In One Place: Lettuce Recall Resources, Reporting & Info

As the outbreak of E. coli O145 continues to spread (23 confirmed cases in four states) and the recall of lettuce tied to Freshway Foods and Vaughn Foods expands into more states this week, I wanted to put together a few of the resources for staying on top of the situation. There has also been some truly fantastic reporting going on regarding the investigation into the source of the outbreak and about the ever-popular bug, E. coli:

 

Official Resources:

• CDC's E. coli lettuce investigation page
• FoodSafety.gov - A website run by CDC, USDA, FDA, HHS, the White House and the National Institutes of Health that provides information on recalls and helpful tips for keeping a safe food environment. Also, check out their blog.
• FDARecalls on Twitter for a straight news feed
• FoodSafetyGov on Twitter for more consumer-friendly food safety information

Reporting:

• How did E. coli O145 contaminate lettuce? - Helena Bottemiller at FoodSafetyNews.com has a two-part series on potential causes of the outbreak on a farm in Yuma, Arizona - a place that has remained a relatively safe area for lettuce producers.
• How this Widening Lettuce Recall is Different - NPR examines the differences between the usual suspect strain in E. coli investigations - E. coli O157:H7 and the current bug, E. coli O145
• Health Blog Q&A: What to Do About E. coli - Katherine Hobson at the Wall Street Journal talks to an infectious disease expert about E. coli, vaccine research and whether organic beef can be considered safer than non-organic beef.

There are a just a few here, but these are the stories and resources that stick out in my mind as the best so far about this outbreak. What are you reading?

 

Posted via web from josh morton's posterous

Think Before You Jump: Messaging During a Crisis

I had the pleasure and opportunity to present a workshop on crisis communications last Friday at the DePaul University "Get In the Loop" conference, hosted by the DePaul chapter of PRSSA. Everyone at DePaul was great and the students that came in from other chapters asked solid questions and were eager to learn about a career in PR. I would have loved to do a full-scale crisis simulation, but we only had 45 minutes. Instead, I decided to focus on something that is often not given enough focus during a crisis: messaging.
A common line you hear almost everywhere these days is that, with the new digital environment, corporations have lost control of their message. That may be mostly true when you think of what happens after messages are disseminated, but that doesn't excuse companies from not having good messaging in the first place. Companies still have complete control over what they say, how they say it and where they say it, and that ability can influence the dialogue about issues and situations. So, instead of focusing on how to utilize Twitter or video or a corporate Web site during a crisis, we talked about message mapping during an outbreak of E. coli. This seemed timely given the recent increase in the rates of foodborne illness. We discussed our target audiences, brainstormed questions from media, government and consumers, and then divided into groups to devise tailored messages to each stakeholder group.
In the end, we were able to have a more effective conversation about strategy, and then about the best channels to use to disseminate the messages to the right audience. I hope the students enjoyed it. Most of our discussion took place outside of the presentation slides themselves; however, I've posted them here in case they are useful to others.

Posted via web from josh morton's posterous

5 Social Media Trends for Food & Nutrition in 2010

FoodMinds, the agency I work for, released a list of five social media trends we see as making a splash in food and nutrition in 2010. We put a lot of thought into looking back at 2008 and 2009 to see what worked and what didn't, and spent much time considering the future of the digital food and nutrition space as we move into the New Year. I'm happy to share it with you, below. You can also download a PDF of the piece, here.

1. Mobile and Local will be King 

Of the more than 100,000 apps for the iPhone, over 7,000 of them are related to food. Food apps in 2009 focused on recipes, location-based services and weight loss. Phil Lempert pointed out recently that apps aren’t just a fad and FoodMinds says in 2010, foods apps for all mobile phones will be even more prevalent and become hyper-local – tailored to the individual. Look for apps focused on developing personal nutrition plans and finding personalized grocery deals and lists from stores near you. For example, ShopRite recently launched a weekly circular application that helps consumers create grocery lists based on the best deals right from their phones.

2. Consumers will Increase Scrutiny of Food Information and Demand Transparency

With the explosion of social media into the mainstream in 2009, consumers will be working hard in 2010 to find the most credible information about food and nutrition. Mintel said in its 2010 Global Consumer Trends report that consumer confidence took a hit in 2009: “We’ve become a society of doubters, skeptical of nutrition claims, the motives of ‘green’ companies, and the competitiveness of bank rates.” In 2010, look for consumers to demand credentials from those giving nutrition advice, and for them to expect even more transparency in all areas of brand interaction. 

3. Food Safety will be Top-of-Mind

Consumers are more concerned than ever before about the safety of their food. New Web sites by consumer advocates (such as Food Safety News) and an increased involvement by government food safety agencies (such as the FDA and CDC) in the social media space gives consumers access to a massive amount of food safety information. In 2010, look for government agencies to refine their digital communications efforts on recalls, foodborne illnesses and on proactive tips to help consumers stay safe.

