The Alliance team is receiving more and more questions about crisis planning, and it’s not hard to see why. This year has been a busy one for animal rights activists, including the aggressive campaign targeting Fair Oaks Farms and fairlife and increasingly brazen stunts such as breaking into plants and chaining themselves to equipment.

If you’re wondering if your company may be the next on the chopping block, you are not alone and you are not powerless to help protect yourself.

Your company probably has a crisis plan – do you know how to access it? When was it last updated? And perhaps the most pressing question – does it include scenarios for activist protests or video campaigns?

Many of the companies we work with are very well prepared for food safety issues, natural disasters and other potential issues, but a chapter on activism is missing from their crisis plan. That oversight may come back to haunt you if and when you do find yourself in the activist crosshairs.

While you’re wrapping up your end-of-2019 to-do list, I encourage you to find a few minutes to pull out your crisis plan and see what may be missing. Imagine your nightmare situation, for example, 500 activists pulling up outside of your plant or a media outlet calling for comment on “undercover video” footage from one of your suppliers that they received from an activist group. What can you think through or do now that would help buy you a few hours in those kinds of scenarios?

Your plan will look different based on the issue at hand, but a few core components to include are:

Designated internal Crisis Response Team (CRT): who on your staff needs to be involved in managing the crisis? This could include executives, communications, veterinarians, legal, HR, etc.
List of stakeholders and who is responsible for contact with each one. Who would you need to reach out to beyond the CRT and externally about this crisis? Don’t forget about your employees, media and trade associations.
Designated spokespeople: Who will represent your company publicly to media and other outlets about this issue? Consider who is the best fit based on the topic and public perception.
Key messages & draft response materials: go ahead and draft talking points, media statements, social media content, website content, hotline scripts and any other response materials you may need. Have these reviewed and approved so they can be tweaked and used immediately. Make sure you prepare front office staff who manage front desks and answer phones for how to handle calls or visitors who want to discuss the issue.

I hope you’ll never have to use your plan, but you’ll be very thankful to have one if you do.

Add crisis planning to your end-of-year to-do list

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