PR-technologies in elections

RUSSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOR THE HUMANITIES PR- ELECTION TECHNOLOGIES ... all these are standard methods PR. The thinnest PR-technologies are very versatile. ... activities. - M.: UNITI. 2004. p.78. 2 Anti-crisis Management: Textbook / Ed. prof...

Anti-crisis PR (3)

Page Forecasting and planning anti-crisis PR…………......7 pages Content of the plans anti-crisis PR………………………..……9 pp. Conclusion... / A. A. Belenkova. - M.: NT PRESS, 2006. Vasilenko A. B. PR major Russian corporations[Text] textbook...

Anti-crisis enterprise management (on the example of Elektrovypryamitel OJSC)

E. M. - professor of economic sciences, in the book " Anti-crisis control". Anti-crisis management is management, in a certain way ... specialists in anti-crisis management or public relations (public relations - PR) organizing...

Anti-crisis management (25)

Delegate authority. Services are created: marketing, PR, internal communications, organizational development, strategic... any unexpected impact. Often " anti-crisis" the answer involves mobilizing a large sum...

The market economy is dynamic. In itself, the use of certain factors of production without connection with external effects and with each other does not yet mean that proper economic and economic development will be ensured. technical development enterprises. The efficiency of its functioning and economic growth largely depend on the perfection of management and organization of all aspects of activity, i.e. integration of many factors. This function belongs to management.

The effectiveness of leadership and, ultimately, the role and influence of the head of the organization are under pressure from many factors. A crisis - whether it is a latent form, hidden, or periodically occurring crisis symptoms - negatively affects both the image of top management and, in general, worsens the image characteristics of the organization.

One of the tools to fight the crisis is anti-crisis PR. First of all, it helps to restore the reputation of the enterprise, which in turn affects its income and development in general. Sometimes just an appearance negative information about the enterprise or its products in the media can lead to its complete bankruptcy.

Briefly, the whole philosophy of anti-crisis PR can be expressed in one phrase: you need to prepare for solving problems long before they begin. We live in a far from ideal world, and unforeseen circumstances can arise at any time.

As a result of the crisis, the reputation of the enterprise suffers, which, in turn, affects its income and development in general. The facts are widely known when, say, mold, found in five or six yogurts, brought the company that produces them, millions in losses. Often, it is enough to have negative information about the enterprise or its products in the media - and the reputation can be lost forever. It is no coincidence that, for example, in Russia, especially in Moscow, anti-crisis PR is in high demand.

As you know, crises are divided into Various types and views.

S. Black, one of the founders of the PR institute in the UK, divided all crises into two types:

"known unknown" (IN);

"unknown unknown" (NN).

The vast majority of crises faced by companies, enterprises, organizations, countries belong to the category of IN - they are, in principle, predictable and known.

The Known Unknown: We know that such a crisis is possible in principle, but we don't know if it will happen, and if so, where and when exactly.

Example: due to their activities, many enterprises can potentially experience an accident or leakage of toxic substances (for example, petrochemical enterprises, coal enterprises, transport enterprises).

"Unknown Unknown": We do not assume that such a crisis can ever happen.

Example: the death of several people in 1982 in the United States, when a criminal added potassium cyanide to the popular Tylenol, a building explosion shopping center in New York, as a result of the terrorist attack in 2001, flooding, etc.

There are three options for action:

• 1) Fight the crisis - with the help of PR. The first option concerns situations where the crisis directly affects the enterprise;
• 2) Use the crisis to your advantage (this is also possible) when the crisis is not directly related to a particular enterprise;
• 3) Prepare for a crisis in advance, prevent crises, in other words, carry out “crisis prevention”.

Any reputational crisis has its own dynamics of development, in which a pattern can be traced:

suddenness of occurrence;

lack of information;

escalation of events;

loss of control;

increasing interference of external forces;

the mentality of the cornered;

At the same time, each crisis that occurs with a particular enterprise in a particular situation and in a particular market is individual, and it is impossible to foresee its course by 100%. This is the main difficulty of anti-crisis PR.

