Coffee and Crisis: Lesson’s from Dunkin’ Brands’ CCO

By Claire Nester, Director at PRLab

Karen Raskopf spoke to PR students last month about the trials and tribulations of being the head of communications for well-known, global brands. Raskopf has been the Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Dunkin’ Brands since 2009, and prior to Dunkin’ Brands, she held similar positions at Blockbuster and 7-Eleven. She was a keynote speaker at the regional conference for the Public Relations Student Society of America, held at BU last month, and she shared her own unique insights into the industry that she has learned over the past thirty years in the field. (PRLab’s very own Professor Joseph interviewed her!)

Crisis Management

“If you’re in this business, it’s not a matter of if you’re going to face a crisis. It’s a matter of when.”

Raskopf has faced her fair share of communication crises over the years, but she said the best way to overcome crises is to get ahead of them. She said this can be challenging because PR is a 24/7 business, and crises always happen at the most inconvenient times like holiday weekends or Friday afternoons. But then again, is there ever really a convenient time for a crisis?

Raskopf shared an example of an incident in which a franchise location was at odds with the global brand. The Thailand branch released an advertising campaign that did not get corporate approval prior to its release. It was promoting a chocolate fudge donut and featured a woman in head to toe paint resembling the color of the donut. While this is highly problematic for an American brand, the CEO of the Thailand franchise did not understand its implications. Raskopf said that she found out about the advertisement when a reporter from the Associated Press reached out for a comment. Within a matter of a few hours, the advertisement was pulled and the brand issued a statement apologizing for the “racist and insensitive campaign.” Raskopf made a point to note that they did not apologize if “you were offended,” which is a backhanded apology. She also said that is was crucial for every story around the world about the issue to include the apology and the fact that it was immediately pulled. While Dunkin Donuts is a global brand, it is important for all franchises to positively represent the American company.

Client-Agency Relations

“The ability to say yes is good, but the ability to say no is better.”

As the in-house communications officer, Raskopf explained that the best PR agencies are the ones that don’t feel like an agency at all. The agency should feel like a part of the in-house team, in the sense that it is a partnership and not a separate entity. The relationship should be strong enough for the agency to feel comfortable pushing back against the client.

Tips for PR Professionals

“Language of business is business.”

According the Raskopf, the best PR professionals understand the language of business. In order to deliver value for companies and put PR campaigns into perspective for company executives, PR professionals should have a general understanding of profit margin, finance, etc. This knowledge is especially crucial when PR teams have to take companies public. Raskopf said the best way to do this is to keep learning and reading. Even she enrolled in a finance course so that she could keep up with other executives in meetings. Additionally, she stressed the importance of writing in this industry. Even at the senior level, Raskopf still has to write and edit press releases.