Order in Multiple Companies' Communication

Large capital groups often have informational noise. One company boasts of success, another remains silent, and a third sends conflicting signals to the local press in Poznań. This makes the holding lose credibility in the eyes of contractors. Odra Media Link takes this to the workshop and organizes it into one clear system. We don't create thick books that nobody reads. We give directors 4-page guidelines that say clearly: these are our facts, we remain silent about this, this is how we react to questions about the company's finances.

Over the last 8 months, we have developed standards for 3 groups operating in the region. The largest of them had 7 separate entities, each of which previously ran PR in its own way. After 5 weeks of our work, all spokespersons started using the same 14 key terms. Thanks to this, the media image around the holding became clear and consistent. Journalists stopped calling random people because they know exactly who has the authority to provide comments on behalf of the entire group.

Instructions for spokespersons are the foundation of our work. Every designated employee gets a ready-made script from us. There are answers to 12 most difficult questions that can be asked during a press conference or radio interview. We focus exclusively on facts: dates, numbers, specific people responsible for projects. If a difficult situation happens – for example, a failure in a production hall – everyone knows what to do in the first hour. The response procedure fits on one A4 sheet, which you can always have at hand at your desk.

Communication standards are not just words; it's also a specific reaction time. We established with our clients that an official response to a press inquiry must go out within 3.5 hours. This is a realistic time that allows for data collection but doesn't block the newsroom's work. (It happens that a quick and short response douses unnecessary emotions before the case reaches the front page of a local portal). We also introduce a common brand dictionary so that the engineer and the CEO talk about the same processes with the same terms.

We always test crisis communication rules in practice before handing over the project. We conduct short, 50-minute simulations for boards of subsidiaries. Recently, in April 2024, we did such training for a company in the transport industry. We checked how 4 board members would handle a sudden question about delays in investments. After the training, the time to prepare a statement was shortened by 38 minutes. This is a specific saving of nerves when every moment counts before the evening news edition.