Shaw's Supermarkets

Public Relations Emergency: Shaw’s Supermarkets
Assignment A

• Civil Disorders: o Fighting in the store o Massive looting and shoplifting
• Labor Unrest: o Union strike (Supermarket Worker’s Union)
• Crime: o Any criminal action taken against the company
 Arson
 Theft
• Government Actions: o Raising cost of food prices o Tariffs on foreign foods
• System or Product Failure: o Contaminated foods or products o Outdated foods o Sub-par foods
• Acts of God: o Shaw’s depends on many different country’s food products o Storms could ruin farmers crops o A severe winter could hinder produce production o Flooding could close stores
• Political Disorder: o When dealing with Central American countries that are amid political
Immediately contact every Shaw’s customer through E-mail about the emergency (timeliness is important)
a. Run story in newspapers
b. Run story on website
3. Schedule a conference-(Have designated associate (CEO) lead press conference)
a. Release only verified information
b. Escort the press everywhere on the site
c. Show human emotion towards the events that transpired
d. Quickly tell the press of relief and recovery operations
e. Explain that we have no evidence that these credit cards have be used
f. Tell all external publics to cancel all credit cards, which have been used at Shaw’s stores.
4. Plan for relief
a. Call insurance agent, see what type of coverage you can receive
b. Offer complete reimbursement for those who do loose money
c. Make sure associates know that their jobs are safe
d. Invest in better wireless protection and security measures
5. Research why and how this crisis happened
6. Fix any problems that could lead to another, similar crisis

The spokesperson for Shaw’s should have one rule that is above all others, this is to be truthful. By being truthful your publics will have a reduced sense of uncertainty. To help with this uncertainty, the spokesperson can also tell the publics about future plans, and how the company is going to deal with this
The spokesperson must first change this, by offering advice and explaining exactly what happened and how to fix it. Once the people understand what happened and how it affects them, they will be more controllable. By showing your own human emotion, the community will have more understanding for you.
To improve efficiency, many different median of media must be reached. This includes the company’s website, newspapers, e-mails, television, and even phone calls to the affect individuals if necessary. By acting fast and swiftly, efficiency can be increased, and your losses will be slashed.
Like previously stated, the external and internal publics first want to understand what happened. To educate and inform the publics of the emergency is the first job of the company spokesperson. This is why a press conference must be scheduled almost as soon as the event happens.
Although many customers may be furious about the emergency, it is the spokespersons job to redirect the interests of the publics and the company. To show that the company is dedicated to public safety, and to show how important customer loyalty is to your company, you must show the publics what you are doing to combat this crisis, and show the scarifies your company is