PR, only if you ask the right questions! Are you?

Public relations agencies of different hue and size may keep pitching with your organization, to get an opportunity to engage with your communication strategy and execution. And we have always seen that organizations just look for these – does your agency have the scale, size and a national/international presence, and would you be able to reach across all (including social) media, in every nook and corner of the world!

There is nothing wrong, and in fact, it’s important to check on what credentials your prospective agency comes with! Well, at the same time, it is important to bear in mind, that the agency must also have the ability and agility to engage in PR strategy and execution of an organization of your kind.

You may hire the best of the agency in the universe, but think about this – is there a point if their strengths do not sync with your company’s scale and strength, and what if their capabilities are more specific to large sized companies, and not for the kind your company is – a niche small organization, yet with its own unique service offerings or qualities.

So why not check for the following few, when you think it’s time for a PR agency.       

• Does the agency have a history of delivering PR value to companies of your kind, and how often have they done it?

• Do they have the agility – not just in the pitch of theirs, but do they seem to fit your scheme of things – would they find synergy in working with a client like

• Do they have the kind of commitment to work with companies like you in the medium and long term, so that you eventually get the real benefit of engaging with an agency. Else, if you are just looking for one off bursts of media coverage, the need to spend time analyzing the agency can be done away

• Do they have the de-learning skills for adapting to your needs? This is so important. Like it or not, large and global agencies come with a mindset, and even if they are willing to do their best, they may not be if your communication needs are vastly

• Do they have an understanding of your specific industry needs, and would they be willing to invest the time and energy in gaining insights into your media visibility

• Are they just a plain vanilla release churning agency? Or do they learn in-depth about you, see what works best for you, and showcase

• How much more credibility and enhanced image value can they bring to the table (not just across, but over a period of 2 – 3

• Are they contemporary? Are they social in the true sense? And they in the business of facilitating the journalist world’s news crowd-sourcing

• In case your needs are local, do they have an insight into what works in that market/geography of yours? Sometimes an easy exercise in one part of the world, may not be even doable elsewhere. And they must be willing to tell this, straight on your face.

• Do they speak of practical and doable communication work? Sometimes large agencies are too good at large scale events, which will fetch some visibility burst; but the value that you derive from such exercise is zilch.

So, if you are looking at a PR agency to help you in your long term communication plans, ponder over these questions, and make sure that you understand the dynamics of the value promised.

For great PR, please ask the right questions!

Why has news-jacking not caught up with Indian marketers?

News-jacking has now established itself as a powerful tool in the marketing and PR armor across the globe. Its now practiced by small and large brands alike in the west.

Yet, you don't see it being much used as a tool in India. Why? Is it that we are too touchy about how sensibilities might get hurt in this sub-continent, or is it just Indian marketers and brands are comfortable with conventional tools?

I for one believe that the pioneer for news-jacking is our own Amul brand. Their witty and thoughtful, and almost daily topicals are best practical examples of news-jacking. When they did it first, they would not have imagined that what was done in a simple easy to reach way will become "news-jacking", and pioneered by David Meerman Scott.

Just google, and you shall find how every possible event from the US presidential election, to Hurricane Sandy,  and more recently, the Royal baby have been news-jacked - ensuring unimaginable marketing mileage - which would cost very high in other means!

The "bananacin" news from brand "Anacin" (above) is the latest!

Why is news-jacking not catching up in India? Sensibilities, lack of innovation or no buy-in from clients?

What do you think??

Social media and Indian Elections!

Its election time – at least, that’s what all the media suggests, with psephologists having a field day.

Be it by the scheduled time or sooner, its not too far away that the (mighty Indian) common man will cast his once-in-a-5 year all powerful vote.

This is also the first time that elections to the country will be held after the proliferation of leaders, followers, and influencers in the social band-wagon.

The mainline media is agog with stories as to how this will be one election, which will be also fought and won, with the influence and crowds that parties get or otherwise on social media – be in twitter, face-book or blogs!

How significant the influence of this new media platform will be when the ballot is cast is a raging debate!

That aside, how well can political parties, their leaders and followers make the best of this place, when it comes to brass tacks?

Here are 10 ways party sympathizers clued in to twitter and similar fora can make the best – to make sure they make a difference on the ground.

1. Political parties must form geographic clusters of social media followers of their respective parties and followers. This may be possible by segmenting the influencers/followers database (if at all they have any – else thats step 0 ).Given the nature of internet penetration and usage across the country, the urban focus and present ‘crowding pattern’ of (any party’s) social media enthusiasts, there will be huge tracts of the country where there’s practically nil followers. This gap analysis is a basic need.
2. Hiring people (social media influencers), which some parties have planned to do, must begin in these void tracts in social crowding.
3. Split the nation into 100 clusters depending on how the party wishes to do it, aligned with the state boundaries and any other similar criteria which the party will deem fit.
4. Once this job of deciding on 100 clusters is done, the strategic decision of where to hire people, and where to deploy people can be decided, and this will be done on the basis of looking at the follower ‘clustering’ across different regions.
5. Given the overall number of Lok Sabha seats in the country, which is 545, each of these social media cluster of influencers take the responsibility of making the online-offline connect with 5 or 6 MP seats depending on the task allocation.(This, gives a perspective of the humongous task at hand for the social media followers and influencers of the party).
6. The national social media co-ordination committee of the respective parties shall also work closely, with ear on the ground, to customize the message for the respective cluster population, based of socio-economic factors, local issues which could be of impact, national issues, past promises of incumbent (national and cluster specific), and broadcast/engage people online and offline with those messages. The crux of the messaging can be altered based on ground realities/feedback on a fortnightly/weekly basis.
7. Besides just engaging online, the respective cluster social media leaders/committee will also hold regular weekly message-connect meeting with the local party committees and workers who are on the campaign trail.
8. The social media cluster committee can be aligned into a few dedicated members to each LS constituency. These dedicated social media influencers shall be in constant touch with the workers on the ground, in each LS seat, and work closely with them, helping them in message connect, the to-do’s of campaign and also broadcast regular messages on leaders on the campaign trail, countering opponent messaging and use on-field carpet bombing of national issues.
9. Critical feedback from the ground to the leadership must happen from these cluster social media influencers. Points like the visit of some leader could influence the balance in favor, ground realities on which factors must be highlighted in public meetings and interactions, the kind of bills that can be distributed door to door etc will be also taken back and forth by the social media party evangelists.
10. With these as the broad strategy, each of the cluster social media influencers in the party shall have a monthly plan in the run up to the election. This monthly plan shall be brainstormed with the party leaders/important office bearers at the local/regional and national levels. Vetting shall be done for the broad strategic and operations plan for the 100 odd soc-med influence clusters across the nation.

So, push aside all the social buzz what you see now. Does your party have a semblance of the above 10 steps in its social media master plan in the run up 2014?

More importantly, is your social media machinery ready for this kind of a grind?

If yes, then there will be a semblance of influence at the ballot. And if not, better luck later...