The semi-nationalisation of a UK banking sector brought to its knees by a sustained collapse in trust and the rapid development of an unstoppable wave of negative (and possibly malicious) sentiment highlights the fact that this is the first recession of the digital age. For several years the NGO sector has led the way in mobilising popular support for issues online but the credit crunch is now being played out in real-time on our computer screens and online media sources have really come into their own. Martin Dickson, the FT’s deputy editor, told the Observer at the weekend that “the credit crisis has given a tremendous boost to our circulation and to our website viewing figures. We have seen double-digit jumps in global retail sales in recent weeks while FT.com page views have risen by 300 per cent and unique users by 250 per cent.” The development of online news feeds and the growth of the rolling TV news services of mainstream broadcasters such as Sky, the BBC and ITN mean that there is a never-ending supply of source material to feed the ‘Citizen Journalist’.
The banking sector is unlikely to be the last to feel the force of public opinion in this way. As listed companies in particular seek to manage their way through the downturn they will need to pay close attention to online comment and speculation. At minimum, comprehensive monitoring of the ‘blogosphere’ is essential but better by far is a commitment to online engagement to ensure – as far as it’s possible – that issues are anticipated, intercepted and managed. According to the proverb, “a lie is halfway round the world before the Truth has got its boots on”. In today’s 24/7 digital economy, rumour and speculation can derail a company while Truth is still fumbling to turn the alarm off.
My coleague Marshall Manson, Edelman UK’s Director of Digital Strategy, has compiled the following 7-point action plan for organisations looking to protect their business in the online space:
(1) Listen. Customers, economists, business leaders, columnists, MPs and others are talking. The financial crisis is the main topic of discussion online right now. Businesses can learn real lessons and gain meaningful insights by listening.
(2) Act. Forget about PR. The best reputation management is doing the right thing.
(3) Build relationships. Identify the people online who, for whatever reason, might be the most important or relevant to your business. Understand that you don’t have to start with everyone. You can begin with a small group and then grow from there. But do start somewhere. Relationships will allow more effective listening and better interaction.
(4) Find your human voice. Real people are being seriously affected by the downturn. Empathy is an important quality.
(5) Get on top of the facts. The Internet is famous for being full of “facts” that aren’t quite factual. No one is a better position to know and communicate the facts about a crisis than those in the middle of it. Create an online presence for the facts. Go the extra mile to get the facts into the discussion as soon as you can. Exceed regulatory reporting requirements as often as possible. Being the owner of your own facts and going beyond basic requirements will make a good start on rebuilding credibility. And, once you have a presence for the facts, it can also become a home for your voice.
(6) Focus on search. Once you’ve created a presence for the facts, make sure that people can find it. During any crisis, stakeholders’ first destination online will be their favorite search engine. A program of search engine marketing – to ensure that searchers find your destination first – is, therefore, essential. Be creative and aggressive about the keywords that are purchased to capture the broadest possible cross section of the interested audience.
(7) Now is Not the Time for Underhanded Behaviour. Remember the Fundamentals of Online Communications: transparency, authenticity, genuineness, conversation, openness, completeness, etc. A crisis is the worst time to play fast and loose by secretly making edits to a Wikipedia page or leaving anonymous comments on a hostile blog. Crisis breeds scrutiny, and undertakings like these won’t survive such scrutiny. They will only make matters worse.
Thanks to Marvin Gaye for today’s headline.
At an event earlier this week with an FT reporter who echoed Martin Dickson’s comments about the increased web traffic at FT.com and also the increasing prevalence of video interviews and analysis on the site. Interesting trend to monitor…
Somewhat off the point but interesting none the less was the following quote from the reporter, who for this purpose shall remain nameless:
“I have been ruder than ever to PR folk over the last month. I can’t afford to have my time wasted with any stories that aren’t directly related to the crisis. Keep them to yourself!”
There’s telling you…
I’m sure you’ll have your revenge one day Tom – perhaps when you give that huge breaking story to the Wall Street Journal?