Ayala Land, Meralco, Sulpicio Lines, ABS-CBN - what they have in common

yes, we have to admit it, that list of companies is a very strange one. the first reaction is probably this - no way is there something common among all those companies.

well, there is one - crisis. actually there are two - crisis management is the other one. all the companies listed above has gone through some kind of crisis. different ones but a crisis just the same. of interest to us is also the kind of crisis management practices they applied when crisis hit their companies.

ayala land got hit by the explosion in the their most important property, the glorietta mall. nobody imagined that such an explosion can occur in a mall and this is not just an ordinary mall, it's an ayala mall. over the years, ayala malls have built a very strong reputation of high quality and invincibility. the explosion also occurred at a time when there was some political noise in the country that most people concluded this was a terrorist attack.


the explosion happened on a work day and within a very short period of time the press was on site with live cameras and even helicopter aerial shots of the damage to the mall.

ayala land's crisis management response was impeccable - within minutes of the explosion, they had an officer of the company, most probably from their public relations group, in the site talking to the press. of course the ayala land spokesman had no information to share since the explosion just occurred minutes ago, but the important thing was an officer of the company was actually on site and giving the views of the management of the mall. he talked to the press in a very calm and professional manner and was very candid in admitting he did not have of details about what happened. he was also re-assuring the public and the press that ayala management is concerned and is on top of things. ayala land was not hiding, they were actually on site and being very involved.

immediacy and visibility is one of the most important good practices of crisis management.




more on this in WAWAM!.....