While social media can be a powerful marketing tool, if used unwisely, it can quickly damage a brand’s reputation. It is critical to understand how to address a social media crisis before it escalates. It can be useful to use history as a template, by reviewing case studies of real-life situations that have occurred. This assignment provides an opportunity for you to put yourself in the shoes of a communication manager responsible to help an organization navigate the rough waters of reputation management following a social media crisis. In this assignment, you will have an opportunity to practice your verbal skills by creating a recorded presentation targeted to your intended audience. Preparation Follow these steps to prepare for your assignment: Select one of the case studies from the following e-book on which you will do your analysis. Saleh, Y. D. (2016). Crisis management: The art of success & failure: 30 case studies in business & politics. Mill City Press. Review the following resources that support the case studies: Andres, T. (2019). A broken guitar, a YouTube video and a new era of customer service. Marketplace: Minnesota Public Radio. https://www.marketplace.org/2019/07/05/a-broken-guitar-a-youtube-video-and-a-new-era-of-customer-service/ O′Brien, A. (2015). Amy Bouzagio: Exclusive statement on closing Amy’s Baking Company. Everything PR. https://everything-pr.com/amy-baking-company Hiltzik, M. (2014). Susan G. Komen Foundation discovers the price of playing politics. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-susan-g-komen-20140108-story.html Tillman, L. (n.d.). Case study: PepsiCo & Kendall Jenner′s controversial commerical. Astute.co. https://astute.co/pepsi-kendall-jenner-commercial/ Analyze the case study. Create a presentation for your stakeholders. Check your hardware and software so you’ll be able to record your presentation. Use Zoom, Kaltura, or a presentation tool of your choice to record your presentation. Instructions Present your findings in a 4–5 minute recorded presentation. Include a Reference page formatted in current APA style. Step 1: Describe the key issues that contributed to reputation risk. Discuss the issues at the core of the case study, Step 2: Analyze how social media was used to manage an organization′s reputation. Describe the social media situation found in the case study. Analyze the effectiveness of the response to the situation that was provided by the organization. Use your readings to support your analysis. Explain how social media was used to escalate or de-escalate the issue. Step 3: Analyze crisis communication used in the case study. Summarize best practices in crisis communication. Incorporate your readings to support the summary. Summarize the organization′s response to the crisis. Step 4: Develop potential solutions to advise stakeholders and select the most effective strategy. Provide reasons for your potential solutions and align the solutions to what you know about reputation management. Explain what you would have done differently to obtain a more positive outcome if you had been a communications manager at this company. Step 5: Present the proposed strategy in a professional multimedia presentation. Review your textbook for best practices of preparing a presentation. Ensure your presentation is inclusive of diverse populations.
