Matt Dybedahl
COMM 385
10/25/11
Ben & Jerry’s Crisis Communication Plan
Company Profile:
Ben & Jerry’s is an Ice Cream company based in South Burlington, Vermont. The company
started in 1977 when two friends Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen opened an ice cream parlor in
Burlington. It wasn’t until 1980 when the operation expanded and they started selling their ice cream in
pints. In 2000 the company was bought by Unilever, a European company. Ben & Jerry’s Ice cream is
seen as a company who is not afraid to talk about social issues and over the years they have taken many
stances on such social issues.
They have a three part mission statement including their social, product, and economic mission
statements. Their social mission states “To operate the company in a way that actively recognizes the
central role that business plays in society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life
locally, nationally, and internationally.” Their product mission is “To make, distribute, and sell the finest
quality all natural ice cream and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating
wholesome, natural ingredients, and promoting business practices that respect earth and the
environment.” Lastly their economic statement is “To operate the company on a sustainable financial
basis of profitable growth, increasing value for our stakeholders and expanding opportunities for
development and career growth for our employees.” These mission statements reflect best what Ben &
Jerry’s is all about. As for affiliation with Ben & Jerry’s I don’t have any affiliation other then really
enjoying their Ice Cream and supporting a lot of the same social causes that they support.
Key Crisis Communication Components

Cover page

Introduction
o
As you should all be aware a major crisis has happened and it is directly
impacting Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. In this package is a crisis management plan
which has laid out all of the steps necessary for minimizing the impact and
destruction of this crisis. It is essential that all employees and stakeholders
follow the crisis management plan as it will only succeed with full cooperation
from everyone within the organization.

Acknowledgments
o
This Crisis management plan has been created to minimize the impact of any
social crisis that may occur. All upper management and stakeholders have read
and agreed upon said Crisis Management plan. All upper management and
stakeholders are prepared to put this crisis management plan into effect.


Rehearsal dates
o
Every six months for a major crisis
o
Every 12 months for a minor crisis
Purpose and Objectives
o
The purpose and objective of the Communication Crisis plan is to be completely
prepared if a crisis does occur. By being prepared a company is able to avoid
crises and minimize the impacts of a crisis when they do happen.
o
Objectively Ben & Jerry’s want their Crisis Communication plan to align with
their three part mission statement.

List of Key Publics
o
Board Members

Jeff Furman

Pierre Ferrari

Jennifer Henderson

Jostein Solheim

Terry Mollner

Anuradha Mittal

Kees Van Der Graaf

Bama Athreya

Helen Jones
o
Shareholders
o
Investors
o
Top Management
o
Community and Government Officials(city, state, county, federal)
o
Consumers
o
Vendors

Walmart

Cub

Rainbow

Piggly Wiggly

Other Major Grocery stores
o

o


Chicken/Egg farm supplier

St. Albans Cooperative Creamery
Notifying publics
o

Suppliers
Internal

Telephone Tree

Email

Fax

Posted company memo
External

Video and print news releases

Telephone

Letters

Email

Social Media(Twitter/facebook/youtube)
Identifying the crisis communication team/Crisis directory
o
Jostein Solheim(Chief Executive Officer)
o
Sean Greenwood(Public Relations Manager)
o
Jeff Furman(Board of Directors)
o
Ben Cohen(Founder)
o
Jerry Greenfield(Founder)
o
Michael Sands(Chief Marketing Officer)
Identifying the media spokesperson
o
Ben Cohen
o

List of emergency personnel and local officials
o
o

Jerry Greenfield
Peter Shumlin(Vermont Governer)

Phone: 802 828-3333

Email: GovernorVT@state.vt.us
Bob Kiss(Burlington, VA Mayor)

Phone: 802-865-7272

Email: mayor@ci.burlington.vt.us
List of key media
o
o
o
Local Newspapers

Burlington Free Press

Vermont Post

Daily Press

Rutland Herald
National Newspapers

New York Times

Washington Post

USA Today

Wall Street Journal
Local television

WCAX

WPTZ

WTVR

WTKR
o
o

National television

NBC

ABC

CNN

CBS
Radio

Vermont Public Radio

Sirius XM
Crisis communications control center
o
Ben & Jerrys Manufacturing Plant



Address: 1281 Waterbury-Stowe Rd Waterbury, VA
Equipment and supplies
o
Canned PR tools
o
Contact lists/media directories
o
Crisis Communication Plan
o
Cameras
o
Radios and flashlights
o
Pens, bulletin boards, computers, printers
Pre-gathered information
o
Print news release
o
Video news release
o
Crisis communication plan
o
Quality control procedures
o
Product manufacturing procedures

o
Annual reports
o
Crisis information
Key messages
o
Ben & Jerry’s cares about the current crisis and we are doing everything in our
power to combat the crisis and to ensure the safety of our employees,
consumers, and the environment.
o



