U.S. Navy: Keeping Your Reputation Afloat When Crisis Comes in Waves — Live from BlogWell

Coverage of this session by Merrill Richmond of Spotter Marketing. Follow him on Twitter here.

1:30 — SocialMedia.org’s Erin McDaniel introduces the U.S. Navy’s Captain, Director — Defense Media Activity Anacostia, David Werner.

1:30 – Captain Werner encourages you to follow along at @navynews!

1:30 — Navy is engaged in sea of public opinion. LOL.

1:31 — Social media efforts “started” in earnest following Haiti earthquake (Jan 2010). Efforts grew—Crisis Communication re: viral videos on Enterprise, Japan earthquake all have been areas where experience has been earned.

1:32 — About the Navy: 328,000 sailors, officers; 54,000 deployed. 286 ships. All over the world—Global Force for Good.

1:33 — We deal with multiple stakeholders: External: congress, taxpayers, enemies. Internal: sailors, family members, veterans. These groups don’t always see it the same way.

1:33 — Why social media is unique to the Navy: Often alone in parts of world. Very strong hierarchy and structure. Chain of command and clarity of orders is key. Social media requires letting go of some control, but there are dividends in this. Your company may be facing similar challenges.

1:37 — When something happens (earthquake, mission, event), we break process and messaging down into 4 Stages :

1) Confirm announcement of event: ex: Earthquake happens, senior officers online, aligning messages. Speaking to all stakeholders: sailors, concerned families of sailors, larger navy audiences.

2) Stand by: Immediate (possible actions)/warnings. What we say re: critical topics, i.e., radiation following earthquake, needs to be presented clearly because people will repeat it and develop actions/questions based on what we say.

3) Engage: Navy assets tasked and begin response. Twitter/Facebook make it fast/easy to talk to stakeholders. Dispel rumors/scares/update facts—i.e., 7^th fleet pulls back due to concerns about radiation..true but temporary… then announces that they are back in the space. Keep messages aligned.

4) Sustain: ADM Walsh is engaged in this. Top level officers see these tools as useful and powerful.

1:45 — Value of Transparency: Bloggers, ESPN, local San Diego affiliates all retweet and pass along. (Ed note: Navy “built an army” to paraphrase Brogran and pun off the navy. ) Provides exponential potential for alignment.

Metrics on growth: In 2010, at the time of Haiti, the Navy Facebook had 66k fans; by March, they had 351,749 fans. Unbelievable growth in just 14 months.

1:45 — Lessons learned: You can navigate the sea of public opinion but you can’t control it. Transparent, authentic, credible—keys to being able to navigate successfully. Content is KING. Decentralized approach improves agility and means for alignment. Flat communications “favors the bold.” Humanize an organizations reputation.

Q&A

Q: How does big Navy work with smaller commands?

A: Basic protocols, get on directory, build their process, provide resource for local commands. Goal is to get them moving.

Q: What is the biggest challenge in a crisis environment?

A: We need to be sensitive to topics. Can’t show SEAL operation but can talk about other aspects of SEAL recruiting and topics of interest re: SEALS. Recent example: Osama Bin Laden death; lots of info we feed that’s not sensitive.

Q: What policies apply to the average sailor? How do you manage it?

A: There is operational security – regardless of media format (letters, email, social media). For social media, there are 2 “naval messages” (not a policy, more like a permission slip.) In a weird way, Facebook and Twitter allow the Navy to see where its messages aren’t aligned.

Q: Reference “Content is King”…example?

A: Navy birthday coming up. Send in your picture of favorite Navy member. Put together video using submissions from members. Create strong, visible tie between service and service people.

Q: What’s the process for converting classified content to public content?

A: There’s a process for that…very formal and scrutinized. Taken very seriously. Lives, security at stake.