How to survive a

“You shouldn’t be intimidated by a crisis.

The “golden minute” matters. Immediate

internal coordination and forming.”

Hannes Bliem | Swarovski

“We found that quite a lot of pressure can be lifted by a

quick reaction. Especially unacknowledged postings on

weekends can turn toxic very quickly. It can be hard to

recover the next day.”

Daniel Schwarz | SBB

Imprint:

Media owner, publisher & issuer:

Box Network Europe

Editorial office: ambuzzador Marketing GmbH

You can also find this crisis manual for

download at www.boxnetworkeurope.com

What is a Shitstorm?

Every single day, brands and companies are challenged to deliver their

opinion in the online discourse – often, it is important to constructively

accept criticism and find good solutions for the stakeholders‘ concerns.

But every now and then, emotions won’t be calmed down with factual

arguments. During such a social media crisis, feelings run high, and the

s*** really hits the fan. This is why in German, we coined the word „Shit-

storm“: It describes that difficult situation for brand managers when you

really need to keep a cool head.

In this booklet, we have summarized “10 golden rules” for an easier hand-

ling of crisis communication in Social Media: We wish you pleasurable

reading – but in case of emergency, contact us directly, since every crisis

exhibits its own dynamic!

The Box Network

“If there is sporadic criticism, other listeners step

into the breach for us straight away.”

Albert Malli | Ö3

“The speed of technical development is

higher than our learning aptitude.”

Gerhard Kürner | voestalpine

32

HAPPYCHOCO

This is Joe. Joe is the Social Media Ma-

nager of HappyChoco Corporation. His

Facebook community loves chocolate

and is always good-humoured!

But today is not a good day for Joe: Yesterday,

a documentary about cocoa cultivation aired

on TV, and it harshly criticized HappyChoco

Corporation’s production plants ...

54

Frida K. 5 minutes ago

Are you going to comment on the

documentary anytime soon???

Tamara C. 3 minutes ago You’re so mean! Never eating Happy-Choco again!

Teresa D. 9 minutes ago Yeah right, HAPPY- Choco! Didn’t look all that HAPPY on TV last night.

George T. 5 minutes ago

Have you all seen

the documentary

yesterday? Boycott!

Rosi B. 5 minutes ago

@happychoco I’ll never buy your

products again!

Bert F. 5 minutes ago Stop it with your pretty TV spots, the production conditions are unbearable!

Mark B. 6 minutes ago

Here is the

documentary on

youtube – every-

one watch it!!!!!!!

Mirja B. 14 minutes ago I will never buy any of your products again!

Patrick H. 12 minutes ago

I’m telling

all my friends

about this!

... and all the critics now post on the Facebook-Page.

On other Social Media channels, the community is piping up as well.

76

Focus: Attention

Trolls

Trolls aren’t just tiny plastic figures with funny hair – on-line, they like to have fun by discussing all sorts of topics. They want to make their listeners (or readers) laugh. What now? The challenge here is to find the source of the issue. Don’t join the discussion – but if it goes well with your brand, show some humour.

Typology of a shitstorm

Stormers

Stormers mainly want attention. Because of this, it’s

in their interest to prolong the problem.

What now? Give a factual statement about the issue,

without adding fuel to the conflict.

If possible, contact Stormers directly and make him

the star of your solution.Activists

The Activists care about the questions of principle:

The way a company treats its customers, for example.

They aren’t happy with a simple solution to the problem –

they want to make sure that processes are changed.

What now? A quick reaction is the key: Apologise

and explain how the incident happened – and which

provisions are made to avoid it in the future.

Freeloaders

These users take everything – as long as it is for free.

Every problem is blown up as big as possible to get back

a free sample or a coupon. What now? Find out if they really care about the issue

or just want a gift. If necessary, apologise – but make

no exceptions to the company’s reimbursement policy.

If possible, try to contact Freeloaders directly and solve

the problem outside of your Social Media channel.

Focus: Topic

Rational

Emotional

98

The Defender System

1110

1ST MISTAKE:

Posting according to editorial plan3rD MISTAKE:

Panic and random research

2ND MISTAKE:

Respond to all accusations individually

HappyChoco 12 minutes ago

Our new samples: Walnut whales!

Tried it already?HAPPY

CHOCO

Mark B. 6 minutes ago Are you nuts? I’ll never eat anything from your company again!

Tamara C. 3 minutes ago

Nobody cares about your

new chocolates! You better

explain the accusations

from the documentary!!!

George T. 5 minutes ago

Have you all seen

the docu yesterday?

Boycott!

HappyChoco 12 minutes ago Hello, we always insist on written confirmation from all our suppliers to confirm they are working according to international guidelines.

HAPPYCHOCO

George T. 5 minutes ago WHY DON’T YOU GO THErE YOUrSELVES, how about that? !

Joe and his colleagues are overwhelmed: What to do? How should they handle the many allegations and postings?

1312

1. Define processes for official statements and

approvals or reconfirm according to the crisis manual.

2. Promptly author a clear, factual statement with

regards to content for the online community.

3. Official statement, centrally available for journalists,

media and official institutions.

4. Issue Management: Collect, categorise, classify and

verify allegations. Differentiated communication!

5. Inform employees and create awareness: They are

image-holders too and should only communicate

official statements – ideally, they keep out of the

discussions.

10 RulesAT A GLANCE 6. Moderation instead of discussion: Pull the

discussion into a distinct discussion board, in

which the community can discuss the issue.

7. Put together clear rules for the duration of the

shitstorm (internally and externally) and comply

with them – transparently for everyone. Postings

in breach of the rules (and thus against laws and

morality) are taken out of the discussion – with

a warning and reference to the rules.

