Despite objections by some corporate senior executives to engage stakeholder groups, it’s been recognized that underestimating the understanding and power of these groups can, at times, be more costly in the end.

Initially, most executives want to know how they can gain the most information needed in the shortest amount of time in order to realize the greatest impact on the potential corporate or policy changes. Conducting a stakeholder analysis will convey the best way to reach and gain feedback from each group.

You now know WHO you’re talking to and HOW to effectively reach key stakeholders. What’s next?

Conducting research by talking to or polling stakeholders not only indicates whether you may be about to make the best or worst decision for your company, but it also engages the people who are already your brand ambassadors. You are including them in a process and communicating the importance of their feedback. Their buy-in is needed because you have to sell changes to your own customers before you can expect to successfully sell and engage new customers.

A well-planned and executed tactical rollout of a survey will help align and engage each stakeholder group. It’s important they understand how they are being involved, how the information they provide will be used, and whether they have any power to influence decisions.

Engaging stakeholders may take longer than a solely C-Suite-driven process, but may be more cost-effective in the long term. Involving stakeholders in the process is more likely to be sustainable because it allows ideas to be tried, tested and refined before adoption. Additionally, they now have “ownership” of any decisions made and are then more likely to comply with them. Lastly, sharing results of the research helps to ensure transparency and build trust in the process which translates to building trust with the company.

Keeping stakeholders engaged

Whether you’re a company of 20 or 20,000, every company has their brand evangelists. Each group is loyal for their own reason, and any change without their knowledge or feedback could quickly send them running to the competition.

Unfortunately, polls have shown that most company stakeholders are disengaged and don’t feel their opinion is valued; however, sustained communication delivered across various channels will not only engage these groups, but they will also start to do your marketing for you through word-of-mouth and pass-along messages through social media channels.

Establish stakeholder relationships either through mobile media, newsletters, the company website, promotional mailers, phone calls, YouTube videos, online polls or social media. Know what matters to them and how they feel about your company by periodically conducting research. In the face of significant changes for your company, engaging these groups early on will help if you need to mobilize them to show support to the media.

Most important, do your homework and research before doing anything else or you will lose in the court of public opinion. First impressions do count and will always be remembered and repeated.

Next Up: IMG Partner Clint Reed will be sharing some specific thoughts on the power of information.

Whether small or large in size, every company’s brand and its corporate reputation are interconnected. A company with a well-known brand and good reputation has a dollar value, but it also has significant intangible value. The more value a company builds by protecting both its brand and its reputation, the more likely it will be able to hire and retain the best talent and build a long-term, loyal customer base which helps gain it position as the sales market leader. That well-established and trustworthy reputation also allows for greater value creation within the company. Unfortunately, significant decisions made at the senior executive level and implemented without a strategy or well-executed communications plan, can impact a company’s reputation and financial viability in mere minutes.

So how do you put a process in place to ensure that your brand and your reputation are protected?

Both preparation and training are crucial for both planned and unexpected events, and developing an objective, strategy and thoughtful approach to announce or respond to significant events surrounding the company is vital. Additionally, before doing anything publicly, it is critical that corporate officers have a PR infrastructure in place to mitigate risks by vetting all possible consequences of their planned response.

There are a number of important public steps to take if a corporate crisis arrives, and oftentimes the first step to take is to……

Know when and how to apologize, if needed

If a company faces a situation in which their actions were made in haste or deemed a mistake, in many cases the first action should be to apologize in the most sincere manner possible. It sounds like common sense, but getting caught up in emotions can cause the company’s CEO or spokesperson to inadvertently provide the media the most memorable, but worst possible quote. Everyone can remember former BP CEO Tony Hayward’s unfortunate quote following the worst man-made disaster on record….“I’d like my life back.” The quote and video now lives in infamy on the Internet.

