First, nip the crisis in the bud.
Being able to identify or realize the existence of media crisis as early as possible and take measures to stifle it invisibly is the lowest cost crisis management method. Crisis prevention is always better than post-crisis response, no matter how successful it is. Because the biggest difference between the crisis management plan and the general plan is that the general plan should be put into practice after it is formulated, people don't want the opportunity to realize it after it is formulated, and there are indeed many crisis management plans that have not been implemented in reality. This makes some managers feel lucky and unwilling to spend manpower, material resources and financial resources to think and formulate crisis management plans.
In May, 2002, when a press release claiming that microwave ovens have harmful radiation to human body and all foods made by microwave ovens have lost nutrition just appeared in some local tabloids, Galanz didn't take such reports seriously at all. Who knows that in less than two months, this news was published in 500 print media all over the country. In less than two months, the sales volume of Galanz microwave ovens fell at a vertical angle like Lushan Waterfall, and its market share shrank rapidly, dropping by 40%. In Fuyang tainted milk powder incident, Sanlu's successful public relations left a deep impression on people. However, according to Zhang, deputy general manager of Sanlu Group, in just half a month, Sanlu suffered a direct economic loss of more than 20 million yuan and an indirect loss of nearly 200 million yuan. And its milk powder has been counterfeited at the beginning of the year. If Sanlu can investigate the fake milk powder incident as soon as possible, there will be no follow-up incidents. The recent DuPont Teflon incident, July 1 1 day, was reported by CCTV, and they did not make a statement to the media in time. Since then, a large number of domestic media have followed up. If DuPont can seize the time and control things in the bud, the result will definitely be much better than now. The storm also caused a "fire at the city gate, which hurt the fish in the pool": according to relevant data, the sales of all non-stick pan products were affected, the sales of non-stick pan in some supermarkets fell by 50%, and many shopping malls stopped selling DuPont non-stick pan.
For possible crisis events, enterprises should not take chances, but should take the initiative and seize opportunities. Pay close attention to the events that enterprises, peers, upstream and downstream chains of enterprises, governments and other organizations and the public may have an impact on enterprises, especially pay more attention to important media. Try to nip the crisis in the bud.
Enterprises should handle the relationship with the media and the government in peacetime. Establishing good relations with the media and local government plays a very important role in the development of an enterprise. In fact, many enterprises usually pay little attention to the relationship with the media. According to the survey completed by Zero Company (August, 2003), nearly 1/4(2 1.7%) middle and senior managers in large enterprises lack sufficient understanding of establishing a harmonious relationship with the media at ordinary times, and think that it is not important for enterprises to establish a harmonious relationship with the media at ordinary times. Only 32.8% and 26.6% of the enterprises surveyed have adopted two relatively active communication and cooperation methods: "establishing business relations with important media, holding sponsored seminars and other activities" and "often arranging informal meetings to meet with reporters and editors of important media". A direct consequence of bad relations with the media is that enterprises have problems and the media often act as "dung pickers". For example, Changhong was cheated overseas in 2003. Although Changhong provided statements to major media on the day of the crisis, most media reported on Changhong, which was unfavorable to Changhong itself. It is also important to establish a good relationship with the government. In this era, the relevant government departments have great influence on enterprises.
Second, the principle of coping when the crisis occurs
No matter how good the crisis prevention is, it is inevitable that there will be crisis events that enterprises cannot predict and control. Once the crisis occurs, enterprises should take effective strategies to deal with the crisis, so as to reduce the losses caused by the crisis to as small as possible.
As long as there is a crisis in the enterprise, the media will inevitably intervene. For the media, what they want is news. Both good and bad things can be done, and often bad things are more newsworthy. Media is a bridge between enterprises and the public. Without the media, the public can't understand information. For every enterprise, dealing with the media is a very important part of crisis public relations. When dealing with the media, it is necessary to follow the following principles.
1, react quickly, don't be silent.
Because we live in an era of 24-hour news rolling broadcast and constantly updated information, companies must respond to the crisis immediately. Potter Novelli's survey shows that more than 65% of the public (the United States) will take this sentence as a tacit admission of guilt when they hear it. The first 24 hours are very important for enterprises, and often success or failure is at this moment. Red Bull's response to the "imported fake red bull" crisis in 2003 is an example worthy of learning by domestic enterprises. However, this year, Xi Anrang Sang Company evaded the facts in the "Xi Simin" incident and refused to comment on the media reports, giving people the impression that their company's products did have problems.
2. Be honest with and respect the media and the public.
The media is the disseminator of public opinion. If you want to influence the audience, you must first strive for the understanding of the communicator. A sincere gesture makes it easier for the media to feel "respect" and communication will be more effective. The occurrence of crisis often stems from the misunderstanding of facts by the media and audience and the opacity of enterprises. Don't try to cover up the facts. No matter whether the enterprise makes mistakes or not, it needs to have a correct attitude, increase transparency and be honest with the public. People will applaud for "daring to admit mistakes, correct mistakes and take responsibility", but they can't forgive irresponsible concealment and evasion. In the history of public relations, American Johnson & Johnson Company faced Tylenol Capsule and Sino-American SmithKline Company faced PPA incident in 2000, which are worth learning from many companies.
Never go against the media.
