Honesty Is The Best Policy in a Crisis

Marketing experts maintain that in the event of a crisis, scandal or disaster, it's best for companies at the center of the maelstrom to come clean and do it quickly. Unfortunately, most, wrongly, keep quiet. This is the central thrust of a story on PowerMarketers.com by Ken Silverstein entitled: "Standing Up To Crisis." While the story evaluates a series of worst-case scenarios in the energy industry, the lessons within appear to be universal.

"Many organizations are too preoccupied with their daily regimens to consider crisis management. As such, most people that become embroiled in a serious ordeal must learn as they go -- a practice that inevitably invites even more scrutiny," writes Silverstein.

"Maintaining a low profile or attempting to deflect responsibility is the wrong strategy; rather, experts in the field say that the right tack is to be open, accessible and attentive." Sources in the story tell the author that most-often the "right-to-remain-silent" message many embattled companies put forth stems from a fear of having something they disclose end up being used against them in court later. However, in cases mentioned in the story, like Three Mile Island, Union Carbide's Bhopal, India disaster and recent corporate accounting scandals, company secrecy invited even more damaging media scrutiny than might otherwise have been the case. Good crisis communication planning, in the form of PR fire drills can also help, say sources.

"If a plan is devised and practiced scrupulously, the response can become second nature," one source tells the author.

To read the full version of the story, visit: http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net
/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZfikpsomTVgb%7DGL%7Dbfej%5B%21.