Typical mistakes of enterprises in crisis situations, as a rule, are expressed in two extremes:

Passive extreme:

"Don't say anything";

"Do not react at all";

"We'll see how the situation develops further."

Active extreme:

“Everything must be denied”;

"We must urgently drop the accusations";

"Let's use the data that we have, there is no time to find out."

The main factor in a crisis situation is the time factor.

In practice, the reaction of our enterprises, companies, organizations during a crisis, as a rule, is very slow. The main reasons for this: unpreparedness for the crisis, the lack of an anti-crisis program and action plan, untrained staff.

Every crisis is different, but there are several general principles to help you get out of the situation.

Reaction speed

The main factor in a crisis situation is the time factor. The sooner the enterprise makes an official statement about what happened, the less rumors and speculation will appear in the press. The reaction of the company should follow on the first day. The main questions that need to be quickly answered after the crisis has arrived are “What to say?” and "What to do?".

In practice, the reaction of enterprises, companies, organizations during a crisis, as a rule, is very slow. The main reason for this is the unpreparedness for the crisis, the lack of anti-crisis program, and an action plan. Untrained personnel can also play an important role.

openness

It is important not only to provide the media with all the information, but also to answer any questions in sufficient detail. Public opinion cannot be positive if the company is closed. Every question that remains unanswered will become food for rumors.

Honesty and initiative

Everything secret sooner or later becomes clear. There is no doubt that sooner or later the truth will come out and journalists will instantly become interested in it. Therefore, it is better to immediately speak openly about your mistakes and offer a plan for solving the problem. The media, in pursuit of the sharpness of the plot, tend to embellish real information, so you yourself need to become a source of news and take the initiative into your own hands.

Coordination

It is important to convey information about what happened to employees at all levels, to instruct them on what to say and what not to say. Any disagreements within the company will be interpreted not in its favor. The very fact that there are disagreements can lead to a loss of confidence in the company.

Work directly

As a rule, information about what is happening to consumers is conveyed by the media, but one should not forget about direct methods of contact with buyers.

In the event of a crisis, it is important to respond quickly, work proactively, and convey information to all levels.

Public opinion is important to an organization, both during and after a crisis. For example, it plays an important role in litigation and decision making. government bodies. That is why post-crisis response is so necessary. As a rule, it is expressed in a PR campaign to restore or strengthen the reputation and is also provided for in the anti-crisis program.

When considering the methods of anti-crisis PR, the question of attracting third-party PR agencies in crisis situations deserves special attention. This method has both disadvantages and advantages.

Among the disadvantages is the fact that third-party anti-crisis PR specialists are not familiar with crisis enterprise, with its specifics and problems.

To inform third-party anti-crisis PR specialists about the circumstances that caused or caused the reputational crisis (and also to explain to them that there was no real cause of the crisis, but there was a misunderstanding or an attempt raider capture) it will take time, which is so necessary for the development and implementation of urgent anti-crisis PR measures.

On the other hand, professional anti-crisis PR-specialists are very well versed in typical reputational crises, and they often need no more than half an hour to navigate the situation and offer effective steps for anti-crisis PR.

Effective anti-crisis PR is possible if powers, resources and responsibility are balanced. In practice, there is more often responsibility without authority and resources. At the same time, good specialists in the presence of professional passion achieve brilliant results.

An example of a PR application based on the Perrier crisis

On February 10, 1990, benzene contamination was found in bottles of Perrier mineral water. For the manufacturer of the world's best brand of mineral water (Perrier controlled 85% of the US market and 60% of the UK market), this meant a serious crisis. The public relations officer of this company stated that for such situations, the company had developed an action plan in advance, which was based on full and truthful information to consumers.

A crisis team was formed, which included senior leaders of Perrier, representatives of the public relations agency and advertising agency. Very quickly, with the help of independent consultants, an examination of the polluted water was carried out. A dedicated call center was immediately set up to answer 1,500 calls daily from distributors, retailers and consumers.

