PUBLIC RELATIONS CRISIS & CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES

–The Captain of the Ship Goes Down with the Crew—

Amidst the unfolding story of Carnival Corporation, the US-based parent of the operator of the Costa Concordia and their crisis communications strategy (and news that they hired a crisis pr agency), the following book excerpt from my recently released PR Book, “For Immediate Release” unfolds how  Carnival successful handled a previous disaster:

The November 2010 crisis of Carnival’s Splendor cruise ship is a great example of out-in-front crisis communication. A technical malfunction on board the cruise ship resulted in stranding 3,300 passengers on board for 72 hours with no electricity or working plumbing and limited food and water. Even though the error was no one person’s or the company’s “fault,” it definitely constituted a public relations crisis for Carnival Cruise Lines. It doesn’t matter if it’s no one’s fault—3,300 people were stranded without working bathrooms, air-conditioning, or much food.

Needless to say, people were pissed. Realize that in a situation like this, there is no amount of publicity or spin that can make things even remotely positive. The goal for Carnival, as with many crisis PR situations, was simply to minimize the negative and do what it could to make it up to its customer base—and future customers. Carnival handled the issue by immediately offering full refunds for the trip, along with a 25 percent discount on a future cruise. A lighthearted but compassionate blog post from the senior cruise director spoke of the ship not as smelling of roses, but smelling “like Paris on a hot summer’s day . . . that’s Paris the city, not Paris the . . . person.” He also kept making continuous announcements to keep passengers informed.

It was an awful situation, and I commend the company for telling the truth, communicating it immediately, and issuing a very direct apology from Carnival Cruise Lines’ CEO, Gerry Cahill. He talked openly about the challenges facing the crew and passengers on board the cruise ship. And he made what had to be one of the most difficult statements of his career: “We are very, very sorry for the discomfort and the inconvenience that our guests have had to deal with in the past several days.” He meant it, and by saying not just “I’m sorry,” but saying, “I am very, very sorry,” he went a long way to defuse the situation. The trouble continued with a few days of negative stories from passengers on the boat, and Carnival continued to address the many questions that came up from customers even after the media had moved on to other news. The message Carnival sent was: mistakes happen in business, we feel awful, we’re going to make amends, and now let’s move on.

The smart and personal actions of Carnival’s leader minimized loss of future business, lawsuits, and other problems. Other CEOs would not be so forthright because mishaps on this level are hard to own. Bosses have egos and it’s hard to humanize them in situations like these if they are not willing to step up and say something. Brands often wait too long because they are listening to shareholders, or their own egos, or they simply choose to ignore the problem. Was it a good situation? No, but all things considered, the company did a great job communicating sincerely, honestly, and openly with the press, customers, and the public. Big kudos to Carnival.

Ronn Torossian is the founder of 5WPR, and author of “For Immediate Release”.

My crisis PR agency, 5WPR was pleased today to read the announcement that Liberty Mutual Insurance has added a crisis management endorsement to its new commercial lead umbrella policy form –It’s great that insurance companies recognize the vast importance of good crisis communications.

In today’s world, bad communications can cost companies millions – or even billions of dollars. As Liberty’s spokesperson said when announcing the policy “Sometimes a situation is clearly a crisis that needs immediate action.”

Working in PR is often like working the ER night shift on a 100-degree summer weekend. You never know what’s going to happen next. Product recall. Sexual harassment. Not wanting to rat to the police. Involvement in a shooting. Bankruptcy. Corporate merger. Affair with a secretary. Fraud. Government investigation. Protests at corporate headquarters. We have worked through all of these situations and more with our clients. I’ve helped major corporations, small businesses, and celebrities get through a fair number of troubling times, from financial scandals at a Fortune 100 company, to countless indictments and accusations, to arrests at New Jersey construction companies, to trials and legal proceedings for celebrities like Lil’ Kim, as well as average Joes.

One key lesson learned from these experiences is that even though there are times when you can get away with burying your head in the sand, a crisis that brings media attention isn’t one of them. Drop what you’re doing and address crisis situations as they happen; it’s impossible to sit behind a computer and “outwork” catastrophes. Your entire business, or your whole life, can be changed by one article or one rumor, true or untrue.

The court of public opinion doesn’t wait – and anyone involved in a crisis must understand the need to respond quickly to the media.

Of course, Liberty’s announcement was also good Public Relations by their PR agency – Liberty’s policyholders can use the $50,000 in crisis management work only at Weber Shandwick, the PR firm that represents Liberty – and its doubtful Weber has ever taken any PR clients for such a low fee – let alone a crisis PR client.  But nonetheless, following in the footsteps of Chubb who last year offered up to $300K in crisis PR services in its corporate policies and other insurance companies, this is good for business and good for all of us in Public Relations.

