BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

Last week, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that crystallizes the preeminent challenge of crisis communications in the Information Age. The piece is entitled "The Ten Year Century" - and in it, Tom Hayes and Michael Malone chronicle modern society' s dizzying pace of change and what it means to each and every one of us.

Hayes and Malone point to a decade that has seen massive technological growth (and an even larger expansion of technological access) three market bubbles (dot-com, housing, and subprime), three market collapses, two wars, and a global influenza pandemic as evidence that fundamental evolutions in how we think, interact, and make decisions are occurring faster than most could have imagined even ten years ago.

While this certainly comes as no surprise to those of us who read minute-by-minute news updates on the blogs, our iPhones, or Twitter and Facebook accounts, Hayes and Malone make three make key points that should be imbedded in every CEO' s DNA.

First, faster access to information means shorter decision cycles. Today, brands can be reduced to reputational rubble in a matter of minutes. A critical blog post, a damaging YouTube video, or a negative tweet can travel virally throughout the Internet before most companies even know what has hit them. This point underscores the importance of anticipating your likely reputational exposures and formulating a response that can be implemented at a moment' s notice. As Hayes and Malone put it, "the emerging environment is not one for reflection or ‘letting things play out for a while.' "

Second, companies need to be aware that there exists a dearth of safeguards protecting against the rapid spread of misinformation. In a world where false reports can impact the buying decisions of millions in a blink of an eye, it is the companies themselves that must be responsible for setting the record straight with even greater speed when rumor and innuendo parade as truth. In order not to be caught flatfooted in the online world that your stakeholders likely migrated to years ago, engaging in constant and vigilant monitoring of social and digital media is absolutely essential.

And third, shorter decision cycles and the threat of fast-moving misinformation mean that trust will become a company' s most valuable asset. Some could correctly argue that the public' s confidence in a company or brand has always been the most critical element of effective business strategy - but today, it' s been elevated to another level. When bad news breaks, trust is what leads customers, investors, analysts, and regulators to say "wait… that' s not the company I know." It is what provides chances to counter with messages of your own and shape the narrative before opinions are formed and audiences move on to the next thing.

Every day, the window of opportunity for companies in crisis closes a bit more. If you haven' t used peacetime wisely to build trust, the chances that you' ll be able to squeeze through it during a bet-the-company moment diminish dramatically.

Richard Levick is President and CEO of Levick Strategic Communications and a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog.