BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

A story in The Economist last week detailed a now-famous 2008 protest that took place at the London headquarters of Unilever. Greenpeace activists outraged with the company’s use of palm oil in its products dressed as orangutans and scaled its corporate office building, disrupted business, and displayed banners condemning Unilever for damaging the ecosystem.

The publicity stunt won widespread media attention and it wasn’t long before the company was forced to commit to obtaining palm oil from “sustainable” sources by 2015.

Activists employ these kinds of tactics because they often work. A check of the Internet demonstrates how groups are successfully winning publicity by such means as protesting naked outside BP’s headquarters,  sneaking video cameras into slaughterhouses, and staging sit-ins in the offices of U.S. Senators. As such, companies must prepare strategic measures to counter extreme actions designed to damage brands and smear corporate reputations.

Increasingly, global companies – especially those that manufacture consumer products – must include plans to address protest demonstrations as part of their risk-reduction and issues management program.

From the moment a company or government organization gets wind of a planned activist protest on its property, its senior managers need to distribute instructions to employees and security personnel that clearly lay out the ground rules for how they should react – and not react – in order to mitigate confrontation. In fact confrontation is exactly what the protesters seek, for it provides the necessary drama at the core of television news.

Companies must assume the activists have alerted reporters and provide talking points for one spokesperson at each location where protestors are likely to gather. Companies must stipulate in no uncertain terms that all employees are to direct media questions to the communications team. They must ensure that the police will be on the scene to prevent violence and property damage. And, finally, they must videotape the protest – to the extent possible – for protection in the event of litigation and to counter irresponsible or inaccurate media coverage.

Today’s activists are bold, extremely clever, well-organized, and connected with the media. In order to protect themselves against their attacks, companies and government organizations must match their sophistication on every level. If they don’t, the activists’ story is the one that will be told on the evening news – and the one that will live forever on the Internet.

Gene Grabowski is the Senior Vice President of Crisis and Litigation at Levick Strategic Communications, the nation’s top crisis communications firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog. Connect with him @crisisguru.