H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan. Table of Contents

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan Table of Contents 1. Organization Background and Objectives H&M Clothing Co. History Mission of the Organization Objectives Crisis Team 2. Crisis Risk Assessment Top Five Most Likely Occurrences Top Five Highest Magnitude Occurrences Most Likely and Severe 3. Target Audiences and Publics 4. Media Relations List of Media Outlets and Contact Information 5. Action Steps Who Should Do What and When Decision Makers Financial and Legal Considerations 6. Logistics Crisis Communication Center Location List of Equipment and Resources Alternate Location 7. Evaluation Plan

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 1 Organizational Background and Objectives H&M Clothing Co. History H&M Group is a Swedish clothing group that was founded in 1947, originally as a woman's clothing store called Hennes. In 1968, Hennes became H&M when it added the sale of men's and children's clothing. H&M has quickly became the world recognized fast-fashion for men, women, and teenagers. Up until the year 2000 H&M was only in six international locations the seventh store opened in New York, New York. As of 2015 there are 25 countries with H&M. H&M should always have the best customer offering in each and every market. H&M offers collections that are wide-ranging and varied for women, men, teenagers and children. Design, quality, and sustainability are not a question of price; they always offer inspiring fashion with unbeatable value for money. H&M is built on solid foundations. Their business concept reflects their values, which are based off a fundamental respect for the individual, which includes belief in the employee. H&M does not own factories, but instead buys products from independent suppliers that are close longterm partners of H&M. Working to bring about long-term improvement for people and the environment in the supply chain, the garment lifecycle and the communities in which are active. Mission of the Organization Fashion and Quality at the best price. All fashion organizations are able to use this as their mission statement, but H&M defines its values as the H&M Spirit We believe in people, We are one team, Constant improvement,

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 2 Straightforward and open-minded, Entrepreneurial spirit, Keep it simple, Cost-conscious in all we do, sustainability is a natural part. These values ensure a workplace in which the decision paths are short, where everyone works together at a fast pace, and where everyone can rely on each other s knowledge and abilities. Individually, these values may seem obvious. But together, they form a culture that we think is unique and different from many other companies. Our values, the H&M spirit, should be regarded as a support, something to strengthen us and use in our everyday work. Objectives At any time a business should be setting and reaching goals. While H&M is always taking steps to reach our goals there can be times when crisis situations may appear. During those times, it is important to understand that the objectives of their efforts may change. Non-crisis communication is very different than crisis communication and for that reason it is important to refer to the H&M Way. The H&M Way helps to create a generalized list of objectives that are followed out during non-crisis times. Impact Objectives During Non-Crisis: To treat co-workers and customers with integrity, respect, humbleness, and dignity. To work in teams to accomplish goals and lead by example. To ensure long term safety and good health of our employees. To discuss work related issues with management and media. To be a fair employer and work in fair partnership. To strive for sustainability excellence. To grow and develop ethical and strong-minded leaders for H&M. During crisis situations the generalized objectives should be built upon and create measurable objectives based off of the ones below. Crisis situations require us to perform at our

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 3 best in every given moment, and often times we are being watched with a close eye. Performing under pressure and skepticism is important, but as a team such a feat is possible. Impact Objectives During Crisis: To maintain high quality communication to all media requests. To bolster the image of H&M clothing company. To update any information regularly as circumstances change. To ensure immediate access to accurate information. To respond with accuracy and not speculate about details. To monitor media outlets for updates on H&M Crisis. To monitor social media for real time public opinion of H&M Crisis. Crisis Team The names in the list below are authorized members of the H&M Crisis team. The spokesperson is designated at the beginning of eac]year; this will increase our time spent on crisis communications. Karl-Johan Persson Liv Asarnoj Chief Executive Officer Corporate Governance Phone: +468796500 Phone: +4687965501 E-mail: PerssonJK@hm.com E-mail: AsarnojL@hm.com Spokesperson Jyrki Tervonen Kristina Stenvinkel Chief Financial Officer Head of Communications Phone: +4687965502 Phone: +4687963908 E-mail: TervonenJ@hm.com E-mail: StenvinkelK@hm.com Nils Vinge Sanna Lindberg Investor Relations Head of Human Resources Phone: +4687965250 Phone: +4687963908 E-mail: VingeN@hm.com E-mail: LindbergS@hm.com Sven Unger Lawyer Phone: +4615950489 E-mail: Unger@svenungerlaw.com

