Social Media is Game Changer in Corporate Crisis Communications

Cardinal Health this week got a taste of the power of social media when posts from the financial blog Zerohedge.com speculated the company was preparing for a leveraged buyout that would take Ohio’s largest publicly traded company private. Shares shot up nearly $2 following the posting and Cardinal Health reacted quickly by responding with a press release stating that, while the company typically doesn’t respond to rumors and speculation, they thought it important to set the record straight on this matter.

Cardinal followed one of the key principles of corporate crisis communications in the world of social media – they acted quickly.

When it comes to handling corporate crises, social media can be very frustrating to communications traditionalists who are used to carefully crafting and managing messages. In today’s world, a single unsubstantiated blog post or tweet can snowball into a full-blown catastrophe.

There’s no doubt things have changed and this new reality requires new tactics. In a session titled “Digital Crisis Communications” at this year’s Blogworld Expo experts from Ford Motors, Burson-Marsteller and other leading multinational companies provided insights into how corporations can monitor, confront and manage crises in social spaces.

For a full wrap up of the session, read the story: Why Crisis Management and Social Media Must Co-Exist

For more on the story regarding Cardinal Health, see Business First.