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Crisis Communication Plan- Coca Cola Company

Joseph Gardner

Columbia Southern

Crisis Communication Plan

Communication is very critical for every organization, and effective communication is always expected by all stakeholders in a company. A company has both internal and external stakeholders who have the right to information in times of Crisis. Communication mean is that the company can pass a message from one person to the other in real time and this will ensure that the right information has been distributed. Every company, therefore, must have a plan on how to communicate to its stakeholders who include customers, employees, the community and also the shareholders.

Crisis can be in different forms, and they should be handled in the right manner. Most crises is bad news for a company. Some of the crisis which can affect a company include fire in a company, financial crisis, and legal crisis. All these crises can affect the reputation of business in a bad manner, and the company should have a plan and strategies on how to handles some of these situations (Ray, 2009). Planning is essential, and it ensures that a company is prepared to deal with any situation effectively.

The company which a crisis communication plan will be developed for is the coca cola company. The coca cola company is a multinational beverage company which deals in manufacturing and distribution of non-alcoholic beverages and mainly carbonated drinks. The company has its branches and distributors around the world in more than 200 companies, and it’s essential that it plans effectively for its actions. The crisis communication plan which will, therefore, be developed will be for Coca-Cola Company.

Statement of purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a crisis communication plan for the organization. The communication plan is to help to deliver a message to the internal and external stakeholders of the company in times of Crisis. This is because stakeholders of the company have the right to real-time information and it will also be good for the company.

Scope

There are various limitations which are related to this specific study. One b of the limitations is the fact that the company in question is a multinational company. This means that the company is located in different nations and different regions. The amount of capital which will be required to carry out effective research is very high. Also, there are different situations in different countries which might affect the communication plan for a crisis in the organization. The data which is available for the research can be easily obtained from the past events of the company. This would help to predict possible occurrences in the future.

Situations and assumptions

There are various assumptions which have to be made to ensure that the crisis communication plan has been achieved effectively related to the situations which are at hand for the company. The coca cola company is exposed to various hazards which are situations which have the capability to cause havoc in the company and disrupt the smooth flow of operations in the company. The various situations have the ability to affect the reputation of the company and also the revenues of the company. One of the situations can be a case of poisoning in the beverages of the company, and the company should be ready to handle this situation. Another situation is the dissemination of crucial information of the shareholders of the company which would cause panic in the market.

There can be a situation where propagandas are claiming that the company is planning to cut distribution or production of their products. This can create panic for shareholders and also customers. There can also be rumors of possible retrenchment on the company. Another situation is theft in the company which may affect the working of the company. There can also be a fire in the company, and this can affect the stock of the company and many other things. There can also be a situation of financial crisis in the company and communication is needed.

There are various assumptions which can be made. The company is assumed to continue to be exposed to these hazards. This situation is what ensures that crisis management and also crisis communication plan have been out in place. It is also assumed that the stakeholders have the right to information on the current situation of the company. It is also assumed that the company as the responsibility and the role to inform its customers, employees and the public the various problems which are facing the company.

Audience profile

The target audience for the plan is very diverse. Thus is because the coca cola company is a multinational company and its operations are much diversified. The company’s target market is very diverse hence its communication plan must be much diversified. The audience of the company will, however, target the young people since they are the main target for the company. There is also the employees of the company since the employees must have the needed communication in times of crisis. The company must also inform the shareholders who have shares with the company. The audience also involves all the three social class groups. The low class, the middle class, and the high class. The information must also reach the various interests groups and also the government.

Approval processes

The company has been widely decentralized into different areas. The head of the various areas will, therefore, deal with their regions. When it comes to the dissemination of some important information, there will be a unit which will head various regions, and the head of the unit will inform the head of the region on the plan to communicate about the certain crisis. The approval process will, therefore, be obtained from the head of the unit of crisis department and also the head of the region.

Key communication strategies

The company must have strategies which will be used to ensure that the crisis communication is effective. The first strategy is to ensure that there is a crisis communications team. The team will be led by the head of the different regions in which the company is located. The company’s PR executives and legal counsel would also assist the head of the team to make various communications and to lead the team. The second strategy is to ensure that there have been spokespersons who have been identified for the team. The number will be deiced based on various factors. Then, there should be spokesperson training to avoid wrong dissemination of information or to ensure that the media and the stakeholders of the company do not misunderstand the spokespersons (Anthonissen, 2008). Training is therefore very critical.

There should also be communication protocols. These are supposed to ensure that there is a clear procedure of how communication should be carried out. The next strategy is to identify and understand the stakeholders. This will help to know how the information will be delivered. Then is to decide on the methods to use communicate with stakeholders. The other strategy is to anticipate crises for effective preparation. There should also be a holding statement when a crisis occurs. Then, the team should assess the crisis and identify the key messages to send (Ray, 2009). These strategies will lead to effective communication.

Delegation of responsibilities

When it comes to crisis communication, the delegation work is not very effective. The various spokespersons who have been identified should be able to make the communication to ensure that the message is effectively delivered.

Evaluation of communication efforts

After the crisis has occurred, and the necessary communication have been made, the team should be able to evaluate the performance of the communication plan. This will help the team to improve and also to make changes which are necessary. Research is also very critical to ensure the communication have been effectively evaluated.

Social media use

As discussed earlier, there should be various crisis communication methods. Social media is one of the methods of communication. However, the company should be very careful since the formation on social media can be misunderstood. The company should, therefore, create various accounts even before the crisis has occurred. Some of the accounts include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Instagram. These sites will help the company to communicate to its stakeholders in real time and faster. The information in social media flows very fast hence it will be very effective.

References

Anthonissen, P. (2008). Crisis communication: practical PR strategies for reputation management and company survival. London Philadelphia: Kogan Page.

Ray, S. (2009). Strategic communication in crisis management: lessons from the airline industry. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books.