CorpComms Magazine

Thankfully for today's participant, this is not a real life crisis but a simulated online one. Today, she is director of communications at Winnipeg Widgets, a Canadian software company specialising in logistics, which has prized defence contracts with the American government.

 

She is trying out Weber Shandwick's proprietary crisis simulation tool FireBell, which can be reconfigured to be relevant to any organisation. 'Well, at least we're not trending,' she says, studying the screen in front of her. Chief digital creative officer James Warren and head of digital for consumer brands Robin Thomas are playing the roles of 12 prominent stakeholders, including journalists, activists, employees and bloggers. They will respond in real time to each of the actions taken by the Winnipeg communications team.

 

 Weber Shandwick has provided biographies of each stakeholder, including information such as the fact that the uncle of blogger Frieda Patel is 'an editor of the New York Times' and that journalist Stefanie Martin 'is an ex human rights lawyer who spends a lot of time in Washington trying to uncover stories where the US is breaking sanctions'.

 

Finding the information

 

'So the chief executive has definitely been arrested?' asks our Winnipeg representative. 'That's right,' replies John Evans, Weber's head of digital Europe, corporate and financial, who is acting as the master of ceremonies, building the scenario and asking probing questions to keep up the pressure.

 

'Well, the first response is to placate these people,' she says. 'I would agree a holding statement with the legal counsel and put that on our website.' She does just that, linking to the statement on both Winnipeg Widgets' Facebook and Twitter pages. The statement promises a formal update as soon as possible.

 

Immediately, there is a string of 'typical response - no information' style tweets from the protagonists, while an errant employee tweets that he has been with the company for 16 years and nothing would surprise him. Every action by Winnipeg's director of comms is immediately amplified on a big screen.

 

'Ideally, I would like to include a time frame on the statements,' she adds. 'That might be on the next statement, and I would make the statement about the chief executive not the company. I might also try to use his name as a hashtag to take the story away from Winnipeg.' As for the tweeting employee? 'Well, I would not try to shut him up,' she says. 'But I think we would quietly move him away from his desk and chat to him, perhaps reminding him of the company's social media policy. Do we have a social media policy?' 

 

No, says Evans. 'Well then I would remind staff of the risks of releasing company information and also Winnipeg's Code of Conduct,' she says. 'I should really update the staff as well on the situation. I do feel under pressure. Where are the rest of my team?'

 

Just as the wheels are set in motion, a link to a YouTube video pops up in Winnipeg's Twitter feed. It is a news broadcast about the arrest, which provides more details, such as the accusation that the chief executive traded confidential military information with North Korea. Immediately, the tweets start to carry the 'traitor' hashtag. 'I would update the statement now,' she says. 'Who is now in charge? I assume the chairman has taken on executive responsibilities. I would want to say that and make them do a piece to camera saying that we take these allegations very seriously.' Anybody watching the YouTube video would then also see Winnipeg's message.

 

Updating information

 

Winnipeg's next statement announces that a formal inquiry has been launched, led by an independent third party, and that the chief executive has been suspended. Again, the statement promises further information as soon as possible. 'And I would de-prioritise the CSR report, and anything that can be used against us by the media,' she adds. 'I would remove the chief executive's profile and picture from the website, and put up more information on the chairman. I wouldn't create a microsite, but I would reconstruct the home page.'

 

'I hear three other people have been arrested,' tweets one blogger. 'Have they?' she asks. It appears not. She decides to contact some of the more vocal tweeters by phone, to offer personal updates. No sooner has the communications director announced her plans than one tweeter confirms that he has just been rung by Winnipeg. Me too, says another. 'I would state that there is no evidence that any other employees have been arrested,' she says. 

 

'I might also organise an employee representative to film an update,' she adds, 'and probably organise a teleconference, where staff can gather round phones, to give an update on the situation. And I would definitely have our policy on North Korea on our website.'

 

Suddenly, Winnipeg's Twitter page springs to life. It seems that a former employee has been found dead in a car. Journalists are reporting that he was a senior head of operations who left only months earlier in suspicious circumstances. 'What!' shrieks the disbelieving comms director. 'Is this true? Well, I want to dampen the online gossip.' There is currently no evidence that this is anything other than a tragic coincidence. 'I think we would put a statement out that we have spoken to his family, and offered our sympathies,' she says. In other circumstances, it would be best to wait before responding to a story about a former employee dying but today Winnipeg Widgets is in the eye of the storm and the communications director just needs to calm down the situation.

 

It is now 90 minutes since the crisis simulation began. There are countless other horrors lying in wait on the FireBell system but for now, it's time for our intrepid communicator to leave and go back to the real world. 'Do you want a picture of me with my head in my hands?' she jokes.