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

#SMRT Social Media Crisis -- no end in sight

With the breakdown in SMRT trains, 3 times this week, the public was increasingly angry as it comes after the announcement and price increase for Taxis in Singapore.

This week, Circle Line was down, and on 15 Dec, the NS Line is badly disrupted and it created a crisis where power was out, ventilation was cut off, and someone had to break a window for air.

Then it comes the memes.

Clearly at this point, people are concerned and unhappy. On a few articles, thousands of people voiced their unhappiness. However, the state media and the communications department started to make stories which enraged the public more.

‘Train disruptions unacceptable and unforgivable’

The credibility of State Controlled Media -- Straitstimes is also questioned.
The Straits Times reports factually – not

The news title keeps changing on Straitstimes.
Singaporeans confident of MRT despite Thursday's MRT breakdown

The media also tries to cover things up with the "Extra income fiasco"
Yahoo! News 1 The Straits Times 0 Either that or the ST reporter is not trying too hard.

This is the photo which enraged many Singaporeans too.

Next comes the #PRFAIL from the communications department.

MRT breakdown: Don't break the windows, says SMRT
One frustrated commuter used a fire extinguisher to smash the glass on the door.
He should not have done so but considering the situation, he will not be penalised, SMRT officials said.

This is official statement from SMRT where a train stuck for hours in a tunnel without ventilation, and when passengers find it hard to breathe, a man smashed the windows to let air in, and SMRT was "considering" the possibility of pressing charges. -- WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE IS THIS?

The state controlled media also penalized Hossan Leong for sharing information on the incident which he read on tweets on Radio, informing the public that the MRT may be down and asking them to seek alternative transportation methods.

And this led to the awkard moment on TV.


So not only had the PR team of SMRT fail to handle the crisis, it seem to enrage the public more.

Unfortunately for SMRT, the worst is not over as the trains broke down today again.

So did the bus ferrying the passengers.

How can SMRT restore confidence and happiness in passengers?

It seemed like in their monopolistic market they are in, they do not really care as shown in their attitude and response. Will the government step in? I do not think so as well as it was quite clear that PTC and the Minister of Transport is one of them.

There is a Facebook Page to share your experience on the MRT http://www.facebook.com/sgmrt

I am not sure if they are interested in solving the problems, but there is a crisis growing, and people are not getting satisfaction.

-- Robin Low

Tiger Woods Accident - Case Study (cont)

The following are the rumors gathered:

1) Rachel Uchitel is having an affair with Tiger Woods.

2) Elin Nordegren hit Tiger Woods with a golf club in a domestic dispute and chased Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods had to drive barefooted and as Elin Nordegren smashed the rear windows of his Escalade, and as he turned around, he hit a tree and a hydrant.

3) Tiger Woods and his wife argued before the accident about the National Enquirer publishing a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.

4) Jaimee Grubbs, 24, a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, tells this week’s edition of Us Weekly magazine that she had a 31-month affair with Woods, starting in April 2007, and that she has more than 300 text messages — some of them described as “racy” — to prove it.

Crisis Management: Tiger Woods Accident

Crisis Management: Tiger Woods Accident

Case Study

Tiger Woods, a well known Professional Golf Player injured in an accident. According to a patrol accident report, Woods crashed his sports utility vehicle into a fire hydrant and a tree at 2:25 am in the early hours of Friday morning and suffered facial injuries as a result of the incident.

As a well known public figure and a highly endorsed athlete, the media started to speculate over what conditions inside the Woods home might have caused him to have an accident. And to satisfy the public's insatiable curiosity for the details of celebrities' lives, tabloid media started to dig deep and assigned unwarranted significance to the accident even when the police say that the accident on Friday was neither alcohol nor drug related. Woods was cited for careless driving, fined $164 and no criminal charges are being pursued, the Florida Highway Patrol said on Tuesday.

However, Woods remained silent and said, "This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way." Rumors started to circulate about Woods is having an affair and Elin Nordegren, Tiger Wood's Wife was also reported at the scene of his accident, brandishing a golf club she reportedly used to get in Woods' car and free him, which Woods called "courageous" in his statement, but there are rumors that the wounds on Wood's face is due to the golf club.

US Weekly did the interview with this newest woman claiming a 2 1/2 year affair with the married Woods.

Tiger Woods has carefully protected his image during his years atop the professional golf world, but in the wake of tabloid allegations of infidelity and a still unexplained early morning car accident after Thanksgiving, that image is now being scrutinized.

For every moment of silence, more questions are raised and rumors created about the Woods family. "Tiger Woods" is a trending topic on Twitter and a popular subject on YouTube. If silence is the strategy the corporate sponsors want to adopt, are there social media strategies that can be adopted on behalf of Tiger Woods to allow Tiger Woods to battle and put aside the rumors without Tiger actually coming out and making a statement?





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As a public relations practitioner, I feel that the best solution is for Tiger to come out and tell the truth. Let all the rumors come to an end and just give the harsh truth. Of course, if the accusation of him having an affair is true, he should consult his wife, come to terms with his wife and perhaps break the truth together. Whether his wife forgives him or not, the truth should be out there to prevent other speculation, then an apology that his behavior is not acceptable as he is a role model would make him look human, and in time, his fans will forgive him as he is still the #1 Golf Player and he can get back to focus on his game.

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However, if I was a Public Relations consultant hired for this crisis management and Tiger Woods was unavailable to comment on anything due to contractual agreements from his sponsors, I would do the following:

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

2) Search the internet and social media for all the rumors on Tiger Woods.

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.

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