Lack of crisis planning reason for London's falling

London’s leaders are tallying how much damage the riots will cost the city’s reputation. Images broadcast around the world depicted London as a lawless city with burned out properties and looted shops. As tourists question whether London is a safe place to visit, the UK’s Visit Britain tourist board has pulled an advertising campaign that capitalized on the PR boost from the Royal Wedding.

As a British PR professional living in a city that recently suffered its own unrest, it was interesting to witness the communications breakdown among Britain’s leaders in the aftermathof the riots. Questions were quickly raised as to why London Mayor Boris Johnson and Prime Minister David Cameron took so long to react. Yes, both politicians were away on vacation, but the riots quickly escalated. Could they not have returned – or responded – sooner?

In his first media scrum on the issue, Johnson appeared uninformed about riot response plans, and he was heckled by victims of the riots. This was in stark contrast to Gregor Robertson’s first media scrum on the night of the Vancouver riots, where he successfully delivered key messages on immediate riot response. While some praised Cameron for the tough approach outlined in his first post-riot speech, he was also seen as scoring a point for the opposition when he publically criticized the British Police for using the “wrong tactics” to combat the unrest.

These examples serve to illustrate the importance of creating, updating and distributing a crisis communications plan to all staff in an organization before a crisis occurs. Especially in the early stages of a crisis, an effective plan is invaluable. It should:

• outline the lines of authority and reporting across all levels of an organization
• identify the communications team responsible for handling the crisis
• name a spokesperson
• highlight media relations strategy
• identify mechanisms for key message dissemination.

Crises do not discriminate. Whether a small business or a government, organizations have to be prepared.  If nothing else, the failures of London’s leaders in managing communications during the riots highlights that reputations are made – and unmade – on the backs of a crisis.