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 4 For social media inquiries, the Twitter account @hm will be the authorized source. Crisis Risk Assessment: Summary of Potential Disasters Top Five Most Likely Occurrences: 1. Body Image Issues In the fashion industry, how a product is advertised is influential. The way models are used in campaigns can indirectly affect how the consumers view themselves. There are many distinct issues that can arise from campaigns relating to body image including discrimination, hindering the self-confidence of women, and connections to false advertising. H&M, like other retail organizations, is susceptible to accusations regarding body image. With the company producing an abundance of campaigns each year, H&M should keep in mind the image that their advertisements are presenting to their audience, as well as any images that could be perceived as inappropriate or misleading to consumers. 2. Exploitation of Employees The mistreatment and unfair actions in the workplace is a reality for employees of organizations across the world. In many countries, there are laws that protect employees from corrupt actions such as: underpayment, poor working conditions, and excessive physical labor. Retail chains across the world are under surveillance to ensure sufficient standards are being met for employees not only in their retail stores, but also in factories and assembly plants alike. Being an international corporation, H&M is liable to receive allegations against its policies. H&M has a commitment to grow with its employees. From the site where all merchandise is tailored, to the store location that it is being sold in, the H&M Corporation is one team. H&M fights to protect the rights of every employee, as well as respect their privacy and wishes.

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 5 3. Advertising Double Standard Brands in the retail industry often find themselves portraying their audiences through their advertising campaigns. This creates a high likelihood for a double standard. Consumers search for brands that portray genders, races, sexual orientations, etc. in the same light throughout their advertisements. Many brands in the retail industry find themselves idealizing women with a thigh gap and thin waist, holding women in society to a high standard. Where as for men, there is less influence on placed on physical characteristics. This is just one of many examples of double standard found in retail advertising. Being a retailer for both men s and women s clothing, it is possible that H&M may face criticism for an advertising double standard. Since the retailer designs clothes for women size 2 to 28 as well as men s 13 to 17, the brand should be conscious of this in their advertisements. By only selecting certain sizes to be included in campaigns, the brand s advertising is presenting a double standard. 4. Security Breach Creating a more efficient and simple form of attainment for consumers is a goal of organizations across the world. By creating rewards cards, company credit cards, online purchasing, as well as asking for consumer information at checkout, corporations are not only connecting with their consumers, but they are also making them susceptible to theft, stolen identification, and other dangerous crimes. As the rate of security breaches in retail chains continues to increase, as well as the development of technology for purchasing purposes, H&M is also liable for a breach. H&M wants to create effective and simple form of payment for consumers, but the organization needs

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 6 to take the proper steps to ensure the safety of their personal and financial information and avoid a breach in security. 5. Controversial Clothing Fashion, for many, is a form of creative expression, and in the world of fashion it can be difficult to make a statement. However, when retailers dare to produce a seemingly creative look, it has the potential to be seen as controversial as well. Controversial clothing not only receives negative sales, but also a negative image for the retailer as a whole. As a retailer of men and women s clothing, H&M creates looks that make a statement. Since the retailer releases new looks each season, designers are constantly looking for inspiration and creativity to put into the line, which increases the likeliness of creating a controversial look. Designers and management alike should be familiar with historical instances, especially when featuring the name of a city, university, event, or year on their clothing. Top Five High Magnitude Occurrences: 1. Exploitation of Employees As previously stated, the mistreatment and unfair actions in the workplace is also a significant issue for employees of organizations across the world. In several countries, there are laws that protect employees from corrupt actions such as: underpayment, poor working conditions, and excessive physical labor. Retail chains across the world are under surveillance to ensure sufficient standards are being met for employees not only in their retail stores, but also in factories and assembly plants alike. Being an international corporation, H&M is liable to receive allegations against its policies. Allegations of any sort are detrimental to the organization s image. H&M has a commitment to grow with its employees. From the site where all merchandise is tailored, to the

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 7 store location that it is being sold in, the H&M Corporation is one team. H&M fights to protect the rights of every employee, as well as respect their privacy and wishes. 2. Security Breach Like previously stated, creating a more efficient and simple form of attainment for consumers is a goal of organizations across the world. By creating rewards cards, company credit cards, online purchasing, as well as asking for consumer information at checkout, corporations are not only connecting with their consumers, but they are also making them susceptible to theft, stolen identification, and other dangerous crimes. As the rate of security breaches in retail chains continues to increase, as well as the development of technology for purchasing purposes, a security breach to the operations of the H&M organization would be destructive. The organization needs to take the proper steps to ensure the safety of their employee s, consumers, as well at the organization s personal and financial information and avoid a breach in security. 3. Body Image In any advertising campaign, the way models are portrayed can indirectly affect how the consumers view themselves in the retailer s clothing. There are many distinct issues that can arise from campaigns relating to body image including discrimination, hindering the selfconfidence of women, and connections to false advertising. H&M, like other retail organizations, is susceptible to detrimental accusations regarding body image. Being a company that features several different campaigns each year, H&M should keep in mind the image and message that their advertisements are sending to their audience, as well as any images that could be perceived as inappropriate or misleading to consumers.