Three Part Mission statement(Environmental, Social, and Product)
Website
o
http://www.benjerry.com/
o
http://www.benjerry.com/activism/mission-statement/
Blogs and social media
o
https://www.facebook.com/benjerry
o
http://twitter.com/#!/benandjerrys
o
http://youtube.com/benjerry
Trick questions
o
Off the record, you didn’t know you were dumping toxic chemicals into the river
near your manufacturing plant?
o

List of prodromes
o


What is your best guess for how many people were affected by this crisis?
These are potential lists of warnings that a crisis could be occurring.
List of related internet urls
o
Food and Drug Administration(http://www.fda.gov/)
o
Fair Trade USA(http://fairtradeusa.org/)
Evaluation form
o
Evaluation to be distributed two weeks after crisis is over. Evaluations will
include multiple choice and open ended questions. The evaluation will be
distributed to all internal publics.
Major Crisis

Salmonella or other disease breakout due to ingredients in ice cream
Manufacturing plants found to be releasing toxic chemicals into the air and water which goes
against their mission statement

Natural Disasters destroy Manufacturing plants causing Ice Cream shortage

Sexual and Racial discrimination lawsuit filed against Ben & Jerry’s
Minor Crisis

Found out to be using milk with rGBH and caged eggs in their ice cream when they claim not to

Ingredients in Ice Cream found not to be all natural

Controversies over risky ice cream names and stores refusing to sell them

Company going against Fair Trade ingredients and using non fair trade products
Key Stake Holders
They key stakeholders to involve in creating a crisis communication plan would be Jostein
Solheim(Chief Executive Officer), Sean Greenwood(Public Relations Manager), Jeff Furman(Board of
Directors), and Michael Sands(Chief Marketing Officer). These would be the best choices for
involvement in the communications plan because they are important people in the company. They are
educated on public relations and marketing and that is needed when forming a crisis communication
plan. Jostein Solheim also needs to be involved because he has the authority to make decisions and Jeff
Furman who is on the board of directors would be able to make sure the crisis communication plan
aligns properly with Ben & Jerry’s mission statements. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield would also be on
the crisis communication team as they are seen as the face of the company.
Canned Tools
There are a few good canned tools that Ben & Jerry’s could use for their company. The first one
would be a video news release. They could have a video release for each possible crisis in the
communication crisis plan. The video news release would be effective because it would be easiest to
get out to their target audience. Ben & Jerry’s could also use a print copy of a news release. Again each
news release would coincide with all of the possible Crisis communication events listed in the plan.
These news releases would be released in local and national newspapers. Another canned tool that
could be used would be photographs. Photographs would be used more specifically in cases where they
would need to show the cleanliness of a manufacturing plant or to show the health of the cows or
chickens they use to create the ingredients in their ice cream. The last canned tool would be to have a
social media blog ready to give key information to stakeholders and the general public. Also have an
option on the website for donations if applicable to the crisis.
Key Messages
There are a few key messages that Ben & Jerry’s would want to convey during a crisis. The first
thing would be that Ben & Jerry’s cares about the crisis and are committed to doing whatever they can
to help solve the crisis at hand. They would also want to remind the general public and employees about
their three part mission statement and how their actions are properly aligning with their mission
statement.
Audiences
There are many people that need to be informed when a crisis arises. The first people who need
to be informed are the crisis management team who are responsible for enacting the crisis
communication plan. Top management, stakeholders, and investors of the company also need to be
informed. Other people would be employees, vendors, contractors, suppliers, local and state
government officials. The two other audiences that need to be informed are the media (local/national
newspapers, magazines, television, radio, social media) and of course Ben & Jerry’s consumers.
Traditional Message Channels

Local newspapers(Burlington Free Press, Vermont Post, Daily Press, Rutland Hearld)

National newspapers(New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal)

Local television(WAVY, WDBJ, WTVR, WTKR)

National television(NBC, ABC, CNN, CSPAN, CBS)

Local Virginia Radio

National Radio(Sirius XM)

Magazines(Forbes, Entrepreneur, Every Day Food, Bon Appétit)
Non Traditional Channels

Facebook

Twitter

Google +

Blogs

Youtube

Myspace
The roles of traditional and social media play a big part in getting our message out to our targeted
audiences. With traditional media Ben & Jerry’s would be able to release canned press releases, video
news releases, etc. These messages need to be well thought out, prepared, and tailored to the specific
audience the company is trying to reach. As for social media that would be used more for quick up to
date information. It would also be used for gathering volunteers and donations if applicable to the crisis.
Both traditional and social media are also important because companies can use the two together to
reach a broader range of people.