Within three days of the outbreak of the crisis, the shelves of all stores were cleared of bottles of the company, which were returned to it. Such a quick response earned the approval of the public. No press conferences were held. Instead, five members of the crisis team met individually with journalists to provide truthful information about the measures being taken. Thus, they tried to reduce the negative public outcry.

Perrier took a risk, because the shelves of stores could not remain without mineral water, and this niche could be filled by competitors. However, it took time for competitors to produce additional amounts of mineral water. In addition, since the crisis damaged the reputation of the mineral water industry as a whole, competitors did not benefit much from drawing attention to the crisis situation.

Perrier overcame the crisis by literally using the recommendations of PR textbooks. The company informed the public about its problems, quickly resolved the contamination problems, and began producing mineral water in new packaging in other sizes so that consumers could immediately see that this water was from new stocks. In parallel, a campaign was carried out to promote mineral water. A month later, Perrier's market share began to grow, and its products again took their rightful place on store shelves. At the same time, the public was informed about the impossibility of such problems in the future. Consumers, distributors, health authorities and media representatives as a result effective use methods of PR, as it were, became accomplices in the campaign.

Eliminating the consequences of crises is one of the most subtle and important tasks of any company. PR specialists give the following tips to neutralize the negative public reaction:

One should never deny the existence of a crisis;

You can not hesitate, you need to make decisions quickly;

Perrier followed the instructions quite clearly, which allowed her to smooth over the critical situation.

Following the discovery of benzene contamination in mineral water, Perrier faced the following challenges:

Notification of the public about what happened and the measures being taken;

Quick withdrawal of defective products from sale;

Launching a new batch of high-quality water for sale, so that competitors do not have time to occupy the vacated niche;

Interaction with the media and the public.

Perrier took the right steps to correct the problem. The firm could not eliminate the error without notifying consumers about it. Perrier is a huge organization and it's almost impossible to hide anything out of the ordinary that has happened within it without being asked questions. It is always better for consumers and the public to learn about a crisis from the firm itself, rather than from competitors or other sources that can distort the information so much that it will be almost impossible to correct the situation.

Perrier has cared for itself for years as the best trademark mineral water and it was impossible to allow one, albeit a very large, mistake to spoil all the work done. Having carried out a PR campaign based on full information of the public, the company counted on understanding and trust. Each step to overcome the situation that had arisen was made in front of consumers, intermediaries, and the media. Thus, Perrier tried to restore the image of a company that cares about the people who work with her.

The use of PR methods was very important to overcome the crisis that had arisen. Without taking the above measures, Perrier, one way or another, would have lost its reputation. Quick response (removal of defective products from the sale, change of packaging, campaign to promote Perrier modified water) in conjunction with a PR move (direct cooperation with the media with the provision of complete and truthful information about the measures taken, expertise of mineral water independent consultants) quite quickly restored Perrier's confidence to the majority of consumers, and, consequently, sales volumes began to grow.

In this case, the PR goals were achieved, which coincided with the tasks set for Perrier:

Establishing mutual understanding and trust between Perrier and the public;

Preservation (though not for all consumers) of a positive image of the company;

"Return" of the company's reputation

Perrier used a two-way symmetrical PR model based on complete and truthful public information, which the company has adopted. PR will never be able to replace high performance, but on the contrary, it is likely to reveal hidden shortcomings. An attempt to hide one's mistake, a discovered defect, considering it an internal problem of the company, could lead to rumors and, as a result, misunderstanding and distrust of buyers and other interested parties.

Creation information department, i.e Feedback with the public also contributed to the favorable outcome.

Perrier took a big risk, as the fastest competitors could capture the market share that had been vacated for a while. This did not happen only due to the fact that Perrier was the leader among American and British producers of mineral water; any other company that is not such a prominent player in the market would have lost a large share of its customers. Of course, Perrier's competitors could have benefited more from the company's crisis. Using aggressive new advertising to promote their products, coupled with a PR campaign designed to change their preferences in favor of disaffected customers with Perrier, competitors would be able to increase their market share, but it was still impossible to completely capture Perrier's share. . It is rather problematic to release an additional batch of products for sale in such a short time, without having resources in stock. But I think one of the competitors, with a quick mobilization, could count on some of Perrier's market share. In this case, the effect of surprise took place. The crisis arose unexpectedly, but Perrier's immediate reaction almost did not give a chance to competitors. But still, a small part of Perrier consumers, due to the release of defective water, went over to the side of competitors.

