Social media changes the crisis management strategy



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Recently, I am required to consult on one crisis Bravo faced two months ago.
Bravo is a cable television channel owned by NBC Universal, and produces original reality content, such as "The Real Housewives", "Inside the Actors Studio", and others.

"The Real Housewives" is one of the most popular reality series. The series follows the lives of relatively affluent, bourgeois housewives and professional women in the suburban or urban areas of several American cities, and the suffix portion of the title takes on the name of that metropolitan region. ( Wikipedia)

On August.15,2011, "the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" husband Russell Armstrong killed himself. Because Russell once mentioned this TV show made his life under big stress in an interview with People magazine, his death put Bravo and its Reality TV franchise into a difficult situation.

Then how did Bravo handle this crisis?

Russell's death was reported on August.16. In the wake of the Armstrong suicide, Bravo executives didn't hold the press conference or respond to journalists as expected, instead, they declined all the interview requests. On the contrary, Bravo executive Andy Cohen immediately acknowledged the death of Russell on his own Twitter, said, "I am so very sad about today's news. My prayers and thoughts are with Taylor Armstrong and her family." Other cast members also reacted to this strategy on twitter and Facebook quickly. A statement from the Bravo's official forum reads: "All of us at Bravo are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of Russell Armstrong. Our sympathy and thoughts are with the Armstrong family at this difficult time." Messages were spread out fast on the social platform, and before the journalists making any comments, many people had already known about the accident.
It's interesting to notice a fact: Bravo chose the social media as the first battlefield instead of the big media. Also, in the whole process, Bravo took more measures on the social media. In this case, traditional media was not regarded as critical as before to solve a problem.

In the past, journalists were the only bridge between the truth and the audience. However, the delivery of information was edited and time-costed during the completed process. Uncompleted disclosures easily lead to misdirection, and many cases were not perfectly handled due to the misdirection of the reports. Now, the social media provides a platform for corporations to enable their words heard directly and widely in the shortest time. Companies could take more control in their own hands of the communication with audiences. No wonder Bravo and other companies would choose to skip the traditional media at the first minute when the crisis broke out. They have to disclose the real situation and create a favorable public opinion environment before the intervention of the big media.

Social media does not only change the way of Marketing, but also change the way of crisis management strategy.