During workshops on Key Message Development, I always beat on about only having three key messages at hand to carry you through any form of communication â particularly when it means having to convey something unpalatable. Anything more than that tends to get lost in the bubbling maelstrom of information we have to wade through each day.
Think of it, I tell my delegates, as the three key messages we arrive unceremoniously into this rather complex world of ours: We are born, we pay taxes, and then we die. They generally titter a tad uncomfortably, but seem to latch onto the general idea. The more economical and efficient your message, the less likely you are to land knee-deep in the brown stuff trying to fruitlessly explain how you didnât mean for your message to be misconstrued.
Itâs high time however to revise this tried-and-tested Three-Pronged approach to succinct communication to include a fourth message: The inevitability of the sh*t hitting the fan. I mean letâs face it: I donât know of anyone who hasnât gone through a crisis at some point in their lives.
In fact, if this special soul exists somewhere on the planet, someone should summons the media forthwith!
Crises here are a dime a dozen. Open a newspaper (do people still read these thingsâĶ?), hop online, or tune in to your favourite radio station or television programme, and there will be some sort of investigation, commission of inquiry, think tank â take your pick.
State capture is still leading the race, as is wholescale corruption. Vote rigging will inevitably be next, along with the plunging share price, the brutality of yet another sexual assault, or news of the latest in a series of self-made clerics living the life of Riley while their doting followers are forced to munch on the lawn.
And thatâs just the first 3 pages of todayâs weekend newspaper (because, yes â I still read them.)
Toss in the hand grenade of social media to the mix, and the inevitable sh*t storm morphes into a veritable tornado, bringing down corporate reputations and more often than not, ending careers. Itâs almost impossible to recover when the madness of instant messaging kicks into gear.
Iâve decided purposefully to keep away from politics as we could be here for ages, and instead focus on a few well-known brands that have landed themselves in hot water. Take Woolworths â or as coined by social media: Woolworse.
Hot on the heels of engaging international experts in the aftermath of the furore around the retail giantâs appropriation of the style and ethos of the Frankies retro drinks brand, it found itself again in the unflattering spotlight of the media after being accused of stealing a private designerâs hummingbird design for a scatter cushion.
Then a locally produced baby carrier design made for the third allegation that the company makes it a habit of stealing intellectual property. This time, in the face of huge public embarrassment, Woolworths found itself apologetically begging and scraping at the feet of Cape Town-based independent designer Shannon MacLaughlin.
The result: The immediate withdrawal from sale of its supposedly in-house product (read: made in China) that was remarkably similar to the entrepreneurâs baby carrier design.
I found the âunreservedâ apology for what the retailer described as a âfailure of internal processesâ pathetic to say the least.
Also in poor taste â pun intended â was retail giant Coca-Cola having to slam the brakes on its nationwide Share a Coke activation as a result of one of its cans going out with the XiTsonga word Xitombo (vagina) printed on it. What delicious fodder for social media!
The incident rightfully so offended the Tsonga community and the public at large, that it actually made a mockery of the original spirit of the Coca-Cola campaign which was about inclusivity, respecting diversity and understanding. Yeah, right.
While on the subject of inclusivity, pen manufacturer Bic had to hastily pull a South African Womenâs Day advert that was branded sexist and offensive to women.
Penned alongside a woman dressed in a power suit, were the words: âLook like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a boss.â
Full marks to one of Bicâs rivals for a post that was deemed way less offensive. âLook how you want. Act how you want. Think how you want. Work like a BOSS.â
Itâs not an easy task to think of a household brand that has escaped unscathed from the fiasco of instant messaging. WaitâĶ There is one.
South Africaâs oldest online retailer, NetFlorist, came under fire for its late delivery of last monthâs Valentineâs Day orders. Social media was flooded with pictures of browning bouquets, melted chocolates and of personalised gifts peppered with spelling errors.
Managing Director Ryan Bacher wasted no time in posting an apology on the same social media platform his brand was lambasted on. He said the combination of loadshedding and rain in Gauteng created âthe perfect storm.â (I wonder who wrote his copyâĶ??)
But he went a step further. âWe should have prepared better for this, we didnât and we let our customers down.â Bacher then said that the brand would do âwhatever we need to make this right.â
Full marks for the quick-sticks apology? Definitely not, according to NetFlorist customer, Angelique McKenzie. âI ordered a Valentineâs gift for my mother for whom this is the first Valentineâs Day without my father who passed away in December.
âYou have not delivered it.â
There really is no magic bullet to enable you to neatly side step a crisis and move on with your life. (If I had invented one, Iâd be lying on one of five glorious islands I owned, sipping on my umpteenth chilled margarita of the afternoon.)
But there is a tried and tested methodology to mitigate the impact of the crisis which should leave you with something of an intact reputation.
Before you even pause to think about throwing an evasive âno commentâ or âIâm not at liberty to speakâ type of statement, understand that making no comment is louder that any comment you will ever make. Ducking and diving is simply not the way to go. Itâs career suicide.
Try this â you guessed it â The Three-Pronged Plan:
Step 1: Connect with the issue
Yes, really connect. No stiff upper lip. We are not a British colony. Show empathy and connect with the issue. Those who it impacts are human beings.
However, once youâve connected, move right along. You donât want the negative message to resonate any more than necessary with your audience.
Step 2: Throw back to a previous positive track record.
(You do have one, rightâĶ??)
Perhaps this has never happened in all your years in business. Itâs a freak accident, a once off.
Step 3: Move forward
Make it crystal clear what you are going to do about it. Iâm talking specifics. Refrain from talking about putting measures in place, unless you are a tailor.
Article placed in Journal of Strategic Marketing:

Read the article in the Journal of Strategic Marketing here:Â
https://imm-gsm.s3.amazonaws.com/magazine/April-2019/mobile/index.html#p=15