Chemical company does some quick crisis management after announcement drops early
Double checking your work is always important, and it’s even better to get a couple of other people to look it over for errors. The core reason behind this, at least from a crisis management perspective, is not simply to catch silly grammar mistakes, but to also prevent major “OOPS!” moments like the one Dow Chemicals experienced late last month.
Here’s the story, from a PRDaily article by Michael Sebastian:
According to Reuters, Dow had planned to announce layoffs today, along with its third-quarter earnings, but it scuttled that plan after a draft copy of the press release about the restructuring was accidentally sent to Bloomberg News on Tuesday night.
Instead of a Thursday release, the official layoff announcement and earnings report came late Tuesday evening.
Dow did not respond to PR Daily’s email, so it’s unclear exactly what took place in the company’s public relations or investor relations departments on Tuesday leading to the errant draft press release.
A spokesman for Dow told The New York Times, “We had an inadvertent premature release, and we moved quickly to take care of it.”
Honestly, Dow did the best it could in the situation by going ahead with the release early. There really is no mea culpa in order here (well…we imagine whoever sent the release early is doing a bit of groveling), so issuing a short statement and then moving on was the right move to make.
How do you prevent mistakes like this from happening? It’s simple. Put a system of checks and balances in place – releases (or important emails, newsletters, etc) don’t go out until, at the least, the author has signed off and passed it to an editor, who has in turned signed off on it themselves. If you’re a small business or one-man shop, grab a couple smart friends, colleagues or family members and put them to work. Most people are pleased and honored to be asked to proof an official document.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/