Editor’s Note – The following article is based on a presentation given by Gene Grabowski, vice president, Levick Strategic Communications, at the 71st National Renderers Association Annual Convention. Grabowski is a former news reporter with the Associated Press and a crisis counselor to the food and consumer products industry. For six years, he served as vice president of Communications and Marketing for the Grocery Manufacturers of America.
The rendering industry is ripe for a crisis. Why? Two simple reasons: first, the industry is connected to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), an issue that news reporters, government regulators, and consumers are scrutinizing with great care and concern; and second, almost no one knows anything about the rendering business, making it a target for speculation, rumors, and scapegoating.
Today, we live in a zero-risk society. Vocal critics, such as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, will tell you that the world is becoming more unsafe every day. Because the news media require stories that entertain or frighten their audiences, they provide extensive coverage of this world view. With its link to BSE and its longstanding connection to environmental concerns, the rendering industry and its individual companies need to be ready to go under the media microscope.
Use Peacetime to Prepare for the Possibility of War
The first principal the industry should ingrain into its philosophy is “always be telling your story.” Each renderer, within its community, should be announcing milestones, the positive events going on within the company that affect the community. That means issuing news releases, getting to know local reporters, and building political allies as an everyday process. For example, if new equipment is being installed to reduce odors or comply with government regulations, mark that occasion with the local media and announce it on your Web site.
Web sites are an especially important tool for telling your story. Reporters often turn to a company’s Web site first for information, so use this valuable tool to announce successes, and keep the Web site current. Also, post informational materials on rendering and provide links to government and allied Web sites that support the industry.
Participate in community clubs, organizations, or charitable groups, and be visible. These groups could be valuable and supportive when reporters begin calling local officials and opinion leaders to respond to a report critical of your company’s – or the industry’s – practices.
Don’t be afraid of reporters; in fact, cultivate them. Invite the local business reporter for a cup of coffee and get to know them and what they want when they cover a story. Reporters usually work on short deadlines, often having to report and write a story in an hour or two. If you don’t tell your story, your critics will. And if reporters are forced to make guesses or estimates about your company or industry, those assessments will usually be negative. That’s because when a reporter – or any human being – personally knows someone, it’s much more difficult to ascribe negative feelings about that person. Use that fact to your advantage and invest time in getting to know your local reporters and editors on a first-name basis.
In a similar fashion, develop government allies before they’re needed. Know the names and phone numbers of local and state officials to contact in a crisis. Get in touch with them and build a relationship before you need them. Financial contributions can be helpful, but they aren’t essential to building these kinds of relationships. In fact, when it comes to regulators and many local officials, they’re illegal. Often, your vocal support of these officials among other business leaders and in the news media are usually enough to cement important alliances.
What the Media Wants
In peacetime, the media wants consumer information – what the industry or your company is doing for consumers and how that’s making your community and the world a better, safer place. Provide facts and figures about the industry and photos, quotes, and local angles about your company. Present information that portrays rendering and your business in a positive light. The media wants to be able to see trends in your business. The anticipation of what’s to come is what builds readership and viewership for them.
In a crisis, by contrast, the media wants action. They want to know your company is actively doing something to make the situation better. If you have used your “peace-time” effectively, you will have already provided them with background, facts, and photos, enabling you to focus on delivering positive messages under deadline pressure.
Most importantly in a crisis story, the media is looking for a victim (e.g., the consumer, children, the elderly), a villain (e.g., the government, a polluting company), and a vindicator (e.g., the senator who sets up a commission to study the problem or a public interest group that blows the whistle). It’s vital in a crisis that your organization avoid being portrayed as the villain. By preparing the media ahead of time, while in peacetime, when the crisis does hit, you can position yourself as a victim or – better yet – a vindicator. Show the media with your actions what your company is doing to resolve the situation, to stop the villain, and help the victim.
Don’t try to over-reassure in your crisis messages. Express your sincere concern in a crisis and above all, demonstrate that you are taking action to resolve it. Do not guarantee any outcomes. Instead, declare that you are “doing everything possible” to help the victim.
