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The fact that five full Eurostar trains were stranded in the Channel Tunnel for up to 16 hours, having broken down due to extreme tempera­tures on the Friday before Christmas, was forgivable. However, the rail operator's lack of comm­unication when the crisis hit was not.

With no dedicated Eurostar outlet for passengers to vent their fury and commu­nicate with the brand, they flocked to make their feelings known on Facebook and Twitter. Alongside the running commentary by social net­workers, the media covered tales of stranded custom­ers, scant food, dwindling toilet-paper supplies and stifling conditions on
the trains.

Surely this situation is a marketer's biggest nightmare? Not according to Eurostar marketing director Emma Harris. ‘You can't have a better learning experience than this,' she argues. ‘We've learned so much about how our commu­nications process needs to get better. We know we have to get messages out there and update our website quicker, and we have to contact customers to tell them personally what is going on. We know in these situations people are writing in real time, so we have to be there in real time, using social media to communicate.'

Indeed, Harris says that during the crisis she was responding to customer messages online until past 11pm on a Saturday night and from 5am on a Sunday morning. ‘You can't expect your team to do it if you're not doing it,' she adds. As soon as the brand started communicating with the ‘very vocal' disgruntled customers, Harris claims it was able to quell their anger and there was a ‘massive difference' in their attitudes.

Prompt action

Harris also stresses that Eurostar had a crisis plan that kicked in - eventually. However, it was clear from the hastily-shot video broadcasts and lack of a dedicated website that the response was fuelled by panic rather than process.

‘Its core problem was not saying sorry quickly enough,' says Paul Charles, managing director of Lewis PR and a former communications director at both Eurostar and Virgin Atlantic. ‘When you hit a crisis these days, you have to apologise straight away, especially if you are a mass-market brand. There is a public craving for this, and it is noted if you don't apologise. When the apology is not there, or there is a delay [Eurostar apologised via ads in the broadsheets more than two days after the problem arose], customers get angry.' He estimates that brands failing to apologise within three hours of a crisis arising, will find their reputations damaged, at least in the short term.

Charles has worked closely with Sir Richard Branson at Virgin and describes him as the kind of person you want in charge in a crisis due to his ability to read the public mood. In particular, he remembers the handling of a strike threat about two years ago which contrasts starkly with the way British Airways is now handling a similar internal crisis.

‘We decided to write a letter to all the cabin crew saying "if you don't like your job, get out and go somewhere else," says Charles. ‘It was very honest and upfront and I can't imagine many bosses doing that. It made some employees realise that they did like their jobs and didn't want to lose them. As a result, the union called off the action. You have to look at unusual solutions to help you get through a crisis.'

One of the dangers of having a formal, thorough crisis strategy is that you risk
the lack of a human touch, as staff grapple with procedure. Retailer John Lewis looks to avoid this problem by having one over­arching strategy, but giving each of its department stores autonomy.

This paid dividends during the snow when a branch in High Wycombe offered stranded customers free food and a bed for the night in the furniture department, prompting a deluge of positive press. ‘In situations like that, we simply trust our partners to do the right thing,' says Craig Inglis, head of brand communications at John Lewis. ‘By doing this we allow our partners, who are there on the ground, to make the right human decision.'

He adds that, while ‘digital communica­tions have their place and are useful if you need to keep a large number of customers up to date at the same time', John Lewis would only use this channel as ‘a supple­ment to face-to-face communication'.

Another trap marketers can fall into is becoming overreliant on social media, missing out a swathe of the popula­tion, such as the elderly.

The Department of Health was mindful of ensuring its message about swine flu reached such vulnerable groups, which is why it assigned creative agency 23red with the brief to target these individuals. ‘When dealing with vulnerable groups, digital communications alone are insufficient to get the message out,' says Jane Asscher, chairman and managing partner of 23red. ‘There's a perception that DM doesn't get out quick enough in a crisis, but you can get direct marketing and above-the-line communications out quickly, especially if you have prepared in advance.' Other channels used included leaflets, partners such as retailers, carer networks and NGOs.

Tactical opportunism

Several brands cashed in on the swine flu publicity by mentioning it in their own marketing. Dettol, for example, launched a campaign across TV, radio and online, flagging up its products' ability to kill the virus. Marketers are divided about whether this is a wise strategy. Inglis, for one, says he would ‘never run anything tactical that took advantage of someone else's misfortune, including the snow'.

One brand that successfully piggy­backed on the snow situation was Dairy Crest, which generated positive coverage of milkmen battling the elements to make deliveries to grateful customers. Local news reports showed customers writing
to Dairy Crest to praise their milkmen, with some on their rounds being given presents and flasks of tea, and even people dedicating songs to them. According to Iris PR director Nick Porter, who works on the account, the activity worked because ‘it isn't jumping on a topical bandwagon'. She adds: ‘The weather is a problem for Dairy Crest and the brand is genuinely going above and beyond the call of duty.'

As in the case of John Lewis, the positive press is down to the autonomy of Dairy Crest staff, rather than trying to control their behaviour. ‘We believe we have a duty to the community and internally we call this the "care code",' says Chris Munn, marketing controller, household, at Dairy Crest. ‘The weeks of extreme weather have given us some extraordinary examples of how far our milkmen and women go to ensure they complete their rounds, but this commitment is part of the job and not the product of a PR strategy.'

Many marketers, such as Inglis, doubt whether tactical campaigns can build a brand. ‘It often brings a smile to your face, but I would question whether it generates real business or brand benefit,' he says. However, Charles flatly disagrees. He cites Virgin Atlantic and The Economist as two brands built on opportunism and raising a smile, with straplines such as ‘BA can't get it up' - used by Virgin when the then-BA-sponsored Millennium Wheel failed to be erected at the first attempt in 1999.

‘Opportunism can make or break a brand, but to do it, you have to be very well connected with what's going on in the world and have a great team of people who understand your way of thinking,' says Charles. ‘Most of all, you have to have guts. Often the simple ideas are the best and just need someone to have the balls to say yes to an impromptu campaign.'