It is painful to see another revered and accomplished institution like Penn State stumble and bumble through crisis management and jeopardize its reputation, now and for the future.

I am also afraid that there is more here than meets the eye. There usually is, and the potential of more disturbing news makes me more concerned.

At this writing, Penn State administrators seem to be burying their heads in the sand, announcing internal investigations and apparently hoping this too shall pass.  Joe Paterno’s weekly news conference was canceled today.  That’s sad.

Get ready Penn State, this story won’t disappear in the short term, and it will certainly go on as the offenders are brought to court. As Tiger Woods and Jim Tressel  learned, the storm has just begun.

In fact, these alleged crimes, and more importantly, the University’s mismanagement of it problems, this crisis and subsequent communications might be catastrophic for Penn State.

The point – we all trust our young men and women to University leaders like those who are in trouble now, right?

Please understand that I am in no way supporting what appears to be deplorable behavior on the part of those involved at Penn State.

I am merely urging the University to consider and act on these eight fundamental steps of crisis communications.

These steps don’t completely address the higher moral issues here, but they should help mitigate damage to the University and show support and compassion for the alleged victims and other Penn State constituencies affected by this scandal:

1. Get real – you are in a storm and you can’t escape. Going into hiding in silence is not an option. It only fosters the appearances of guilt and wrong doing. Pride goes before the fall.
2. Be open, be compassionate and show you get it and are doing the best you can now and will continue to work and inform as much as you can, morally and legally.  Accept responsibility.
3. Park your arrogance – this issue has rocked the Catholic Church; it has media appeal and is more than State College in a bubble. Media coming to town don’t care who gets the next exclusive sit down with a legendary football coach. Sadly, reporters can launch a career off this scandal.  
4. Win war not the battle –  you might hold out hope to win in the court of law, but the court of public opinion might smother you way before you get to judge or jury.  You need to act swiftly to save your reputation.
5. Think broadly about all that is at risk – your football program is minor compared to students, parents, faculty, alumni, corporate partners and thousands of others devoted to Penn State as a revered institution of higher learning.  Seriously consider these constituencies as they make your engine run. Their low morale will affect your operations.
6. Frame an appropriate crisis management approach, based on immediate, in-depth analysis (as you can), and take appropriate action when any aspect of this crisis strikes.  And be like water and flow to accommodate your goals as this crisis is here to stay.
7. Accept and manage the 24/7 news cycle. This story never sleeps. You will be working round the clock like in a political campaign.
8. Have a credible, compassionate and trustworthy face and voice  for the university – we want to see someone in charge and acting in a concerned, meaningful way to manage this crisis and the problems. Give your cause an accomplished pilot in this turbulence. It is not the football coach. Although he can’t dismiss this.
9. Of course, planning in advance is the most valuable way to manage crises and communications.

So, we probably don’t have a crisis like this hidden in our organization, but did frontrunner Herb Cain or BP?

Point is – product recalls, injuries from usage, tainted formulations, factory accidents, financial scandals and tampering on shelves – are lurking and can compromise brands and potentially long-term business.

Can your brand really afford that business disruption and decline? Why risk it?

Of course, so much more is at stake at Penn State, yet when in this crisis, they could act more effectively and responsibly now than apparently they have.

What do you think?

One of my childhood friends is running for local town council in the Cincinnati suburbs.

He grew up there and wants to preserve its special rural character in a fiscally responsible way. To do so, he knows the town must raise taxes – not a popular idea particularly for fiscally conservative Tom.

But Tom understands that you have to give to get, especially when the town might be milking instead of building its asset – unique and desirable community very close to downtown.

That’s Tom’s point and he has earned respect for it on the campaign trail. He considers himself a dark horse, but he will win his first election.

What are more impressive and powerful than his point are his demeanor, behavior and attitude in delivering it.

Tom is steady – he knows his point, understands it, believes it, values it and acts on it.

You might disagree with him, but he has given his point good thoughtful consideration promoting its value to his fellow neighbors. As a result, he has the heart of the point – a clear and focused meaning that will move voters.

So successful or aspiring brands, if you want to learn something, consider Tom and even check out local politics. It might seem cheesy and a little annoying, but local politicians are precise in making their point.

Why? Because generally they are spending their own precious time and money, so they must get the ROI – election victory.

How are you keeping your organization and brand point steady in these turbulent times?

