Yesterday Kelloggs (US)voluntarily recalled a variety of cereals due to a strange odour.  But how are they faring with regard to online crisis communications management?

First up a check of their website shows a recall message on the homepage so they are off to a good start. Within the recall message there are a range of well crafted FAQs regarding the recall.

Viewing the Australian Kelloggs website there is no mention of the recall yet Australians hooked into Twitter and reading about the recall will be wondering this morning if their cereal is affected.

Now on to Twitter… there is certainly a lot of chatter this morning from consumers regarding the recall (see below) 

tffny705264: RT @mykidseatfree: Kellogg Issues Massive Cereal Recall; 28-Million Boxes Pulled – http://bit.ly/aAOjXo http://myloc.me/8pFzw 40 minutes ago via UberTwitter

kmohara: Recall on Kelloggs Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Honey Smacks and Pops. http://ow.ly/23sBI

AndYaSayChIcitY: RT @ThickGirlThin: Re: recalled cereal. http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20100625/kelloggs-cereal-recall-due-to-odd-smell

Interestingly, it does not appear that Kelloggs have an official Twitter handle with which they could certainly respond and keep consumers updated hour by hour. 

I certainly hope in the least they have claimed their Twitter name or we could see someone having fun with the Kelloggs brand in the next few hours and day ala BP style.

Update! the Twitter handle looks to be taken by a consumer not the organisation view twitter handle – the last entry is about basketball! I have followed this character to see what unfolds in the coming days.

It is still surprising when organisations are not claiming their name or using Twitter as an online crisis communication tool.  Back   in 2007 when writing for Freshchat I noted the use of Twitter for this purpose but back then this Twitter thing was still reasonably new. Today no organisation can claim that Twitter is new or untested.

In fact only recently in Australia the ACCC encouraged Australian food companies to embrace Twitter and other web 2.0 mediums to get the message out to consumers – Twitter has indeed gone mainstream.

The Fruit Loops Community Page on Facebook will certainly be pulling in some negative comments over the next few hours so you would be hoping that Kelloggs are monitoring that page as will the Honey Smacks page.  This is a good lesson for organisations – even if you don’t want to have a Facebook prescence Community Pages exists so at least monitor those and get proactive on the site.

The company also has a  Froot Loops application on Facebook so it will be interesting to see if any messages appear via this mechanism (this is one of the cereals recalled).

Quick search of YouTube on the subject – nothing as yet although news reports regarding the recall have already appeared right now a statement from a Kelloggs official on youtube would be recommended but will they respond? it is possible that creative types might have a field day with the recall so expect to see some humorous videos on this channel in coming days.

Update: there is already one consumer recall video posted as of 1pm today.  Also notable was a news video that accidentally mixed up the Kelloggs story with another – to interesting effect.

Bloggers – yes they will be out in force and already there are murmerings about the cereal recall so let’s hope Kellogg’s have their social media monitoring in place and their blogger relations under control. Here’s one recall blog post I quite like regarding the quantities recalled.

Let’s not forget Online Forums and it is evident that the US  ’mommy forums’ are already quite active which you may expect but less obvious forums such as Pirate 4×4  (for offroad vehicles) are also discussing the recall and by nature the product itself.

Google Trends (in the US) is showing Kelloggs Recall as number 2 only surpassed by the World Cup.  It is interesting to note that no adwords have been purchased at the current time.

Naturally the issue is hitting online news sites and The Huffington Post have a nice wrap up including integrated Twitter feed.

Lessons for Online Crisis Communications

1. Use a variety of online platforms to get the message out – a simple line on your website simply does not cut it anymore

2. Claim your name in all the online platforms to ensure no spoofing of your brand occurs particularly during a crisis

3. Local organisations should  monitor the international situation and quickly get a message out on their websites that local stock are not affected (if this is the case) we are clearly operating in a global economy.

4. Twitter is a vital online crisis comms platform – understand it and use it in a crisis. Develop and stick to a relevant hashtag.

5. Don’t leave it till a crisis occurs to integrate online comms platforms into your existing crisis comms plans

6. Have a good social media monitoring system in place and monitor it regularly

7. Research what terms people are searching for online and ensure they are incorporated into your content strategy.  Understand the basics of SEO – if you are a communicator this is critical.

8. Buy adwords for the key terms to ensure that your messages get through.  Ensure your link sends consumers directly to your recall page.

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.