New challenges for crisis communications
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine rolls on, a number of companies are still playing catch-up with their response to the crisis. This week Shell ‘apologised’ for finding itself unable to resist buying a large shipment of Russian oil at a knockdown price, just as much of the rest of the world was rejecting Russian oil. On the same day McDonalds belatedly decided to put ethics above profit and close all its Russian outlets. Financial services companies, tech firms such as Apple and fashion retailers have all pulled out of Russia, realising that these days you must be ‘on message’. It’s in times like this that all the hand wringing that goes into the ethics statements on corporate websites is thrown into sharp relief. Are those warm cuddly statements a reflection of the true beliefs of the company, or are they just ‘virtue signally’?
None of the companies making statements on their Russian position have done anything illegal such as breaking sanctions. And I’ve no doubt that oil traders at Shell would say that trading oil is their job and their shareholders wouldn’t thank them for turning down a business opportunity. These companies aren’t actually facing their own crisis, but they could be. Saying or doing the wrong thing in response to a global event could significantly impact an organisation’s reputation. Similarly, an unseemly delay in issuing a statement decrying Russia - or worse still, saying nothing - indicates an organisation weighing up the impact that their statement might have on the bottom line.
In the past we have thought of crisis communications as largely reactive - ’something has happened to our organisation - now we must respond’. But that has changed. Organisations need to be completely plugged in to rapidly-changing social and geopolitical sentiment. As Gerard Baker says in the Times “…[the Shell response was] an example of ’self sanctioning’, where chief executives have to respond quickly to get ahead of public opinion before opprobrium swamps them”.
It’s interesting to imagine some of the difficult boardroom conversations as companies tie themselves in knots. Those responsible for crisis communications need to be right at the heart of those discussions.