Public Relations
Crisis Communication is the new normalChances are your next opportunity to be “In the News” won’t be the result of a perfectly crafted press release. It will be in response to a crisis – natural disaster, executive scandal or a criminal investigation – that you must respond to in minutes as it breaks over social media.
Pre-emptive Public Relations builds emotional equity before a crisis
Plan years ahead
Today’s PR planning starts months, even years, before a crisis ever reaches your social media feed. Savvy organizations are continually doing risk assessments of their organizations, predicting what their worst days look like and getting prepared in advance. This includes media training for senior leaders, and at least once a year, conducting crisis media drills with operations.
Map your stakeholders
Pre-emptive Public Relations involves continually communicating your organization’s position on hot issues – such as the environment, safety and workplace harassment – so WHEN a crisis arrises, you have already built equity in the emotional bank accounts of your stakeholders. When news breaks, these informed stakeholders are trusted sources for defending your reputation.
Speed is paramount
At the onset of a crisis, you need pre-written and pre-approved statements ready to go on at least the top 80 crisis issues that could impact your organization. You want to be the first, credible source of information, before rumors get swirling on the internet. A recent study show lies travel faster than truth, which once out, means, some audiences will only know the misinformation.
Jay Leno’s Garage
Case Study: Jay Drives a Haul Truck at the Borax Mine
Subject matter expert with Jay Leno’s Garage executive producer to coordinate the TV shoot at Boron mining operations 90 miles east of Los Angeles.
Media relations activity included 5 print articles and two TV news segments in Bakersfield on the Jay Leno’s Garage Episode featuring the haul truck drive at our site.
BBC Click
Case Study: Amazon Web Services and Haul Truck Data
Click is the BBC’s flagship technology program, described as “the best debate on global technology, social media and the internet.”
At Rio Tinto, I worked with the PR team at AWS to plan and produce a segment on the use of cloud computing to manage the real-time data of the haul-truck performance at the Borax mine, the largest open pit mine in California.
The BBC Click production team visited the operation after attending the Cybersecurity Conference in Las Vegas. Borax starts at 13:30.
Rio Tinto unit born in Death Valley re-tooled for Battery Boom
During the financial crisis, Rio Tinto Group needed cash and tried to unload its oldest mining business — one that began in 1872 hauling borates salts by mule from Death Valley to make U.S. laundry soap.
Rep. McCarthy Visits Rio Tinto Minerals’ Boron Mine
Opening overseas markets for California products, resources and agriculture is an important factor in Kern County’s economic growth, said Rep. Kevin McCarthy in Boron.
US pressures India on boric acid imports
A recent trade forum saw US delegates prioritize the issue of India’s protectionism in its boric acid trade. Indian buyers, US producers and US diplomats are pushing Indian authorities to abandon current import regime.
How to Invest in the Slime Craze
Pity the toy industry. This season’s hottest plaything isn’t a pretty doll or quirky gadget with a movie tie-in—it’s slime. This year has seen more than 10 million YouTube and Instagram posts dedicated to home made goo with Borax.
John C. Brown
Marketing Communications Consultant
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