The CEO’s most important job at the point where a mistake is recognized is to restore trust and credibility and provide leadership. Accepting responsibility for the actions of your company and communicating how you will fix things and do better in the future goes a long way with the media, the general public, your customers, and your stakeholders. Attempting to shift blame to someone else, or pass the buck, comes across as a cheap shot and starts to chip away at a company’s reputation.

Although much of this seems like common sense, even the largest companies can mistakenly believe size and market position will be their teflon. In the long run, it’s less expensive to plan and prepare and not make the mistake in the first place than to watch the company’s hard-earned reputation and value quickly diminish to the point of no return.

Next week, Part 2: Stakeholder Engagement Integral in C-Suite Communications

A crisis can strike in a number of ways and affect an individual, company, government, entire industries or all of these groups simultaneously. An event with such a widespread magnitude like Hurricane Katrina is an excellent case study in crisis management and media training because it covered the full spectrum of crises impact. There are a number of categories that a crisis will fall under, and most affect more than one category. Katrina and its impact affected every category on some level.

Natural or man-made disaster – Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster to affect the United States in the last century.

Economic crisis – the city of New Orleans lost millions in tourism dollars which make up a large percentage of the city and state’s budget. Many businesses lost all inventory, had no business interruption insurance, and could never re-open because they lost employees and customers. If they could afford it, companies set up “temporary” office space in nearby cities and helped re-locate employees to that area in order continue to serve customers located outside of the impacted areas.

Information crisis – many businesses had no plans in place for employees and/or customers to know how to reach them at alternative phone numbers, and employees didn’t know if they had a job when they returned home. At the time, texting was the only way to get messages out and that too was spotty due to the vast number of cell towers that were down and the number of people around the country and world trying to get in touch with friends and family. Also, businesses with on-site servers (and no out-of-state vendors as backup) basically went “black” and couldn’t communicate via their website.

Physical crisis – on record, New Orleans had never suffered a direct hit from a hurricane the strength and size of Hurricane Katrina; therefore, most residents remained in the city because initial reports had the storm moving further east of the area. But once the storm hit, levees broke and water from Lake Ponchartrain began filling parts of the city, trapping many residents and creating an entire breakdown in security and communications. Being a city below sea level also posed numerous challenges for rescue and began to put emergency personnel, the National Guard and volunteers in harms way.

Human Resource crisis – even if a business was unaffected by Katrina, most employers had no idea where their employees evacuated prior to the storm. Since many cell towers were down, it was next to impossible to contact persons on 504 area code phone numbers for weeks to let them know the status of the business. Most companies also had no alternate plan for housing employees if they did return, but their home was unlivable. Even something as simple as getting to and from work and living in the city was a challenge as the streets were littered with debris, many street signs were down, signal lights were inoperable, most banks and grocery stores were closed, and a working gas station was far and few between.

Criminal crisis – looting took place immediately following the event. Whether it was isolated or not, video filled the national airwaves and the Internet, and portrayed a city in mass chaos with no leader attempting to control the situation. To make matters worse, persons posing as contractors took advantage of residents who desperately needed someone experienced and legitimate to assist them in rebuilding their home, businesses and lives.

Reputation crisis – the reputation of FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers were under the microscope, and former President George Bush, Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin’s responses to the crisis were called into question. Their handling of Katrina remained a black eye for each administration and, to many pundits, was effectively the demise of Governor Blanco and Nagin’s political careers. National media flooded the region and city for weeks on end, looking for stories and someone to blame. There were plenty stories for the media to quickly air―mostly about how slow help was to reach stranded residents, and the situation and conditions inside and outside of the Super Dome. Whether fair or not, this is what filled international and national TV, print, radio and Internet for weeks.

In addition to the devastation of personal and political careers, the image of New Orleans was taking a beating. The brand is worth millions, and everyone knew it would take a great deal of help, time, money and strategic planning to get people and businesses to trust coming back to the city.

