The Domino Effect: Crisis Planning is Essential

Why on God's green earth did Dominos wait to join the social mediasphere until after a disaster befell it? Todd Defren does a great job talking about that here. Even his non-socialmediatized wife noticed the kerfuffle over the infamous Dominos gross-out video.

My question is, why did it take them so long to respond to the tidal wave of negative publicity? It sure seems like they did not have a crisis communications plan in place. Which begs the question...What makes a good crisis communication plan? What are the essential elements of such a plan?

1. Immediacy: A good crisis communications plan can be activated within an hour of the crisis.

2. Simplicity: The plan can be activated and executed by any communications professional, even an entry-level employee.

3. Availability: A crisis communications plan should be saved on the company's shared server, printed out and handed to employees, and available on the intranet.

4. Accuracy: The plan should be regularly review and updated. Everytime a new employee starts, they should be trained on accessing the plan. Everytime someone leaves, their name should be removed.

5. Technologically Saavy: Each time a new communications vehicle becomes available to the public, a quick analysis should be performed to see if that vehicle fits with the plan. For example, in the case of Dominos, Twitter should have been added at least one year ago.

A crisis communications plan is different from a crisis plan or a disaster recovery plan. Those really deal with saving lives and rebuilding business operations, respectively. Crisis communications plans deal exclusively with a company's response to its publics and stakeholders, and the media.

Sometimes, the biggest obstacle to executing the plan quickly is the company's own leadership team. This is why its absolutely essential to discuss these five points with management ahead of time and get their sign off on how important it is to move quickly when crisis occurs. Perhaps sitting down and showing them the Dominos case study would help move them off the dime.

Comments

[Nathan T. Wright]

Agreed, having a crisis communications plan via social media is critical for large organizations. The Red Cross has done some amazing things in this area based on what they learned through Hurricane Katrina. I'm always amazed by the @USAirwaysGirl story - she was an ex-employee but was forced into a crisis comm. role simply due to her username on Twitter, and she did a pretty good job of it. All great examples for other companies to learn from and put a plan in place!

[Josh in Des Moines]

I agree, Claire. Seems like the crisis plans are the projects that most companies move to the bottom of their to do lists.

I know I won't be buying Dominoes again, even though this is probably an isolated event in one location. Perhaps my choice could have been avoided with some proper planning by Dominoes.

[Todd Defren]

great post! thanks for the mention, too!

[Claire Celsi]

I've heard a lot of people say that they won't buy any more Dominos products. I'm willing to give the company another chance. I know how dumb teenagers can be and don't want to throw the whole company under the bus. I think they should give all bloggers free pizzas too. LOL :~)