Stakeholder Communications - Crisis Communications

Background:

You are a member of the Corporate Communications Department for QuantaCare, a major

pharmaceutical company. One of your company's most profitable products is a rescue inhaler

called

BreatheEZ

. Your product is used by asthmatics to treat their condition in the event of a

life-threatening asthma attack. This product is well-established and has great brand

recognitionthe public can easily identify your product's logo and considers it to be a trusted

brand for their family.

Problem:

It's 6:00 am on a Friday morning. Your CEO just called your boss and said, "We have a crisis.

Check the news and have your team meet me in the War Room ASAP." The Associated Press

and Reuters are running the headline, "Defective

BreatheEZ

asthma rescue inhaler linked to

hospitalization of 21-year-old male."

Facts you've confirmed by 8:00 am:

21 year-old asthmatic male attempted to use his

BreatheEZ

inhaler during an asthma

attack. The product failed to work. 911 was called and emergency personal were able to

stabilize the patient who is now in stable condition at a local hospital.

The Chief Resident at the local hospital called your customer complaint department late

last night to report that the patient's

BreatheEZ

inhaler did not appear to have

contained the active ingredient.

The local news is picking up the story and will air it shortly; news is already breaking on

social media.

9:00 a.m.

Your team gathers in the War Room. Your CEO tells you to develop crisis

communications for all necessary stakeholders. This needs to get out ASAP.

TASK 1

: Spend the next 15 minutes listing who you feel are the important stakeholders you

need to reach out to.

TASK 2:

Now that you've identified the people you need to contact, do an audience analysis for

each stakeholder. Use the

Audience Analysis Worksheet

for this step. (30 minutes)

TASK 3

: Now that you know to whom you want to communicate and you've thought about

their needs and how this news will affect them, determine what form of communication you

are going to use to reach out to them.

TASK 4

: Each member of your team is to write his or her own stakeholder communication. Keep

in mind the type of communication you are writing (internal memo, external press release,

letter, etc.). Format your document in the appropriate way. Share your document with your

team members so that each member can provide feedback, keeping in mind what we discussed

about team communication and feedback.

Task 5

: I'm your Vice President of Corporate Communications. I have to meet our CEO at 3:00

to debrief him on what we're doing. I need to know what you've been doing to help our

corporation effectively communicate to our stakeholders during this crisis. I need a quick status

meeting!

Come in front of the class and give me your verbal status report. Remember, I'm your VP. I

don't have a lot of time and I'm stressed out about this crisis. Make me feel confident that what

you chose to do is the best way to communicate in this crisis and save our

BreatheEZ

brand. I'm

meeting with our CEO at 3:00 for a debrief. It's in your best interest that my meeting with him

goes well.