Unless you’ve had your head stuck in a sand trap lately, you’ve undoubtedly seen the endless news images of Tiger Woods’ smashed SUV and the photos of women who claim to have been intimately involved with the superstar. What you haven’t seen is Tiger Woods. He’s been conspicuously absent from the public dialog that exploded in the wake of his early-morning car crash and the frenzy of allegations of infidelity and domestic violence that quickly followed.
Far worse than the crumpled fender and smashed rear window are the huge hits that Tiger Woods’ personal brand has taken the past couple weeks. Team Tiger ignored virtually every tenet of crisis communications and as a result, the Tiger Woods brand has been severely tarnished. The unanticipated and rapid damage highlights the importance of a crisis communications plan as an essential component of brand management.
Here are 5 things every brand should know about crisis communications.
1. Respond quickly: Get out in front of the story. Set the pace and tone of the communications. Tiger’s 40+ hour response time was the media equivalent of a lifetime – and plenty of time for the story to take on a life of its own.
2. Respond openly and publicly: Deal with the situation head-on and in the open. If you or your company don’t talk, someone else will. Blogs can be an essential tool in crisis communications, but be careful that you don’t give the impression (like Tiger) that you’re hiding behind it.
3. Be honest: Be as open, candid and responsive as appropriate under the circumstances. It’s about regaining trust; truth and transparency are key. Explain what steps are being taken to address the situation and promise to keep the public and the media informed.
4. Acknowledge the Harm: Someone’s been hurt and everybody knows it. You need to show that you know it too. This is the time to step up and demonstrate compassion.
5. Apologize: This doesn’t mean admitting guilt. But there’s nothing so powerful as a contrite apology and an expression of sorrow or sadness for the harm done.
Tiger Woods doesn’t get a mulligan on this one. But if you’re carefully managing your brand and have a solid crisis communications plan in place and ready to execute, you shouldn’t need one.
