The cyberattacks continue – effective crisis communications for retailers
The cyberattacks continue – effective crisis communications for retailers. It started a few days ago with M&S and now the Co-op and Harrods are having to manage cyberattacks. At Communicate Media we provide crisis communications training for retailers across the board, from luxury brands to High Street names. As a result, we’ve been watching these cyberattacks unfold as well as analysing the media coverage. All of our media trainers and crisis communications consultants are working journalists (operating under strict non-disclosure agreements) and so they have direct experience and useful insights.
Based on our experience of providing crisis communications workshops to retailers, among other organisations, including financial services firms, tech firms, travel companies and law firms, here are five tips for retailers handling a crisis.
1. Act quickly
In our crisis communications training courses for retailers a cyberattack is one of the most common scenarios that we create working closely with the in-house communications team and their public relations advisers. We also look at incidents such as problems with supply chain, accusations of greenwashing and suggestions of sexism, racism and bullying. Other issues that we’ve created for retailers in our crisis communications workshops include social media controversies plus fires and even possible terrorist attacks. It might sound depressing and even frightening, but the fact is that retailers these days need to be prepared for these eventualities. We’re finding that more and more retailers are coming to us for advice on dealing with crises and difficult issues.
Crisis communications training
We’ve been in the business of crisis communications training for many years. When we first started, we talked about “the golden hour”. This was the brief period in which, following an incident, an organisation could get on the front foot and take control of the message. Beyond this hour or so events would overtake them, and the organisation’s communications team would find themselves running to catch up.
Crisis communications for retailers
These days that golden hour has been crunched down to a few moments. First it was 24 -hour, rolling news and now it is the power of social media. Suddenly everybody is a reporter, and incidents can explode on X, Insta, Facebook and other social media channels in minutes. Retailers come to us for crisis communications training so that they are all set and ready to go for whenever a crisis erupts. This means having spokespeople prepared and trained to handle the media. It also involves template statements that can be completed and updated to refer to a particular incident. There are a wide variety of other actions that we outline in our crisis communications for retailers that will allow organisations to get ahead of the game in case of a crisis.
2. Express sympathy and concern
Organisations often regard themselves as the victims of a cyberattack and retailers are no different. However, for the public – and therefore the media – the real victims are the customers. They are the ones who can’t make purchases or get deliveries. They’re also the ones who are concerned about whether their personal details including their financial information is now for sale to criminals.
During our crisis communications training courses for retailers, we emphasise the importance of expressing care and concern for customers. You could also include suppliers here if you want to. Finding the right words is important. There are so many cliches to avoid here and so identifying words and phrases that sound authentic and relevant to the brand is essential.
3. Make it clear that you’re taking action
As well as sympathy, the media will expect you to be able to talk about what you’re doing to manage the situation and minimise the impact on your customers. In our crisis communications training courses for retailers, we look at the importance of language used in statements and media interviews. One organisation said in a statement: “It has been brought to our attention that…”. Obviously, this is quite reasonable and is probably true. The problem is that it sounds passive, as if the organisation is sitting back and waiting for things to happen.
It’s essential to demonstrate that from the moment an incident is suspected, even before a crisis erupts, that you are on the front foot. This means taking action and maintaining control of the situation. This includes examples of what you are doing. In many cases it might be about carrying out a thorough investigation. You might also want to give examples of how you’re providing support to customers who are concerned about their orders or the safety of their financial details.
4. Coordinate your message across all channels
In our crisis communications training for retail brands, we emphasise that once you have developed your statement you need to communicate it across all channels. This means putting out a press release, making your statement prominent on your corporate website and distributing it through your social media channels. It also means ensuring that managers and staff in all your branches are aware of the situation and know what you’re saying about it.
It’s also important to check what other messages you’re putting out. One travel operator was battling to convince the media that it was looking after customers who had been caught up in a war situation in a developing country. Meanwhile, journalists gleefully pointed out that the company was still promoting tours of this part of the world on its website.
The cyberattacks continue – effective crisis communications for retailers
If you’re a retailer with a store card or financial services arm, you need to be careful about promoting this if, at the same time, there are allegations that your customers’ financial details have been leaked. Similarly, one retailer who we provided crisis communications training for had been caught out with their recruitment advertising as they sought to manage allegations of bullying and sexism.
5. Monitor coverage
In some of our crisis training courses for retailers will set up a newsroom within the exercise. Here, our experience media trainer journalist will bombard the press office with inquiries as they would in real life. They’ll then write reports, based on the answers that they get to their questions, and post these reports on social media. We’ll also create social media posts (within this safe, confidential space) from imaginary members of the public and experts. The challenge for the comms team is to identify which of these reports in both conventional and social media they need to respond to and perhaps challenge or correct, and which they should let go to avoid creating a Twitter storm.
M&S cyber incident
The wording in M&S’s statement is clear, simple and natural. It’s also active – “M&S has been managing a cyber incident.” “We’re suffering…” or “We’ve been made aware…” would sound too passive, as if the organisation is not in control or is simply reacting to events. Making it clear that you’re taking action is extremely important. We also like “To protect you…” as it shows care and concern for the audience, and this is something that we strongly recommend during our crisis communications training for retailers.
“I’ve worked in the press office for nearly five years, but I’ve never had an experience like that,” one participant on one of our crisis communications training courses for retailers told us. “Coming under pressure and realising that anything you say – a comment or form of words – will be reported and could create all kinds of trouble was terrifying. But it was incredibly useful to do it now in a safe space and get feedback. I feel much better prepared should this happen for real.”
The cyberattacks continue – effective crisis communications for retailers
The world has never been so challenging for retailers. We know this because we provide media training for retail organisations across the board. We also know that brands that are prepared for a cyberattack or any other threat will be in a much better position to thrive in this challenging landscape.
Crisis communication training
Our crisis communications training courses for retailers meet the exact needs of the company. As a niche agency we are agile and cost effective. Come and talk to us about our crisis communication workshops. You can follow us on LinkedIn here.
