10/22/2014 Responding to a Foodborne Illness Outbreak: Legal and Social Media Implications Introduction SafeBites Webinar – May 22, 2014 2 Global presence What we do. 88 offices in 49 countries EUROPE Almaty Dublin Prague Reykjavik Amsterdam Frankfurt U.S . Focus on: Athens Helsinki Riga Austin New York Barcelona Kyiv Rome Sofia Boston San Francisco CANADA Belfast Lisbon Berlin London Stockholm Chicago Seattle ASIA Regina Calgary Bratislava Ljubljana Stavanger Dallas Spokane Edmonton Saskatoon Houston Tallahassee Brussels Madrid Tallinn Bangkok St. John’s Halifax The Hague Irvine Tampa Bucharest Milan Beijing Montreal Toronto Budapest Moscow Vienna Chengdu Los Angeles Washington D.C. Vancouver • Crisis Communications Ottawa Miami Copenhagen Oslo Vilnius Guangzhou Québec City Victoria Warsaw Winnipeg Paris Hanoi Zug Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong • Recovery Process Jakarta Kuala Lumpur Manila • Reputation Management Seoul Shanghai Singapore Taipei AMEASCA Tokyo LATIN AMERICA Bogotá Montevideo Chennai Mumbai Abu Dhabi Johannesburg Panama City Buenos Aires Algiers Dar es Salaam Kampala Nairobi Caracas Quito Almaty Doha Karachi Perth Guatemala City San Jose Amman Dubai Kolkata Ramala Lima San Juan Gurgaon (Delhi) Kuwait City Riyadh Auckland Santiago Mexico City Bengaluru Hobart Lagos Sydney Saõ Paulo Brisbane Istanbul Lahore Tel Aviv Jeddah Tunis Cairo Manama H+K Strategies Offices Casablanca Affiliates 3 4 1
10/22/2014 Could an outbreak happen to your Who we are. business? • Foodborne illness outbreaks decreased 42 percent in 10-year period. Ron Bottrell: • Still, 3,933 outbreaks and 98,399 reported illnesses. • Restaurants number-one location by far with 43 percent of the total outbreaks, • Crisis Practice, Food Industry • 30 years experience working with food & drug legal specialists on numerous issues, including foodborne illness outbreaks Source: April 2014 Center for Science in the Public Interest annual report on Total Outbreaks Reported to CDC 2002-2011 5 6 Foodborne Illness Outbreaks In The Could your business survive an News. outbreak? Eating Out Linked to Nearly Twice as Many Outbreaks as Eating In Factors affecting business viability after a foodborne illness outbreak: 23-State Salmonella Outbreak from Backyard Poultry Flocks • Type of Outbreak Salmonella Outbreak Case Count Climbs to 524 • Number of Cases No Source Identified in 2013 NYC Hepatitis A Outbreak • Seriousness of Illnesses • Vulnerable Population Plea Agreement Will Limit Plant Manager’s Prison Time • Media • Public Perception Suspected foodborne disease sickens more than 100 at Food Safety Summit 7 8 2
10/22/2014 Getting that Second Chance. We May Have a Problem. • “We have a restaurant client that just got a call from the Survivability = Reputation Recovery State Health Department and they’ve been told there have been a number of reported illnesses that may be linked the client’s restaurant through epidemiological reports. • “The Health Department is sending a team there today to do an inspection. They’re probably going to need some communications help if this goes public.” 9 10 We May Have a Problem. In a Perfect World. Ideally, it’s best to have a working relationship with a client before a crisis hits. Can you do it? Key relationships include: • Senior Management • Head of Operations • Director of Quality Assurance and Sanitation 11 12 3
10/22/2014 Merging Operational and Why Companies Invest in Crisis Communications Plans. Planning. Many companies don’t have the benefit of a significant level of pre-planning. • Do an operational plan and a communications plan exist? Motivation to invest in crisis planning occurs: • Are they in sync? • After experiencing a negative incident and handling it badly • Have they been tested through a crisis simulation • After a competitor experiences a negative incident and exercise? In the past year? company recognizes its own vulnerability 13 14 Even the best crisis plans need to be Crisis Plan Content tested. Content of a crisis plan can vary, but essentially it identifies: Benefits of crisis plan testing include: • Crisis team members and their backups – Descriptions of their roles their roles • Opportunity for team members to more fully understand their – Contact information for team members, outside advisers, subject matter experts and Health Department contacts. roles • Fact sheet on the company • Experience for designated spokespersons • Company’s position on food safety • Recognition of gaps in plan • Pre- written “holding statements” for initial media inquiries while facts are still being gathered 15 16 4
10/22/2014 THE ANATOMY OF A MODERN CRISIS Flight School. • New to crisis plan testing: the surge of Twitter and Facebook posts that can overwhelm a company in the midst of a crisis. The 1 st st story publishes … Word spreads across • Having the ability to respond quickly to social media in Facebook & Twitter … Breaking news a transparent, forthright manner is critical. hits the wire … You’re up … A local blogger tweets about ARE YOU the incident … READY? Y? Your cellphone rings. It’s a reporter from the local paper … 17 IMMERSIVE CRISIS SIMULATIONS PUT THEORY Rapid Response is Key. INTO PRACTICE • Interactive simulation tests a company’s capabilities, • Acting quickly and responsibly is the key to crisis plans + protocols • Format tailored to client needs response. • Proprietary technology simulates realistic crises • Post-simulation debrief by crisis team • The longer a crisis lasts the more damaging it becomes financially and to your business’ reputation. 20 5
10/22/2014 What Your Customers Want to Hear: What Your Customers Want to Hear: In an outbreak crisis, your customers and other key audiences want to hear: • You care and you’re empathetic. • You’re competent and systematic about food safety. • You’re honest and open with all concerned. • You’re dedicated and committed to prevent a reoccurrence. 21 22 Setting the Strategy The All-Important Fifth Seat If you experience an outbreak, your crisis team and senior The Reputation Counsel is management will meet in a conference room to map out strategy. positioned to fill the Fifth Reputation Seat and help companies Counsel leverage public influence to Joining that team will be key advisers – your legal counsel, your technical adviser, your PR counsel and not insignificantly, your achieve business goals. insurer. Insurer CFO CEO & Board Each has varying degrees of influence on a company’s actions and of Directors messaging. Legal Marketing Advisor 23 6
10/22/2014 What Some Advisers May Not Stakeholders want to know the Want You to Say : solution • Can’t be “business as usual” • Some attorneys avoid “apology” in any communication – Concerns it will undermine any lawsuits that may be filed. • What have you done to prevent a recurrence? – Change suppliers? • Sometimes the legal representative is the insurer’s hand -picked law firm, not the company’s. – Add an intervention step? – Potential for conflicts – Resistance to communicating any voluntary or agreed to form of restitution • Resistance to communicating any actions to reduce risks of reoccurrence – Concerns on demonstrating negligence 25 26 It’s All About Reputation and What You Probably Shouldn’t Say: Character. Our Role: Remind the client that legal process takes time. By the time “Our food is perfectly safe” lawsuits come to trial - or get settled - the fate of the company will already be decided. Consumers will have formed their opinions about: Cardinal Rule of Risk Communication: • Company’s responsiveness • Its character Do NOT over-reassure. • Its commitment to food safety • Its commitment to customers 27 28 7
10/22/2014 Bottom line. Let’s Discuss. Companies that demonstrate those commitments will survive an outbreak. Those that don’t will not . 29 30 8
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