USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jeff McAndrews, Megan Bouchier and Peter Gardner, FGS Global
6.4 Investor Relations Direct Communication Minimises Negative Impacts Investors and shareholders are a key stakeholder group to engage regularly during a crisis. Keep- ing investors informed of the situation at hand and the company’s plans to address it may be legally required (if material), and can also bolster investor confidence and minimise the negative business impacts of a crisis, particularly to the extent investors need guidance on the potential financial and regulatory impact of the crisis. To that end, companies should consider disclosure options, bespoke investor newsletters or posting statements to their investor relations webpage – or a microsite if one does not exist – to ensure shareholders are receiving consistent and accu- rate information directly from the company. To maintain customer trust during a crisis, com- panies should establish and utilise feedback loops. Without real-time feedback on how mes- sages are being received or how the situation is evolving, it becomes challenging to address emerging concerns directly and worse, it may give the impression that the company is being evasive. From this perspective, leveraging social media platforms during a crisis is important both to take the temperature on consumer sentiment as well as to distribute messages to large con- sumer audiences. However, thinking beyond pre-established protocols and platforms in a crisis and allowing for flexibility in engaging cus- tomers is key, such as by publishing open letters from the CEO directly to customers, or deploying a specific consumer spokesperson on broadcast channels to address customer concerns. 6.5 Customer Relations Trust is a Two-Way Street
approach to communications, fail to put on a united front across different teams and/or say different things to various stakeholder groups. 6.2 Internal Communication While no two situations are the same, in crisis situations companies should plan to engage employees early and as often as possible, not only so that they are hearing from the organi- sation first, rather than reading about the com- pany’s issues in the news, but also to make them ambassadors for the brand by helping them understand and articulate the organisa- tion’s position. And if the right communications channels do not exist, the organisation should invent them. Overall, the lines between internal and external communications continue to blur. Today, the external is internal and the internal is external – meaning none of the communications happen- ing within either sphere should be considered in a vacuum. 6.3 External Communication The Hub and Spoke Model: How and Why to Use It The hub and spoke model is one approach to engage multiple stakeholders in a consistent manner. This means establishing one central, decision-making group – the hub – to define communications plans and messaging, and then using smaller groups or individuals – the spokes – to execute the plan across relevant stakehold- er groups. The spokes will have a deep under- standing of the unique channels each stakehold- er uses and how to adapt the approach to the audience’s needs, while the hub helps ensure messaging is consistent and accurate across every platform.
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