This is one of my projects for TRU's online PR class. In this assignment I made a crisis communication plan for when Zion Williamson's Nike shoes fell apart during the first minute of his basketball game.
Nike Crisis Communication Plan
Objective: Make sure Nike’s image stays the same and is not compromised. Nike must gain control of the crisis situation and keep the public calm.
Target Audiences: The target audience for Nike in a crisis situation is the general public. Nike needs to maintain a good name in the public eye. More specifically than the general public, is sports fans, especially basketball fans in this situation.
Stakeholders are also important to reassure during a crisis situation, namely the stockholders so they don’t get spooked and drop the stocks.
Key Messages: The key message would be that Nike is still a high-quality sports brand. Different parts of this key message statement can be emphasized more depending on the target audience. The general public may need to hear that it is still a sports player’s shoe choice, whereas sports players and fans may need to be reassured of Nike’s high quality. Stake holders may not need to be reassured by the sports or the quality, but that Nike is still what it was before, here the emphasis is on the word “still.”
The first key message that the it’s the shoe for sports players, could be emphasized to the sports fans. This means that Nike is still not only a fashionable brand but a brand that is preferred and chosen by sports players. The justification for choosing this key message is that an audience watching a sports player’s shoe fall apart will then start to talk, whether it is around the dinner table or small talk at cash registers, and say that they are unsure if sport teams will continue to buy Nike products. It is important to put out this conversation before it starts. This would mean showing the general public that sports players still love Nike, and Nike loves them.
For the general public the key message would be that Nike is high quality. A more in-depth description would be that Nike is not accepting blame for the incident. Instead Nike is investigating the situation to find out the real cause of this oddity. Nike will use this opportunity to innovate new ways to make the best quality shoe for sports players. This is because if Nike takes this opportunity to invent a new shoe it will switch the story to a positive one for the company. Sports apparel is also a pretty competitive sector to be in so it is important that Nike does not begin to be thought of as low quality, they must maintain a high-quality status.
The stake holders have a similar key message, that Nike is still the same high-quality sports brand, however the emphasis is on the “still.” Nike has not changed from last week or a month ago. Nike is still committed to high quality products to encourage people to “just do it” and live their best lives. The company is looking into the cause of what happened. Many stockholders could get scared that Nike is going down hill and Nike needs them to hold firm. Therefor, Nike needs to present a strong and united message to them.
Dissemination (Strategies and Tactics): To disseminate the crisis key messages will be delivered through social media, a media release, an emailed newsletter, and a website statement.
Social media is a good way to deliver key messages because it reaches the general public easily. This would be fast reassurance of the sports brand and high-quality identity. The three forms of social media that Nike would focus on would be Facebook (posts and stories), Instagram (posts and stories), and Twitter.
Facebook would be both posts and stories. Posts would be made to reassure key messages and brand identity through photos. Unlike the posts, the story to directly talk about the incident. It would be a story so that it does not stay, it is only up for 24 hours. Nike does not need people randomly stumbling upon a post, on their own page, about something that could hurt their reputation.
Just like Facebook, Instagram would be both posts and stories, with the exact same goal. The posts would be photos that reassure Nike’s key messages and branding. Just like Facebook’s stories the story would directly talk about the incident but be a story, instead of a post, so that it disappears after 24 hours.
Twitter is a platform made for fast response. Because of this, Twitter would be where the first comment about looking into the incident and good wishes for Zion Williamson would be posted. Of course, like the other social media platforms, Twitter would post brand reassuring messages and photos
A media release is the best way to communicate to the general public who do not follow Nike on social media but would have heard about the incident.
An emailed newsletter would go out to retailers and to major stakeholders. For retailers it would include a script for them to say, in-case customers need some extra affirmations about Nike. For major stakeholders it would be a newsletter making sure they don’t loose faith in the company.
