As EU blogger Jon Worth rightly points out, the problem encountered by Eurostar isn’t exactly new (refer to Guardian 2003 article).
Although the technical reason surrounding the Eurostar incident is something of a mystery, the way they managed communications during the crisis is not.
The Eurostar crisis, and all it’s related impacts on reputation and PR, is a ‘free-gift’ to any organisation preparing for a crisis. New media has changed response times for companies. Therefore internal processes need to change too.
1. Deal with reality of the crisis
There is an interesting post from the agency that support Eurostar. However, the @little_break, as the Tweeting community will tell you, was barely known. Eurostar could have used this channel more effectively as the troubles began to unravel.
Eurostar’s main spokesperson was highly visible on TV – however, the events unfolded in multiple media channels. The 2000+ passengers and staff probably weren’t watching TV… The video apology will give you a feel for their approach (link to their website also). TNooz give a nice (and thankfully more balanced) view of the role of technology in the incident.
2. Crisis Comms – deal with perception of the crisis
Richard Brown did a fairly good job in interviews – at least initially. His accessibility and decision to be the face of the problem has been commendable. I would have gone a little further with his apology for there are some truly grim accounts from passengers trapped for up to 18 hours with no communication. Eurostar is lucky no passenger had the presence of mind to video tape the saga – televising it on You Tube.
For my money, words like “unprecedented… upsetting, frustrating, distressing” could have been qualified. From what Brown describes it sounds like he is talking about a 2-3 hour delay. Whereas to be without food, light and water for 18 hours is a tad more than ‘upsetting’. They could have showed they truly understood passenger grief. The result is that viewers will now turn to alternatively sources for ‘what-really-happened’.
Companies should research and stress the messages they intend to use in certain crisis scenarios. You only get one shot it.
3. Review internal processes, roles, communication channels and training
If Eurostar knew in 2003 that there was a problem with sharp changes in temperatures (and the effect on their services) this would have been part of their internal risk-register and therefore, also their crisis-preparedness planning.
Yet the biggest criticism it seems for the company is that they ‘failed to communicate’. From the outside looking in, it appears that they focused on external perceptions via traditional channels. How did they cascade information internally to reach staff and 2000 passengers? Good internal cascade processes are just as critical – this seems to be the main area that needs reviewing.
Also, as Brand Republic’s blog points out, “Eurostar has been forced to adapt its social media presence from marketing to crisis communications”. Hello?
Why, as the crisis was unfolding, did they not change their homepage, to switch-off all the marketing gimmickry? Leaving this stuff active only annoys customers – no-one wants to be ’sold to’ during a crisis.
- – -
After the Brent Spa crisis in 1995 Shell’s execs had a serious rethink about stakeholder engagement. I hope the management of Eurostar see the opportunity to reconnect with its stakeholders and rebuild the brand’s reputation.
This pre-xmas mishap has shown you can’t foresee and prevent all crisis situations. But with preparation (lots of it) you can manage them far more effectively.
Filed under: Uncategorized , crisis communications