“Hurricane Katrina was an once-in-a-lifetime event, so why should I worry that much.”  It’s naive to think that nothing catastrophic will ever happen. It’s not a matter of “if,” but a matter of “when.” Although no amount of crisis communications planning and media training is a guarantee that you will know how to handle every situation like an expert and come out unscathed, but you are guaranteed to fail on some level if you don’t prepare for a potential crisis and the inevitable media attention. You can hide, be defensive or give unprepared messages and sound bites that will inevitably bring down your position, the organization, image and brand OR you can plan, be prepared and understand that working with the media can help ease the anxieties of your employees, customers, the public and shareholders….and save the organization’s reputation and brand.

So, as a business, government or industry, will you be prepared for your next crisis?

This is the first in a series of posts from IMG-Louisiana Managing Director Shelly Dupré on crisis management and media training.

Make no mistake, jobs and unemployment matter.  In fact, I believe the economy will be the single highest motivating issue on voters’ minds as they go to the polls, whether you are voting for President, Congress, State Representative, or City Council.

However as Sabato points out today, one factor not being widely discussed that will significantly impact the outcome, is the Electoral College system.  The Presidential election is the one campaign that won’t be decided by popular vote – (even though there have been efforts to change that including here in Arkansas).

As Sabato points out:

“Voting is predictable for well over half the states, so even 14 months out it’s easy to shade in most of the map for November 2012….Republicans therefore are a lock or lead in 24 states for 206 electoral votes, and Democrats have or lead in 19 states for 247 electoral votes. That’s why seven super-swing states with 85 electors will determine which party gets to the magic number of 270 electoral votes: Colorado (9), Florida (29), Iowa (6), Nevada (6), New Hampshire (4), Ohio (18) and Virginia (13).”

Despite the fact that President Obama has plunging popularity and our high unemployment rate is holding steady (or rising in some areas) you can’t ignore the fact that a large portion of the table is already set.  Remember, Senator John McCain only received 173 electoral votes and lost traditionally Republican states like Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina as well as swing states like Florida and Ohio.  So, the GOP challenger will be starting from behind and have to rebuild their base electoral votes before they can overtake Obama and win the election.  All indications at this point are that the GOP candidate will be able to make up significant ground given the state of the economy (assuming that it doesn’t significantly improve before Election Day), but will they be able to catch up and surge forward to get to 270?  That remains to be seen.

If you accept Sabato’s assessment for a moment, subjective as it may be, out of the seven “super-swing states” Obama would only need 23 more electoral votes in order to reach 270.  That means that Obama can win as few as 1 “super-swing” state – Florida (29) – or several combinations of only 2 “super-swing” states – Ohio (18) and Virginia (13), Ohio (18) and Iowa (6), Ohio (18) and Nevada (6), Ohio (18) and Colorado (9) – in order to reach 270.  All of which, by the way, Obama carried in 2008.

The first point here is that the unconventional nature of the Electoral College makes the Presidential race fundamentally different and more complicated than other races on the ballot.  Obama is facing a confluence of negative factors that would unquestionably sink a Congressional or state legislative candidate.  However, there are still paths to victory for him given the unique system that our Founders created for Presidential elections.

Secondly, Independent voters will determine the outcome of the Presidential election just as they do state and local races across Arkansas.  It will be critical that whoever comes out on top at the end of the Republican primary process has broad enough appeal to win the lion’s share (if not all) of Sabato’s 7 “super-swing states”, and hopefully compete in other swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Mexico.   Some of the candidates in the race have broader appeal than others, and a nominee that can appeal to independent and swing voters is, in my view, better positioned to beat Obama come November.  However, we all know that in many cases “big tent” candidates can’t survive the primary process.  If the GOP chooses someone with a more narrow appeal, staunch Conservatives may have to stomach the selection of a more moderate running mate or a gradual move to the center leading up to Election Day to draw more independent voters away from Obama and hit the magic number of 270.  If they don’t, Obama may become the new Comeback Kid.

The true value of public relations is much more than just publicity. It’s responsible for the communication, connections and relationships it builds with an organization’s target audiences. It also helps to establish, nurture and promote relationships that lead to long-term value.

