Shares of Carnival are dropping significantly after the cruise company’s worst accident—the Costa Concordia running aground off the coast of Italy (Carnival is the holding company for Costa Cruises). We know that eleven people are dead and more than twenty are still missing. I can’t imagine how terrifying it must have been for those 4,000 passengers scrambling to get off board. Now we’re learning the Captain may have abandoned ship before all the passengers were off. The deaths, the accident, the cowardly captain have all turned this mess into a major crisis for the Carnival brand and that’s why it’s up to Carnival’s top leadership to act aggressively and quickly to restore Carnival’s reputation as one of the best cruise lines in an extremely safe industry.
PR Week is reporting that Carnival hired a high-priced PR firm to help with its crisis management. I used to work for a high-priced PR firm and I consulted on such tragedies. So let me save Carnival the money. Here’s what Carnival needs to do right this minute.
1. Go to Italy, now! Carnival CEO Micky Arison needs to get on the overnight plane to Italy right now. He’s left the response to Costa spokespeople but clearly it hasn’t been enough. Worse, some business publications are commenting that Arison is issuing press statements from Miami. This makes him looked detached. Last I checked Miami is 5,000 miles away the scene of the wreck. Get on site now.
2. Demonstrate empathy–a lot of it. On his plane ride to Italy Arison should memorize the name of every one of the people who died. His staff should find out something about these people and Arison should meet with the families as soon as possible. Whenever Arison holds a news conference—and there should be many—he should talk about the families he met and outline the exact the policies that Carnival will put in place to avoid another catastrophe. Show that you care.
3. Be visible. Arison should be holding daily, if not twice -a-day, news conferences. Any information is better than no information. Keep the public updated constantly.
A crisis can take down a major brand in minutes and it can take years to restore a reputation. In any crisis—small or large—top leaders must be visible, empathetic, and communicative.