Claude Sauber and Philippe Beck of Oxygen & Partners – a public relations agency specialised in communication on sensitive and crisis issues – explain why brands, businesses (including startups) and institutions should communicate immediately when their reputation and governance are at risk. The earlier the better: a simple phone call can defuse a potential corporate crisis.
Launched in 2015, Oxygen & Partners is a public relations agency specialized in communication on sensitive and crisis issues, reputation management as well as on governance issues for brands, businesses and institutions.
The four-person consultancy and services company helps corporate and institutional organisations navigate situations of risk, protect or expand their reputation, or build up or improve their communications governance.
Partners Claude Sauber and Philippe Beck share their approach on communication management, among others on cybersecurity issues. They also explain why startups should also have their own communication scenarios and plans ready.
What is your definition of crisis communication?
It is a communication dedicated to crisis situations or contexts at risk. While sensitive communication aims to simplify and decomplexify messages.
The worst-case scenario is that false information and figures circulate, confusion sets in, and that decision-makers or key spokespersons are no longer listened to or heard.
The ultimate goal is to keep control over communication, and therefore to protect the reputation of the organisation through controlled communication, with tangible and verified facts and figures. The facts are indeed very important.
“[…] each industry has its own hazards and sources of risk: IT risks are not the same as those of health, industry or aviation.”
Philippe Beck, Partner at Oxygen & Partners
Your communication addresses four issues: reputational, governance, crisis and risk. Are these linked?
They are intricately linked: a governance problem can cause a potential crisis, which can generate a reputation problem. A reputation problem might lead to a crisis, which can lead to further governance issues. Understanding risks – along with opportunities – is the start.
Since our launch in 2015, we have noticed that the need for communication and public relations on these pillars is not only strong but increasing. Especially since today, we are in a world of all-to-all communication: everyone talks to everyone, and everyone wants to share. People are overwhelmed with information. This makes press and public relations very complicated.
Amid an ever-increasing mass of information, it is therefore necessary to provide communication that is structured and simplified. And if we manage to get the essential message across, our mission will be fulfilled!
What types of crises are we talking about?
When we think of crisis communication, we often think of accidents and incidents related to the organisation’s activity. But each industry has its own hazards and sources of risk: IT risks are not the same as those of health, industry or aviation.
Very often, reputational crises are triggered at a time when vigilance has somewhat subsided: on Fridays after 4pm, during a weekend or a public holiday.
But when an activity-related crisis or accident occurs, there is not necessarily an immediate reputational damage, but a risk, yes. To respond to this type of risk, public and press communication must already be prepared, precise and consistent, in order to limit any confusing and incoherent message.
Speed is therefore very important: the speed to understand what has happened, to know what we are talking about and to have all the important information on hand to be able to communicate well.
We also manage small crises: as a first step, we seek to limit and contain them as much as possible. We then evaluate and decide in a second step if we communicate or not on the situation.
Most important is to know, evaluate and exchange with the relevant people (decision-makers, spokespersons, lawyers, HR managers, IT…) on the clients’ side.
How do you identify the warning signs of a crisis?
On top of any risk analysis and consultancy, we use an Internet monitoring tool and social and digital media for our customers: “Talkwalker”. The application monitors press and social media on everything that is said or published about the customer, on his sensitive subjects, etc.
Alerts are programmed based on keywords, which help us to detect weak and strong signals of risk. If necessary, we can then quickly connect with the client and decide to react, in order to keep control of communication.
Here too: it is important to know the stakeholders and to contact them quickly, to given them a heads-up or to equip them with the right messages.
In the past, we have been able to defuse a situation and to avoid crises by simply making a single call to the right person. Analysis and systematic preparation are therefore key.
“[…] regardless of the size of the company, the principles of crisis communication remain the same.”
Claude Sauber, Partner at Oxygen & Partners
What does this preparation consist of?
First of all, we carry out a due diligence survey on the most important risks. We then identify the stakeholders involved in the communication, including the ones the communication will be addressed to.
We then develop different communication scenarios for the different types of potential incidents (from very serious to very harmless) that have been identified, and which implies risks for the organization.
For each scenario, it will then be necessary to prepare a basic communication plan with the client. Among other things, this provides templates of messages to be communicated, the people to take part in a task force: CEOs, communication managers, HR, lawyers, service providers, including IT, for instance in case of a cybersecurity issue.
Our role here is to coordinate the whole communication process. Often, customers are so caught up in their business that they do not have the hindsight or the external view to fully evaluate a given situation. We therefore bring our availability and expertise to manage these issues and prepare scenarios and a response plan. We are facilitators in this, but by no means spokespersons.
What about crisis communication in the event of a cyber-attack?
One of the specificities of cybersecurity is that a cyberattack will have strong operational and business impacts: internally, on suppliers, on customers, but also in terms of data protection and GDPR issues.
However, crisis communication rules and our tools, methods and principles remain the same. Priorities may be different, for instance when all internal communications channels are suddenly inaccessible or unavailable. In any case, one of the first message will be to contact and, if possible, swiftly reassure a certain number of stakeholders.
Does crisis communication differ for startups?
Again: regardless of the size of the company, the principles of crisis communication remain the same.
However, startups are often very busy developing and running their business. And as a small structure, they do not necessarily have communication and public relations on their radar.
A personalised communication support can therefore be useful: through a due diligence survey with a factual analysis of their activities and stakeholders; via the preparation of communication scenarios and via a reputational monitoring, and if needed, via an intervention in case of crisis. The whole process does not require a large budget. We also offer training in communication with a methodology we call “Message training”. It is about helping our clients identify and stick to the essential message, be it to investors, to a jury (while pitching) or to the media.