The messenger is as important as the message. Seldom is the president or vice president of a company, dressed in a suit, very compelling or persuasive to sympathetic readers or viewers. In a crisis, use rationale when choosing who will deliver the company’s message. Choose someone who portrays honesty and sincerity – and who is appropriate for the specific situation. For example, in a technical matter, you probably want to use a scientist. For a plant-related crisis, you may want to use a foreman. For circumstances that affect children, it’s advisable to seek a woman who is a mother to deliver your messages. Take these and other factors into consideration when deciding on a spokesperson.
Rip the Band-Aid Off
When involved in a crisis, companies are wise to share the facts with the public quickly and on their terms. Most companies recover from the mistakes they make, but when they try to cover up, the price can be fatal. Admit that you made a mistake and explain the steps the business is taking to correct the problem. If you don’t tell your story, somebody else will and it won’t be flattering.
The first steps taken in a crisis are vital. Be involved in that first news report. Show the media how you are committed to correcting the crisis, don’t just tell them. On the other hand, don’t make a big ceremony out of your actions, either. Remember the British food safety official who fed his son a hamburger in front of shocked reporters at a nationally televised news conference during that country’s BSE crisis? Contrast that with how the Sheetz family conducted news briefings and interviews with reporters at their lunch counters following the outbreak of Salmonella in their stores. They casually nibbled at sandwiches from their deli, and reporters were free to do so as well. It portrayed a message of confidence, not of foolhardiness.
While it may sound odd, call the media when a crisis hits, before they call you. If you’re prepared, you already know who to call at your local news station or paper. And if you’re not comfortable with talking to the media, or don’t have someone who can act as a spokesperson, then hire a professional. There are businesses that help others tell their story or put together a plan in preparation of a crisis. Use them! Also, alert your friends and allies. Send them your positive message so if the media contacts them, they have your message to relay. And if they’re not in a position to support you actively by relaying your message, they will still see what you are communicating. That way, they’re less likely to make a statement opposing your message.
The Importance of Media Training
Before you present your spokesperson to the public, be sure the individual is trained to work with the news media. Hire a professional trainer who knows what kinds of questions reporters ask and how to answer them credibly. This is not an element of crisis planning to be taken lightly or to buy cheaply. Find the best, most experienced trainer you can, preferably one who has spent some years as a news reporter.
Anticipate a negative spin from the media. Many reporters believe their mission is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. Your success in business puts you among the comfortable. Consumers and their families fall into the category of the afflicted. Are the consumers being hurt in some way by your operation? Are you acting responsibly to resolve the problem? As long as you’re showing forward movement in handling the crisis, the media and the community are likely to believe you. Are you acting quickly enough? Where is your data, the numbers to backup what you are saying? Sometimes it’s just a matter of sprinkling one or two key figures into your message, but the data are the steel beams that support the structure of your story.
Despite your best planning efforts and strong messages, sometimes reporters get it wrong. After all, they are human, usually inexperienced in business matters and your industry, and under deadline pressure. When a reporter botches a fact or includes an inaccurate statement in his or her story, don’t howl in rage. Call the reporter, politely explain the inaccuracy, and then ask the reporter’s editor to correct and update the archives so future stories that reference the original article will be accurate. When you think about it, reporters represent your customers – whether you want to accept that fact or not. Why not treat reporters a little like unreasonable but important customers?
Learn to Work With Lawyers
In a crisis, working properly with lawyers is an essential part of the process. Attorneys focus on minimizing an organization’s risk. Communications professionals focus on maximizing an organization’s potential.
Understand that a lawyer’s job often involves saying “no” and “don’t take this chance,” in order to keep a company out of expensive legal trouble. But very few lawyers really understand how the news media works or the catastrophic pitfalls of adhering to a “no comment” mode in a crisis. A company executive in charge during a crisis must know when legal risks are at odds with your communications strategy and when the lawyers are merely exerting control because they can’t predict how the media or the public will respond. Many companies have been ruined because they adopted a pure legal strategy and hid behind “the suits” during a crisis when consumers were seeking corporate leadership.
Make sure lawyers play a part in your crisis strategy, but don’t abdicate control to them. If you do, you may win the crisis battle, but lose the business war.
Today’s zero-risk society and “news hungry” consumers mean renderers need to be prepared more than ever for a potential crisis. Start telling your story now to build allies among civic leaders and reporters and to invest capital into the “community reputation bank.” That way, when trouble arises, your messages will be reported as credible and convincing. For your business, and your industry, it could make all the difference.
December 2004 Render