It’s not a matter of “if” a crisis happens but “when” a crisis happens. Crisis Communications can make or break a business, so it’s good practice to have a plan developed. How would you handle a crisis when it surfaces? Whether it’s a fire in an office or a blunder on national television. You get into a heated argument and out slips an expletive on live TV. What do you do? How do you handle the situation and its aftermath?

Crisis management is a major part of any business, even for journalists. PR Daily’s 5 worst media blunders list captures crisis situations that occurred in one month of this year. These incidents range from a Florida state representative’s open McCarthyism views, to D.C. councilman Marion Barry bashing Asian business men. One thing is certain; blunders like the ones on this list definitely can have a lasting negative impact.

How the situation is handled after the initial crisis can speak volumes about a company or an individual. Some of the situations listed in the list from PR Daily were handled effectively. Addressing a situation in a timely fashion can not only help salvage a reputation, but it can also add to a company’s credibility..

The Vandiver Group has extensive experience preparing for and handling a variety of different types of crisis communications for clients large and small. For help preparing or dealing with a crisis, contact The Vandiver Group at 314-991-4641 or info@vandivergroup.com.

The Vandiver Group, Inc. is constantly looking for new ways to use existing tools from our communications toolkit to help clients reach their goals. Social media is one of those tools. To share our expertise and insight in social media, our President and CEO, Donna Vandiver, participated in a panel discussion on social media and business for the St. Louis Business Journal’s Social Madness kickoff event.

Here are some key highlights from the discussion:

• Social media should be implemented as part of your bigger communications strategy.
• No matter what kind of company you are (B2B or B2C) you can still effectively talk to people on social media.
• Policies and guidelines are important to ensure employees are using social media correctly, and representing your company and brand appropriately.
• Training employees and stakeholders on how to effectively use social media gives them the tools to become digital brand ambassadors.
• Being active on social media not only raises awareness within each network, it also positively affects search engine optimization (SEO).
• Your company does not need to have a presence on every social media site; find two to three that work best for you and do them really well.
• Social media needs to be aligned with your business goals; those goals will determine how you measure ROI.
• Mobile will continue to grow in the future, make sure your online presence is optimized for mobile use.
• Start the conversation and build engagement before you ask for the sale or action; it’s all about the relationship.
• If you’re not on social media, you need to start thinking about it now.

That last bullet point is one we particularly want to highlight. As we like to say, asking if you should have a social media presence is like asking if you should have a website, a question we used to get ten years ago. People are still hesitant to jump into social media, but if you don’t have a presence you are missing out on opportunities to connect with and grow your target audience.

If you are not currently active in social media, now is the time to start. As you look at your budgets for the next fiscal year, make some room for social media. If you have no social media experience, consider hiring a consultant like TVG to get you started. We can provide strategy recommendations, draft social media guidelines for employees, generate content and even train your employees.

You can find additional tips from today’s panel at twitter.com, by searching #SocialMadnessSTL. For more information on the social media services The Vandiver Group offers, contact Claire Eckelkamp at 314-991-4641 or ceckelkamp@vandivergroup.com. Or Andy Likes at alikes@vandivergroup.com.

Recently, an article from PR Daily discussed how to handle nasty, negative comments online, particularly when it comes to a company’s blog. Here are some of the tips covered in the article, along with some bonus tips from The Vandiver Group:

• Know what you’re getting yourself into. Whenever you become a public figure, so to speak, you open yourself up to nasty, and often vile, criticism. It doesn’t make [these comments] right, but you should brace yourself for it.

• Provide a calm, succinct response. Some comments aren’t necessarily vile, but they do try to make a point about you, your product, or company that just isn’t correct. Instead of responding in an emotional or impassioned way, state the facts and move on.

• If it’s too nasty, delete it or don’t post it. Unless the comment is relevant (and constructive) criticism, shared in a thoughtful way that contributes to the conversation, delete it or don’t post it. By allowing out-of-control and violent comments to go live on an article or blog post, you’re stifling the meaningful conversations that could be happening.

• Don’t take it personally. This one is harder to do, but [negative commenters] don’t always read what you’re writing. Unfortunately, there are some people out there who are simply looking to vent. The Internet gives them a unique venue to do this anonymously, which makes their criticism all that more vehement.

Here are some additional tips:

• Make sure you post a comment guideline or comment policy on your blog. This lets people know upfront what comments are acceptable and what comments you reserve the right to delete.  Be careful not to make the guidelines too strict, or they may hinder the flow of discussion.

• Train your employees. Another key step is training employees who monitor your blog or social media presence on how to identify and respond nasty comments.  This will help ensure a consistent representation of your company on social media.

