At Albany Associates 2009 conference on ‘Strategic Communications in countries emerging from violent conflict‘, Alastair Campbell shared lessons of his experience dealing with a number of crises.
He listed fifteen rules:
1. Know the difference between a genuine crisis and a media driven frenzy. The former are rare, the latter common.
2. Once you have decided it is a crisis situation, operate the OST rule. Set clear Objectives. Define the Strategy. Only then think about Tactics.
3. Never lose sight of the big picture.
4. Centralise.
5. If the crisis needs new policy, structures or personnel to manage it, put them in place quickly.
6. If it is a crisis playing out across the media, rebut with speed and aggression.
7. Decide the single figure to whom people will most look for leadership. Usually the person at the top but…
8. Horses for courses. Understand that sometimes the top person, e.g. in business/military, may be a dreadful communicator if not used to it .
9. Agree basic messages and never tire of saying them.
10. Organise every part of every day for the tactical implementation of strategy.
11. Organise your communications as far as they need to go. Take account of possible different audiences.
12. Put extra effort into the big moments.
13. Ensure proper internal comms. Don’t forget your own people may get most messages through media. Make sure they hear from you first.
14. Remember it will end.
15. Throughout the crisis, have someone working on re-entry to normal strategy once the crisis is over.
Drawing on his experience of ten years alongside Tony Blair, and his considerable understanding of the modern media, Alastair brought to the conference a unique perspective and spoke of his experience of dealing with communications issues at the highest level during the wars in Kosovo, Iraq and post 9/11; he delivered a stimulating and challenging session.
As someone considered a leading international ‘spin doctor’, it was provocative that the central premise of Alastair Campbell’s address rejected the link between ‘spin’ and strategic communications, and attempted to dispel the often negative and mistrusting connotations associated with ‘spin’. According to Alastair, the concept of strategic communications is chronically misunderstood, to the detriment of government departments and intergovernmental organisations. Rather than being a force for manipulation, strategic communications is an essential process which allows policy makers the space they need to get from A to B.
He went on to present strategic communications within the context of an increasingly negative and aggressive multi-media battle for domination of the agenda, affirming that within this environment “the idea of planning what the government is doing, and creating a sense of order in the media landscape should not be controversial.”
As expected, the presentation inspired a diverse array of questions. In response to Alastair’s assertion that rather than setting policy, strategic communications presents policy to the public on behalf of policy makers, one commentator proposed a cyclical scenario in which something that starts as a policy message can then reinforce and further shape policy, citing communications on “the war on terror” as a possible example. Alastair maintained that strategic communications does not set policy; rather it presents policy set by policy makers. For strategic communications to work, policies must be sound and unanimously supported by the organisations that promote them. Leading on from this, a UN representative highlighted the difficulties of communication when the relevant parties cannot agree on the message. Finally, it was argued that although new media has democratised communication and made it easier to galvanise support for or against a policy, the government doesn’t appear to respond. The protests against the Iraq war were given as an example. Alastair concluded that listening to the concerns of others must not distract politicians from the task of making difficult decisions. He said that Tony Blair believed his decision was right on Iraq, despite the loss of popularity.
