Case Studies
CRISIS RESPONSE BRIEF
The Agency prepared this brief in order to provide a snapshot of details surrounding Crisis PR work done previously done by the Agency.
This brief will focus on Four (4) former clients, namely, East West Bank, Tutuban Shopping Mall, the Philippine Association of Legitimate Service Contractors (PALSCON) and Epic Gas Crewing, Inc., a multinational maritime crew provider.
EAST-WEST BANK
BACKGROUND
East West Bank is the country’s 11th largest bank at this time that started operating back in 1994, and is a member company of The Filinvest Group, a large conglomerate founded by the late business tycoon Andrew Gotianun. It currently has 445 branches nationwide.
CRISIS SITUATION
As with any other bank, among EastWest Bank’s main concerns aside from how to attract more depositors is related to bank holdups. During its early years of operations, it became a target of bank holdups by criminal elements, especially as the holiday season approaches.
RESPONSE
The normal response by the Agency during a bank holdup is 1) be among the first responders at the scene of the crime; 2) to control the flow of information and to make sure that the right information is distributed and released to the media, and 3) to make sure that the media will not portray the bank in a bad light that may possibly drive away potential customers within the community where a branch operates and also in the eyes of the general public.
TUTUBAN CENTER
BACKGROUND
Tutuban Center is a shopping complex located along the busy Tutuban area in Manila, which also functions as a main train terminal that served as a vital gateway from Manila to other connecting provinces in Luzon during the early 1900s and still serves the purpose up to the present. It is known to be a choice venue for bargain-loving Filipino shoppers, it being in the Divisoria area, the bargain capital of the Philippines.
CRISIS SITUATION
The most common crisis situation in Tutuban involves fire since majority of the infrastructure are decades-old already. There was a year when fires broke out practically on a regular basis, which compromised the image of the mall and raised doubts if it was still safe to shop there. Another crisis involves incidents of criminality in the area since the complex is surrounded by some of the most crime-infested areas in the city.
RESPONSE
The Agency made sure that the correct information is provided to the media to avoid confusion by being first on the scene and establish immediate contact with mall admin and determine the origin and nature of the fire, how the mall is assisting those that may be affected by any fire incident, whether a shopper or tenant, and other details through the timely issuance of press releases. This is to prevent the media and the general public from making false assumptions about the true origin of the incident.
PHILIPPINE ASSOCIATION OF LEGITIMATE SERVICE CONTRACTORS (PALSCON)
BACKGROUND
The Philippine Association of Legitimate Service Contractors (PALSCON) is a group of business owners involved in the business of service contracting, which used to be called as manpower agencies.
CRISIS SITUATION
Service contracting is always a hot issue in the labor sector because of the practice of contractualization, a practice wherein Filipino employees are perceived to be derived of security of tenure since contractual employees are only hired for less than Six (6) months and then terminated to avoid regularization. The issue of contractualization was at its hottest during the time of the 2016 presidential debate, where each of the presidential candidates were asked about their position on contractualization, and what plans they have regarding this issue once they are elected.
RESPONSE
The Agency managed to convince PALSCON leadership to conduct a massive information and education campaign about contractualization via media, both traditional and online. The focus of messaging is about contractualization’s positive benefits compared to the perceived negative and often inaccurate depiction of the practice. Other strategies employed involved interviewing principals (the employers themselves and not the service contractors) and the employees themselves, particularly with regard to the issue of security of tenure and non-payment of government-mandated benefits like SSS and 13th Month Pay, among others.
EPIC GAS CREWING, INC.
BACKGROUND
Epic Gas Crewing Inc. owns and operates a fleet of 40 modern and high-quality fully pressurized gas carriers used to transport liquefied petroleum gas and petrochemicals. It is headquartered in Singapore, with added offices in London, Manila, Tokyo and Hamburg. This client was referred by another Singapore-based PR agency whom the Agency worked for other clients, mostly those in the maritime industry.
CRISIS SITUATION
The crisis involved an incident regarding a young crewman who did not report for work the day after he was last seen around 12 midnight of August 2, 2020, and was perceived lost or missing while onboard one of Epic’s many oil tankers. After an exhaustive search, the crewman’s body is yet to be found up to this day. Investigation by Singaporean and Indian maritime industry authorities were already conducted. The family also kept inquiring by posting various messages on social media, particularly on Facebook, about the incident, and even approached the media already. There was no full blown media attention as of yet.
RESPONSE
The Agency advised that the media, whether traditional or online, be monitored constantly if the media will pick up the story (only one media outfit inquired so far), and that the family members of the missing crewman be constantly apprised of the situation. They should always be given updates daily via email and SMS, particularly with regard to the release of the crewman’s remaining salary and other personal belongings, which were now sent to the family of the missing crewman. There are no updates yet whether the official investigation results have been released by the Singapore maritime authority.