When a corporate scandal or other crisis occurs, it is necessary to rapidly and correctly deal with numerous issues, such as whether, when and where a press conference should be held, who should answer inquiries from the media and how they should be answered, and what corporate structures are necessary for conveying a consistent message.
A temporary impairment of corporate image is unavoidable during a crisis. The issues at such times are how the company's reputation can be restored and how it can be enhanced beyond prior levels. LBS can provide the consulting services necessary to resolve these issues from the perspective of communications.
LBS will support the restoration of the company's image by promptly and simultaneously resolving multiple communications problems through the formation of countermeasure teams and assignment of personnel to prevent the dissemination of confusing and inconsistent information and by developing communications strategies for disseminating appropriate and accurate information. LBS collaborates with JMC Risk Management, an information security consulting firm, to implement communications regarding information security crises from the perspectives of both risk management and corporate image management.
Crisis exercises are the corporate image management version of evacuation drills. LBS develops scenarios of prospective crisis situations tailored to each company that are as faithful to actual conditions as possible and conducts exercises for responding to each type of crisis situation based on those scenarios.
During an exercise, the client's communications division receives a steady stream of dummy crisis information and inquiries from stakeholders. The division makes appropriate responses while conveying (dummy) information to the media. Following the exercise, information gathering, responses to inquiries, information dissemination, and other points are evaluated. Based on these evaluations, LBS will propose corporate image management structures for crisis situations.
