Crisis comms lessons learned from Skydive Australia’s fatal accident
Following the tragic death of three skydivers on Mission Beach in Queensland last Friday, crisis comms expert Dr Neryl East considers what other brands can learn from its mistakes.
When a business experiences the nightmare of multiple fatalities on its watch, its public communication must be open, human and consistent.
So, where does a thriving listed company draw the line between empathy and “business as usual” when communicating with different audiences about such a tragedy?
Skydive the Beach Group – operating as Skydive Australia – found itself a key player in last Friday’s mid-air accident at Mission Beach in Queensland in which three skydivers died.
Does anyone think this is in extremely poor taste?
How about you wait till the bodies are buried and the family has had time to grieve before you parse the media release and turn it into a case study for your crisis comms/motivational speaking business? This happened 5 days ago – Geez…
“Caught in the dilemma of wanting to show its human face in the wake of loss of life, but fearing business downturn. […] However strong the temptation to continue revving the marketing machine, a business impacted by tragedy must show it’s prepared to stop and pay proper respect to the human ramifications of the incident.”
Maybe the author should take their own advice…
I felt really sick reading this. What about the families of the people involved? Feels like spruiking for business and giving a critique way too soon. Ick.
I felt really sick reading this. It feels like a case study spruiking for business. If I was a family member reading this, I’d be appalled by loved one’s death was already a ‘lesson for others’.
“don’t be over-eager”
This piece is the living embodiment of ‘too soon’.
For some op-eds there is merit in leveraging topical events. This one is tacky at best.