4. Food and Consumer Advocates will Mobilize Easier to Push for Change

In 2008, consumer advocates and food activists began to use social media to broadcast their message to a wider audience. In 2009, they honed their skills by experimenting with organizing events online to engage consumers and push them to action. In 2010, look for these groups to apply what they’ve learned and move to implement campaigns that more effectively mobilize large numbers of people to influence policy, legislation and public opinion. Not only will groups get better at mobilizing for national issues, they will also increase their efforts to organize for change at the local level – in schools, cities and states.

5. Listening to Online Conversation about Brands will be More Critical than Ever

A recent survey by the Grocery Manufacturers Association found 54% of CPG companies do not have a program in place to monitor and report on consumer conversations about their companies or brands. With tens of thousands of tweets per hour, more than 20 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute and food issues ranking high in the public agenda, it will be essential for food and nutrition companies to pay attention to consumer conversation online. Look for food companies to increase their engagement with consumers, specifically about nutrition, and to put them in regular contact with dietitians, researchers and other health professionals.

Posted via web from josh morton's posterous

The Importance of Social Media Monitoring: During a Crisis and Beyond.

Over at the Crisisblogger blog, Gerald Baron has a great review of Fineman PR's top "PR Blunders" of 2009 and some good insight from Michael Fineman's subsequent interview with Bulldog Reporter where he says that many of this year's missteps revolved around poor utilization and understanding of digital communications. Fineman says the biggest mistake of social media use during a crisis is slow response time. Baron posted the first half of Fineman's response about timeliness on his post. Here's the second half:

In the old days, you had to get on top of a crisis in the first 48 hours. Now, it's the first 48 minutes. In those minutes, you have a responsibility to contain the crisis and alert any audiences that may be in danger or are being impacted by the crisis. Your response must be instantaneous.

He's right. Organizations in crisis often do not have the luxury of waiting even one news cycle to respond. With tens of thousands of tweets per hour, and more than 20 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, it is essential to integrate social media monitoring into the daily intelligence gathering routine, and to ramp up appropriately the moment an issue escalates. A recent survey by the Grocery Manufacturers Association found 54% of CPG companies do not have a program in place to monitor and report on consumer conversations about their companies or brands. Here are a few tips for social media monitoring and for integrating it into a daily program:

• Put them together - If your "social media monitoring guy (or girl)" and your "traditional media monitoring guy" aren't the same guy, put them in the same room during a crisis. What happens online affects what happens offline and vice versa. Allowing both parties to see what's happening outside of their bubble will lead to a faster, more strategic response. The two should also be talking on a daily basis about their analyses when there is no crisis. 
• Start from the beginning - If you are not already including social media monitoring in your daily routine, start today by setting up Google Alerts, searching Twitter, using BlogPulse and other free tools while you evaluate which paid service may be right for you. Waiting until a crisis arises to listen to online conversation will put you at a disadvantage - you won't know the influencers and how your brand is usually talked about nearly as well.
• Integrate paid and free services - Don't stop using the free tools once you've signed on to a Radian6 or BuzzMetrics because you can sometimes find gems the big services may look over. Also, read this post by Jason Falls for some more direction.
• Include "problem words" up front - You can't expect to catch every crisis before it starts or know every issue that may arise. However, as in good crisis preparedness, you can anticipate your most likely issues and include keywords for them in your daily searches. Issues with liability? Are there certain buzzwords people use when talking only about issues within your industry? Include the most likely terms in your monitoring program.
• Keep revising, keep refining - Conversation and issues online are fluid. Even if you aren't in the midst of a crisis, the terminology used in online dialogue about your brand, service or industry will change over time. Update your keywords, watchlists and other tools often to keep up with the conversation. Change terms as you see the conversation change, but also schedule regular intervals (Quarterly? Monthly?) to check in on what you're seeing and make any necessary updates.

This is a brief list for now. If you have any suggestions or want to share things that have worked for you, please feel free to comment.

 

Posted via web from josh morton's posterous

Maker of Recalled Cribs Missing Opportunity to Use Social Media Tools It Already Has

*Updated below.

The news of the largest crib recall in U.S. history, which broke last night and is still evolving this morning, shines a bright spotlight on the critical importance of having a crisis plan and integrating social media into crisis response - especially for a major manufacturer of child and baby products.

The company, Stork Craft, is recalling more than 2.1 million drop-side cribs in the U.S. and Canada and, thus far, its response has been troubling silence. Bloomberg, NBC, CBS and other news outlets reported Stork Craft has not returned any calls for comment, its Web site is overwhelmed with traffic and is down as of this blog post and the CBC reports many parents have been unable to get through the customer care phone lines. The company's response is even more bothersome because it just went through a similar situation earlier this year when it recalled more than 500,000 cribs. As worried parents continue to hit road blocks in their search for information, Stork Craft is ignoring two effective avenues of communication that are working that they could be using right now: its blog and Twitter handle, @StorkCraft.