For more information on social media management and training, visit www.vandivergroup.com or email info@vandivergroup.com.

Apple, Google, Pixar, Lucas Films, Adobe, Intuit and Intel are heading back to court in June for the antitrust case thanks to the late Steve Jobs. That was just one of the big stories this week. You can catch up on that and other big news in this Weekly Wrap Up.

1. Seeking Hiring Advice? Try Facebook

More and more companies are turning to social media sites for references during the hiring process. In a recent study by Careerbuilder.com, 37 percent of companies use the sites to learn about candidates. The main reason cited by companies was that you can tell more about a person from their profiles than you can from their interview. Employers are looking to see how candidates present themselves professionally outside of the office. Do you use social media to help determine a candidate’s qualifications? Why or why not?

2. Mitt Romney Fumbles with Ledbetter Act Question

During political season, there are always things to learn from in the world of communications. Earlier this week, the Romney campaign team fielded questions from a journalist about his run for the United States presidency. One question stood out prominently: Does Romney support the Lilly Ledbetter Act? The team responded by saying they would return to the question at a later date. The Ledbetter Act gives women the right to fight for equal pay in the work place. This slip-up could undoubtedly damage the brand image of the Mitt Romney campaign with women voters. When being interviewed, you can predict about 90 percent of the questions. This is a great example of why you should prepare your best for the questions you can anticipate.

3. Bugs Will No Longer “Dye” in Starbucks Drinks

The coffee giant announced late last week that it would switch the dye for its popular Strawberry and Crème Frappuccinos. After pressure from groups of vegetarians, the company announced that it will stop using extracts from cochineal insects as red dye for the drinks and will begin using a tomato based dye instead. The company said that it began using the extract in response to consumer requests to use more natural ingredients. It seems however that they went just a step too far. Starbucks is known for being one of the most socially involved companies in the world through customer feedback and social media interaction. We’re glad they listened to customers for this! We prefer to eat tomatoes over insects!

4. The Secret, Secret Service Couldn’t Keep

Crisis management is an important part of any company or organization. This past week, the United States Secret Service got a chance to experience it firsthand. The story of the prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Colombia broke earlier this month, in which agents in charge of protecting the President were found to have hired prostitutes for their evening entertainment. The agency is still working on and investigating the situation, and 12 agents are no longer with the agency. How prepared are you to handle a crisis should one arise? As we say during crisis communications training, it’s important to be prepared not if a crisis happens, but when.

5. What Do the Stanley Cup and Big Macs Have in Common?

This season is one of the best the St. Louis Blues have seen in a decade.  Among all the excitement of win after win, did you notice something new?  Blues management spent the majority of the offseason concocting a way to drum up ticket sales and game attendance. A solution presented itself in the form of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions – all on a sesame seed bun. The St. Louis Blues partnered with area McDonald’s restaurants to offer a free Big Mac for each ticket after any game where the blues scored four or more goals. As the Blues go into the second round of playoffs, ticket sales are booming and fans continue to  bleed blue. What are some creative ways you’ve promoted your business and increased sales?

Green, clean and renewable have been the buzz words around the energy industry for years, but a major milestone was reached on April 16. These energy sources include wind, solar, and options like landfill gas to energy technology. The Pew Charitable Trust reported that clean energy investments reached an all-time high of $263 billion worldwide in 2011, up 6.5 percent from 2010. G20 nations consisted of 95 percent of investors. They reported that many of the G20 countries are racing to be the top investor in the global energy race.

Pew also published a list of the top investors in “Who is Winning the Clean Energy Race.” Recently the U.S. retook the lead from China with $48 billion in donations in 2011, an increase of about $14 billion dollars.

The clean energy industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the global market today. It has increased almost 600 percent since 2004 and continues to grow every year. Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew’s Clean Energy Program, says that the market is outpacing the global economy. With the addition of 83 gigawatts in 2011, the industry can now produce about 565 gigawatts of energy (which does not include nuclear energy). That is enough to power almost 30,000 20 watt bulbs.

Many green energy companies are using social media and the internet to market their technology and products. They also are using public contests on their home sites to drum up user awareness and interest.

Renewable energy sources like landfill gas to energy that our client Waste Management uses demonstrate the innovation developed from the drive to create a cleaner environment. Clean energy is making major strides at becoming the primary source of energy around the world. But, there is speculation that the increase could drop off. Where do you stand on the clean energy issue?

