[MUSIC] So now that you have the kind of very developed social program, you also have the ability to do something that you didn't have before, which is see crises before they really become crises and address crisis in a way that is much more real time. So, can you talk about how that has become part of your social program. >> Sure. Well, the blessing of social media is that now you can have a great two way conversation with your community. But, you're also in a position where there's negative conversation around your brand. And things are not always positive, and you have to be just as prepared to respond to the negative, to anticipate the negative, and to create the engaging content. You have to really be looking at both sides of that. And so when I talked about creating a newsroom and being nimble, and being able to move fast, that's great for engagement, but it's also amazing to think about that there is a crisis. How are you able to move at the speed of light to respond. So we have amazing tools in place. We use a company called NetBase, where we are doing a real time monitoring. We're looking at impressions, conversations, comments and sentiment around the brand. And we have alerts in place to know if something starts to trend negatively. And a lot of it, beyond the tool, comes from just being engaged in the conversation, so you're listening to what's happening about your brand on Twitter. You're talking to your community, and you start to see something bubble up. When that happens, I think the key thing is to get all the right people in the room. We have a system in place where we know if something is a high alert, and we get the team together. So we actually have an amazing team in PR who lead our crisis communications and public affairs. They are there to really call the shots, to bring in our legal team, to have our team there to make sure that the conversation we're creating is in the brand voice. And that it is appropriate for the channel where it's going to be shared, and it's really a matter of collaborating, and not spending a lot of time perfecting things but thinking through deeply, how you want to respond to something and creating the right conversation to hopefully nip it in the bud and not let it go any further but also let people know the truth. Be authentic and share what's really going on because a lot of times the story is coming from a place that maybe isn't fully understood. And you want to make sure that the brand is able to weigh in from your point of view. >> That's fantastic. To have real time monitoring and real time response seems like that there already is an advantage for even for crisis management. Can you give us an example of how this has played out? >> Well, I talked about how we have these crazy fans, quite a bit throughout this conversation. And we wanted to let those fans know that Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos were coming. And we said it was coming on March 7th, but we actually told them they were going to get to try it a day early. So, on March 6th, they could come in and get this product before anyone else. That gave them the social currency to say they tried it first, to get those first photos posted to their community, and let them know that they are officially the Taco Bell Elite. And with that, we started to see the morning of March 6th that people are going into restaurants and the employees were saying they didn't actually have Cool Ranch Doritos Locos tacos, that it wasn't starting until the next day. And we are able to see that conversation surface very early on, and get a communication out to our field, literally get a phone tree going to the field to let them know that today was the day it was available for our community on March 6th. And we saw immediately the sentiment start to improve. As we got to more people, started to make sure everybody knew this was happening early, that the fans started to turn around their sentiment and say yes, I'm able to get it. But then we also responded to all the people who couldn't get it early, and let them know that it wasn't right, that we didn't deliver on our promise. We went to great lengths to deliver on it. For some people we actually sent Taco Bell in a limo to their house to make sure that they got the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos as promised and started to get positive stories out there in addition to the people who were already upset. But then we were able to get it to them. So I think that was a good example of just being able to listen and respond quickly. >> One of the advantages of social listening could potentially also be a disadvantage when you start to hear some drumbeat that looks like it's gonna be a crisis, when really it's not so much a crisis, but a speed bump. >> Sure. >> Any advice to those in crisis management who are constantly listening to avoid the potential trouble of addressing something that actually is not a crisis, but something more along the way of conversation. >> Well that actually happens quite a bit. So you want to make sure that you don't get a false start and treat everything like a huge crisis. I think a big part of it is watching the trends, so we have history now, where we can say is this something that's likely to become a crisis or not? But also just take a deep breath and don't rush into things, like have a plan of attack, ready to go, but don't feel the need to get it out right away, just have to watch the conversation, and see how it goes, and have all the right people in the room so that you can act when ready. But, you don't always have to act immediately. >> Authentic is a very big, theme that you keep raising, so do you view negative commentary, negative sentiment as all negative or are there some advantages in positives associated with hearing from your communities about things that might not be positive sentiment. >> Well I think if they were always positive then maybe we wouldn't be breaking through. We want to get a reaction from people, sometimes it's positive, sometimes it's negative and you have to be able to accept the good and the bad. You wanna learn from the bad to continue to get the brand in an amazing place. But we always say haters gonna hate. You don't need to respond to everything. There are the people who are going to just be negative and that's okay. They have their opinion. I think what we've tried to do is build a deep enough relationship with the people who love the brand, so that they're championing us and they actually have our backs when those negative conversations come up. A lot of times before we ever jump in to something that may be negative, they're the ones who are responding on our behalf and putting people in their places. [LAUGH] >> And that's great. So social media is also new for crisis management counsel. Crisis managers historically have been those that have been trained to really deal with third party media as a way of making sure that the messaging that they wanna get out is handled in the right way. So any inputs or advice or experiences you can share about how you also brought a crisis management team who may not have had the experience of dealing with real time social listening, and have them address that as a way to integrate into their approaches using third party media. >> Well Rob Page, who leads our crisis communications, is trained in that way, and so he deeply understands crisis communications. And then we will partner with him to think about how that translates to the social space. So he's really driving the strategy and the recommendations. And again, it's all about getting the right people in the room to say okay, that makes perfect sense, now how do we communicate it in a way, on our social channels, where it will resonate with that audience and where the content will be endemic to that particular platform. So it's a key piece, is bringing in all the right people to have that holistic conversation. And making sure you know who's on point for what, cuz at the end of the day I'm not making the call when it comes to how we're going to respond, right? That's really what Rob's responsibility is, and so we've had as much as there is a deep collaboration and integration. You have to be really clear on rules and responsibilities at the same time. >> So in addition to social listening, are there circumstances in which social media has been the primary media to actually address crisis, as opposed to going to third party media? >> Oh, all the time. I think you have to do both, because they're going to be the stories that are happening in the press, but there are also those stories that are very much happening in social. And most of the media is using social as their outlet. So they're taking their story and sharing it on Twitter, and tapping into their social community there as well to help things spread. And so you absolutely need to be playing across both fields. >> Are there any insights you have into which particular social media happens to be the most important perhaps, particularly for those in the crisis management field? >> Well, I think Twitter is definitely the place where things are shared. Facebook's usually with your personal community, and so you're talking to your set of friends, Snapchats, more of a one on one communication, or a personal relationship with your community. Instagram is a place to share those beautiful moments of life that are happening. And it's kind of the best collection of your best self, your artistic self in the space. And so, Twitter certainly the place where the media is living. And they're tapping into conversations that are happening with anyone, and so I always think about Twitter as a key place you wanna be first. >> That's great. And finally, any advice for those who have been in crisis management roles that have not gotten nearly as familiar with the kind of social media monitoring and listening that you now have available to them. >> The big advice is just be ready to respond, because things will happen and they will move fast, and so really look at your crisis communications plan. Make sure that you have the list of all the people who are on point, that they know their role, that you're ready to bring the right people together if something does happen, and that you have the right tools in place to be able to listen. And see if it's something you do need to respond to that could be a potential threat or if it's something you want to sit back on for awhile to let your community jump in on your behalf. But 100%, you need to have that crisis communications plan that has legs in social. And that really is designed social first in terms of how you're going to respond. >> Great, thank you. >> Thank you. [MUSIC]
