
The Leading in a Crisis Podcast
Interviews, stories and lessons learned from experienced crisis leaders. Email the show at Tom@leadinginacrisis.com.
Being an effective leader in a corporate or public crisis situation requires knowledge, tenacity, and influencing skills. Unfortunately, most of us don't get much training or real experience dealing with crisis situations. On this podcast, we will talk with people who have lived through major crisis events and we will tap their experience and stories from the front lines of crisis management.
Your host, Tom Mueller, is a veteran crisis manager and trainer with more than 30 years in the corporate communications and crisis fields. Tom currently works as an executive coach and crisis trainer with WPNT Communications, and as a contract public information officer and trainer through his personal company, Tom Mueller Communications LLC.
Your co-host, Marc Mullen, has over 20 years of experience as a communication strategist. He provides subject matter expertise in a number of communication specializations, including crisis communication plan development, response and recovery communications, emergency notifications and communications, organizational reviews, and after-action reports. He blogs at Blog | Marc Mullen
Our goal is to help you grow your knowledge and awareness so you can be better prepared to lead should a major crisis threaten your organization.
Music credit: Special thanks to Nick Longoria from Austin, Texas for creating the theme music for the podcast.
The Leading in a Crisis Podcast
EP29 Silly season in America: protecting your brand during the presidential election
Steer clear of the political quagmire and keep your brand afloat during election season! Join host Tom Mueller and guest Kathy Leach from Brand Insights as we traverse the complex terrain of brand risk management amidst the uproar of political campaigns. Discover essential strategies for maintaining your company's integrity without becoming collateral damage in political warfare. We're getting down to brass tacks on staying informed and strategic with your brand's messaging, the art of monitoring social chatter, and the finesse of working with legal and PR mavens to sidestep potential pitfalls.
The conversation doesn't end there; we're tackling the tightrope walk of brand communication when the winds of controversy blow. Learn how to articulate principled stands on hot-button issues, anticipate the public reaction, and construct responses that strike a chord with your audience. Kathy and I lay out the blueprint for an effective crisis team and the creation of a 'war room' to manage crises with precision and speed.
You can reach Kathy Leech via email at: Kathy@brand-insights.net
Reach Tom Mueller at: tom@leadingingacrisis.com
We'd love to hear from you. Email the show at Tom@leadinginacrisis.com.
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Leading in a Crisis podcast. On this podcast, we talk all things crisis management and we deliver that through storytelling, interviews and lessons learned as shared from experienced crisis leaders. I'm Tom Mueller. My sidekick, mark, is away this week, so we'll carry on without him. On our podcast today, we're going to talk about election year risks and the threats to your company and your brand during this particularly divisive time that we call silly season here in these United States. With us again is our friend Kathy Leach from Brand Insights, who's going to help us think through some of the issues this year. Kathy, welcome back.
Kathy Leech:Thanks so much, tom, it's great to be back.
Tom Mueller:You know, Kathy, as I think about this scenario that's setting up now with this election year, it just puts me in mind of a boxing match.
Tom Mueller:How so, tom? I n this corner, the reigning champion and current president of the United States of America, joe Biden, and in this corner the former champion and 45th president of the united states, Donald J. Trump, and in the middle, could be your brand and your company?
Tom Mueller:What would you do if your brand or your company became the punching bag in between these two candidates, and what can you do to prepare for it and prevent it? Kathy's going to help us talk through those issues today.
Kathy Leech:Well, Tom, the one thing you know for sure in this scenario is, if your brand ends up being in the middle of these two champions, you're not going to be the one leaving the ring on your own two feet. It's going to be an interesting, interesting election season. Stay below the parapet, because once you get involved as our friends at Budweiser and at Disney have found out once you get involved in these political conversations, it's almost never good for either brand favorability or shareholder value.
Tom Mueller:Now, that's not to say a company can't take a principled stand on particular issues. I we see that with brands at different times, but in this particular season the silly season again, as we call it here in the United States, this election time it's things are particularly fraught with that right.
Kathy Leech:I think this one is going to be almost as unpredictable as any I've seen, and you just see it in the going up to the election. Right now, it's just silly season, as you say. I mean, people are saying things and doing things and talking about things that are just not okay, and so I think the point for companies here is to really think about what are the risks, and, from my point of view, the first thing you need to do is think about information as power. So really identifying your key stakeholders, figuring out what their roles are, looking at social media, increase that monitoring, ramp up your brand tracking, lean on your DC and local government teams to really understand what the issues are by party affiliation, because they're not the same. And don't forget your employees. Those are your ambassadors on the ground. What are their concerns? Just really understanding what the environment looks like. And I would say you know we're not that far away. We're, you know, less than six months away from the election. Time to start is now.
