Introduction SafeBites Webinar May 22, 2014 2 Global presence What - - PDF document

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SafeBites Webinar – May 22, 2014

Introduction

Responding to a Foodborne Illness Outbreak: Legal and Social Media Implications

2 88 offices in 49 countries

H+K Strategies Offices Affiliates

Global presence

U.S. ASIA AMEASCA CANADA LATIN AMERICA

Bogotá Buenos Aires Caracas Guatemala City Lima Mexico City Calgary Edmonton Halifax Montreal Ottawa Québec City Abu Dhabi Algiers Almaty Amman Auckland Bengaluru Brisbane Cairo Casablanca Bangkok Beijing Chengdu Guangzhou Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Jakarta Kuala Lumpur Manila Seoul Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Austin Boston Chicago Dallas Houston Irvine Los Angeles Miami

EUROPE

Almaty Amsterdam Athens Barcelona Belfast Berlin Bratislava Brussels Bucharest Budapest Copenhagen Dublin Frankfurt Helsinki Kyiv Lisbon London Ljubljana Madrid Milan Moscow Oslo Paris Johannesburg Kampala Karachi Kolkata Kuwait City Lagos Lahore Manama Montevideo Panama City Quito San Jose San Juan Santiago Saõ Paulo Regina Saskatoon

• St. John’s

Toronto Vancouver Victoria Winnipeg Prague Reykjavik Riga Rome Sofia Stockholm Stavanger Tallinn The Hague Vienna Vilnius Warsaw Zug Chennai Dar es Salaam Doha Dubai Gurgaon (Delhi) Hobart Istanbul Jeddah Mumbai Nairobi Perth Ramala Riyadh Sydney Tel Aviv Tunis New York San Francisco Seattle Spokane Tallahassee Tampa Washington D.C.

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Focus on:

• Crisis Communications
• Recovery Process
• Reputation Management

What we do.

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Ron Bottrell:

• Crisis Practice, Food

Industry

• 30 years experience

working with food & drug legal specialists on numerous issues, including foodborne illness

• utbreaks

Who we are.

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• Foodborne illness outbreaks decreased 42 percent in 10-year period.
• Still, 3,933 outbreaks and 98,399 reported illnesses.
• Restaurants number-one location by far with 43 percent of the total outbreaks,

Source: April 2014 Center for Science in the Public Interest annual report on Total Outbreaks Reported to CDC 2002-2011

Could an outbreak happen to your business?

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Foodborne Illness Outbreaks In The News.

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Eating Out Linked to Nearly Twice as Many Outbreaks as Eating In 23-State Salmonella Outbreak from Backyard Poultry Flocks Salmonella Outbreak Case Count Climbs to 524 No Source Identified in 2013 NYC Hepatitis A Outbreak Plea Agreement Will Limit Plant Manager’s Prison Time Suspected foodborne disease sickens more than 100 at Food Safety Summit

Factors affecting business viability after a foodborne illness

• utbreak:
• Type of Outbreak
• Number of Cases
• Seriousness of Illnesses
• Vulnerable Population
• Media
• Public Perception

Could your business survive an

• utbreak?

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Survivability = Reputation Recovery

Getting that Second Chance.

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• “We have a restaurant client that just got a call from the

State Health Department and they’ve been told there have been a number of reported illnesses that may be linked the client’s restaurant through epidemiological reports.

• “The Health Department is sending a team there today

to do an inspection. They’re probably going to need some communications help if this goes public.” We May Have a Problem.

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Can you do it?

We May Have a Problem.

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Ideally, it’s best to have a working relationship with a client before a crisis hits. Key relationships include:

• Senior Management
• Head of Operations
• Director of Quality Assurance and Sanitation

In a Perfect World.

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• Do an operational plan and a communications plan

exist?

• Are they in sync?
• Have they been tested through a crisis simulation

exercise? In the past year?

Merging Operational and Communications Plans.

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Many companies don’t have the benefit of a significant level

• f pre-planning.

Motivation to invest in crisis planning occurs:

• After experiencing a negative incident and handling it badly
• After a competitor experiences a negative incident and

company recognizes its own vulnerability Why Companies Invest in Crisis Planning.

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Content of a crisis plan can vary, but essentially it identifies:

• Crisis team members and their backups

– Descriptions of their roles their roles – Contact information for team members, outside advisers, subject matter experts and Health Department contacts.

• Fact sheet on the company
• Company’s position on food safety
• Pre-written “holding statements” for initial media inquiries while

facts are still being gathered

Crisis Plan Content

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Benefits of crisis plan testing include:

• Opportunity for team members to more fully understand their

roles

• Experience for designated spokespersons
• Recognition of gaps in plan

Even the best crisis plans need to be tested.

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• New to crisis plan testing: the surge of Twitter and

Facebook posts that can overwhelm a company in the midst of a crisis.

• Having the ability to respond quickly to social media in

a transparent, forthright manner is critical.

Flight School.

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Your cellphone rings. It’s a reporter from the local paper … A local blogger tweets about the incident … Breaking news hits the wire … Word spreads across Facebook & Twitter … The 1st

st story

publishes …

You’re up …

ARE YOU READY? Y?

THE ANATOMY OF A MODERN CRISIS

• Interactive simulation tests a company’s capabilities,

plans + protocols

• Format tailored to client needs
• Proprietary technology simulates realistic crises
• Post-simulation debrief by crisis team

IMMERSIVE CRISIS SIMULATIONS PUT THEORY INTO PRACTICE

• Acting quickly and responsibly is the key to crisis

response.

• The longer a crisis lasts the more damaging it becomes

financially and to your business’ reputation.

Rapid Response is Key.

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What Your Customers Want to Hear:

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What Your Customers Want to Hear: In an outbreak crisis, your customers and other key audiences want to hear:

• You care and you’re empathetic.
• You’re competent and systematic about food safety.
• You’re honest and open with all concerned.
• You’re dedicated and committed to prevent a reoccurrence.

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Setting the Strategy

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If you experience an outbreak, your crisis team and senior management will meet in a conference room to map out strategy. Joining that team will be key advisers – your legal counsel, your technical adviser, your PR counsel and not insignificantly, your insurer. Each has varying degrees of influence on a company’s actions and messaging.

CEO & Board

• f Directors

Reputation Counsel CFO Marketing Legal Advisor Insurer

The All-Important Fifth Seat The Reputation Counsel is positioned to fill the Fifth Seat and help companies leverage public influence to achieve business goals.

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• Some attorneys avoid “apology” in any communication

– Concerns it will undermine any lawsuits that may be filed.

• Sometimes the legal representative is the insurer’s hand-picked law firm,

not the company’s. – Potential for conflicts – Resistance to communicating any voluntary or agreed to form of restitution

• Resistance to communicating any actions to reduce risks of reoccurrence

– Concerns on demonstrating negligence

What Some Advisers May Not Want You to Say:

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• Can’t be “business as usual”
• What have you done to prevent a recurrence?

– Change suppliers? – Add an intervention step?

Stakeholders want to know the solution

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“Our food is perfectly safe” Cardinal Rule of Risk Communication: Do NOT over-reassure.

What You Probably Shouldn’t Say:

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Our Role: Remind the client that legal process takes time. By the time lawsuits come to trial - or get settled - the fate of the company will already be decided. Consumers will have formed their opinions about:

• Company’s responsiveness
• Its character
• Its commitment to food safety
• Its commitment to customers

It’s All About Reputation and Character.

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Bottom line.

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Companies that demonstrate those commitments will survive an outbreak. Those that don’t will not.

Let’s Discuss.

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