Steve Rubel recently pointed to an article from Google’s “Consumer Packaged Goods” blog (a niche most of don’t contemplate regularly) that covers the question of damage control in a crisis, a situation that absolutely never ([cough] Macaca [cough]) arises in the political world. The article is aimed at companies trying to recover from a product recall or similar brand-disaster, but campaigns can learn from it as well. The author’s observations:
- Breaking news fuels online searches
- Breaking news fuels growth of online content
- Nimble companies, or competing interests, are often the first to react
What can you do to take advantage of your or your opponent’s stumble?
- The moment information is publicly available, make it findable
- Target Searches and Content in Post-Event Proactive Branding Campaigns
- Use Site, Sound and Motion for Maximum Impact
Despite the occasionally painful prose (Proactive! Maximum Impact!), it’s a useful article. Remember, it ain’t the crime that kills you most of the time, it’s the cover-up — Joe Bob says, check it out.
– cpd