February 10, 2012

Another Perspective On Carnival's Crisis: Case Studies Show Cruise Giant Actually Responded To Costa Concordia Disaster With Smart PR Savvy

In the spotlight: Jeff Mustard, President, The Bamboo Agency

Jeff Mustard, president of The Bamboo Agency (www.TheBambooAgency.com) and veteran public relations professional, provides an interesting, insightful and illuminating peek behind the curtain of the Costa Concordia ship disaster. While the Costa Concordia lay capsized off the Italian coast of Coglio, the media frenzy commenced to swirl around the ship's Captain Francesco Schettino, Carnival Cruise Lines, (Costa's Parent Company) and the cruise industry at large. In his unique and in-depth 12-page report — produced less than 100 hours after the Costa Concordia made headlines — Mustard outlines the media issues and strategies that were employed by Carnival's Crisis Communications team to prevent cruise-loving consumers from sinking Carnival as a company and the cruise industry at large. Mustard examines the company's press statements, deconstructs them from a "messaging" point of view, observes how the media portrayed Carnival in its coverage of the crisis and as importantly, follows the company's stock performance on its first day of trading after the ship sank. Mustard produced a four-part case study comprising 63 pages and nearly 30,000 words examining the global crisis incident in a two-week period from when the Costa Concordia first called "Mayday" to Italian Authorities, at 10:00 PM, the evening of Friday 13th.

Costa Cruise / Carnival Cruise Lines Crisis Communications Four-Part Study Overview

Part 1: Will the Capsized Costa Concordia Cripple Carnival Cruise Lines and Sink the Cruise Industry?

While as a company, Carnival Cruise Lines hit very rough waters when one of its ships, the Costa Concordia, crashed into rocks off the Coast of Italy killing passengers and crew, in the weeks that passed since the commencement of their crisis Carnival's stock has rebounded and remains buoyant, generally speaking cruise-loving consumers remain optimistic about the safety of cruising, and consumer perceptions about who was responsible — the Captain, or the Company, these critical crisis issues for Carnival, at least for the moment, seem to have stabilized.

Read the full case study now:
Part 1: Will the Capsized Costa Concordia Cripple Carnival Cruise Lines and Sunk the Cruise Industry?

Part 2: Has Capsized Costa Concordia's Crisis Communications Management Preserved Consumer Confidence for Sailing and Saved Carnival Stock from Sinking?

In his Crisis Communications Case Study, Part II, "Costa Concordia & Carnival Cruise Lines Crisis Communications: Containment or Calamity?," Mustard produced an unprecedented 29-page report examining in extraordinarily interesting detail what Costa and Carnival Cruise Lines officials and their communications team did right, wrong, and what it could have done better. The analysis is interesting, informative and enlightening and should prove illuminating to public relations professionals, the media and consumers alike curious how crisis situations are managed and manipulated for media consumption. The analysis examines varying news accounts reported in the major media, including line by line analyses of various of the company's' press releases and detailed examinations of Carnival Cruise Lines key communications messaging points and positioning strategies. Published exactly one week from the date of Costa's original collision just a few hundred yards off the Italian Coastline, Jeff Mustard's analytical approach measures the company's communications effectiveness by including charts that cross-reference Carnival Cruise Lines performance on the New York Stock Exchange.

Read the full case study now:
Part 2: Has Capsized Costa Concordia's Crisis Communications Management Preserved Consumer Confidence for Sailing and Saved Carnival Stock from Sinking?

Stay tuned for parts 3 and 4 of this series in next Tuesday's issue.

Jeff Mustard, veteran public relations professional, is the President of The Bamboo Agency, a multiple award-winning advertising, marketing, public relations firm, Communications Director for national corporations and spokesperson for high-level businessman and government officials.