Crisis Communications in the AI Era

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TRANSCRIPT:

 

DOUG: If you’re a B2B tech firm and there’s a pending crisis and when is there not, Julianna is someone to speak with about that. So, Juliana, what are the practices that help communicators stay composed and deliver objective counsel when there is a crisis?

 

JULIANNA: Sure. Thanks for having me today, Doug. So, I think the first and foremost is making sure that you have a strong relationship with the stakeholders internally. So, whether your communications professional that’s working as an external vendor or an internal communications person, it’s really critical to ensure that you have a direct through line to folks throughout the organization, whether that’s legal, HR, tech, or product. Having those relationships built early on will just make sure that you’re able to have really smooth processes and conversations when that incident strikes. I think the other thing that really helps organizations stay, you know, cool under pressure is having those opportunities to pressure test their process and their communications ahead of time. So, setting a regular cadence for tabletop drills or exercises on a quarterly basis where they can get together as a team, to understand what those high priority situations are that they want to be prepared for, and work through those in real time. To have a real understanding of where our gaps, where the challenges, what are folks weak spots, and how can we make sure that we’re addressing those now so that when a situation happens, you’re not floundering and delaying action.

 

DOUG: Yeah. And the pace of change with AI and algorithms means, sure, it’s great to be composed, but you often have to respond quickly, which can be no response. Is there a role that AI is playing in this and the discoverability of content? Because soon enough, the crisis can swamp all other content, whether it’s search engine optimization or GEO, generative engine optimization. Can you create sort of a base of solidness, for lack of a better word, that can help you when a crisis does erupt.

 

JULIANNA: Yeah, I do think there’s the piece of it that is, if you have an ongoing media relations program and effort, you are already going to be visible because we’re seeing more and more how earned media is pulling into generative engines, but I do think the other piece of it is making sure that you’re equipped and your team is equipped to know the best practices of today when it comes to distributed communications materials. So, whether that’s how you’re optimizing your own website content to feed into LLMs, but also things like the press release content have changed with how those are being distributed and the content is being taken by those LLMs. So, whether that’s optimizing that content and staying up to speed on how press releases need to be formatted to just ensuring that you have quick mechanisms in place to update your website content and, um, making sure that that’s pulling through accurately for those LLMs.

 

DOUG: Yeah. And there’s also different degrees of crises. Some, you know, can threaten the whole enterprise kind of thing. And we’re seeing that with a lot of brands with suddenly ties among their leaders to Epstein that, you know, go from go from 0 to 1000 overnight. Are there some that are sort of subtle that might build a little more slowly and do you have to prepare differently for those?

 

JULIANNA: I don’t know if there’s something that’s more subtle, but I do think having a pulse and having a real open threat of communication with your top leaders is really key, so that they can be open and honest with you as a communicator. So, I think when the situation strikes, you don’t want to be blindsided as a communications professional. So, I think the more you know in advance and the more trust that you’ve built with those leaders to be able to have those open conversations. So, you’re able to get ahead and plan as much as possible is really key, but I also think more than likely in the history of a company, there’s going to be some issue with a leader. So, making sure that that’s built into any proactive planning or protocols that you have in place, that a major situation or crisis might happen with your leader and being prepared to address that really quickly, knowing that it’s likely to be pretty visible.

DOUG: How do you strike the balance when you know you’ve got your company leader and they’re sort of poo pooing or don’t think it’s a crisis yet? And you see it building up. We will take that one first and then we’ll go the other direction. So, what are some strategies to do. And you’ve mentioned trust obviously in having that relationship, but oftentimes that can be an obstacle to activity in action.

 

JULIANNA: You have to put it in terms that they’re going to understand. So, what is the business impact? What is the revenue impact? What are those things that maybe they might not fully understand communications and the risk and the impact of that? But they do understand the business impact? So, how can you tie the community, you know, either communicating or not communicating to that business impact for them? And I found that that’s really an effective way to get them to understand why or why not in terms of responding or entering a conversation. In terms of the flip side, I think they oftentimes want to wait it out, see what happens, but I do think as communicators we’ve seen a lot. So, we know how the story plays out a lot of times. So, it’s important for us to advocate to get something out quickly or to form a communication strategy to address it should the situation snowball or escalate. So, I think it’s really important for us to lean on that expertise to ensure that we’re protecting the company first and foremost, not just the leader.

 

DOUG: Interesting. Obviously, legal can play a role. Are they friends or enemies?

 

JULIANNA: They are partners in any situation. I think it’s understanding each other’s threshold for risk is really important. So, certainly there are the legal implications and compliance and things like that that we need to understand, but I think it’s also important for legal to provide that background and why as to a word choice, I think ultimately that’s oftentimes where we end up butting heads most with the legal team is over a few words in a statement. So, understanding the why behind that so that we can continue to both balance the goals that we have in terms of reputation, but also legal risk, to ensure that, you know, a statement is getting out quickly. So, I definitely see legal teams as partners.

 

DOUG: Yeah. Is AI playing a role in how to identify both? Well, first we’ll start in helping to identify potential risks.

 

JULIANNA: I think it can be I know there’s a number of tools on the market for monitoring that are allowing brands to have signals into what is being said about not only their brand, but their industry, so that they can better anticipate risks, but I do think, having a pulse on your search results too is really key. So, how are you showing up in generative engines and tracking that over time so you can understand how maybe sentiment is shifting, how you’re being positioned, and then how communications can help pivot that?

 

DOUG: Can it play a role in sort of formulating a response and pressure testing responses quickly because that’s one of the big advantages we see is the ability to create content and get feedback on it really fast.

 

JULIANNA: Yeah, I definitely think we use those engines to pressure test messaging. So, making sure that does this meet the expectations of a consumer audience? Does this meet the expectations of an investor audience? What am I missing? What are potential risks of this message over this message? So, I wouldn’t use any AI generated responses flat out. I think it’s really important to have that human touch, but I do think it’s really helpful, especially when you’re trying to move quickly. You maybe don’t have the input of a full team or audience to make sure that your pressure testing that messaging without giving too much away. I think the risk, of course, is putting proprietary information into those engines. So, making sure you’re balancing what you’re putting in there and anonymizing it where you can so that you’re not putting the business at further risk by putting sensitive information into those engines.

 

DOUG: Yeah. And that’s where many of the brands have created their own systems for doing that, to keep the content within. I don’t think viewers would be missing anything if they had a chance to watch this podcast or listen to it so far, but do you want to add a final thought?

 

JULIANNA: You know, I think we’re in an age where prices are moving fast, so you need to develop processes and have tools in place to be able to meet that pace, whether it’s through generative AI or still social media. We see being a major vehicle for crises. So, making sure that you have those mechanisms in place to move quickly and work closely with your comms team to address and not fuel any additional crises.

 

DOUG: Thanks so much for being part of this, and congratulations on your career success.

 

JULIANNA: Thank you so much, Doug.