A website statement is a very controlled way to communicate. It is more likely for stakeholders and stockholders to check the website before they check any social media. They may see a website statement before seeing their emails. It also allows any other journalist, who isn’t on the media list and chooses to report on the incident, access to a public statement from Nike. This means that hopefully Nike’s side of the story will be shown more favorably in any article written.
Schedule:
Day One (the time the crisis took place):
· 7:00 PM – Zion Williamson breaks his Nike shoe during the first minute of the basketball game
· 7:10 PM – Call crisis communication team
· 7:20 PM -- Create media list (if not already made)
· 7:20 PM -- Draft media release
· 7:20 PM -- Draft website statement
· 7:20 PM -- Draft Facebook story statement
· 7:20 PM -- Draft Instagram story statement
· 7:20 PM -- Short, quick, Twitter statement (acknowledging that we saw it, are looking into it, and wish the best for Zion Williamson)
· 9:00 PM -- Draft customer service and retailer scripts
· 9:00 PM – Draft and send out message to major stockholders
· 11:00 PM -- Send media release to media list contacts
· 11:00 PM -- Send email with script to retailers
Day 2:
· 6:00 AM -- Post Facebook story statement
· 6:00 AM -- Post Instagram story statement
· 6:00 AM -- Post another statement on Twitter
· 6:00 AM -- Hire investigators to investigate the situation
· 8:00 AM -- Post website statement
· 8:00 AM -- Send Nike care package to Zion Williamson
· 10:00 AM – Instagram post reassuring brand identity
· 10:00 AM -- Facebook post reassuring brand identity
· 10:00 AM -- Twitter post reassuring brand identity
· Afternoon -- Start prepping sporty Nike video ("quality through the ages" or something reassuring the key messages)
· Afternoon – Start responding to comments
Day 3:
· Morning -- Instagram post reassuring brand identity
· Afternoon – Continue responding to comments
Day 4:
· Morning -- Instagram post reassuring brand identity
· Morning -- Facebook post reassuring brand identity
· Morning -- Twitter post reassuring brand identity
· Afternoon -- Post sporty Nike video that was being prepared this week.
Day 5:
· Morning – Continue responding to comments across social media
· Afternoon -- Instagram post reassuring brand identity
The reason for so many social media posts it follows Nike’s usual posting pattern on social media. Nike does not want to appear shaken. Social media is also a good way to ensure that Nike’s message is communicated quickly and clearly. Nike currently posts one post a day on Instagram, and a couple times a week on their other platforms. During this week Nike will want to post other sports related posts to make sure that their image of being a top sports brand does not crumble, leaving them just another fashion brand. This is where the three extra Instagram posts, that reassure the brand image, come into play. Potential posts could be photos of soccer player Alex Morgan, tennis player Caroline Garcia, soccer players Raheem Sterling, basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo, or 14-year-old boxer Chantel Nydile Navarro. This would not directly address the crisis but continue shaping the audience’s perspective to a positive one that Nike wants.
For the Instagram and Facebook stories that directly address the crisis at hand, Nike would vow to find out what caused the issue and make any necessary changes if there’s found to be any on their end, and wish a speedy recovery for Zion Williamson. The reason why it would be in the form of a story and not a post is so that it does not stay, it is only up for 24 hours. Nike does not need people randomly stumbling upon a post, on their own page, about something that could hurt their reputation.
Once the crisis is under control it would be fun to roll out a campaign featuring Zion Williamson. He could be the main face of the campaign or Nike could do a line with him like many fast fashion stores do; for example, “Nike x Zion” collaboration.
Official Statement:
Earlier this week, February 20th, Zion Williamson’s shoe broke during the first minute of Duke’s basketball game versus North Carolina. Our thoughts are with Zion Williamson and we are praying for a speedy recovery.
We are investigating the incident to figure out what caused the issue. Once we know the reason behind this unusual situation, we will do everything we can to make sure that it does not happen again by making any necessary changes.
Nike is, and always will be, committed to high quality products and look forward to learning from this experience so that together we can always be working to be better.
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