Komen Fallout Continues
In what is becoming a classic case of crisis communications mismanagement, the Susan G. Komen Foundation continues to feel the fallout of its decision to cut off financing to Planned Parenthood. In a report on NBC’s Nightly News, reporter Lisa Myers detailed the on-going impact of the decision that was made earlier this year. You can see the NBC Story here: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/year-the-mad-men-komen-spurns-planned-par-msna19623. The Komen Foundation, known for its pink ribbons representing breast cancer survivors, raises much of its donations through local events such as the “Race for the Cure.” According to Myers, race registrations for a Fort Worth, TX event are down 40%, donations at an event in Southwest Florida were down nearly 30% and an event in Louisiana saw a decline in donations of 27%. The story also featured a major donor from New York City who has stopped supporting the Foundation. Not only is the Foundation taking a hit financially, the initial decision is also costing senior executive their jobs. The Chairman of the Board of Directors has resigned; he was replaced by a previous Chairman. In addition, three senior executives have also recently resigned citing their own “personal reasons.” All three are reported to have opposed the original decision to cease funding of Planned Parenthood by the Komen Foundation. The Foundation’s Founder and CEO, Nancy Brinker, remains under pressure to resign. When not handled properly, a crisis will cost an organization time, money and customers, as exemplified in the report. For executives who are unable to effectively communicate during a time of crisis, it can cost them their job. Currently the CEO of the Foundation remains on the job, but her position is precarious, primarily due to a poor initial response and ultimate handling of the situation. As the situation continues to unfold at the Susan G. Komen Foundation, remember this: “If you don’t tell your story, someone else will. And when someone else tells your story, it won’t be the story you want to be told.” For more information about crisis and strategic communications, call the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001. Send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com. The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications company.
NASCAR Benefits from Tweeting Decision
The perceived value of NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski’s Twitter account soared more than $200,000 following his track-side tweets during the 2012 Daytona 500. Just three days after the incident, Keselowski’s Twitter account had attracted more than 215,000 followers, resulting in the estimated value of the account to soar to more than $300,000. Prior to the incident, Keselowski had fewer than 30,000 Twitter followers. Keslowski and his Twitter account became news during this year’s Daytona 500 when the race was stopped due to a fire on the race track. As crews worked to extinguish the flames and repair damage to the track, drivers were forced to wait and watch. Taking advantage of the unusual circumstance, Keselowski retrieved his phone from his car and began Tweeting messages and photos. During the two hours the race was suspended, he gained more than 130,000 new followers. He later explained how the phone came to be in a car he regularly drives at more than 200 m.p.h. During the 2007 NASCAR season, Keselowski was involved in a serious accident and was taken by helicopter to a local hospital. Without a way to communicate with his family during the incident, he vowed not to let that happen again so he had his team to install a holder for a phone inside his race car. After initially considering taking action against the driver, NASCAR officials quickly realized the opportunity that was literally “at hand.” Keselowski says, “NASCAR was 100 percent behind my actions. They know I didn’t put myself, or anyone else, in jeopardy by tweeting while the car was moving. Everyone at NASCAR gets what Twitter and social media mean to the fabric of popular culture these days.” NASCAR benefited as Keselowski’s photo of the on-track fire was retweeted more than 5,000 times and his name was been mentioned more than 100,000 times on Twitter in the days after the race. He had been described as a “Twitter natural,” even before his prime-time tweets from Daytona. Last year he used the medium to break news of the condition of his injured ankle following a crash during testing outside of Atlanta. Prior to this year’s Daytona 500, Keselowski’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team ran a promotion that allowed thousands of his followers to get their Twitter handles on his truck for that series race at Daytona. For more information about strategic and crisis communications, call the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001. The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications company; send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com.
Educational Institutions Missing a Crisis Communications Opportunity
America’s college campuses are not immune from, rather prone to crisis. A recent survey by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) reports two-thirds of the institutions studied had an adverse event appear in traditional media (print, television, radio) during the previous 12 months that could have negatively impacted the school’s reputation. The study found a similar percentage of colleges and universities dealing with potentially damaging situations were being discussed on social media sites. While the vast majority of colleges and universities (85%) report having a crisis communications plan in place, only 59% include utilizing social media as a part of those plans. That gap is a major point of exposure for institutions when immediate and effective communications are key to successfully navigating a very difficult issue. 100% of the institutions in the study had a Facebook page and more than 90% were also on Twitter and YouTube. However, only 26% of the institutions in the study required that individuals officially representing the school on that site to have any training and only 10% had an official social media presence relating to campus safety. For a university (or any organization) to respond to a situation that could negatively impact its reputation, the Fallston Group recommends the following: Immediately establish a social media monitoring system; if you don’t know what’s being said about you, you can’t respond effectively; Institute a social media policy; correctly used, social media can protect your brand and reputation; Establish a registration system for social media users; a centrally located database of “User IDs and Passwords” not only allows immediate access, but also prevents unauthorized use of your social media site; Identify a single department to serve as social media supervisor; this office should be the clearly identified center-point of all social media activity and provide guidance and consistency to other departments who actively maintain the social media sites. The real-time nature of social media is a powerful tool many colleges and universities are overlooking. A university’s social media site is the “go-to” place for information for students, faculty and the media…especially during a time of crisis. As such, it must be an integral part of any organization’s overall crisis communications plan. For more information about strategic and crisis communications, call the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001. Send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com. The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications company.
