Bright Field Incident
Riverwalk Marketplace
New Orleans
On Saturday, December 14, at 2 p.m., the Bright Field, a 70,000-ton
freighter working its way down the Mississippi River, lost power. With
little warning, the out-of-control freighter plowed through Riverwalk
Marketplace, taking with it 10 stores, two restaurants and a
250-foot-long section of the wharf and property and collapsing two levels
of the marketplace and an adjacent parking garage. Miraculously, there
were no fatalities.
The unprecedented accident drew worldwide attention. Effective
communications were essential to ensuring the property's image as a fun,
safe place. Consistent and clear communication with the 140 Riverwalk
merchants was also imperative: the affected areas of the marketplace were
left without electricity or water for about a week; rebuilding would take
eight to 10 months.
OBJECTIVES
1. To minimize negative press about Riverwalk.
2. To sustain Riverwalk's image as a safe, fun place for local, regional,
national and international shoppers.
3. To inform various audiences about the status of the rebuilding
process.
4. To maximize awareness of Riverwalk's reopening to New Orleans and the
tourism community.
IMPLEMENTATION
A comprehensive crisis management and public relations plan went into
full swing immediately after the accident; intensive communications
efforts continued throughout the recovery and the reopening six weeks
after the accident.
The center's team took a proactive position with the media to inform the
public of damages and ongoing progress. The first step was to discuss the
actions taken to account for all mall/store employees and shoppers in the
accident's aftermath. A recovery plan was announced 10 days later. The
team hosted six press conferences and conducted four media tours within
four weeks, provided the press with daily and weekly updates, handled
countless interviews with national and local media and conducted five
interviews with travel trade publications.
The center also established a free crisis line and counseling service
for customers, merchants and staff.
To furnish merchants with timely, accurate information, a member of the
management team was assigned to each tenant and provided with scripted
information. The team quickly held a merchants meeting to review the
damage, next steps and reopening plans and provided details on the legal,
insurance and financial resources available. The team coordinated efforts
to give merchants access to their stores and held merchants meetings
throughout the recovery process.
To reassure the local market about the center's future, the team took
out two full-page newspaper ads. The first acknowledged the community's
overwhelming support and announced plans to reopen; the second announced
the reopening date, Super Bowl weekend. To provide the community ongoing
information about the recovery and reinforce Riverwalk's positive image,
the team developed an on-site 4-by-5-foot storybook, which was
continually updated. The damaged area was camouflaged by a two-story
projection screen that displayed graphics. A wall with viewing portholes
overlooked the damaged wharf and construction area.
The reopening was incorporated with Super Bowl activities and
advertising. The team held a preopening press conference and reception
and disseminated the reopening message to 2,000 media outlets through the
PR Newswire and PR Newsire Europe.
RESULTS
Local television coverage totaled 22 hours from the accident through
Janyary 19, plus another 80 minutes during the reopening, January 20-25.
The reopening garnered feature stories on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and
MSNBC; 17 minutes on national television news; 1,152 column inches in
national and local newspapers and 145 column inches in consumer and trade
travel magazines.
Market research in February 1997 showed increases (compared to all prior
quarters) in visitor awareness of Riverwalk, usage of the center by aware
visitors, visitor market penetration and pre-arrival awareness.
Traffic on opening weekend was up 87% compared to that period a year
before; since the reopening traffic has increased 26%.
CREDIT
Owned and managed by: The Rouse Co.
Professional recognition to: Kate Wendel, manager, sales and
marketing; Kay Standon, regional marketing manager; Brian Lade, vice
president and general manager; Kelly Whidden, marketing secretary.
EXPENSES
| Newspaper space | $19,789 |
| Public relations | 4,230 |
| Signage | 1,500 |
| Collateral | 4,947 |
| Documentation | 13,941 |
| Merchant/staff communications | 20,398 |
| Creative/production | 8,400 |
| Project management | 11,399 |
| Total | $84,604 |
|