Due to the release of a defective batch of Perrier mineral water, not only the manufacturer itself suffered, but also intermediaries (distributors, retailers). The company had to convince them that such mistakes would not be repeated in the future. As if making them participants in the ongoing campaign, Perrier thereby assured them that she could be trusted, convinced them of her honesty and the impossibility of a repeat of the crisis.

As a rule, on the way to the consciousness of the public there are barriers (noises) for the perception of information, depending both on the mental levels, situational states, psychophysiological characteristics of the society itself, and on the technologies of passing through the environment. target audiences Wednesday. Having overcome these barriers, the “dry residue” of this information is fixed in the minds of target audiences. If Perrier were to limit its PR campaign to simply communicating the crisis to the public, the misrepresentation would likely be quite large due to the lack of that information. Perrier informed people about all the steps taken, took into account the characteristics of target audiences (the interests of consumers, intermediaries ...), set the task of matching these characteristics and information channels (older people read the local press more, business people also interested in the press of the state level, the political situation, financial, etc.; intermediaries will want to personally inquire about the situation in the company), thereby the company has significantly reduced the level of distortion. Thus, during the period of crisis and recovery from it, the name Perrier was on everyone's lips. Using various media tools during the PR campaign, as well as creating an information service, Perrier tried to reach as many people as possible.

The company used messages targeted at different segments of the public and target audiences. Consumers and intermediaries (primary target groups, i.e. those on whom the main impact is directed) with the receipt of this message should have had moral emotions, it aroused in them a sense of justice, approval. The media (secondary target groups, i.e. those through whom the main impact is directed), when receiving information from Perrier, along with materials about the crisis, were supposed to cover positive sides this company, were supposed to remind people of the past of a clean company, its honesty.

Young people most quickly react to this or that information, make decisions, they are innovative people. Perrier, having taken the above measures, quickly restored itself in the eyes of a young audience. It is more difficult with people of the older generation (after 35-40 years). Most often they show commitment to one brand of goods, they are conservatives. But, having made a mistake, subsequently it is very difficult for this brand to win their trust. Rather, it is for such people that Perrier created an information service that answers calls about the current crisis.

The company has fulfilled all the tasks assigned to it. But despite a fairly effective PR campaign to address the crisis, Perrier has not been able to regain its former reputation as a company producing good, clean water. Perrier made the most of its chances of recovery, but I think it was not able to fully recover from this crisis. Although without the involvement of PR, the consequences would be much more tangible.

It may happen (and this often happens!) that some extraordinary event or series of incidents affects the reputation in the most unfavorable way and, as a result, financial stability enterprises. And, as you understand, not a single media will miss the chance to "dance on your bones", especially if you are still "alive". We have such a time - “push the falling one!”. This raises three main questions:
1. What happened?
2. Who is responsible?
3. What do you intend to do?

Answers to the questions "what happened" and "who is to blame" may actually be a statement of the causes and consequences of the crisis. These "facts", however, must be "irrefutable" so that the likelihood of their further transformation is reduced to zero. The correct interpretation of the information naturally leads to the answer to the third question.

PR-specialists (both a department in a company and a specialized agency) can play an important role in finding out the causes of the crisis and, of course, in successfully overcoming it by competently using anti-crisis PR. When an image restoration plan comes into play, with good luck and reasonable work, this can bring not only positive results, but even more strengthen stability and trust in the PR object in society.

Therefore, we will devote some time to anti-crisis PR strategies.

Anti-crisis PR strategies
So, apparently, the cause of the crisis has already been determined, and the answers to the first two questions of the three necessary ones have been given. And consequently, it is necessary to answer the third, sacramental: "What to do?" The most important thing is to know the strategies with which you can "save face" in the current situation. This can be a demonstration of regret, ignoring, counterattacking, etc. The choice should be made carefully, because saving the company's reputation often depends on the right strategy. Below are some very effective strategies that have been used by PR agencies to save the reputation of well-known companies.

