Stop the Presses

When I first heard about the Red Cross’ dismissal of its president Mark Everson, I thought, ‘Here we go again.’ Five presidents in six years isn’t a good track record for any organization and doesn’t inspire confidence, internally or externally.

Upon further reflection, however, I’ve come to more fully appreciate the courage and leadership of the Red Cross–an organization that’s been heavily criticized over the past few years (think 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina).Yet despite this litany of highly public criticism combined with their revolving door presidency, the Red Cross Board decided to run to the crisis. How bold of them to rip off the proverbial Band-Aid and suffer the shorter-term sting rather than to set their organization up for longer-lasting suffering.

The Red Cross’ board made several good strategic decisions:

1. They got it over with:  Board members understood that by asking for Mark Everson’s resignation, they were creating a two-day news story: Day one to announce that he had been dismissed, and day two for the media and public to analyze it. After the initial 48 hours, there won’t be too many more stories on the matter.  Take a look at the charts below to see what I mean.
2. They’re setting a higher standard: By dismissing Everson in a time when they certainly didn’t need any more bad publicity, they’re sending a message internally and externally: ‘We have a higher standard at the Red Cross.’ It is what you would expect from the people who run to disasters, not away from them.
3. They understood that Everson wasn’t entrenched: The fact that the Everson scandal broke within the first six months of his tenure was, in an ironic way, a lucky break for the board. As far as the public is concerned, Everson doesn’t bleed Red Cross red in a way that someone like Elizabeth Dole did. They knew that they could distance the organization from him more easily.
4. They chose to be the saint, not the sinner: Had the Red Cross known about the allegations and chosen to do nothing, they would have been setting up a ticking time bomb situation. What would have happened if the wife had found out or the girlfriend went public, and the public learned that the Red Cross had known about it and done nothing? Because they decided to face the issue head-on, they got to choose the timing, and the messaging. 

Organizations and companies–even those whose reputations aren’t as in flux as the Red Cross’–can learn a thing or two from how one of the world’s most recognizable charities (and brands) handled this crisis. It doesn’t feel like it today, but bravo, Red Cross.
 

English posts that contain “Mark Everson” per day for the last 30 days.

English posts that contain “Red Cross” per day for the last 30 days.

From ‘accident injury questions‘ to ‘Zyprexa lawsuit‘, the plaintiffs bar has a huge head start on the average company when it comes to being Internet savvy. In fact, in some recent research our firm did, we found many dozens of keywords and keyword phrases that the plaintiffs bar dominates. If you’re a public relations professional trying to help the public understand the company’s point of view when it comes to the ‘Paxil recall‘, the ‘Stand N Seal Injury‘ situation or a ‘Defective carseat‘, you’re going to be fighting an expensive and uphill battle.

Why? Because the plaintiffs bar ‘owns’ those terms and terms like them–they dominate the search engines, the first place where potential plaintiffs and journalists look for information. The plaintiffs bar (and many NGOs) have done their homework and are to be commended for their smart Internet strategy. That means that if you’re on the other side, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Here are a few tips on how to get started, and what insights you can take from what the plaintiffs bar does in order to make your efforts more successful.

• Start a blog: Authoring a blog may seem low on the priority list, especially when the initial ROI on your time is minimal or nonexistent. A blog isn’t a short-term fix, but rather a long-term investment. And consider this–taking 1.5-2 hours to write a couple of blog posts every week may make the difference between your web site (and your message) appearing on Google’s front page of search results or appearing on page 17.
  • Learn from the plaintiffs bar: Plaintiff attorneys have been patient, making use of automated systems and human power to craft timely, educational blog posts with regular frequency–and for many search terms, their investment has paid off.
• Determine ‘danger’ keywords: Though you can’t necessarily predict all aspects of a crisis, you can certainly make educated guesses when it comes to the type of crisis your business is likely to be involved in. Put yourself in the shoes of the web user who’s looking for information on that crisis, or for information related to what to do as a result of the crisis.Then, create a list of the search terms that are likely to be used when someone is experiencing a problem with your product or service. Words like ‘recall’, ’side effects’, ‘injury’, ’scam’ and ‘lawsuit’ are all indicative of a person who’s unhappy–your goal is to help them find you before they find the plaintiffs bar.
  • Learn from the plaintiffs bar: Plaintiff attorneys are experts at keyword selection because they ask expert SEO teams for advice, and they understand that people looking for information often use different keywords than people providing the information. One attorney’s ‘mass tort’ is a layman’s ‘lawsuit.’
• Optimize: Once you’ve identified the danger keywords, set in place a content plan that allows you to create content that uses the danger words in a benign (or even positive) way. Archived newsletter articles and press releases hosted on your site are great fodder–and even your blog posts are potential areas where you can naturally include these danger words when speaking about other topics. By doing this, you’re setting the stage for Google to direct visitors to your site if/when people begin searching for those keywords during a problem situation.
  • Learn from the plaintiffs bar: Plaintiff attorneys know that the search engines read the whole page–the meta tags, the ALT-tags on the images, the <h1> tags and others in order to determine what a site or page is about. Consult an SEO specialist to ensure that your site and blog are properly optimized–something that will serve you well in times of peace and of crisis.

The plaintiffs bar may have a big lead on some search terms–make sure that your company invests the time and resources into keeping them from gaining ground on other search terms. Your brand is riding on it.