In this day and age of slash and burn budgets, public relations is an important management function that can bring tremendous value to an organization if it’s backed by a well thought-out and executed strategic plan. This is no time to be a shy about your organization’s accomplishments. Whether the value of your organization is tangible or intangible, public relations strategies and tactics can help educate the C-Suite, legislators or other stakeholders and tell the story about how you positively affect the bottom line and/or the local or state economy.

When the budgets for Louisiana’s state universities were scrutinized in the 2011 legislative session, Louisiana State University’s administration and university relations team took action in order to hopefully minimize the cuts that were to come. Not only did they put a plan together on how they would do more with less (a common business theme as of late), but they highlighted a study that showed the university’s value to the city of Baton Rouge and the state of Louisiana. The results of the study, which were picked up by the local news in the middle of the legislative session, showed that the university generates more than $1.3 billion annually and creates almost 22,000 jobs during economically tough times when unemployment has reached record highs. The jobs translate to increased sales and property tax revenue for the local and state economies. In addition, LSU professors and researchers attracted more than $80 million in federal research grants in 2010―that’s new money coming into the state. In the end, the public relations efforts proved to have a profound effect on those who might otherwise have not supported the largest state university.

Are you telling your organization’s story through a well-thought out and executed plan? Are you identifying your current ambassadors and establishing new relationships with supporters who will help tell your story?  Even if you made it through 2011 without budget cuts, layoffs or other business disasters without implementing a public relations strategy for your organization, 2012 could be an entirely different ballgame from this year―and it will take more than daily affirmations to win the game.

One of his moderate campaign supporters blames Gov. Scott’s social conservative roots.  Others blame his maverick style.  But I think Gov. Scott puts things in perspective when he said, “What I ran on is what I personally believe, and that’s what I’m going to do. People think that being governor is a popularity contest. No. Your job is to be the governor.”

In full disclosure, I worked for Gov. Scott during his campaign last year and this blog may seem as a defense of his administration.  I know him pretty well and respect him a great deal.  But this isn’t about him.  It’s about leadership, the American people, and the “disconnect” that exists in expectations.

One evening, early in the campaign, we were playing shuffleboard at Gov. Scott’s house.  It was a friendly game but, being new to the team, I was watching him very closely – trying to learn about his personality.  One of the other players missed a fairly obvious move and that’s when I saw it… the look in his eye.  Although a friendly game, he wanted to win – and the thought of losing was offensive to him.

I’ve known a lot of competitive people in business and politics and most of them only care about one thing – winning.  Unfortunately, winning in business and winning in politics is usually not connected.

Winning in business requires taking risk with your money, driving profits, and innovation (changing the way we do things).  Many times, the pursuit of that success is painful and requires sacrifice.  Winning in politics usually requires other people’s money, popularity, and positioning for the next campaign.  Most times – regardless of political party or principles – the pursuit of staying in office makes “keeping my constituents happy” the number one objective.

Our nation has serious problems that threaten our long-term future.  Regardless of political positioning or ideology, the solution to these problems will require leadership.  Raw leadership.  The kind of leadership that says, “If I’m the most unpopular man in the nation, I will attack what isn’t working, I will strengthen what works, and I will require a new business model for governing that’s based on success – and not the status quo.”

Just remember, the pursuit of success – especially the pursuit of excellence – requires pain and sacrifice.  “Requires” means it is a condition of achievement, not a random inconvenience.  As Americans, one only needs to study Valley Forge, the Civil War, The Great Depression, and World War II to understand that pain and sacrifice is our heritage.

Leaders understand this and are willing to withstand criticism in order to achieve.  In fact, most could care less if you like them or not.  But what they do care about is whether or not the determination and the sacrifice required of them can achieve success.  And that requires buy-in from the American people.  They are the stockholders in this great enterprise.  If they don’t buy-in, leadership won’t matter.  They’ll just replace the leader with someone that pursues the status quo.

