Question

Please answer the following question in two or three paragraphs (200+ words). The case study that relates to the question is listed below. This is for a public relations class. Thank you!

1.) Think of some crises that have hit U.S. corporations recently. Which of these social media strategies that Berger used with GM could be particularly useful in those scenarios? How would you use Facebook? Twitter? YouTube? Blogs?

Case Study – General Motors Goes Social with a Financial Crisis:

General Motors used social media to help handle its bankruptcy financial crisis in May 2009. Despite hesitation from the legal and financial consultants advising GM, Christopher Berger convinced the CEO to use Twitter and Facebook to let shareholders know of the chapter 11 filing. Berger, director of global social media at GM, said that getting CEO Fritz Henderson on board with the idea was crucial. GM following a 20/80 policy on its social media posts – 20 percent was GM material posted to Facebook or Twitter or other places and 80 percent was responding to questions. “Even if they were venting and saying, ‘We hate you,’ we tried to respond,” Berger said. “During a crisis, you want to use social media as a tool to respond and make sure that consumers realized you are listening and you care.”

GM employed such social media tactics as posting blogs and live webcasts, playing a video interview on Facebook with Fritz Henderson, and putting the CEO on Twitter for an open conversation. “You cannot overcommunication during a crisis,” Berger said. “Go on every platform, every possible place somebody might be listening to you. The audience expects you to be there.”

During the first week of the crisis, GM engaged in direct conversations via Twitter, Facebook, and through various blogs with about 800 individual people. Berger noted that those 800 conversations were translated into communication with thousands more because followers to those sites would see the conversations. “Again, it’s not ‘Here’s GM’s message; here’s what they want us to know.’ It is real people interacting,” Berger added. “That was a particular benefit for us.”

In one particular effective strategy, GM even sought to engage its critics. GM invited a popular blogger and frequent GM critic, David Meerman Scott, to headquarters and gave him access to the CEO and anyone else he wanted to talk to. Within a week of the visit, Scott had posted four blogs about GM to his blog, Web Ink Now. Scott’s post were still critical of GM’s advertising strategy (something he had been critical of the motor company for previously), but were positive about the corporation overall. “You don’t engage everybody,” Berger noted, adding that critics not interested in a genuine conversation are not worth the time. “If somebody is giving good thought to their criticism, then you want to engage that person.”

To have an effective and credible social media presence during a crisis, it is important to establish a social media strategy before the crisis hits, Berger maintains. “There is no over. This is not a campaign. It is a commitment. This is a long-term way of doing business.”

Answer 1

With the unprecedented advancement in communication technology the way the world communicates has witnessed a sea change. Businesses have essentially gone global after the advent of Internet, providing access to every corner of the world, proving concept of Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat, true.Considering the obsession of the world with social networking, it would be extremely ignorant of Management of Corporates, do not tap into the extreme potential inherent in all social media platforms, for maximizing outreach to consumers. The platform is exploited for communication and engagement to obtain advantage of support and sympathy by representing the case from the viewpoint of the organization itself in a frank and honest manner rather than allowing the media to play judge and have a free hand with influencing general public opinion. The companies now have an important weapon in the form of social media to put across their view with their explanation of the circumstances aimed at gathering support and addressing concerns of consumers and public regarding the action being taken and the stance the management is adopting. Crisis management is the efficient handling of any unexpected event which may prove to be a substantial risk to the sustenance and growth of an organisation due to its ability to cause large description within the organisation, externally and for all stakeholders. What becomes essential for effective crisis management in any business is to facilitate excellent flow of communication within the organisation and from the organisation to the external environment. There are numerous stakeholders involved within every organisation including the owners, the employees the customers, the regulatory authorities, all other organisations in related segments and society as a whole. Every crisis impacts every stakeholder involved even though the impact may vary in degree of intensity, for the various stakeholders. Until and unless communication is maintained for addressing concerns of all stakeholders, an offering assurances that the required action has been initiated by the organisation through display of the required empathy, social sensitivity and responsibility within its quick and adequate response, the brand and Company image may suffer extensive damage which can threaten the very existence of an organisation or substantially impact its future growth and prospects. Therefore adept handling of communication within a crisis situation through an effective and efficient public relation department can change the outcome of the situation and even lead to enhanced Company image, converting the negative event with efficient management into a positive outcome. We need to to look at exemplary leadership and management displayed in the tylenol case to understand the importance of excellent PR during the crisis. The public relations department has a major role in identifying and managing risk that may damage irreparably the reputation of an organisation.

The communication which flows externally to stakeholders should be from a single source and present a unified front and a clear message regarding the opinion of the organisation of the crisis situation, the related steps for addressing and controlling the situation taken by the organisation and also the changes the organisation intends to implement to ensure effective control in the future to prevent occurrence of similar situations. Quick and adequate response can quell all doubts of the stakeholders by assuring them that the company is responsible capable and initiated the process for effective management of the crisis situation. Speed has become important due to the advancement of Technology leading to extensive communication through social media networks which kam result 10 any situation or event taking on Mammoth proportions within short time periods. It is essential that every organisation effectively utilise the speed and widespread approach offered by social media to communicate quickly and effectively its message to all concerned. This adequately controls negative publicity having extensive impact through this medium.

Never has a company experienced negative impact of its own business activity and as major away as Mark Zuckerberg did with the privacy breach scandal. The entire social media network was agog with negative publicity for the social networking giant, with the impact spreading like Wildfire, across all platforms. The immense impact and size of the crisis rendered the CEO Mark Zuckerberg silent for 5 days and refusing to apologize when finally he did breaks his silence and faced the media questions initially, which did its damage and goes to show how important it is for every organization to have a social media management in place to control and mitigate resulting risk from such incidents. However, The Spectacular leader that Mark Zuckerberg is he came into his own and became the face of the company during the time of crisis biding open and available and also making numerous statements with apologies to the users along with new privacy policies and promises to take effective control measures and ensure that the incident does not recur. He also accepted his mistake in not understanding the user responsibility of holding personal information of billions of users which may be very attractive for various unscrupulous elements looking to benefit from such information. He also informed the public of various changes to Facebook which would provide users greater control over the application and allowing third party access to their personal information, along with information to users whose data has been shared with Cambridge analytica. Mark Zuckerberg proved he is a master of the game once again by adeptly handling all the impact with a volley of replies aimed at calming and cajoling all, cleverly wheedling himself out of the corner with minimal damage considering his cold feet initially.