We ignore
That is, do not explain anything and do not apologize.
This is what Nord did when customers encountered problems (accidental, from the company's point of view) in one of the first versions of Nord two-chamber refrigerators. And the real problem turned out to be numerous calls to the manufacturer for help and assistance. At first, the buyers did not achieve any reaction at all. Then they were told that there were indeed difficulties, but the reason was not in the refrigerators themselves, but in the voltage drop in the network (several more reasons were given). Nevertheless, Nord began to carry out an action of selective replacements. In the end, the issue of replacements was resolved, refrigerators were changed without hindrance. Thus, the communication strategy of the company "Nord" (first "ignore", then "reproach to the side, concealment, denial" and, finally, "do not lose heart") recreated the face of the head of Nord and the general corporate culture.

We don't stick out
This approach involves saying as little as possible, being as quiet as possible, waiting and trusting that the media attention will switch to something else. Another move of this anti-crisis PR strategy may be to turn to an "arbitrator", that is, to involve third parties to establish the degree of guilt in the situation, for example, organize an open commission of inquiry or go to court. The main thing is to do without comments. The less the company will catch the eye in connection with the crisis, the less damage will be done to its reputation. However, if the crisis is more severe and the journalists get caught up in the subject of human error, then the firm will be sensitive to media negativity, especially when victims begin to seek redress. In addition, appeal to independent expert should only be done if you are sure of a positive review (investigation report). Otherwise, the media may again criticize the firm for its guilt in causing the crisis and call on the company to publicly announce the amount of compensation, require public self-flagellation and other unpleasant things.

Under the protection of the law
Anti-crisis PR in this case is sometimes used when the company is faced with aggressive third parties. This method is especially applicable when important secret information is leaked. This is what lawyers are needed for at the enterprise (well, of course, not only for this, but such actions make them precious employees) to seek injunctions against certain actions of journalists or other ill-wishers - for example, the publication of materials in the media that can have a negative impact on business.

Blaming, threatening, denying
This strategy of anti-crisis PR is not without a degree of risk, and even more so not without aggression, but sometimes it brings amazing results. Let's clarify the situation.

Suppose your company (or client firm) has been accused of something, and the situation has received wide publicity and threatens to get out of your control. What are you doing?

First, you loudly deny all accusations, exposing, in turn, your enemies or government services in the dirty intentions, in the person of which you can see a temporary enemy.

Secondly, you take the move "throw down the gauntlet" - an open challenge to the enemy. This may be a statement of claim to the court (the process should be widely covered in the press), pickets in crowded places (near the office of the "enemy", near government buildings, on the central square of the city, etc.). You can invite the opponent to a debate on television, while the “challenge” must be done a day or two before the proposed TV program so that the opponent does not have time to properly prepare. He may not come, evade debate, and then you take up television time with a diatribe on the air, emphasizing that the cowardly enemy by his absence confirmed the groundlessness of dirty slander.

As a rule, at this stage a “miracle” occurs - such an offensive makes people hesitate and doubt the truth of any facts. In addition, this puts the accusing party in front of the need to moderate their ardor. Nevertheless, in any case, many people, and not least those whom you called your enemy, will remain offended, and the company's reputation will have to be corrected. But this is nothing compared to the consequences that can arise if the charges are strong enough.

Find another culprit
Often, the actions of other people, companies or local authorities play a fatal role in a crisis situation. This means that PR should be appropriate, preferably with names, facts, real causes and perpetrators of the crisis. For example, a company makes the following statements: "The true cause of the crisis was the actions of such and such citizens (or organizations) who have nothing to do with the company." Or: “It is the victims of the incident who are to blame for finding themselves in a situation in which they suffered.” The risk of using this strategy is that it often generates a violent reaction from the opposite side. In addition, if the accusations are unsubstantiated, then the publicity of the true facts can undermine the credibility of the company.