The people in Florida have a guy that’s trying to lead through innovation – and he is having success.  There are others like him across this great country that crave success, are inspired by excellence, and are willing to face pain and sacrifice to achieve it.

But the American people have to determine if they want something better or the status quo… and that decision will ultimately determine our future.

The recent tracking survey from NBC News/Wall Street Journal provides a wealth of information that those in the political world, and those trying to influence the political world, would be wise to examine.

Here are a few observations based on the data:

1.  The Osama Bin Laden death “bump” has subsided.

Data

“Q3.   All in all, do you think that things in the nation are generally headed in the right direction, or do you feel that things are off on the wrong track?”

“Q4.  Do you generally approve or disapprove of the job that Barack Obama is doing handling foreign policy?”

Analysis

No more Bin Laden, but no more bump.

In May, the Right Direction numbers increased by 8 percentage points over April and the Wrong Track numbers declined by 13 percentage points.  These numbers undoubtedly improved following the May 1^st death of Osama Bin Laden, and rightly so.

However the results in June tell a different story, as the Right Direction numbers fell 7 percentage points and the Wrong Track numbers increased 12 percentage points, virtually returning the Right Direction/Wrong Track numbers back to where they were in April.

As further evidence, in May President Obama received an 8 point increase in approval for how he is handling foreign policy, again due to the Osama Bin Laden death.  However, numbers quickly retreated in June by 7 points, reverting roughly back to April approval levels.

It is clear that while the death of Bin Laden was a tremendous victory for the United States in the War on Terror, the long-term effect that it has on the mood of the electorate is minimal, barring a concerted effort to capitalize upon it politically by the Obama re-election campaign.

2. Elected officials who don’t acknowledge the importance of reducing budget deficits and debt do so at their own peril.

Data

“Q25.  Which of the following two statements comes closer to your point of view?

Statement A:  The president and the Congress should worry more about boosting the economy even though it may mean larger budget deficits now and in the future.

Statement B: The president and the Congress should worry more about keeping the budget deficit down, even though it may mean it will take longer for the economy to recover.”

Analysis

It’s the economy, stupid…Right?   Sort of.

Americans, by a two-to-one margin, believe that reducing deficits and debt is more important than a quick economic recovery. Note that these numbers have been holding steady at near-identical margins for roughly a year and a half.

This data point may surprise many as it flies in the face of the constant barrage of monthly jobs numbers, weekly unemployment claims, and other economic measurements covered by the 24/7 news media.  However, it gives credibility to elected officials, advocacy organizations, and individuals that have made debt their primary focus at this time.

And that second stimulus idea?  Good luck selling that one….

3. Democrats are dominating the message war on Medicare reform.

Data

“Q34.  There is currently a proposal to change how Medicare would work so seniors being enrolled in the program ten years from now would be given a guaranteed payment called a voucher from the federal government to purchase a Medicare approved coverage plan from a private health insurance company. Do you think this is a good idea, a bad idea, or do you not know enough about this to have an opinion at this time?

Analysis

Welcome to the new “third rail” of American politics – Medicare.  Whether you agree or disagree with efforts to overhaul the Medicare system, the numbers indicate that Democrats are winning, and Republicans are losing, the message war.

Back in April, 56% of Americans had “No opinion” when asked about plans to overhaul Medicare.  Since then, 11% of them have formulated one – and 10% concluded that it’s a “Bad idea”.  You can’t put lipstick on this pig if you support the overhaul.   Quite frankly, pulling 10 out of 11 in your side’s direction is pretty clear domination.

Some would argue that Democrats are engaging in scare tactics to generate opposition to the overhaul plan.  I would argue that scare tactics or not, their strategy is working.

Republican’s have a huge opportunity to address deficits and the debt, as discussed in the section above, and have been successful capitalizing on it in regards to the stimulus, wasteful spending, and taxes, but have missed the message on the Medicare portion.