Tom Mueller:Mm-hmm. You know, Kathy, it's not to say you have to pause your business because of the silly season that we're in, but you do have to be particularly careful around how you manage things right, Because there could be new product rollouts that are scheduled for this year. There could be IPOs. You know, business carries on even in this time of year, but your advice is you need to be very thoughtful and aware of every major announcement that's coming and how you're positioning your brand within the context of these two candidates.
Kathy Leech:That's exactly right, Tom, and I think there's a couple of components to this. That's exactly right, tom, and I think there's a couple of components to this. First of all, there is going to be billions of dollars of media purchased with these advertising messages from both candidates and from the local and regional candidates as well. So the news media, social media, everything is going. There's going to be a lot of noise, political noise, and I suspect everything is going. There's going to be a lot of noise, political noise, and I suspect, given the last few election cycles, people are going to get really tired of listening to such negative advertising.
Kathy Leech:So finding your people buying media within this time is going to be a challenge all by itself. But I think the third component, and perhaps the one that's most controllable by you, is what are you saying, when are you saying it and who are you saying it to? And just being really thoughtful about, is this the right time to advertise on these channels and in these different areas? Is this the right message for the time and is it the right timing? So, really thinking through and pulling together you have most companies, have wonderful resources in legal PR, ir. You know your DC teams should be your best friends now to really take a more risk adverse approach to any content that you have, having people look at it that maybe perhaps these days don't normally do it in normal times.
Tom Mueller:Well, one of the things that strikes me, Kathy, is the currents are ebbing and flowing and they will through this year. Various issues are going to be pushed to the forefront and it's possible that an announcement you have planned today, which looks fine, might not look quite as fine if some issues are raised. You know, three months down the road. So how do you think that through and be prepared for something that changes outside of your control?
Kathy Leech:Yeah, the best you can do is just to be ready and know that it's going to be a bumpy ride. Bring together your crisis team, and that should involve people from legal, corporate, pr, marketing, internal communications whoever might actually have a perspective on what you're doing and you know you'll need to figure out should they be meeting weekly, daily, monthly, monthly feels a little not close enough, but, depending on what your overall plan is for the year, make sure that you have the right people in the room who are looking at things not just for three months from now, but from today, and I think that's the only thing you can do just to be flexible and be prepared.
Tom Mueller:Kathy, one of the other tips I've read about, you know, in preparing for this season is having independent, uninvolved third parties take a look at your programs and what you have planned with a real eye toward or an unbiased eye taking a look at things. What do you think about that idea?
Kathy Leech:In my corporate life, these third parties have been invaluable in helping companies to understand what may be risky and what may need additional caution. I think companies particularly once you're inside a company and really living the brand and living the company you may have some blind spots and the good partners you have will be able to come to you and be direct and say you know what? This is not the right time or you might need to think about nuancing this message slightly, or actually this is a great message and we think and feel very comfortable with that, but just having people you trust on the outside who are able to speak to your particular issues and to do it courageously, is invaluable.
Tom Mueller:Companies do take principled stands on issues here, Kathy, and I think if you know your audience and you know your customer base, you can take those stands and probably come out okay, as long as your customer base is okay with that message. And of course you're probably going to get pushback from others, but maybe that's okay if it's not potentially going to hurt your sales. Does that make sense? Or would you say hey, keep your head down anyway.
Kathy Leech:You may not have a choice right. So something may come up and not responding could be as damaging as responding in the wrong way, and I think this is where really really understanding where your employees and your heavy users your most committed customers are is critical. And you're right, you may end up makingpled consistent with your company's brand values and appropriate for the audience that is your strongest audience. Then I think you have to do it.
Tom Mueller:But the underlying recommendation there might be do it next year rather than do it this year.
