Quick scan of news today revealed a new study linking vitamins to breast cancer. The study was conducted by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
How would the relevant organisations respond?
First off the rank Blackmores – a leading complementary therapies organisation. It is noted that they have a response to the study on their Facebook wall (midday Sunday) – with an engaged and large fan base (4380) this is a great use of a social media platforms for crisis communications. The link is directed to a response in the Media section of their website which was written April 7 indicating advanced warning of the article but no public response until the traditional media picked up the item (today).
Blackmores also used Twitter to get out their response today (midday Sunday – auto relay from Facebook) – nice work.
I was however suprised to find that their website was unavailable (Sunday 2pm) ‘The Blackmores website is temporarily unavailable‘ . The homepage should contain at least a simple link to a statement (their statement is hidden further down in the Media section). While you can get to the Media section of the site and view the statement when clicking on the Chat option on the site it says “Our operators are currently offline. We apologise for any inconvenience. We will be open to chat again on Thursday at 9:30am AEST“. Thursday does seem a long way away if you need to chat about the study now. Bad luck? bad timing? it is unclear why they say the site is unavailable yet clicking into site links (if you persist) shows otherwise.
Other notable information dissemination opportunities within their website that I would recommend include revisiting the Community section – afterall when a crisis occurs people love to chat!
Within the current community there are sub-communities such as Women’s General Health, Natural Beauty, Hormone Balance etc… I would recommend:
- Adding a link to their statement regarding the study in the Women’s General Health section as this is the relevant sub-community that would be seeking further information and it currently has 2968 members that may be looking for further advice.
- Adding a general sub community called Topical Issues in the News – this could then encompass content from many of the sections whether it is information on prostate cancer, vitamins, exercise etc. This would then be used not only for this crisis but for future topical issues/crisis communications. This would need to be anchored to the Community Group section i.e would always remain visible on the page to the user.
It will be interesting to see if Blackmores utilises their blog over the coming days and weeks to discuss the study.
It is also interesting to see how The Cancer Council is responding afterall they are the leading authority in this area and one the public would look to for guidance.
The homepage would be obvious place to put a statement but nothing as yet ( Sunday 2.22pm) – their Media Centre section of the website also contains no content even though they were quoted in the traditional media and it is logical that the public might look for additional information on their website.
The Cancer Council Facebook fan page (3123 fans) is also bare (Sunday 2.36pm) yet with a high following it would be a good communication vehicle.
While the Cancer Council are on Twitter and have over 1000 followers there is no response as yet or link to an official statement ( Sunday 2.31pm) yet this topic is being tweeted about today in Australia.
Once again it will be important for the Cancer Council to produce a statement that is linked to their community section called Cancer Connections – This section of the site contains blogs and forums and in the coming days discussion on this recent study is likely to arise. Constant monitoring of this site will be necessary.
In summary, it is early days the traditional media only just broke the story! but so far…
Blackmores are off to a good start with Twitter and Facebook utilised early in the day although improvements on their website and Community section will be needed particularly if and when the story gathers more speed.
The Cancer Council also have all the social media platforms ready to go and large fan bases (i.e. Facebook and Twitter and Community site) yet none have been engaged to deliver their statements even though the organisation was quoted in the traditional media outlets. It will be interesting over the next few hours and days to see how they respond.
