You know your company’s communications aren’t fit for purpose when (a) Government Ministers appear live on the news begging you to update your website, (b) the only topic of conversation during Christmas week is how your company’s phone system doesn’t work, and (c) The BBC and local councils have to take over your customer relations channels.
Last week Northern Ireland Water confirmed all the above in what must rank as one of the worst PR meltdowns of 2010.
With nearly the whole region cut off from water supplies for days and some households without water for nearly two weeks, Northern Ireland Water also failed abysmally in communicating with the public.
The long queues for water at standpipes brought about a sense of social solidarity, most of which revolved around peoples frustrations and anger that they couldn’t get any information or updates from the company.
Crisis Comms
Crisis communications incidents are complex affairs but there are three factors which really matter if your company is at the centre of a major incident – having a crisis communications plan, providing regular updates to stakeholders and using the right communications channels.
I think the last factor is particularly relevant for NIW because so many of the information problems could have been avoided by utilising modern media channels and technology. It’s pretty clear from the news coverage that NIW are still employing an antiquated way of communicating with the public – a rather 1970s-style of top-down communications with limited interaction with the public.
The FAQs included a question on everyone's lips: 'What will orthophosphoric acid do to my tropical fish?'
In a digital age the image of a big clumsy monolithic monopoly hiding behind unanswered phones during a public emergency is bizarre to say the least. So how could NIW have used a wider array of communications channels and technology to improve its performance?
Website
Northern Ireland Water probably thought its website ticked all the boxes. And I guess it did if the boxes include ‘the provision of pointless and largely irrelevant corporate information’ and ‘corporate social responsibility stuff with lots of cartoon characters so we can show we’re nice to the kiddies’.
Their FAQs section lists some questions that were apparently asked on a frequent basis including: ‘How are trade effluent discharges authorised?’ and the question that was on everyone’s lips as they waited in traffic jams to use standpipes across the North – ‘What will orthophosphoric acid do to my tropical fish?’
If that wasn’t enough they even include a half-page breakdown of the Mogden Formula – a complex mathematical equation used to calculate how they charge for water.
Its website is a classic example of information by committee. Rather than design a website that interacts with customers it crams in as much text information as possible. Presumably the rationale is that if they host a huge array of information about every conceivable aspect of their business they won’t have to interact with people.
When the real crisis landed on the doorstep of NIW they were ill-equipped to deal with the huge volume of customer and media attention because for them a website is used as a barrier
When the real crisis landed on the doorstep of NIW they were ill-equipped to deal with the huge volume of customer and media attention because for them a website is used as a barrier. NIW could have really lessened the confusion by having a functional website which integrated social media, online video and email.
Social media
Social media, with their ability to reach large volumes of audiences in real time, are perfect channels for crisis communications managers. During the past two weeks of weather chaos, I’ve seen some really good examples of public utility companies use social media channels to broadcast important updates and interact with customers and the media.
During ‘The Great Thaw’ many water companies in Britain were using Twitter and Facebook to gather information and post real-time updates to consumers. Had had they been used effectively by Northern Ireland Water they would have helped lessen the mass confusion.
Online PR
Many of the main messages that NIW wanted to convey, including advice on turning offer water and trying to reassure the public on their repairs progress, were lost as they battled to respond to a hostile media.
Online videos showing customers what to look for and how to minimise leaks and water damage could have been easily hosted on an adequate website, blog or Facebook Page.
Many years ago, I remember hearing the advice that success in managing PR incidents ‘doesn’t depend on size of the crisis, but how you react to it’. Fresh into 2011, there’s no doubt that senior managers especially in PR, customer relations and risk management would be wise to review how their communications channels would stand up in a negative PR snowstorm.
