marcom
RAPID RESPONSE
Lickety-Split When crisis—or opportunity—strikes, it pays to be prepared. Here’s how to create a rapid-response messaging strategy. BY CHRISTINE BIRKNER | SENIOR STAFF WRITER
cbirkner@ama.org
A
lways expect the unexpected— and if you can plan for it, all the better. Marcom strategies should include a crisis communications plan, and you should develop methods and messaging to respond quickly not only in the face of a crisis, but also when an unforeseen marketing opportunity presents itself, experts say. For instance, when the 2013 Super Bowl dissolved into darkness due to a blackout
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MARKETING NEWS | APRIL 2014
at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, leaving football fans on site and at home waiting for play to resume, one brand created situation-appropriate messaging on the fly and later received kudos from industry experts for its quick response. Representatives from Deerfield, Ill.-based Mondelēz International Inc.’s Oreo brand were watching the game with members of their team from New Yorkbased marketing agency 360i, and when the blackout occurred, the team sprang
to action, posting a photo of an Oreo cookie on the brand’s social media pages with the slogan, “You can still dunk in the dark.” The image was shared on Twitter and Facebook more than 20,000 times, and garnered 525 million earned media impressions, allowing the message to reach five times the number of people who actually watched the Super Bowl, according to 360i. Here’s how to develop and execute rapid-response messaging to capitalize on an opportunity, or to protect your brand during a crisis.
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Develop a brand voice. Responding quickly takes a lot of upfront preparation. The seeds of Oreo’s Super Bowl post, for example, were sewn months before the event. The summer before the 2013 Super Bowl, 360i ran a 100-day campaign called “The Daily Twist,” creating fresh social media content every