We wrote in an earlier blog post that Pinterest has become one of the highest drivers of blog traffic on the Internet. On the flip side, Pinterest also provides the opportunity to more easily gain the attention of bloggers you are trying to pitch. A recent article from PR Daily talks about some steps you can take to get bloggers to notice you or your brand on Pinterest.

The first and most obvious step is to follow a blogger and their boards. They’ll get an email alerting them you are a new Pinterest follower, which gets your name (or your brand’s name) in front of them.  Then repin their pins; the more you do this, the more likely a blogger is to notice you. Repinning their content will also show a blogger you have genuine interest in what they have to say before you pitch them.

Take things to the next level and share a blogger’s pins on Twitter and Facebook. If a blogger is on Pinterest, odds are they also have pages on other social media sites. Make sure you give a blogger recognition by tagging them when you post about their pins.

When you do finally send that message or email to help a blogger see how your client or brand fits with their current topics, reference one or several things they’ve pinned as examples. This will not only get you extra points, it will also increase the likelihood of that blogger writing about your brand!

For example, Lula Café in Chicago might follow food blog “Eater Nation” and their Hot Stories and Eater Interviews Pinterest boards. By paying attention to and repining content on these boards, Lula’s would get in front of the bloggers at Eater Nation. Eventually, Lula’s could leverage this connection for a pitch about their head chef.

If you have questions about Pinterest, or any social media site, contact The Vandiver Group at info@vandivergroup.com. Our experienced team can help your organization make the most of its social media presence, and use social media to support your overall business goals.

A new player is entering the American telecommunications game, but it’s a name you might recognize. Swedish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia plans to reenter the United States market with the release of its new phone. The Nokia Lumia 900 is Nokia’s first smartphone product and its first major U.S. product since the days of clunky, monochromatic, antennae phones from the early 2000’s. But how will Nokia fair against well-established smartphone brands?

It seems the company is off to a good start. The Lumia phone has already begun generating buzz thanks to Nokia’s clever “Smartphone beta test” ad campaign. The mysterious ads left consumers wondering about the nameless new phone. The big reveal came on April 8^th when Nokia announced that the Lumia was now available to AT&T users. According to Nokia execs, initial sales of the phone have exceeded expectations, but will that success continue?

Nokia’s marketing efforts around the Lumia phone indicate the company is looking to reinvent its brand image to compete against the big players. There is a long road ahead, but the goal is not impossible. What steps can Nokia take to ensure their repositioning is successful? How can they promote their products to compete against well-established smartphone brands?

Print media has its hands full trying to play catch up with the fast-paced evolution of technology. The general population has become accustomed to the idea of news at their fingertips in an instant.  This means a decline in readership for most print publications. To combat this trend, Next Issue Media is taking steps to level the playing field. Their Newsstand application for Android tablet devices is expected to roll out this April, and will allow readers to access digitized versions of their favorite magazines and newspapers all in one place.

Next Issue also plans on releasing a version of the app for the Apple Store this summer, and will expand to more devices in the coming months. The app will include a selection of 32 possible titles for users to choose from, with plans to expand their library to 200 titles by the end of 2012.

While this is just one example of how print media is adapting to the digital age, it speaks to the necessity for change that print publications face. Do you think Newsstand will help print publications stay on their feet? Would you purchase a subscription to a digital copy of your favorite print publications through a third-party app? We’d love to hear from you!

Today’s the day, all organizations with a Facebook page will see it change over to the new Timeline format. After a month of allowing companies to voluntary change, Facebook makes the switch mandatory today. If you’re worried about the impact the new Timeline for Pages will have on your brand’s Facebook engagement level, never fear. A recent study from Wildfire showed that 95 percent of Pages who’ve switched to the new format have seen more Likes and more people talking about their brand.

If your company has a Facebook Page that hasn’t been switched yet, go online today and review the new features the Timeline for Pages has to offer. Facebook provides an easy-to-follow tour of the new format. Once you’re comfortable with the changes, make sure you are optimizing your content for the Timeline. For those who have not yet switched their personal Facebook page to the new Timeline, now is a good time to update your own page as well. For help navigating the new Facebook changes, or for social media support across any platform, contact us at info@vandivergroup.com or call 314-991-4641.

The St. Louis Business Journal has launched their ‘Social Madness’ competition, which measures the growth of several companies’ social media efforts over a set period of time and compares them to choose a winner. As part of the launch, the Business Journal is holding a special social media seminar on May 11 at 7:30 a.m. at the Missouri Historical Society. The seminar features area social media experts, including our President and CEO Donna Vandiver. There’s no charge to attend, but reservations are required. Click here to register now.

Learn more about TVG’s social media practice area, or contact us to discuss your specific needs.