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With traditional communication channels disrupted by the disaster in Haiti, once
again social media’s importance was emphasised.
Minutes
after the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, the power of the internet
and social media started to shine through. Where more typical communication
channels were affected by the quake, Haitians and aid workers alike turned to
the likes of Twitter and Facebook to spread the word through the horrific scenes
captured on mobile phones.
Among
its multiple uses, social media in this case played a vital role in letting the
world know the disastrous extent of the tragedy and that help was needed
quickly in order to have the most positive effect.
Both
citizens and aid workers alike uploaded TwitPics, tweeted the
news and tried to find the whereabouts of loved ones on Facebook. The world
turned to the platform when all other forms of communication were not an
option. Even the landlines near the epicentre were wiped out by the quake, hampering
rescue efforts.
Next
came an outpouring of well wishes and support for the Haitian people as
thousands of Facebook and Twitter updates appeared every minute. Among these
updates were the appeals of the American Red Cross.
Even
if you were to type "Haiti"
into Twitter, Youtube or Facebook now, a few days on, you will soon encounter @redcross’s message of
appeal sent at 05:38 GMT on January 13, less than 48 hours after the tragedy.
In
such a short space of time the American Red Cross was able to both set up an
appeal and receive more than $35m in donations through the site.
Praise
has already been awarded by the American Red Cross to the social media platform
for “playing an extremely significant part” in spreading the word.
So this
got me wondering, what makes Twitter, Facebook and YouTube so accommodating when
communicating disasters quickly?
Well, when looking at
Twitter you need to address the key advantages of the site. The main advantage
is the initial barrier breakdown through the ability to communicate with anyone
and everyone from celebrities to your next door neighbour.
For example famous Haitian
musician, Wyclef Jean, managed to raise $1m for earthquake victims, after
appealing for help from his 1.3 million followers through Twitter. People like
Michelle Obama were also contacted by aid charities, first through tweeting
then retweeting appeals, further spreading the message.
Meanwhile on Youtube, there
was an influx in bloggers posting their own appeals and calling for donations.
On Facebook, awareness groups, such as Earthquake Haiti gained over hundreds of
thousands of members, linking them directly to charity sites.
These
examples show how social media is set on continuing to play an important role
in the communication of disasters, keeping the news at the forefront of the
public agenda whilst it starts to slip off of the front pages of the Tabloids
and fade out of the media’s spotlight.
In
keeping with the trend, please pass the word on and visit British Red Cross
Story: BMW’s Mini has announced it is cutting approximately 850 staff at its factory in Cowley, near Oxford. Employees were given one hour’s notice that they had lost their jobs, resulting in furious crowds, vegetables being thrown at management, unions becoming involved and wide-scale media condemnation.
Buffalo Communications MD, Kerry Hallard, comments:
“BMW has made a major mess of its reputation by completely ignoring the
fundamentals of internal and external communication. Its ex-employees are rightly
furious about this last-minute announcement making the company the villain of
the day – a complete failure on counts of morality and business sense.
“For a company that spends tens of millions each year building its brand,
quick-fire redundancies like this, without proactive communication, make no
sense whatsoever and will be hugely damaging to the company’s brand
goodwill.
“Redundancies are coming thick and fast as businesses suffer the recession.
But, even though they’re an unfortunate necessity of the downturn, they need to
be approached with tact and caution and with the courtesy that loyal employees
deserve. The Mini internal grapevine has been buzzing with talk of job-losses
for weeks now but employees were still left in the dark until the last possible
moment.
“Companies that have to make staff redundant should initiate early staff
communication first using direct announcements, one-on-one meetings and
Q&As before the news goes anywhere else. Staff should be given all
appropriate information from the start and given help going forward in finding
further employment. It’s also vital that staff are given ample time to deal
with the news and provide any feedback to the company – one hour simply isn’t
enough.
“Externally the company needed to communicate what it was doing, why, what it
was doing to fix things and exactly what provisions had been made for staff,
with a company spokesperson on hand to deliver the news.”
“If BMW Mini had observed a few of the simple laws of communication their
employees would have been much more prepared for the news, able to understand
why the company is making redundancies and hopefully be a lot more amenable to
the news. The company’s reputation cache would also have been in much better
shape.”
It’s been a while since meat last hit the headlines and, to be honest, I really missed it. Not the contaminated meat I mean, the haphazard way in which these major reputation crises are usually managed. Well, I say ‘managed’ but that is the operative word – there is usually no management going on whatsoever and here lies the problem. When bad meat makes the press you can almost guarantee it will make a communications textbook – these are 101s in how not to manage a crisis.
The latest episode in disastrous carnivorous comms is currently taking place from across the Irish sea. Apparently some of the pork producers have been feeding their pigs contaminated feed, making it potentially carcinogenic – lovely. I wonder just how long it’s going to take Eire and Northern Ireland to regain their piggy credentials and start selling the stuff in decent quantities again – a long time no doubt.
The competent management of a crisis should always start with a definite action and the wide-scale communication of that action. In this case, a complete recall, or call for consumers to dispose of all Irish bacon, was that action. Good so far you may think but then ask yourself, do you think you’ll be buying Irish again next week?
All is not lost yet but companies must move quickly on damage limitation. So far it seems most if not all comms have come from the foods standard agency. By choosing to stay quiet the companies responsible for the contamination seem content to sit back and let all pork producers in the two countries take the flack. Reasoned and placating comment is scarce while worry about safety abounds.
If Ireland wants to ensure its long-term future as a successful pork-producing nation it needs to start talking. Silence in a crisis only breeds conjecture and doubt. Granted, it would be unwise for one farm to step forward and say ‘it was me’, but the farmers do need to speak. The key culprits, or victims as they may be, need to band together to form a popular voice and put their message out there.
Without the voice of the pork producers all we have is a public health emergency and an exhortation to stay away from Irish pork for the foreseeable future. If the farmers stay quiet, people are going to stay away for a lot longer than if they speak up.
Irish farmers – speak and speak loudly before it’s too late.