Disarm the enemy
If the enemy and his secrets are known to you, use them to defend your point of view, refute the accusations and put forward your own. By the way, many large corporations successfully use this technique, especially if the crisis becomes protracted.

This business is dangerous!
Many industries are potentially dangerous, you can't argue with that. And therefore, according to the law of "large numbers", accidents are inevitable. Of course, the consequences of this type of crisis have a negative impact on the reputation of other, similar professions and enterprises. For example, an accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant radically undermined the reputation of the entire nuclear power industry of the USSR. The crash of the Exxon Valdez tanker in Alaska led to a decrease in the rating of trust in oil companies, no matter how serious preventive measures they take.

Often, to implement this strategy, you need to seek support from an industry union, a government department, an authoritative scientist or other well-known personalities who would talk about the risks associated with production, would ask society to morally support the company in a difficult moment for it.

"We're just unlucky"
Chance, a fatal combination of circumstances or bad luck - often they forget about such factors. This technique is designed to remind society of fate, fate, things that take place and that a person, in principle, cannot influence. For example, the crash of an airliner near Donetsk in 2006 is explained not so much by the human factor as by extremely unfavorable weather conditions. The Leningrad Airlines company involved an independent meteorological service in the examination (applied to higher authorities). Published expert reports cited extreme weather conditions as the cause of the disaster.

In such situations, you can give examples of similar cases that occurred in the industry, in the field of activity of another company or region. It is necessary to convince people that there are areas of activity that society cannot do without, even if high degree risk.

Sacrifice
The public dismissal of prime ministers, the trial of the only person responsible (!) for a gas explosion that caused a building to collapse and people died - there are many examples of this strategy. The bottom line: there is one "villain" on whom all sins are written off, which saves the reputation of those concerned.

Credit of trust
Anti-crisis PR in this case goes approximately as follows. The head of the enterprise "with all the honest people" takes on the entire burden of responsibility for the crisis and asks to give the company another chance. This statement, in some cases, is accompanied by the resignation of the head. This strategy is often used by political parties, where the responsibility for mistakes is assumed by a member of the cabinet of ministers. The psychological aspect underlying this strategy is interesting. The "height" of the post of a person who takes responsibility for problems directly depends on the scale of the crisis. The crowd so often needs a victim! Actually, 8 resignations of governments out of 10 occur precisely on the basis of the principles of this method.

At large enterprises, the following is practiced: the manager is not aware of the “little things”, he cannot be responsible for the work or, conversely, the inactivity of people who do not directly report to him. And then from the head and bribes are smooth. And then (see above) the strategy is "Find another culprit". The leader, on the other hand, shows extreme concern for the situation and guarantees that the necessary reforms will be made, “just give us one more chance!”

All of the above strategies do not eliminate the cause of the crisis, but, in fact, there were no intentions to talk about it. The task of anti-crisis PR is to minimize the losses that arise as a result of the crisis and help the company cope with temporary troubles without the “hoo-lu” accompanying the situation.

And, of course, these strategies are not an exhaustive list. These are just semi-finished products, and it is up to you what you invent with them. In addition, you must form an anti-crisis team, isolate the crisis and limit its scope, develop a crisis exit policy, and do a lot of other things. But for information policy it is useful to conduct a detailed briefing for the PR support team or a company official who can (and should!) ensure that the public and the media are sympathetic to your problems.

A person who impartially looks at today's approach to anti-crisis PR in Russia can draw two conclusions. The first is the majority Russian companies controlled by Donald Trump, confident in his ability to swim from any depth. Second, the majority of Russian companies simply do not have the opportunity (resource, financial, quality) to think about anticipating a blow.

All PR today comes down to day-to-day promotion and work with the press, anti-crisis is in demand only when it is too late to prevent a blow. To give a medical analogy: it's like putting off going to the dentist for years, only to break out at night to the nearest round-the-clock dentistry because of unbearable pain.

