We have looked at various ways of dealing with crisis management since we started this blog in November, and this week there were varying degrees of crisis that arose, from college football to baseball to hoops…lets take a look at the trio, the ways they have been handled, and what could be next…
1- Pedro and the Mets: As the Mets unveiled some great news for their fans this week, trading for and signing Johan Santana, announcing Billy Joel's concert at Shea, even today's Post with a piece on local high school star Ruddy Lugo signing with the team as a free agent. Still they still had to deal with the Pedro Martinez appearance at a cockfighting match. The timing of the video, Martinez's presence as a very likeable superstar, and the response by the Mets for the short term, (as well as all the Roger Clemens testimony this week) all contributed to keeping the story slightly less sensational than it could have been had the Mets delayed or deffered response or Martinez been less than forthright in his response. The Mets could not avoid the story and for now have handled the situation well for the offseason. However groups like PETA will stay on the Mets for a long term plan to address the situation, and the Mets do have the luxury of time right now to see how public opinion plays this story out going into spring training. But by not hiding and issuing a statement and keeping management on message, the Mets handled round one well.
2: Hoops: The New Jersey Nets have had their share disappointment this season, especially with Jason Kidd's recent request to be traded. However the organization, one of the most respectful of their fans in pro sports, took a great proactive stance with their season subscribers, and this Monday will host an open forum with their subs and team executives to address the future of the team. Whether or not any real “news” will come out of the session will be seen. However by acting first and creating such an open forum at a critical time for the team, the Nets are showing responsibility and a willingness to discuss their brand (in the toughest of marketplaces) openly with their fans and are avoiding the silence that most organizations take in down times. Great move.
3- College football: Somehow college football signing has become a phenominon. However as Phil Sheridan pointed out in the Philly Inquirer, the “day” is really not on par either in news or anticipation or outcome with some of the days like Draft Day or Selection Sunday. Instead, the biggest news coming out of signing day was the bizarrer scam story of Nevada High Schooler Kevin Hart (Nice piece by Ray Ratto on sfgate), who “announced” his signing with the University of California, Berkeley, claimed he was scammed, and then had his whole story fall apart in the hope of playing the media and trying to get a college scholarship he may or may not deserve. Now Cal handled everything very well and worked hard to stay on focus with real recruiting successes for the year (Mark Isenberg's great site Money Players links to the best story detailing the affair, from BearTerritory.net. Where this goes in the future is anyone's guess, but Cal has to get props for not making matters worse for the school, the high school program, or the instigators in the scam.
End of the day, the prevailing themes in crisis management hold true. 1- Get all the facts before you speak. 2- Speak with one voice. 3- Realize that the media is still adjusting to the 24/7 world and will take rumor and run with it. 4- Once the facts are established, don’t let the statement stall reaction. Stories based in fact won’t go away in this digital world, and waiting longer than needed (per Kelly Tilghman) can make the situation worse. Timing and consistentcy of message is everything.
Couple of other quick post Super Bowl notes of interest…first is the Daily News story of Giants fan Joe Whelan, who found himself on the City Hall stage with the Giants last week despite no affiliation with the team…no great controversy but an interesting slice of life into how one can become a hero for the day… second…great move by the Leukemia Society to create a collectable very quickly that is unique and has a great payback to a very worthy cause…in the great land grab for memorabilia from last weekend, the charity found a way to cut through the clutter and give fans a reason to support both the charity and their team. Nice job.
