October 1, 2013, HealthCare.org, Obamacare’s enrollment website, was released with the idea of being easily accessible for everyone, but the website kept crashing on users. As the cornerstone of his campaign promise, this was a big deal. Without skipping a beat, Obama was able to get an interview on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, targeting the youth as his main supporters. Doing it in this way makes the situation be seen in a humorous light. The speed of their response demonstrates that they were prepared to deal with the issue.
President Obama is a master communicator and he used it to his strength with expert precision. Today’s world of communication and messaging is far different than 30 years ago and the former president was one of the first to truly capitalize upon it. During his campaign, he heavily leveraged the power of social media to engage with his following. Not only is he capable of promoting a positive message, he also has been able to respond effectively to negative press. Looking at how HealthCare.org, Obamacare’s enrollment website, performed when it was released and how Obama and his team handled the shortcomings of their rollout, it is evident that they were well prepared to deal with this crisis.
Managing a crisis situation properly, according to Everbridge Consulting, requires your response strategy to be in the entire DNA of your organization. Meaning you preplan for such an event at every level of your organization. Communicating day-to-day is different than communicating during a crisis situation. If your team is unprepared and there is no plan in place “people may not behave as they normally do.” Creating a process and practicing it with your teams at all levels will help prepare everyone for when a true crisis hits. For example, giving the CEO some media training to begin with can protect you from serious reputational damage. Doug Ivester, the former CEO of Coke, is a good example of the effect of improper crisis handling by one person can have on the performance of a company. Your crisis team should know when to respond and how, with a checklist to ensure proper execution. When the stress of a true crisis comes up, it will be more of a routine to respond and therefore less likely for mistakes to be made.
When you are weathering the storm of a reputational crisis, you must ensure that your messages are aligned amongst all levels. From the CEO to customer support, having a clear and unified voice will lessen the chances of making the situation worse. Proper communication internally will improve what gets communicated externally. Multiple statements were made by the Obama administration that was relatively open and transparent with the fact that there are issues with the program. Transparency is valued by customers and employees, and getting caught lying or giving answers that are not the full truth can backfire. In addition, leaving people in the dark for too long can lead people to create their own stories. Ensuring that your communication is straightforward and timely will produce better results.
After escaping the whirlwind of events that occur during a crisis it is important to review what happened and why to avoid similar events going forward. Adapting your crisis training and strategy to handle another outbreak scenario will help protect your brand image in the future. Looking back, even with all of the bad press, Obama was able to become one of the highest-rated presidents in U.S. history. From this one problem, we can all learn to sail our brand image through the rough and stormy sea that can come upon the world of communications at any moment.
Sources:
- Leonard, D. (2017, January 25). 5 Great Crisis Communication Examples. Retrieved June 5, 2019, from http://blog.rdpr.co.uk/5-great-crisis-communication-examples
- Everbridge Consulting. (2015, October 19). Embedding crisis communications in to the DNA of your Organization. Retrieved June 3, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCeXdTeeNc
- McKay, B., Deogun, N., & Lublin, J. (1999, December 17). Tone Deaf: Ivester Had All Skills Of a CEO but One: Ear for Political Nuance. Retrieved June 5, 2019, from https://www.wiley.com/college/man/schermerhorn371939/site/reading/coke.htm
- Stewart-Allen, A. (2016, May 23). Five rules for international reputation management. Retrieved June 3, 2019, from https://exchange.cim.co.uk/blog/five-rules-for-global-reputation-management/
- Mortiere, P. (2016, February 03). Timeline of botched ObamaCare rollout. Retrieved June 5, 2019, from https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/190485-timeline-of-botched-implementation-of-obamacare
- FACT CHECK: Has Barack Obama Been the ‘Most Admired Man’ in the World for 11 Years? (2019, April 2). Retrieved June 5, 2019, from https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/barack-obama-most-admired/