A leading provider of network enabled software and services for the healthcare industry, recognizing the critical importance of being prepared to respond swiftly to reputational challenges, turned to Bryghtpath to strengthen its crisis communications and reputation management strategy.
The Opportunity
The company had an existing crisis communications plan but saw clear opportunities for improvement. The organization’s new leader for corporate communications understood that timely & effective communication during a crisis is not only crucial for maintaining stakeholder trust, but also for protecting the organization’s reputation.
Bryghtpath was enlisted to leverage their extensive experience to enhance the company’s crisis communications strategy and train their team to effectively execute the strategy during a crisis.
Approach and Results
We began with a comprehensive review of the company’s existing crisis communications plan, assessing their messaging libraries, operational checklists, connectivity with the broader crisis management strategy & data incident response plans, and other related documents.
Working with the team through a series of working sessions, Bryghtpath was able to effectively update their crisis communications plan to address identified gaps, thereby establishing a solid foundation for crisis communications.
With the new plan completed, we then conducted a comprehensive training program for the entire marketing and communications organization. This training was designed to enable team members to understand and implement the updated crisis communications plan effectively.
Our training approach included discussion and review of best practices for crisis communications, case studies, and a walkthrough of the crisis communications plan, ensuring understanding and commitment within the team.
With our partner, Social Simulator, we then conducted a crisis/reputation-focused exercise to test the updated crisis communications plan. The exercise simulated a real-time engagement in a social media environment, replicating scenarios that the company could face in a real crisis.
We then provided a detailed after-action report with factual observations and a set of recommendations for further improvement.
This engagement resulted in a strengthened crisis communications plan, a well-trained crisis communications team, and a comprehensive understanding for the company of preparedness for real-world crises.
Key Activities
- Comprehensive review of the existing crisis communications plan & strategy
- Facilitated iterative sessions to improve the plan & supporting materials
- Conducting a comprehensive training for the marketing & communications team
- Execution of a crisis/reputation-focused crisis exercise
Outcomes
- Updated crisis communications strategy & plan
- Well-trained marketing & crisis communications team
- A detailed after-action report with recommendations for further improvement.
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