Purpose
The following plan is meant to outline Deep Sea Oil Company’s (DSOC’s) communications strategy in the situation of possible organization-induced environmental disasters, e.g., oil spills due to deep-water drilling and other problems that may be associated with oil exploration activities in the Gulf of Mexico and other regions of the firm’s operating.
Goals and Objectives
The major goals of the Communications Plan for DSOC is the development of public trust when responding to any crisis and the reduction of risks to the company’s reputation and financial performance. On the way towards the fulfillment of the given goals, the company will aim to achieve such key objectives as the verification of credibility of messages communicated to media and various stakeholder groups, as well as the demonstration of organizational compliance with the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) including accountability, transparency, and sustainability. It implies the consideration of organizational activities’ effects, the provision of open access to relevant organizational information, and the aspiration to benefit the society as a whole (Asemah, Okpanachi, & Edegoh, 2013).
Audiences and Stakeholders
The major audience is comprised of community members inhabiting the affected geographical region. Additionally, when conveying the message regarding the issue, DSOC will consider the interests of such stakeholders as employees affected by the crisis most and their families, as well as all members of the personnel in general; local businesses and government; environmental activists; partners, and other representatives of the oil industry exposed to negative intangible impacts of the adverse incident (Brennan, 2013).
Key Messages
The core messages will be designed consistently with the Problem, Solution, and Call for Action model proposed by Bray (2002).
Message 1: The Problem
Here DSOC states the nature and scope of the current crisis and informs the public regarding its potential outcomes and effects without trying to understate the numbers and manipulate the information. It is essential to explain what exactly has led to this unfavorable incident in order to reveal the contributing factors (actions, decisions, etc.) and responsible individuals if there are any.
Message 2: The Solution
It is appropriate to start this message with an apology and acknowledgment of its own fault if any of DSOC’s processes and employees were those to cause the crisis. After that, it is essential to remind the community members that the company has a strong environmental policy and CSR values and will strive to do its best to remove the adverse outcomes as quickly as possible. The spokesperson must inform the public about the ongoing relief operations and outline the solutions to be implemented farther including the detailed investigation and compensation to victims.
Message 3: The Action
In the given message, DSOC representatives may call the public to support the company in its crisis management endeavors and provide all the necessary contact information for the interested parties in case of any questions.
Media and Tools
DSOC will use a wide range of media and reporter contacts to communicate the outlined messages. Along with local community news reporters, the media database may include financial and business media, environmentalist media, etc. The communication may take place in the form of media releases, phone calls, personal interactions with reporters, as well as press conferences. Social media is another significant communication instrument − it “enables an organization to deliver messages rapidly, directly communicate with its stakeholders, discover their concerns, detect misperceptions that need to be corrected, and potentially diminishing the negative effects if the organization employs appropriate crisis communication strategies” (Ye & Ki, 2016, p. 80). It may help DSOC understand whether the public accepts the key messages and then correct the communication strategy and tactics, as well as contents, accordingly.
Communications Strategy
DSOC will adhere to a proactive crisis communication strategy, which suggests that a firm can become ready to respond to an adverse incidence, and its outcomes in case “effective communication systems are in place before the crisis occurrence and stakeholder relationships and credibility have been built prior to the crisis” (Wolf & Mejri, 2013, p. 49). It means that the company will anticipate possible environmental damages and attempt to prevent its occurrence. Additionally, it will also communicate with key stakeholders prior to the crisis takes place and ensure that it would be well-controlled. At the given pre-crisis stage of communication, the focus will be mainly made on the value-based and ethical implications of the hypothetical environmental disaster and the environmental state as a whole. For instance, the environment protection messages and evidence supporting the use of more environmentally-friendly technology can be communicated to stakeholders through various marketing practices.
At the post-crisis stage, DSOC will initiate the communication and provide sufficient and truthful information to the public yet will take time to listen to stakeholders’ concerns and remarks and respond to them accordingly. After the incident, DSOC should assess the scope of the situation and damages to various stakeholders promptly and consequently suggest an appropriate financial compensation plan based on the collected data.
Specific Tactics
The following practices will be applied in accordance with the formulated proactive communication strategy: 1) acceptance of stakeholders as legitimate partners; 2) listening to the public; 3) maintaining of a frank and a truthful attitude; 4) coordination of and collaboration with reliable information sources; 5) fulfillment of media needs; 6) communication is a clear and compassionate manner; 7) thorough and careful planning (Wolf & Mejri, 2013). During the post-crisis phase, DSOC will perform a series of reactive tactics as well, namely, apology, compensation, and corrective action. The first tactic implies that the spokesperson will make a verbal apologetic statement. The second one refers to giving monetary compensation to affected members of the community, as discussed in the previous section of the paper. Lastly, corrective action means that DSOC will communicate and implement activities aimed to prevent the recurrence of a similar problem in the future.
Timelines
Ethical Issues
The proposed Communications Plan is meant to minimize the occurrence of potential legal and ethical dilemmas. Such issues may still arise as DSOC needs to protect its own (mainly financial) interests as well. However, the very purpose of proactive crisis communication strategy and suggested tactics is to acknowledge own fault and propose fair and effective solutions. Yet, in case of a difficult or an uncertain issue and conflict of interests, the company’s management may, for example, utilize such a five-step decision-making model as IDEAL and alike approaches. The model includes five major steps: identity, develop, explore, act, and look back (McManemy, 2016). It may help conduct a comprehensive evaluation of legal, ethical, and other issues; examine all possible solutions; and choose the one that may suit both parties.
Monitoring Strategy
The ongoing control of the plan implementation effectiveness can be performed through the analysis of user’s messages on various social media such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as online media. Social and other online media can be used as a tool for communication with potential customers at various stages of crisis communications. DSOC can analyze the big data derived from those sources to identify how the public reacts to its current relief activities, determine the primary concerns, and consequently address them in the following press messages.
Outcome Evaluation
It can be suggested to carry out post-assessment activities in two phases. The first one will take place right after the Communications Plan implementation phase ends (depending on the scope of the crisis and the duration of its coverage in media). It will allow identifying the immediate results. However, by evaluating the same objective data in the long run, it will be possible to assess to which extent did the proposed strategy helps fulfill the goals of maintaining a positive perception of DSOC in community members, development of public trust, and sustainable practice of CSR.
References
Asemah, E.S., Okpanachi, R. A., & Edegoh, L. O. N. (2013). Business advantages of Corporate Social Responsibility practice: A critical review. New Media and Mass Communication, 18, 45-54.
Bray, R. (2002). Spin works! Spin Academy. Web.
Brennan, K. (2013).A stakeholder analysis of the BP oil spill and the compensation mechanisms used to minimize damage. Web.
McManemy, S. (2016). I.D.E.A.L. decision making model. Web.
Wolf, D., &. Mejri, M. (2013). Crisis communication failures: The BP Case Study. International Journal of Advances in Management and Economics, 2(2), 48-56.
Ye, L., & Ki, E.-J. (2016). Organizational crisis communication on Facebook: A study of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 22(1), 80-92.