Returning media phone calls is a whole other story; However, if its Web site is overwhelmed and its phone lines are jammed, Stork Craft can immediately begin to communicate with anxious consumers by posting a statement to its blog and tweeting important information and responding to concerns. Even if the two channels were not originally intended for crisis communication, Stork Craft's blog and Twitter handle are its only sure means of communication while the company works to get its site and phone lines back on track. If Stork Craft had a crisis plan to begin with (and it should have after its last round of recalls in January at the absolute latest) they could have integrated social media into their response. It's not rocket science, and by not using the digital tools already at their disposal, Stork Craft is missing an opportunity to protect its reputation and provide consumers with important information.

*Update: It looks like now, after an initial phase of silence, Stork Craft is responding to consumers on their blog and via Twitter while they work through their phone/Web issues. While not interacting with many customers on Twitter, they have engaged several people to give them information on ordering repair kits and are pushing people to their blog with a message from their e-marketing and social media manager that says:

We’re currently working through the initial surge of inquiries and requests at the moment. It is very busy here and we are doing our best to meet the demand...We are experiencing heavy traffic on our website. If you find that you are having difficulties getting through, please send this information to: parts@storkcraft.com

 It's promising to see Stork Craft beginning to use the tools they have to reach consumers, even though it's late. Let's hope their use of social media translates into a more coordinated media/consumer response overall.

Sticking to Values, FedEx Balks at Pay for Play

I wanted to write quickly about this issue since it's breaking right now. Mike Allen at Politico reported this morning that after the American Conservative Union (ACU) offered to take FedEx's side on a major labor issue for $2 million to $3 million, it quickly backed rival UPS when FedEx said it wouldn't pay. Allen writes:

"The ACU...took UPS’s side on Wednesday as part of a conservative consortium that accused FedEx of 'misleading the public and legislators'...Just two weeks earlier, ACU had offered its endorsement to FedEx, saying in a letter to the company: 'We stand with FedEx in opposition to this legislation.'"

This shines a serious spotlight on what Allen calls "black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as 'pay for play.'"

Pay for play is one of those well-suspected, but little-proven tactics in government, PR and marketing (and others) that can be very attractive for the parties involved, but runs completely counter to practicing business with integrity. I have no doubt FedEx would have enjoyed having ACU as a powerful ally in its efforts to persuade stakeholders and legislators to come to their side of the issue. They could have very easily paid ACU to mobilize and nobody would have ever known. Instead, FedEx stood by its values and risked an ACU switch - which they did - to attempt to reach their goal the right way. You can bet they didn't pay for George Will's support in Wednesday's Washington Post. You wonder, though, how much UPS ended up paying ACU for theirs.

Quelling "But They Could Say Anything" Syndrome

As of late, it seems nearly everyone is diving head-first into social media and evolving their digital communications. Companies like Pepsi, Molson and Comcast have made big news engaging their stakeholders online and are setting the bar high as rules for social media continue to be written. Still, there are many organizations that haven't jumped into social media for a host of reasons - some because they don't know where to begin and others because they don't see an immediate or clear ROI. For some companies, however, the biggest barrier is that they are timid when it comes to finding out what people are saying about them online and talking with their stakeholders. I've heard the fear of the web expressed with phrases like, "It's just a bunch of people in their pajamas wanting to cause me loads of trouble," and, "They [the royal they] don't represent real consumers. They're just angry." However, the most common way this fear manifests itself is by proclaiming, "But they could say anything!"

Companies with "Say Anything Syndrome" see the web as completely separate from the real world, where people are out to spread rumors and tear them down. The reality is that the discussion of brands online really doesn't differ much from what happens every day in coffee shops, offices and bars (and they're the same people, too). The true difference is that companies can now actually hear the conversation they've been missing out on, and it's not all terrible. One of the biggest opportunities in social media is the first (and safest) step to joining the online community: listening.

Kat French has several great posts on the Social Media Explorer blog about getting started in social media monitoring (she actually just posted another today). If engaging your stakeholders online isn't right for you at this time, listening to what they're saying is an easy way to dip your toes in the water. In fact, the majority of the discussion may be just what you'd expect: some really positive, some really negative and most just neutral. Monitoring allows you to identify your fans and detractors and analyze trends in conversation. It also gives you the ability to spot false rumors and correct them. "They" can and do say "anything" - online and offline - sometimes even false things. However, you may be surprised to find that untrue things are often corrected by your fans. Similar to a cocktail party conversation, if someone hears something they think is false online, they raise skepticism about it. Other more believable rumors stay out on the web and don't get addressed. If you've decided to engage online, this is where you can confirm true facts and refute senseless gossip.

One of the best arguments for getting over "Say Anything Syndrome" was given by one of the members of the social media team at Molson during a BlogWell conference call a couple of weeks ago. I can't remember exactly who said it, but Molson's decision to engage in social media was essentially "opening the flood gates to what was already happening." If people don't have the facts about a situation, the company reaches out and provides them. They've received a lot of praise for their outreach efforts and have shown measurable growth in their reputation. If they weren't at least listening to the discussion of their brand online they would never even hear it and would never have the opportunity to proactively protect their brand on the web.