Crisis Communication Plan

CO 101 Project 1

Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations Module

This project will use the knowledge and skills you obtained from content and assignments in the Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations unit to write a 625-675 word crisis communication plan. You will rely on part of the Strategic Plan Framework you learned about at the beginning of MAP (publics, objectives, message, communication pathways) to complete this project.

You are part of the communication team at a corporation. Your organization is experiencing a crisis that has now received media attention due to a pending lawsuit against it. Your job is to provide a summary of a crisis communication plan to address the situation. You will be coming up with a hypothetical crisis related to this scenario. The crisis needs to be compelling, to impact multiple publics, and to require a PR/advertising response. Do NOT use outside research for this plan.

Write concisely and divide your paper into four sections that are clearly labeled A through D. Do NOT repeat the prompts in your paper.

Part A: List a corporation (real or fictional) you are working for and the type of crisis you are experiencing. In one sentence, clarify what type of corporation this is. In one to two sentences, list a hypothetical crisis related to the above scenario. 

Part B: Identify three key, distinct, internal and/or external publics (not individuals or a small group of people) associated with such an event (not the media), and clearly explain why it is important for your office to communicate with them in this situation through a PR or Advertising campaign (refer to Assignments 2 & 3). You do NOT need to specify whether the public is internal or external. Remember that not all publics require a PR/Advertising campaign to be reached. The publics can overlap but they cannot be identical. The publics must represent logical choices and be specific enough. However, the publics should not be too specific for no clear reason. For example, people aged 31-32 is not a logical choice as this age group is unlikely to have distinct communication needs. That said, age can be used to segment your publics if appropriate in this case.

Part C: For each public, state and explain a communication objective that requires a PR or advertising campaign to achieve it (refer to Assignments 2 & 3). Each objective statement must be one sentence long (not more) and must follow the rules discussed in class and must be logical and realistic for each public. The proposed time period must be realistic and specific. For example, if you propose “within two months,” then clarify when the two month period starts. After stating each communication objective, clearly explain why it is a good objective in 1-2 sentences.

Part D: As a member of the communication team of the office you chose, create a textual mock up message (refer to Assignments 2 & 3). Include the following for this section:

1. Clearly identify ONE key public articulated in Part B for this message.

2. Clearly identify ONE medium that will be used to disseminate the message and explain the rationale behind your choice.

3. Create a message that achieves the objective you stated for that public in Part C (not to exceed 100 words). Don’t describe the message and do not use any images. Instead, write it. Clearly incorporate either ethos, pathos, or logos in this message (include only one). Add one line to explain which one you used and clearly specify where it is present.

Deliverable:

• 625- 675 word crisis communication plan (approximately 2 pages), double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font, with 1” margins.
• Your header must include: 1) your name, 2) your TA’s name and your discussion section letters (AC, BD, etc.),
• Use complete sentences and proper grammar.
• Do not use personal pronouns like I/me/my/our/your, etc. (except for the mock up message)
• Be sure to save a screenshot of the upload confirmation page for your own records. 

Grading Balance 

70% Paper

4% Part A

21% Part B

24% Part C

21% Part D

30% Grammar and logical flow on a sentence, paragraph, and document level

10% Paper organization and style

20% Grammar errors

Things we will be checking under the grammar rubric for this project (unless otherwise noted):

• Incorrect verb tense
• Lack of subject/verb agreement
• Run-on sentences
• Sentence fragments
• Nonsensical phrasing that makes a sentence difficult or impossible to understand
• Missing articles (a/an/the)
• Typos
• Incorrect capitalization
• Incorrectly-used semi-colons and apostrophes
• Punctuation placed to the right of closing quotation marks
• Missing punctuation at the end of a sentence
• Personal pronouns like I/me/my/our/your, etc. (except for the mock up message)