Public Relations / Social Media Crisis Management

In view of the multiple online negative sentiments generated when 3 students got into trouble after shaving their heads for charity, I have decided to share some tips on crisis management again.

Bald Solidarity Proves Hair-Raising to Singapore School
-- Wall Street Journal
 
Singapore Students Get In Trouble For Not Wearing Wigs After Shaving Heads For Charity
-- Huffington Post

When it reaches international media, the national problem suddenly becomes the talking point and there are a lot of buzz all over social media, all reacting to the news.

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat even talked about it in a post on Facebook on Wednesday morning as he praised the resolution. And ultimately, with the words form the top, the situation seems to be resolved. The students need not wear wigs and all the blame was on the principal and not the education system in Singapore. The resolution did not take too long before it became a more serious discussion, and everything seemed to be rather resolved. Some people agreed with the principal about the agreement made should be followed, while other feel that the principal should support the students and not force her backwards beliefs on them.

With other company and crisis like Scoot's virtual flight contest, McDonald's Hello Kitty Promotion and National Geographic's publicity stunt at Raffles Place, it is important to know the basics to resolve any PR or social media crisis.

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Here are some few steps when a crisis hits:


1) Gather the facts through investigating and get what ever is available.

2) Search the internet and social media for all the rumors and other information which the crisis generated.

3) Construct Blogs, Tweets, YouTube Videos, to do the following:

a) Show how some of these rumors are hilarious and so far from the truth. (Funny sells, and can go viral)
b) Shed more light on the facts, and share any available information. (Truths)
c) Create spin off content that is ridiculous about the incident, get laughs to ease the rumors.

4) Monitor the public opinion and social media for the new development in the crisis. 

5) Participate and encourage the hilarious and ridiculous videos, hopefully creating a lighthearted side to the crisis, and laugh it off.

6) Channel the affected consumers / conversations to pro-brand environment (like corporate blog / Facebook Page)

7) Actively listen online and identify potential escalating issues and resolve them quickly.

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Many companies do not care about social media crisis until it happens. Most of the incidents come from situations out of the control of the companies, and will happen whether the companies have or have not engaged on social media.

It is important to have a clear understanding and all the facts right, and most importantly -- act fast. Crisis can happen to anyone at any time. It is important to know how to react to these situations when it arise and fix it before it becomes a meltdown.

-- Robin Low