8. During the crisis communication, only use standardised postings – as to not offer any new

points of attack.

9. Involve law experts to know the state of affairs: about the issue itself, but also about the

statutory violations on the Facebook wall.

10. Full documentation of the discussion is necessary for possible review with regards to

content or law.

1514

1.Define processes for official state-ments and approvals or reconfirm according to the crisis manual.

Promptly author a clear, factual statement for the online community.

In a crisis manual, contact persons and processes are determined – ideally before the crisis. For different crisis scenarios, different measures are taken and different wordings used.

The prepared wordings are adapted to the current crisis. Facts are described clearly and wrong accusations are invalidated. Important: Don’t be goaded into leaving an emotional statement – stay factual!

2.

Happy Choco 3 minutes ago Dear friends of HappyChoco, there have been many discussions about the TV documentary “Happy Choco?” in the past few days. In terms of a transparent commu-nication, we would like to comment on the accusations made in the report.

HAPPYCHOCO

CrisisManual

1716

3.Make an official statement centrally available.

Collect, categorise, classify and verify allegations.

Journalists and public institutions should be able to quote the statement first-hand. Proactive information is better than waiting for the shitstorm. Here, it’s important to stick to the “Lead of Communication”.

Accusations are coming in thick and fast. That doesn’t mean you have to reply to every single one straight away – or that every single one is legitimate. Sort them and choose differentiated approaches.

4.

Trolls

StormersActivists

Freeloaders

DOC PDF

Statement Statement

1918

5.Inform employees and create awareness: You are image-holders too.

Moderation instead of discussion: Pull the discussion into a distinct discussion board.All employees are speakers for the company as well – especially

if they mention their employer in their Social Media profiles. The impulse to defend the own company is understandable. Despite that: Ideally, your colleagues don’t join the discussion.

A discussion board on Facebook or on your website is the place for the official statement and the community’s discussion. Thus, the Facebook wall stays clear and service requests can be attended to.

6.

Internal memo about TV-discussion

HAPPY CHOCO

2120

7.Put together clear rules for the duration of the shitstorm and comply with them – transparently for everyone.

Only use standardised postings during the crisis communication.

Postings in breach of the rules (and thus against laws and morality) are taken out of the discussion with a warning and reference to the disclaimer. There is space for the rules in the Facebook disclaimer – for example, comments below the belt, personal insults and multiple postings can definitely be deleted after a warning. Transparency is very important here to avoid upsetting the community by arbitrariness.

A clear answer with a link to the official statement or the discussion-forum prevents the Stormers from finding new points of attack.

8.

D I S C L A I M E r

The usage of our site is subject to the following rules: every user is responsible

for his or her contribution. The user guarantees not to save any contents if

usage is in direct violation of applicable law, especially the criminal code...HAPPY

CHOCO

Patrick H. 12 minutes ago

I’m telling all my

friends about

this!!

HappyChoco 3 minutes ago Hello, different production plants of different chocolate producers were portrayed in the documen-tary. Our chocolate is produced according to strict quality guidelines. You can read all the details here: www.LinkToStatement.com

HAPPYCHOCO

George T. 5 minutes ago Have you all seen the docu yester-day? Boycott!

2322

Hans Buzztard?

9.Involve law experts to know the state of affairs: About the issue itself, but also about statutory violations on the Facebook wall.

Full documentation of the discussion – for possible review with regards to content or law.

research identities: Who are the notably dedicated Stormers and which (hidden) agenda do they follow?

research pays off for users who reply more often: Maybe a competitor or a disappointed ex-employee is behind the alias? If you know the Stormer’s agenda, you can react to the allegations more easily.

10.

§2524

Box Network Europe is a smart network of like-minded, independent

Social Media and Digital Pr agencies.

We deliver a wealth of specialist experience, languages, talent and

coverage – including Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain

and Switzerland beyond.

We enable brands to select the best Social Media, PR and digital talent

and coverage from within a box of international options. This helps our

clients to manage creative campaign decisions at a global level and to

execute programs at a local level to ensure relevance, timeliness and

best approach.

Operating as a box of independent agencies, we are able to ‘pick and

mix’ skill sets and language requirements to deliver highly customised

campaign teams.

We have instant coverage, immediate scale and the ability to deploy best

of breed skill sets across national and linguistic boundaries.

About Box Network

France: Claire Goyat, Partner cgo&co

+33 (0)2 28 03 90 47 / cgoyat@cgoandco.com / @schrempfette

Italy: Marco Massarotto, Partner HAGAKUrE

+39 (0)27 601 5852 / marco@hagakure.it / @marcomassarotto

Germany: Thomas Praus, Partner P3000

+49 (0)30 805 799 682 / thomas.praus@p3000.net / @stylewalker

Switzerland: Florian Wieser, Partner coUNDco

+41 (0)44 440 1200 / wieser@coUNDco.ch / @floto

Netherlands: Uri roos, Partner Fortress

+31 (0)206 611 506 / u.roos@frtrss.net / @uriroos

Spain: rocío Núñez, Tinkle

+34 (0)91 787 7086 / rnunez@tinkle.es / @rocionunez

Austria: Sabine Hoffmann Founder & CEO ambuzzador

+43 (0)15 224 071 / sabine.hoffmann@ambuzzador.com / @actiongirl74

2726

If you have a challenging,

international Social Pr brief

that requires an integrated

solution then we’d love to

hear from you.

Find your nearest

Box Network director on

www.boxnetworkeurope.com