Crisis Communication- The rise of New Brand Language in India

Abstract

Traditionally the research on crisis communication was targeted to public and private organizations’ but there is a limited awareness on crisis communication from the perspective of Indian brands.It is considered as a powerful strategic approach to reach the existing and prospective target audience during troublesome situations. Whenever a crisis occurs, there is a need of proactive, swift and comprehensive communication. In India, now days every brand has started thinking about an emergency communication plan that they may use whenever needed. Since it’s all about a brand’s repute when a crisis occurs, it becomes crucial to communicate with the masses addressing their immediate concerns and counter false information, ensuring that the communication language remains consistent throughout. Advertising is the key focus here since it plays a fundamental role at the junction of mass interaction. In present scenario, Social media platforms has turned out to be expedient tool for crisis communicating. But along with it, identifying the facts about the crisis and its significance is equally essential. This paper thus aims to bring forth tools and tactics of communication being used by brands before and after crisis. To better understand how this issue may affect the decision-making outcomes, Qualitative research approach will be taken to investigate judgement by observing & interviewing domain experts. Primary & Secondary data will help to evaluate the crisis response strategies taken by some power brands of India. Case study approach will yield the desired level of detail & understanding. Conclusions point out the glaring fact that all the brands that are involved in crisis communication have been successful in retaining their social identity and acceptance with high ethical standards in regard to social responsibility. Recommendations for how crisis communication can be further improvised in practice are discussed as well as suggestions for future research are provided.