Sometimes, brands can easily deviate from their point. They risk not only their business purpose and promise but possibly their entire business.

Netflix has deviated with recent business decisions, now retracted. I wonder how they will recover especially when formidable competitors lurk and consumers’ sentiments challenge the brand.

To avoid deviation from your point, a brand must be mindful of these five strategies:

1. Knowledge – deeply know your customer’s needs perceptions and impressions about your business and business category.
2. Understanding — clearly understand customers’ willingness and options for acting for and against your brand and organization.
3. Belief – build goodwill and trust before you make any decision with serious consequences.
4. Value – view your asset from the customers’ perspective – quality or quantity, simple or sophisticated, faster, easier, simpler, accessible or cheaper?
5. Act – all those points considered, anticipate and prepare to act swiftly when problems arise.

I’m sure there were smart financial reasons for their recent business decisions.

But you hate to see such a valuable business purpose and promise compromise itself. I’d be especially nervous as Hollywood studios, Apple, Google and Amazon are bolding lurking around the Netflix model.

So, keep these five factors in mind always, especially before making a bold change in your business point.

How are you planning for and managing changes in your business? What factors are you paying attention to?

Go to your neighborhood Starbucks, and doesn’t it seem like everyone owns an Ipad.

In reality, since its introduction just over a year and half, 11% of adults already own a tablet computer of some sort.

Here are some other interesting facts and insights from a recent most detailed study of tablet use:

• Almost 50% get news on their tablet every day and 30% say they now spend more time consuming news than they did before they purchased their tablets.
• Fully 77% of tablet owners use their tablets every day, spending an average of 90 minutes.
• Consuming news—which ranges from headline to long-form reading—is one of the most popular tablet activities (53% consume news on their tablet daily).
• News consumption is almost as popular as sending email (54%), and outpaces social networking (39%), gaming (30%), reading books (17%) and watching movies and videos (13%).
• Tablet news users say they prefer these new devices over traditional computers, print publications or television as a way to get quick news headlines and to read long-form pieces.
• A plurality of tablet news users (40%) say they get their news mainly through a web browser.
• Another 31% use news apps and the browser equally, while fewer, 21%, get their news primarily through apps.

This study was conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism in collaboration with The Economist Group.

Here are compelling interpretations from the study:

• Brand is important on the tablet. Whether an app comes from “a news organization I like” is as prevalent a factor in the decision to download an app as is low cost. Liking the news organization is a major factor for 84% of those who have apps.
• Substitution is already occurring to large degrees. Fully 90% of tablet news users now consume news on the tablet that they used to access in other ways.  The greatest substitution is occurring with news that people used to get from their desktop computer.
• Incidental news reading is prevalent on the tablet. Nearly nine-in-ten (88%) of those who read long articles in the last seven days ended up reading articles they were not initially seeking out.
• The browser, carried over from the desktop experience, is still the more popular means for consuming news.   While about two-thirds of tablet news users have a news app on their tablet, most tablet news users (40%) say they get their news mainly through the web browser on their device.
• But those who do rely mainly on apps for news represent a kind of power news consumer. Close to half of this group say they now spend more time getting the news than they did before they had their tablet (43%).
• Word of mouth is a key component of tablet news sharing. Fully 85% of those who get news on their tablets said they had talked with someone about a long article they had read there.

Well, the number may be only 11% but with these compelling facts, insights and interpretations, you know we will be seeing even higher usage numbers in the near future.

By the way, I bought a Samsung Tab this summer and love it for all the ideas presented above.

How are you using your tablet? What changes have you seen in your news consumption habits?

Sometimes the answer or point is right in front of you.

Today it was– the yellow Cheerios box confidently making its point.

The top-selling cereal’s point is so clear, clean and crisp – healthy heart, healthy life.

That’s the point – meaning that moves you.

Cheerios makes its point strongly on its package and in clever TV commercials, but the point is not prominent on its website or its Facebook page.

Darn, Cheerios.

This inconsistent point making compromises the power of the healthy heart Cheerios point.  In fact, Google those keywords and you get about 200,000 results – nice Point, missed opportunity!

So, General Mills and Cheerios get half of the Point Formula© right – finding your point, but misses in making its point comprehensively.

Let’s give them a B+ on our Point of Sales Communications  Power Index©.

Wonder what tomorrow’s breakfast point will be?

Found your brand point yet?

What is it and are you successful at making it?