Whether the media reports are right or wrong, it is a good idea to argue whether I am you or not. In the Fuji smuggling scandal reported by the media in 2003, after being exposed, Fuji sent a statement letter to a famous financial media in Beijing, saying that it would resort to law to solve the exposed matters. Contrary to expectations, just two weeks after Fuji issued a statement, Beijing newspapers still used a lot of space to follow up on the smuggling incidents of Fuji and "film", accompanied by editorial comments, determined to expose the "Fuji smuggling" incident to the end. And if fujinon respects the media, honestly tells the media what happened, and assumes its own responsibility, then the media will probably treat Fuji much better.
The information conveyed by enterprises should mainly spread confidence to the public, linking enterprises with the public and becoming the same interest subject. Only in this way can information resonate with the public instead of being rejected and resisted by the public, and the dissemination of information can proceed smoothly.
Sometimes even if the content of the media report is wrong, it can't be that kind of reasoning and tide wait for no man. Enterprises always need to establish good relations with the media, and the media does not necessarily seek to establish good relations with enterprises. What enterprises need is to convey its good side to the outside world; What the media needs is news, good or bad.
4. The information released by enterprises must be consistent.
When a crisis occurs, the enterprise should set up a special crisis management team, and must unify the channels and contents of the enterprise's external information release to avoid different voices and cause greater suspicion and confusion. Enterprises don't want a local environment to change and change their voices at will. Only when the sound spreads continuously and evenly can it produce enough intensity, so that it will not be disturbed by noise and will not be distorted in the process of information dissemination.
On June 5438+065438+ 10, 2003, the Gree infighting incident was caused by disagreement among the subsidiaries within Gree Group. The subsidiary talks about the development strategy of the group, and the middle and senior managers interview at will without negotiating with the public relations department. You know, for the outside world, any person's speech in the enterprise may be regarded as the speech of the enterprise by the media and the public.
For another example, in February 2004, more than 20 patients were prepared to jointly sue Tong Ren Tang. The propaganda department inside Tongrentang actually said that it had never heard of the drug problem. When interviewed by reporters, the opinions of the quality inspector, the staff of the propaganda department and the person in charge of propaganda are actually different, which can only increase the distrust of the media and the public.
In contrast, when the Teflon incident happened in DuPont in July 2004, their public affairs personnel were all quoting the relevant explanations of DuPont's authoritative figures and technical experts when they were in contact with the media, giving people the impression that DuPont had a good public relations ability to deal with the media crisis.
5. Don't speculate.
Before the truth is clear, enterprises should consider things from the public's point of view. Remember, the public is only interested in things related to their own interests! Enterprises need to form a kind of knowledge with the public and become stakeholders with it. In other words, enterprises should convey such a message to the public, and I want to stand with you! When the public feels that you are thinking of them, they are more likely to believe what you say. If you discover the truth in the future, they will still believe you. Johnson & Johnson Company of the United States warned consumers not to use Tylenol before finding out the truth when there was a problem with Tylenol capsules. Since then, it has been found that some people have sabotaged it, and the public has regained their trust in Johnson & Johnson and regained 95% of the market within six months.
In addition to facing the media, enterprises also have some public members worthy of attention to deal with. This government, especially consumers, must not oppose the government or compete with consumers. Whether they are right or wrong, as an enterprise, don't forget that its goal is profit. To sell products, we must be a weak organization rather than a strong organization in many aspects in order to survive in the fierce market competition.
Not long ago, the "softer" trademark will be auctioned, although it was not auctioned in the end. However, there is no doubt that the trademark "Softer" has been damaged. After the related articles were published in the newspaper, the share price of Guangxi Hongri once fell sharply. On 12, the share price of Guangxi Hongri fell by 3.95%. The cause of the incident was that the company refused to pay hundreds of thousands of fines to the government. The resulting loss is obviously greater than the original fine.
In February 2004, more than 20 patients gathered in a law firm in Beijing to jointly sue Tongrentang, a brand with a history of 335 years. After taking Longdan Xiegan Pills for a long time, these loyal consumers of Tongrentang urinate more at night than during the day, and have symptoms such as thirst, fatigue, anemia, loss of appetite and nausea. Hospital diagnosis is aristolochic acid nephropathy. Later, they found that Aristolochia manshuriensis, an important raw material in Longdan Xiegan Pill, contained aristolochic acid, which could cause nephropathy. Tongrentang, on the other hand, cited the law to defend itself, which was a great failure. You know, managing products is managing people's hearts. The ultimate goal of enterprises is not to win lawsuits, but to make profits and survive and develop in the market. China is a country that advocates human relations. It is impossible to persuade people to move out of cold legal provisions. If the enterprise insists on this, it will only disappoint and chill consumers-Tong Ren Tang has to admit that this incident has caused irreparable damage to its reputation. We may still remember the story of the third factory, and it was also because of the adverse reaction of the products that patients sued. Due to improper handling, although the last three factories won the lawsuit, they lost the hearts and minds of the people and the market, which became a negative textbook in the history of marketing.
In the era of buyer's market, the enterprise is a seemingly powerful but actually fragile organization. It faces all kinds of foreseeable and unpredictable crises. As an enterprise, we should never forget our ultimate goal. To survive and develop in the market, we must endure some grievances and assume some non-mandatory obligations. Try to deal with the relationship with your related organizations, because ignoring any organization may lead to unexpected disasters. In the face of crisis, enterprises can only get out of the crisis smoothly if they are not afraid of the crisis, face it positively and bravely, communicate frankly with the media and the public and win the trust of the public.