Contact: Sue Breckenridge
Time Warner Cable – Charlotte Division
3140 West Arrowood Road
Charlotte, NC 28273
(704)378-2952
Project Title: “Ice Storm Crisis Campaign”
Project Category: Employees; Full
Campaign/Single Activity; Cable System IV
“Ice Storm Crisis Campaign”
I. PLANNING AND STRATEGY
On December 4, 2002 the Charlotte region was hit by one of the worst ice storms in its
history. The storm snapped branches and brought down trees, closed streets, and left two
million people without power in the Carolinas and over 300,000 (78%) Time Warner Cable
customers in the Charlotte Division without cable and/or high speed data services. Not only
did the Division face a challenge communicating with and restoring cable services to our
customers, but we also faced the critical challenge of working and communicating with our
1,100 employees and 390,000 customers. It became immediately clear that internal
communication needed to be a top priority; it was vital that the Division keep its employees
informed about our progress to repair the storm damage. Finding itself in the midst of a crisis
without a crisis communication plan, the Division’s strategy was to coordinate an effective
internal crisis communication campaign that would give employees regular and updated
information about the storm damage and our repairs, empower them to answer customer
questions and concerns, and acknowledge and reward their hard work through the crisis.
A. Objectives:
 To effectively communicate with the Division’s employees throughout the crisis.
 To give employees adequate and appropriate information to answer customer
questions and concerns.
 To reward employees for their hard work through the crisis.
B. Target Audiences and Messages:
 All 1,100 employees of Time Warner Cable – Charlotte: The Division will give you the
tools you need to work through the crisis; thank you for your dedication to this
company.
 Other Time Warner Cable Divisions and Corporate Office: The Charlotte Division is
effectively handling the crisis at hand; we appreciate your assisting us work through
this difficult time.
C. Challenges:
 Personal Situations. The ice storm obviously affected our business, but it also affected
our employees’ personal lives. Schools were closed, streets were hazardous and power
was out across the Division. We had to work with employees to coordinate their
personal needs and situations, with our need to staff up to enable our business to work
through the storm damage. Some of our employees were without power at home and a
work; one of our customer service call centers answered phones by flashlight without
computers.
 Budget. The storm hit the Division at the end of the calendar year, so budgets were
tight. We did not have the luxury of extra financial resources to help us communicate
with employees, to hire additional staff or to reward employees for their service.
D. Justification
Time Warner Cable’s “Ice Storm Crisis Campaign” was designed to increase employee
awareness of our storm recovery activities. The project was a campaign implemented around
the December ice storm, and it included e-mail communication, correspondence, newsletters,
a video and more.
II. IMPLEMENATION
To prepare for the storm, the Division distributed its “Inclement Weather Policy” to all
employees on December 3. Once the storm hit on December 4, the Division’s area was
declared a state of emergency and the power outages were extensive, therefore our ability to
repair the storm damage was limited. Regardless, dozens of Time Warner Cable employees
worked around the clock, staffing and refueling generators and assessing damage. In the first
days after the storm, we focused our efforts internally on answering employee concerns,
distributing talking points to all staff to handle customer questions, creating accounting codes
for accurate accounting of storm expenses, communicating with employees about overtime,
safely transporting staff to and from work, and bringing in meals to keep employees off the
hazardous roads.
Disaster Recovery Team
Immediately after the storm, senior management and other key staff began meeting twice a
day – early in the morning and again late in the afternoon – to keep abreast of weather
developments, employee concerns and recovery efforts. This team was comprised of
representatives from every department and each county that the Division serves. Team
members who were unable to reach the Division office called in from their outlying office or
participated via cell phones. Division managers in key departments (i.e., technical operations,
customer operations and public affairs) met several times a day to assess the damage
situation and our response to it.
Other Divisions/Corporate Office
Time Warner Cable’s Charlotte Division immediately communicated with other Divisions and
our Corporate office to keep them informed about our recovery efforts. Columbus, OH and
Columbia, SC Divisions sent us manpower, vehicles and equipment to assist our recovery
work. We received offers from many other TWC divisions across the country. We gave
visiting technicians sweatshirts as tokens of gratitude for their assistance. The sweatshirts
featured the Time Warner Cable logo with the tagline, “Thanks from the Charlotte, NC
Division, Disaster Recovery Team, December, 2002.” We communicated often with the
Corporate office, and were featured in its TWConnections newsletter.
Print Advertising
On Sunday, December 8, the Division published an ad in eight local papers under the
headline, “The ice is gone, but our work goes on.” The purpose of the letter was to thank our
employees and other local professionals (i.e., Duke Energy and other utilities) for their
recovery efforts, to inform customers they would receive credit for lost service time, and to
show our support for our local communities.
Daily Status Reports
Starting December 9, the Monday after the storm, the Division’s Public Affairs office began
writing daily status reports for all employees from Division President David Auger. These
updates, e-mailed to all employees first thing in the morning, were designed to provide storm
recovery statistics, to collect information from employees (i.e., stories of personal hardship or
recovery efforts), and to share customer compliments we received as a result of our efforts.
The final daily report was distributed on December 20.
Video Message
On December 10, Time Warner Cable Chairman and CEO Glenn Britt, Vice Chairman and
COO John Billock and Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer Landel Hobbs visited
the Division’s headquarters to personally thank our employees for their commitment in the
week since the storm. The Division videotaped their visit and created a video using that
footage and an introduction by David Auger. The video was played on break room televisions
and was distributed throughout the Division so all employees would be thanked for their hard
work.
Holiday Thanks
Before the storm, the Division’s tight budget had forced us to forego a large employee holiday
celebration or gifts for all staff. In light of our employees’ hard work during the storm, an
exception was made, and each employee received a local grocery store gift card as well as a
Wal-Mart gift card. These gifts were distributed with a personal letter from David, thanking
each employee for his/her storm recovery efforts.
Employee Newsletter
The final component of our internal crisis campaign was the Division’s employee newsletter.
Published in January 2003, the front page story was a column from David congratulating
employees for their “hard work, dedication and enthusiasm for getting the job done quickly
and correctly.” Inside the document was a two-page spread featuring employee stories of
excellence, customer compliments, photos from the Time Warner Cable Corporate visit and
ice storm statistics. The newsletter also contained photos of storm damage and of employees
and their recovery efforts.
External Communication
In addition to our internal communication efforts, throughout the storm and subsequent
recovery efforts, the Division made a great effort to regularly and effectively communicate
with our customers. These efforts included a web page, press releases, personal phone calls to
franchising authorities, and more.
III. RESULTS
Time Warner Cable – Charlotte Division’s quick response to the ice storm ensured that our
employees were safe, well-informed and appreciated for their hard work. We received a
tremendous amount of positive feedback from employees regarding our communication
process during the storm recovery. 100% of our employees were reached during our internal
crisis campaign.
The most exciting result has been the creation of a Time Warner Cable – Charlotte Division
Crisis Communication Plan. The plan, which includes the formation of a Crisis
Communication Team, is largely based on the processes and strategies that were established
during the storm. For example, during a level one crisis (i.e., an ice storm), the team will meet
twice a day – just as it did in December.