I have to admit it. I’m sort of a crisis communications fanatic. As I’ve often discussed with students and staff I’ve worked with over the years, managing communications during a crisis can not be learned in a classroom or taught from a book. Sure, countless case studies abound about the good (J&J and the Tylenol scare), the bad (aviation disasters) and the ugly (pick any disgraced politician). I’ve also had a hand in quite a few crisis challenges of my own, including situations surrounding stock options backdating and scientific research misconduct.
No two crisis situations are ever the same. Nor do events unfold exactly the way everyone expects them to play out. The only thing certain about a crisis is that it is uncertain.
At the heart of it, it’s not about “spin” or “damage control” or “reputation management.” It’s about being responsible to your publics, providing sound counsel to those involved, and working with (not against) the media and blogosphere to help them understand the situation, dispel any rumors, and ultimately report an accurate, story.
This is not the time to rearrange the deck chairs.
When a crisis communications situation is handled with integrity and ethics, it’s truly worth noting the counsel, effort and contributions probably made by communications professionals. Two very public and notable cases have come to light in the first week of October 2009 that have clearly illustrated that prompt, accurate and truthful responses to challenging situations are still the most effective measures when faced with an imbroglio.
Regardless of the personal ethics involved, late night talk show host David Letterman faced the jury of the entire public head on by his on air admission on Oct. 1 that he refused to pay alleged extortion money when faced with evidence of affairs he had with staff members.
David Letterman making his on air confession on 10/1/09. Now, all those Viagra jokes make sense. Courtesy: CBS
Not only did Letterman explain the entire story, but made a full admission that the evidence was true. He could have easily paid off the alleged blackmailer and maybe the issue would have gone away. Instead, he called the bluff of the extortionist, had him arrested, and made a very painful and public disclosure to the world. No spin. No damage control. Just the truth. (Yes, he felt compelled to crack a few ill-advise jokes, but you wouldn’t expect anything less from a man who makes a living poking a finger in the eye when other celebs and politicians implode.) The public and his viewers now must be the judge. But you have to admire Letterman’s decision to fight the dragon head on and get out ahead of the story.
You may have also seen speculation in the media and the blogosphere about the possibility of Comcast purchasing NBC from Universal (or investing in a portion of it). There is still no deal actually on table and talks maybe continuing. In this situation, there’s a crucial need to not go dark and actually communicate inside your company, and to whatever degree, outside as well. Comcast employees received an email last Thursday (below) from CEO Brian Roberts that has been widely re-posted all over the Web.
Comcasters:
You have probably seen the news reports that speculate about Comcast’s interest in buying NBC Universal. As you know, we’ve had a long-standing policy not to comment on these types of stories. We have not commented about this rumor in the press, except to say that the blog report that Comcast has a deal to purchase NBC Universal is inaccurate. It’s not surprising that there is speculation about possible acquisitions given Comcast’s strong financial position. This happens from time to time. We have always said that we will consider acquisitions and investments to find opportunities to grow in our businesses so that they are profitable, differentiated and have scale.
We have a terrific company that is growing in this economy and we have an exciting future ahead across all of our lines of business. As Steve and I have said, cable is right at the core of everything Comcast does. We continue to invest in our cable business – it is a key component of our DNA.
First a run at Disney. Now NBC. It's all about the content, not the dumb pipes.
Some of our other businesses like content, business services and interactive advertising are a smaller part of the company today, and while they are growing rapidly, we would like to find ways to accelerate that growth. If the opportunity came up to add more cable content, we would definitely want to take a look at that opportunity, but in a very disciplined way.
Thanks for all you do to make Comcast a great company.
Brian Roberts
This is a well-written missive, with great messaging, and effectively addresses an incendiary crisis situation. More importantly, it’s a superb example of great crisis communications strategy. Comcast probably knew full well that employees would disseminate this email to the world. Not only did Comcast grasp that employee communications are no longer private, but how shrewd a move to ensure this would be spread on a viral basis all over the Web thanks to their own employees.
Time will tell how the Letterman and Comcast stories will play out. It’s just nice to see that in our new age of instant scandal and flash rumors, there’s still hope for some degree of acting responsibly to the news that swirls around and engulfs us.
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Rich,
Nice post and thoughts. I totally agree with you about Letterman. Kudos, Dave, and no doubt this will have little impact on his fan base.
I don’t know if I agree on the Comcast note, though. They set an awkward and dangerous precedent here for commenting on this kind of stuff. So the report that “Comcast has a deal is innaccurate.” Does that mean they have’t signed anything yet? Are they talking? Does it mean they are trying to signal that this is bunk, but they can’t say it. It’s a lot of effort to say something, but say nothing. Pressure on the stock may have been a driving factor, but I found the whole note a bit too artful and convoluted for my taste.
Great to see you.