• Thirty-six years later, Johnson & Johnson's handling of the Tylenol situation in 1982 remains the textbook example of how to respond to a crisis.

Johnson & Johnson quickly pulled 31 million bottles of Tylenol—worth $100 million—off the shelves, and it became obvious right away that the company was putting customer safety first.

If you have attended any of our USDEC crisis communications drills or Export Response Planning Sessions I lead, you have heard how vital it is for a company to have a plan in place so it can respond quickly in a crisis.

The early-mover advantage

I call this the "early-mover advantage." If anything, the speed of social media sharing makes a fast response even more important in key dairy export markets than it does here.

Consider the research we did a few years ago in China. We convened 20 focus groups consisting of high-income Chinese mothers in the cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai. In addition to this qualitative research, USDEC commissioned quantitative research in the form of a 2,000-person online survey.

An encouraging 79 percent said they would consider a company sincere if information is communicated within 24 hours. But only 14 percent would consider a company sincere if it waits 72 hours or more.

Speed and skill can calm a crisis

Your pace, tone and actions in an overseas crisis can make or break your company.

While enormous strides have been made in the dairy industry's crisis communications preparation, many of you have told me you don't have the staff and expertise to move with necessary speed.

In response to this need, I am pleased to announce a new member benefit I call "Just-in-Time Crisis Counsel." It spells out what USDEC can do for you and gives you some valuable access to one of the world's premier crisis communications agencies.

You can count on USDEC to provide these services

• Provide confidential guidance regarding in-market messaging, market access and regulatory requirements.
• Serve as ad hoc member of a company’s response team.
• Deliver executive media training.
• Monitor media coverage in affected markets and provide updates on coverage and trends.

USDEC also offers up to five hours of in-market communication counsel through our public relations partner, Edelman, at no cost to you. Important note: This is available for up to four USDEC members each calendar year on a first-come, first-served basis.

Agency with 65 global offices

Edelman has 65 offices worldwide, including Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe, Middle East and Africa. Senior counselors working with USDEC members will sign nondisclosure agreements to ensure information shared is protected.

Edelman's services include:

• In-Market Situation Overview and Analysis: Edelman will summarize the risk situation with a general analysis of severity and media exposure status upon the request of the member company.
• Strategic Counsel: Senior members of the Edelman corporate, reputation and crisis team will offer their initial counsel regarding overall response approach and next steps, via conference call. (Note: The first two services listed here—in-market situation overview/analysis and strategic counsel—are included in the five hours of no-fee counsel and the others require additional time.)
• Communication Collateral Development: Edelman can prepare/translate stakeholder communication materials such as holding statement, media Q&A, stakeholder letter, etc.
• External Stakeholder Coordination: Edelman can handle urgent external inquiries, coordinate third-party resources as needed for issue management, and arrange and organize media tours.
• Expanded Media/Social Media Monitoring: Edelman can monitor coverage and conversations to support strategy development and identify misinformation.

Of course, ongoing counsel and support is also available at the agency's crisis rates. (Rates for ongoing counsel and support from Edelman are available upon request.)

Use our resources

For more information, contact me at mspeich@usdec.org or 703-469-2363.

If you haven't done so already, download our practical members-only manual, The CEO Crisis Guide to Taking the Early Mover Advantage.

Combining USDEC's early-mover-advantage guidelines with our new "Just-in-Time Crisis Counsel" gives you valuable tools to implement. In the unlikely event of a global food safety crisis involving your company, you will not be alone. 

Margaret Speich is senior vice president of strategic and industry communications at the U.S. Dairy Export Council.

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The U.S. Dairy Export Council fosters collaborative industry partnerships with processors, trading companies and others to enhance global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients. USDEC is primarily supported by Dairy Management Inc. through the dairy farmer checkoff. The password-protected article above is intended for USDEC member organizations only and should not be shared with anyone outside your organization.