Kathy Leech:You may not have that flexibility right. Rather than do it this year, you may not have that flexibility right. So if an issue comes up and you are not responding, even to an issue that is near and dear to your heart, you may have some real pushback from employees who you really need to have on side, and that could be as damaging as getting caught up in the frame. So this is where again to your point about third-party consultants and also having your crisis team ready and ready to go when this comes up you can make quick decisions as necessary. I also think if you really feel like you need to respond, do it quickly. I mean, think about it hard, but do it quickly and do it in a really human way. There's a lot to say about keep away from the corporate speak. Don't use, enhance or enable those horrible E words. Talk like a human, show some vulnerability if necessary, but you know, don't shy away from responding if, at the end of the day, you really have to.
Tom Mueller:Now, kathy, earlier you mentioned setting up a war room and being prepared to respond if necessary. Talk us through just a little bit again your vision for that war room, and what does that look like and what do you like to see there?
Kathy Leech:My first experience with a war room and you'll remember this well, Tom, was responding to the BP spill and the power of bringing everyone together every day. It was just so incredibly critical to responding quickly, and I think this is with today's technology. We don't all have to sit in a room together. We can have a virtual war room where maybe every day at eight o'clock everyone comes together or every other day, and the people are identified as the key stakeholders and they know that they're on the hook.
Kathy Leech:So you know who the legal person is, you know the PR person, you know the brand person, the operations persons, the DC person, so that when something does hit and it never hits conveniently does it it's usually at 10 o'clock at night or on a Sunday or whatever, as you know but that that, when an issue does come up, there is a smoothly operating group of people who know A know who each other are and have worked together before and can very quickly come to a consensus on what direction to go. And again, through Zoom, the power of Zoom, or Teams that can be stood up in an extremely efficient way.
Tom Mueller:Terrific stuff here, kathy. I mean clearly major brands are going to face some potentially significant risks as we get into this election cycle. We know it's going to be tough. It's just polarized and certainly that think about the sort of global context. Does that change any of your thinking around how you would manage things? I know we're focused right now on the American election, but brands also have to manage the perceptions in Europe, on the subcontinent, in Asia, other places. What's your take on the global aspect of this election and potential consequences?
Kathy Leech:Well, I go back to, information is power and making sure that you are fully aware of local perceptions. And you know, for instance, we've helped international companies who may not be as familiar with the US situation to understand it better. You know this is not a normal cycle. We know that, and for our colleagues overseas this may take some learning. So, similarly, if you're talking about a company with offices in France or, you know, in the Middle East, you need local understanding and that's where you can set up local crisis communications as necessary crisis communications teams that will include the right people at the right time in the right location.
Kathy Leech:I think the other thing that's really important about this learning from the experience itself. So even just setting up the crisis team will help you to respond when it's not an election year, when you have something else that comes up. So I'm a real advocate for having that discipline already. And my gosh Tom, you've gone all over the world teaching people how to be ready. I mean best case scenario. You never have to use these skills, but if you do, you have them and even getting them moves you ahead in the communications and brand business. We're just full of excellent points today. Thank you so much. It's nice to be communicating with you.
Tom Mueller:Tom, all right, well it's. Oh man. We have just such a challenge ahead. I personally am not looking forward to the next six months. I think it's just going to be terrible. It's going to be depressing. How about you, kathy? You looking forward to the ebb and flow?
Kathy Leech:I am planning to spend a lot of time watching Netflix and sports, am planning to spend a lot of time watching Netflix and sports, and I plan to get my news in a easily read fashion where I can stop the ads. I have to say, and I think, I'm not alone. I suspect that many people will do that, and you know that's another point. Business does have to go on, so maybe it's finding places to talk to people where they're hiding away from the political stuff and in a more receptive mode. That may be another strategy, as well.
Kathy Leech:You know, at the end of the day maybe this will be better than we think, but I do think going through this process of preparing and then afterwards doing the work to understand what happened and learning from the experience is going to be really critical, and everything you learn will just make you a better brand person, a better communicator in the end. So on my better days, I think of this as an opportunity to learn.
Tom Mueller:Ah, there's the optimist in you peeking out. Good, let's hope that's justified here. All right, Kathy, thank you again for joining us on the podcast. It's always such a pleasure to chat with you and you're welcome back anytime.
Kathy Leech:Oh, thank you, Tom. I really appreciate the time and, as always, I've enjoyed chatting with you.
Tom Mueller:That's going to do it for this episode of the Leading in a Crisis podcast. Thanks for joining us. If you like what you're hearing, please like and subscribe to the podcast and tell your friends about us as well. If you'd like to reach out to me on the show, just email Tom at leadinginacrisiscom and we'll see you soon for the next episode of the leading in a crisis podcast.