Unfortunately, today situations when a client, already in an unpleasant situation, comes to the agency and says: “Create me a community on Facebook and build up a lot of loyal people there so that they can support the company at a difficult moment” is not uncommon. Many companies are not ready to invest in social media and customer loyalty, arguing that this has no direct impact on sales. However, when "thunder strikes", they call on loyalty to help. There is only one way to deal with such inconsistency: explain, explain and explain again that proactive is alwaysmore efficient than reactive.

Nevertheless, the question still remains, what to do if no proactive measures were taken, and the crisis situation has already begun?

A textbook example of such an oversight was demonstrated by the French company Findus. This food manufacturer was at the center of a scandal last year when some ready meals from Findus, horse meat was found instead of beef.

In the midst of this crisis, anyone who went to the company's website saw the old advertising language there, claiming that "Findus uses only the best ingredients." In the current situation, such information on the site looked like a mockery of the consumer and provoked additional negative. At the same time, it turned out to be impossible to contact the company: feedback through the website did not work, no one conducted social networks - they simply did not function.

Thus, in this example, we see how Findus made two communication errors (in the first case by providing inappropriate information, in the second - by not giving the opportunity to speak to their customers), which hit the company's reputation no less than the fact of finding horsemeat in its products. . After all, when a client cannot contact the company and tell her everything that he thinks, then where does he go? That's right: in the public field. And he speaks out there.

The fact that the wrong communication strategy can significantly aggravate the crisis in which the company finds itself is another example. Air carrier AeroSvit got into trouble last year due to outstanding debts, which eventually led to the company's bankruptcy. This procedure, in itself unpleasant, was accompanied by an extremely negative information background around the airline.

It is characteristic that the lion's share The indignant responses of the affected passengers did not boil down to the fact that, through the fault of the carrier, they lost their money and could not make the flight, but to the fact that the company did not explain anything to them, did not make contact and got off with stereotyped answers. Happiness is when you are understood. AeroSvit, on the other hand, did not communicate directly with passengers, did not demonstrate its sympathy for people who found themselves in a difficult situation through its fault, and did not refute the darkest rumors. As a result, the "war" for the information space was lost by the airline even before the first shot.

On the other hand, there are many examples of positive anti-crisis, as a rule, these are the most communication-oriented solutions. For example, last year, Motovilikhinskiye Zavody, Perm, carried out an anti-crisis campaign during the closing period of unprofitable sheet-rolling production at the enterprise, which subsequently even received an award for best project in the field of business communications of the Volga region. The main idea of ​​the program was the constant and comprehensive informing of the employees of the enterprise about all the steps taken by the management.

The General Director of Motovilikhinskiye Zavody held a number of meetings with the staff, individual work was done with each employee of the liquidated production: it was proposed to undergo retraining at the expense of the company and move to another position. The factory newspaper explained in detail why the sheet-rolling production was being closed and what opportunities appeared for its workers. As a result, most of the employees of this production received new job and management - employees who believe in it. Such a result would not have been possible if “above” had not understood: the most The best way Surviving a crisis is first openly acknowledging it, and only then offering solutions, because only in this case you are trustworthy.

Another "layer" of successful examples of anti-crisis actions lies in the field of creative solutions. They require courage on the part of the client and subtlety on the part of the performer, and therefore today they are, unfortunately, the exception rather than the rule. From recent precedents - the anti-crisis of an unopened snowflake during the opening of the Sochi Olympics.

During the closing ceremony, the dancers, lined up in the form of five Olympic snowflake rings, began to “open” them, diverging in circles to the sides. So did all the groups of dancers, except for the fifth, unopened during the start of the Games, a snowflake.

The contrast of these two forms of behavior teaches us the main thing: the modern information space has become too transparent, open and global to try to hide something within its framework, or, moreover, to fool someone. All your falseness, all your "advertising" moves and tricks will look more and more obvious, will push customers away from you more and more. So the best way proactive anti-crisis today - is to be honest.

The communications business is changing along with the rest of the world. information space. And those who don't change will have to disappear. And it seems that the main trend of this change is the emergence of honest and sincere advertising and PR because the client is less likely to allow himself to be deceived.

Armen Zakharyan, media analyst at Comunica communications agency