Crisis Management SE in the USA Bob Krouse Midwest Poultry Services - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Crisis Management SE in the USA

Bob Krouse Midwest Poultry Services

April 5, 2011

Agenda

• What Happened
• What We Did
• Results

New Egg Safety Rule July 9, 2010

• Industry Prepared for Potential Crisis:
• Established roles and responsibilities
• Developed Egg Food Safety PR and Crisis Protocol
• Created online social media crisis plan
• Launched www.eggsafety.org
• Created #eggsafety

Twitter account

• Activated a media hotline
• Vetted credible, third‐party experts

Largest Egg Recall in US History

• Aug. 18
• Voluntary Recall of 550 million eggs
• Two Iowa Farms
• Dozens of brands affected
• But less than 1% of all US eggs

Daunting Media Coverage

200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 12‐Aug 19‐Aug 26‐Aug 2‐Sep 9‐Sep 16‐Sep 23‐Sep 30‐Sep Number of Stories

Egg Recall Media Coverage

Media Stories

• Online and print coverage
• Broadcast stories were in the tens of thousands

News Story Lifecycle

• Social media conversations
• Slower to start and much slower to taper off
• Traditional media is the driver

What Did We Do?

By the Numbers

• +5 million hits to EggSafety.org
• ver 10 days

– Peak day exceeded 1 million hits – Government sites linked to EggSafety.org

• Responded to:

– 2,000 media inquiries via hotline – 3,000 consumer inquiries

• +25,000 online and print stories
• +32,000 mentions of recall via Facebook

Online Actions

• AEB launched adwords

program for recall‐related search terms on Google, Yahoo, and Bing

• Directed thousands of people looking for info online to

eggsafety.org

• Posted regular Twitter and Facebook

updates

Understanding the Conversation

• “Outbreak”, “Cruel”,

“Massive”, “Hens,” “Tiny,” and “Humane” were notable.

• Analyzing the data, many

users were discussing both the Salmonella Outbreak and their feeling that Hens experience Cruel Treatment by living in Tiny cages.

HSUS Joins In

Steering the Conversation

Steering the Conversation

Steering the Conversation

Steering the Conversation

Steering the Conversation

Online Conversations

Online Conversations

Online Conversations

Understanding Consumer Sentiment

• Conducted two rounds of consumer research

during first few weeks of recall to gauge consumer awareness, sentiment

• Aug. 20 – 21
• Aug. 28 ‐

29

Awareness of the Recall

Awareness of the recall increased slightly from Survey #1 to Survey #2 due to TV news, newspapers and word‐of‐mouth.

• Q1. Within the last few days, have you heard anything about egg safety issues? (Check all that apply.)

Effect on Egg Consumption

In both surveys, a majority of consumers said that the recall would have no effect on their egg consumption.

• Q2. How did this egg safety issue affect how you eat eggs?

Effect on Egg Purchase

In both rounds, a majority of consumers said that the recall would have no effect on their egg purchase. Most of those who did expect an effect said that they would pay more attention to brands.

• Q2. How may this issue affect how you purchase eggs?

Image of Egg Farmers

The second round showed a higher number of consumers who said the recall gave them a more negative image of egg farmers.

• Q4. How does this issue make you feel about American Egg Farmers?

Restoring Consumer Confidence

AEB reallocated $1 million dollars for campaign to maintain/regain consumer confidence in eggs

• Distributed statement from America’s egg farmers
• n egg safety –

200 media outlets

• Developed :60 national radio commercial with egg

farmer Chris Pierce

Ran full‐page ad in national daily newspapers USA Today, Wall Street Journal New York Times and dailies in the largest 25 US cities

Restoring Consumer Confidence

• Coordinated tour with

Elizabeth Weise

• Held at Pearl Valley Eggs
• Attended by Dr. Jeff

Armstrong

• Features Hongwei

Xin

Restoring Consumer Confidence

• Coordinated tour with

Elizabeth Weise

• Held at Pearl Valley Eggs
• Attended by Dr. Jeff

Armstrong

• Features Hongwei

Xin

Restoring Consumer Confidence

• Animal welfare and food

safety conference

• Tampa, FL
• Cal‐Maine

Restoring Legislative Confidence

• Met with FDA to request universal vaccination, explain upcoming UEP

revisions to food safety initiatives, formation of scientific committee, etc.

• Met with USDA to explain same steps and share perspectives on issues

raised about USDA audits, grading, Shell Egg Inspection Program

• Conducted numerous on‐the‐record and background interviews with

major national media and trades

• Briefed key Congressional offices on UEP’s

proactive steps, including majority and minority staffs of House and Senate Agriculture Committees and Appropriations Committees

• At committee’s request, met with staff of House Energy and Commerce

Committee to provide factual information about UEP Certified Program and related matters

• Responded to inquiries on industry programs and practices from various

federal agencies, including Congressional offices, FDA, AMS, FSIS

• Briefed key agricultural group allies (AFBF, NTF, etc.) on universal

vaccination and other response points

Results

Effect on Egg Consumption

How did this egg safety issue affect how you eat your eggs? a) N/A because I have not heard

• anything. (22%, 15%, 32%)

b) It has not affected how I eat eggs (50%, 52%, 46%) c) I have stopped eating eggs (8%, 9%, 4%) d) I am going to reduce the number of eggs I eat or serve in the future (3%, 4%, 3% ) e) I am more conscious about how I cook my eggs (17%, 20%, 14%)

Effect on Egg Purchase

How may this issue affect how you purchase eggs? a) N/A because I have not heard anything (22%, 16% 33%) b) This will not affect how I purchase eggs (43%, 45% 43%) c) I will not buy as many eggs as I did before (8%, 9%, 6%) d) I will pay more attention to the kind/brand of eggs I buy (28 %, 31%, 19%)

Egg Sales Recovered Quickly

Fresh Eggs Unit Sales v. Year Ago

24,000,000 25,000,000 26,000,000 27,000,000 28,000,000 29,000,000 30,000,000 31,000,000 32,000,000 1 Week Ending Aug 15, 2010 1 Week Ending Aug 22, 2010 1 Week Ending Aug 29, 2010 1 Week Ending Sep 5, 2010 1 Week Ending Sep 12, 2010 1 Week Ending Sep 19, 2010 1 Week Ending Sep 26, 2010 1 Week Ending Oct 3, 2010 2009 2010

Questions