Conclusion

Whether you’re running for office, lobbying an issue at the legislature, or fighting a ballot initiative, comprehensive public opinion surveys offer an important sneak peek into the mind of the electorate.  You might not always like the results that you get, but having, understanding, and respecting the data can help you shape your message in a way that leads to success.

Social media may be a new communications tool being used with reckless disregard by many, but Congressman Weiner’s handling of the crisis is what ultimately and quickly transcended the story from curiosity to firestorm and brought about his demise from political office. Using the traditional rules of crisis communications could have possibly brought about an entirely different outcome for Congressman Weiner.

So, what are the basic rules of crisis communications?

Don’t be defensive: Calling a reporter an unflattering name or not keeping your cool raises a red flag and won’t earn you any brownie points with the media. There’s a reason for the old adage: Never upset or argue with the man who buys ink by the barrel or who can instantly connect with millions of Americans.

Don’t be evasive: Answer basic questions with definitive answers. It’s a reporter’s job to get answers, and if you don’t give them what they want, they will go out and find them―whether you like it or not.

Recognize that news is competitive:

Never go over a reporter’s head to stop a story. You’re just adding speculation to the story and have given “legs” to something that would eventually be trumped by someone else’s faux pas. In this world of 24/7 global news, there will always be something else more important unless you continue to make it important.

Never lie: Be truthful and transparent. It sounds like common sense, but everyone remembers these lines:

• “I did not send that Tweet”
• “I am not a crook”
• “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”

If you are guilty, apologize…quickly and sincerely.

Social media is just an online evolution of audio and video recordings which also capture moments for a lifetime, but how a person or company effectively handles a crisis has not changed.

Ford Motor Company has never been one to put on the brakes when they’re ahead. This line of thinking can also be seen through their commitment to community relations and philanthropic projects. Through the establishment of the Ford Motor Company Fund, Ford’s charitable arm, they have been able to go into communities around the world to teach innovative auto-related safety education.

In 2003, the Ford Fund partnered with the Governors Highway Safety Association to start a program called Driving Skills for Life.  Since then the program has traveled all over the United States and Puerto Rico teaching students about safe driving habits through hands-on driving courses.

Impact Management was hired to plan, execute and promote eleven Driving Skills for Life events across five states in the southeastern United States.  Along with recruiting local high schools to participate and organizing the “Ford Safety Day”, our team managed media outreach for both local and national publications, securing coverage in dozens of outlets.

The Ford Fund’s goal is to give back to the community and they hired Impact Management to make sure their goal was executed in the most impactful and influential way possible.

A strong campaign has the ability to produce many long-term benefits, like community support and customer loyalty. It shows that a company doesn’t just care about making money. Plus, it gives the company a platform to discuss its goals, whether they’re safe driving, clean energy, or something else. And it’s a known fact that companies that do good are more prone to receive positive media coverage.

Having a strong community relations strategy will undoubtedly help enhance the vitality of a company. Ford Motor Company, for example, established the Ford Motor Company Fund which serves as the company’s community service arm.  Through the Ford Fund, Ford is able to have a positive impact in communities and at the same time promote its “Drive One” message, which helps accomplish their goal of getting people behind the wheel of their vehicles.

One example of a successful community relations program is Ford’s Driving Skills for Life program which was launched in 2003 in conjunction with the Governors Highway Safety Association. Driving Skills for Life is a nationwide program that goes into high schools across the country to teach students about safe driving through hands-on driving courses.  The program gives students the opportunity to get behind the wheel of brand new Ford vehicles in order to learn several aspects of safe driving from professional racecar drivers. Through this program, and many others, Ford being recognized by current and future customers through media reports as a good community citizen.

However, community relations is not limited to Fortune 100 companies.  Every company, regardless of size, should have a well-thought-out community relations strategy.  A solid strategy will result in the support and loyalty for which the company strives.  What is your company doing to make sure its community relations strategy works or even matters?