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 8 4. Advertising Double Standard Brands in the retail industry attract different audiences through their advertising campaigns. If a brand s advertising appears to promote a double standard, it can be detrimental to the brand s image. Like prior stated, many brands in the retail industry find themselves idealizing women with a thigh gap and thin waist, holding women in society to a high standard. Where as for men, there is less influence on placed on physical characteristics. This is just one of many examples of double standard found in retail advertising that can be detrimental to a retail organization. Being a retailer for both men s and women s clothing, it is possible that H&M may face criticism for an advertising double standard. Since the retailer designs clothes for women size 2 to 28 as well as men s 13 to 17, the brand should be conscious of this in their advertisements. By only selecting certain sizes to be included in campaigns, the brand s advertising is presenting a double standard that consumers may view in a negative light. 5. Association with Unsafe Third-Party Vendors A third-party vendor is a supplier that provides goods and services that will in turn be supplied to the customer. In the retail sector major brands obtain their products and either integrate them into their own unique product or resell the products they've procured to customers or companies. They sometimes will modify the products they obtain to create their own brand. This presents the risk of the product being unreliable or insufficient for the consumer or company. H&M, like many retail organizations, utilizes third-party vendors for the production of their clothing lines. The clothing that is produced by these vendors opens the potential for defects, miscommunication, and misinterpretation. Although the vendor may cause problems like

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 9 these, any repercussions need to be handled by H&M directly. Therefore, the organization needs to be aware of all communications with vendors as well as track them closely to prevent negative relationships between their vendors as well as consumers. Most Severe and Likely Exploitation of Employees Because H&M is an international retail organization, as well as utilizes third-party vendors, the organization has an array of employees in different positions all across the world. Therefore, H&M is very liable for accusations of exploitation of its employees. If any accusation of exploitation is found to be true, it can have detrimental effects to the entire H&M organization. These factors not only make accusations of exploitation likely, but also high magnitude for its potential effects. Customers Target Audiences and Publics This public is relevant to our organization because they are the consumers of our products, and greatly contribute to the success of the company. Therefore, keeping them informed is important in order to maintain loyalty and a beneficial relationship, as well as develop and grow relationships with new customers. Employees Employees are a public of our organization, because they are directly affected by the success or failure of our company. Beyond that, they are extremely important because they provide the services needed in order for our products to be produced. Stockholders

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 10 This group is a public of our organization because they are financially invested in the success of the company. Therefore, it is important to make sure they are knowledgeable about what is happening within our company to ensure continued trust of the organization. Suppliers H&M s suppliers are to be considered a public because they, along with our employees, provide the services required for our products to be manufactured. Also, our suppliers are a public because it is of great importance to keep them informed of our company s social and environmental issues and policies, which apply to them directly. Media The media is a very important public of our company because they are largely responsible for the perception the general public, and especially our publics, have of our company. Therefore, it is important to keep the media up-to-date and provide them with accurate information in order for them to relay the correct message. This is also an essential public because it allows our organization to send out information quickly and effectively. Media Outlets and Contact Information New York Times Business Day: Email: bizday@nytimes.com The Arts: Email: thearts@nytimes.com Media Relations The New York Times is an essential media contact because of its large reach, and the fact that it has written numerous stories about our organization in the past. H&M also has the ability to appear in more than one section of this publication as well. When there is news concerning our

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 11 company s financial situations, new partnerships, or our suppliers, it can be placed in the business section. When our company has news more connected to the fashion side of our business, it can be placed in the arts section. Washington Post Business: Email: business@washpost.com Phone: 202.334.7320 Style: Email: style@washpost.com Phone: 202.334.7535 The Washington Post is another media contact that is important not only because of its reach, but also because it has the potential to appeal to a different audience than the New York Times. In the past, the Washington Post has written many stories about our organization and has two sections, business and style, that correspond to the type of news our company may have. Vogue Hildy Kuryk: Email: press@vogue.com Vogue is one of the necessary media contacts because it is one of the most respected and established fashion magazines being produced. It will also be able to target a large female, and potentially, male audience that is concerned with our company s fall/winter and spring/summer fashion lines or new partnerships with designers and celebrities. GQ Style Guy: Email: StyleGuy@GQ.com GQ is an important media contact because it is currently one of the most popular men s magazines being produced. Therefore, it has the potential to reach a large number of men who