As Warren Buffett has said “It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”

Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, 1 of the 25 largest US PR Agencies, and author of “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations” an Amazon best selling Public Relations book available for purchase at: http://www.amazon.com/Immediate-Release-Deliver-Game-Changing-Relations/dp/1936661160

To start 2012 right heres a book excerpt from “For Immediate Release”, the new book by Ronn Torossian.  Owing a crisis PR agency, I found this to be a major success in the world of crisis PR. My book can be purchased at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-immediate-release-ronn-torossian/1102047620

Hit the Books and Get Rid of the Problem
Here’s a sordid story that you’ve probably not heard about on
CNN or Fox News. Philip H. Brown, a tenured economics professor
at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, resigned from
the school after the institution announced it was either that or
he’d be fired because he’d violated students’ privacy. What was
the violation? Oh, it’s a doozy—perfect for tabloid journalism.
On a trip to China in 2011, Brown placed a webcam in the bathrooms
his female students would be using. As they traveled from
province to province, the professor had apparently enlisted an
unwitting student to place a first-aid kit containing a hidden
webcam in the bathrooms.

The professor’s spying was uncovered when one of his students
discovered a photo of her unclad bottom in the trash bin
of Brown’s laptop, a computer that all students on the trip shared
with their teacher. She had been searching the computer’s hard
drive for a document she had inadvertently deleted.
Colby College president William Adams wrote to students
and employees in late January that Brown had resigned after college
officials told him they were prepared to fire him. Adams
didn’t wait until Brown returned from the trip; he called him
in China a day after receiving a complaint about the photos
and verifying the claim was true. Adams also admitted that the
matter had prompted an investigation by law enforcement, and
that the college was cooperating fully with police.

In his letter to students and faculty, Adams also stated that
the well-being of students was the college’s “utmost priority” and
that “we do not and will not tolerate behavior that is antithetical
to the fundamental values of our community. We take this
matter very seriously. We took prompt action to address it, and
we will continue to support the affected students in ways that are
respectful of their privacy.”

Adams acted swiftly to reassure students, cooperated with
the police investigation, and most important of all, got rid of the
professor despite the fact that he had tenure, which allowed
the story to stay local and within the academic community. It
went away fairly quickly and became a story of a perverted
professor, rather than a problem with the university. School
officials rightfully distanced themselves from the conflict and
made the issue about Brown.

Had the college dithered, the story would have had legs—lots
of them. The college’s actions would have aroused suspicion and
interest from outside journalists, and what has remained a shortlived
local story might have become a national story, as well as the
butt of the obligatory late-night jokes. It could have cost the college
significant fund-raising dollars and state and federal grant money,
and resulted in diminished enrollment. It would have affected not
only Colby College’s reputation but also the personal reputation
of its president; scandal tends to rub off on the people surrounding
it. And it would have, had he not done the right thing.

“For Immediate Release” by Ronn Torossian, 5WPR CEO

This week we are in the midst of a lesson in Crisis Public Relations at its worst from two major brands – Blackberry and Netflix.  While blackberry for three consecutive days has seen outages worldwide and users unable to connect, struggles with Netflix continue week after week.

Users worldwide are outraged at being unable to communicate instantly as they have grown accustomed to – and Blackberry spokespersons are communicating with messages like “Message delays were caused by a core switch failure in RIM’s infrastructure”. That’s not consumer friendly English which resonates with people, and few of us know (or care) what a “core switch” is.  We just want our damn blackberries to work. And to make it worse, they have communicated that the service works – only to see it fail minutes later again.

The very basics of crisis PR management involves communicating clearly, honestly and in language which resonates with consumers.  The brand – particularly with the imminent launch of the Apple iPhone 4S – needs to very quickly communicate much clearer – in addition, naturally to fixing the problem immediately.

Netflix is a brand which also is failing miserably at crisis PR. Following weeks of bad marketing decisions – from the price increase which consumers hated, to their decision to split the business, Netflix hasn’t had a shining few months for brand appreciation.  Today, Netflix dropped the ball yet again and lost points with an announcement via a blog post that they no longer intended to split business units. Yes, a blog post.  Did no one have the guts to stand up and face the music?

In times of trouble, brands have to apply a personal, human touch.  It’s necessary for brands to provide a face for crisis – with senior management directly involved, not a blog posting. The media will ask questions, customers will leave, and no interaction allows media to define the issues as they see them and create others without Netflix’s help. A press conference was the way to broadcast a concise and consistent message. Gathering the media together, presenting the same message to everyone, and answering a few questions was the right path.  Amazingly, Netflix is a company that succeed as Blockbuster disappeared and didn’t address issues of importance to their core consumer – convenience, time, and cost.

The Chief Financial Officer of Netflix, Barry McCarthy has said in the past ““We have benefited enormously from the rapid growth in word of mouth (publicity). It has taken us to levels that we thought we would not soon see.”  In bad times, the company needs to apply these lessons as well, not just in good times.

As Warren Buffett has said “It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, 1 of the 25 largest PR agencies in the US, and author of “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations” an Amazon best selling Public Relations book available for purchase at: http://www.amazon.com/Immediate-Release-Deliver-Game-Changing-Relations/dp/1936661160

I just wrote an article at Business Insider which I’d appreciate feedback on – and explains why my PR firm, 5WPR is hired to make sure some clients don’t get noticed.

I mention people including Mark Birnbaum, and Moshe Lax who are quietly successful.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR