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Lessons in crisis comms: Legoland's missing child horror hoax

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The advent of social media has opened up a Pandora box of challenges for brands when it comes to dealing with internet trolls.Theme park destination Legoland Malaysia was recently plagued with a hoax that had resurfaced on social media. The hoax told a terrifying story of an attempted kidnapping at Legoland, causing worry and anxiety among parents.A screen shot of a Facebook post by a Singaporean user Daniel Boey, claimed that a six-year-old boy went missing and was found a few hours later in a drugged state with his head “shaved botak” (shaved bald). This post drew concerns from parents who called up Legoland Malaysia or reached out to the theme park on its Facebook page demanding for clarification and updates.Legoland Malaysia has since filed a police report on the hoax, but more importantly, this was a lesson in crisis communications.Legoland Malaysia told A+M: “It was important to reassure the public especially parents that the incident was a hoax and not cause unnecessary panic.”“To do this, social media is the fastest platform so we updated our channels accordingly. Next, we followed up with the media enquiries to ensure the public was informed. Safety is a priority to us so immediate action to rectify false rumours was our main concern.”According to Deviga Doreraja, PR manager, Legoland Malaysia Resort, it was important for the company to customise its communications to properly respond to queries.She said,“Sometimes additional action is also required to ensure that we maintain our international safety standards as visitor safety is a well being for us.  For example in the hoax incident, we reported it to the relevant authorities and shared our public statement with our Park guests via our FB page.”Scott Pettet, VP APAC, Lewis PR, believes that a such a hoax has the potential to cause substantial harm to a brand. At such times, being swift in its communications is critical for brands.He said: “Media monitoring and social media listening is key so that a brand can quickly identify an issue and then proactively take steps to minimise damage to the brand.”Pettet cited an example: "In extreme cases, this may even include putting a company’s shares into a temporary trading halt.  A hoax in Australia in 2013 involving Whitehaven coal is a good example. A fake press release purporting to be from Whitehaven’s financiers announcing the withdrawal of funding support was issued by an activist.  The news was picked up by mainstream media, resulting in over $300 million being wiped off Whitehaven’s market capitalisation.”Another instance of a brand suffering from hoaxes was when Cadbury was falsely accused of having pig DNA in its chocolates, creating an uproar in its Malaysia market. (Read also: Porcine DNA crisis: Did Cadbury manage communications well?)Digital consultancy QED’s Ryan Lim said that the first course of action to take for brands is to check if the account is real.“On most occasions, we will advise brands to first verify that it is really a hoax. The problem is that some unrealistic sounding reports may actually be true. Meanwhile, the brand should immediately issue a statement on its social media channels that it is investigating the alleged report. Keeping mum while conducting investigations is not wise as public fear gathers momentum very quickly.”“Open communications on social media is necessary during the hoax management is crucial as it shows that the brand under attack is willing to clarify misinformation on the matter," he added.As a preemptive move against the spread of false rumour, Lim said, "Over communication from the brand will prevent pockets of rumors from spreading false information further as consumers realizes that the brand has all the information to share. Often, credible third party verification should be employed to slay the hoax. Combined, these actions will suffocate hoaxes quite effectively.”In dealing with such a hoax, Kunalan Doraisingham, managing director, Priority Consultants Singapore, said: “In instances like these, we recommend that the brand is very clear on the facts and any actions that it may take.”“Most public theme parks, organisations and brands should have a very clearly defined or developed crisis plan. Part of this plan would be the communications protocol or plan. This includes the statement of facts, expanding upon the structure or escalation of actions if needed in a state of crisis or emergency so that the public is aware that there is a recourse should anything happen,” he added.He also said, “It is also very beneficial for the brand to reach out and connect with their target audience, consumers to present a softer and a more human side. It is imperative that a spokesperson addresses some key issues that would be the top fear, uncertainty or doubt that preoccupies every parent’s mind – safety of their children. “Doraisingham explained that brands should communicate with parents with compassion and empathy in order to engage and connect with them effectively, especially when it comes to dealing with a safety concern.Taking steps to further prevent such unnecessary online fiasco, Legoland Malaysia is committed to digilent social media monitoring: “We recognise that is a challenge to prevent irresponsible individuals from posting unsubstantiated claims on social channels but as safety and the well-being of our guests is our utmost priority, we have teams to diligently monitor all our social media platforms for messages/feedback from our fans."“If a need arises, we will ensure additional action is taken,” Doreraja said.

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