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 12 are interested in fashion and current trends. This will allow our company to target men, who are also essential to the continued success of our organization. Who Should Do What and When Action Steps CEO The CEO should be the spokesperson for the situation to the public as well as deciding how to deal with the situation. The CEO is not only the face of the company, but also should be managing the crisis as well as managing the business operations. The CEO should already be trained to deal with the media during a crisis situation. Head of Communications The Head of Communications should be making a plan on how to address the public and decide what types of strategies and apologia H&M may want to employ. Director of Public Relations The Director of Public Relations should be on the Crisis Management team and should serve as the leader of the Communications team. Head of Media Relations The Head of Media Relations should make sure that the media is not reporting false information and making sure that when the CEO wants to make a statement all the media outlets know about it. The Head of Media Relations needs to make sure that H&M is on good terms with the various media outlets. CFO The CFO should make sure that workers are making appropriate wages and that the external companies associated with H&M are being paid appropriately. The CFO should also be making sure that all finances are correct.

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 13 Director of Human Resources The Director of Human Resources should make sure that all workers know their rights and how they should be getting compensated. Head of Corporate Governance The Head of Corporate Governance should contact all country leaders and make sure that workers are not being exploited and that all the part of the corporation are following all procedures properly. Head of Investor Relations The Head of Investor Relations should contact all investors about the crisis and reassure them that everything will continue to go smoothly with the H&M company. Lawyer The Lawyer should take all legal documents that apply to the worker exploitation crisis and workers rights. The Decision Makers Decision makers will be the Director of corporate governance, Liv Asarnoj, the CEO, Karl-Johan Persson, the CFO, Jyrki Tervonen, the Head of Human Resources, Sanna Lindberg, and the Head of Communications, Kristina Stenvinkel. These heads are the most connected to this particular situation, so they can make the big decisions for H&M. The big decision should include the following: should a photographer be hired immediately to document any damage or problems? Will a tour be necessary? Will parking need to be adjusted? Should all advertising by the firm be canceled until the crisis is studied further? Financial and Legal Considerations

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 14 H&M s lawyer, Sven Unger, will be present, so making sure that he looks through the legal documents that workers have signed and the external companies that have been hired by the H&M Company. Logistics Crisis Communication Center Location Stockholm, Sweden is the location of the H&M crisis communication center. This is the location of the crisis communication center because it is where the multinational headquarters for H&M are located. This is the optimal location for the crisis communication center because all of the major decision makers for the company reside in the area. The location would enable the company to have all of the major decision makers present if an emergency press conference is needed. Equipment and Resources Equipment that is mandatory in the crisis communication center is necessary in order to make it a functional environment to handle crisis situations. The number of chairs in the center must match the number shown on the floor plan and there also must be extra chairs stored in the center. Tables, a supply of pens, paper, water bottles, and small snacks are also required. Computers, telephones, and television sets are required in the communication center room. Resource lists must be stored in both a digital and hard copy in the crisis communication center. Printers and paper are also necessary to have on hand in the center. Floor Plan

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 15 Alternate Location The alternate location for a crisis communication center for H&M is New York, New York. New York City is the optimal alternate location for a crisis communication center because the city is the location of the North American headquarters of H&M. The decision makers for the North American branch of the brand would be immediately available if crisis communication would need to take place. Post-Crisis Evaluation In the aftermath of any crisis, the crisis management team previously listed will evaluate all facets of the crisis, those that appeared successful, as well as those that were unsuccessful. Managers in select locations across the world will complete evaluation forms, summarizing their

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 16 thoughts of the event. Copies of these forms will be distributed to the crisis management team for further evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the program. All recommendations will be recorded in the crisis management report, as well as distributed to appropriate managers across the world. H&M Clothing Co. Name: Post-Crisis Evaluation Date: Location: Did you anticipate this crisis? Circle One: Yes No Some Explain: Did we follow our Crisis Communication Plan? Circle One: (Not at all) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (Completely) Explain: Were the proper stakeholders notified / addressed? Circle One: (Not at all) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (Completely) Explain: Were the proper media outlets notified / addressed? Circle One: (Not at all) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (Completely) Explain: What communication channels did we use and were they effective? Not Effective Effective 1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 17 2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 What should we have done differently? What should we change in our Crisis Communication Plan? What still needs to be done? How long did it take to recover from our crisis, if applicable?

H&M Clothing Co. Crisis Communication Plan 18 References About H&M. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://about.hm.com/en/about.html Organisation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://about.hm.com/en/about/facts-abouthm/about-hm/organisation.html#cm-menu

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