As millennium celebrations move into full swing around the world on the eve of the year 2000, some public relations executives will avoid parties. Instead, they will be on standby waiting to help extinguish Y2K fires that might be threatening to envelop their clients. Forward-looking public relations companies in Hong Kong are putting in place crisis centres to help clients deal with any Y2K fallout that may occur in the months surrounding the actual changeover date. John Zinkin, chairman of Burson-Marsteller's Asia marketing practice, said companies are still regarding the Y2K bug as a technology and operations problem. They are not really looking at its potential to hurt their public image if problems rear up. 'The millennium bug, or Y2K problem, is a technology issue that technology alone cannot solve. Emotionally charged and ripe with rumour, it poses a serious threat to corporate reputations,' he said. Corporate reputations at risk include not just the computer vendors - the IBMs, Compaqs and Oracles of this world - whose products could fail on the date. They also include all manner of corporations and service providers, who could earn bad press if their computer systems fail and prevent them from providing regular services. Just consider the media beating that Con Edison, the electrical company supplying New York City, is taking for a power outage last week that lasted a mere 19 hours. Mr Zinkin warns that being technically or operationally Y2K-compliant is not enough. Companies have to convince their clients that they are compliant, and can respond to any Y2K contingencies with the right actions. 'Y2K is about confidence and information and if your customers don't have that, even Y2K-compliant companies could fall victim to aberrant survivalist behaviour,' he said. Mr Zinkin cites the fact that in the past there have been runs on banks even though they were financially sound. 'The Y2K bug is a perceptual challenge that will increasingly be driven by the media,' he said. The challenge will be for companies to have a coherent strategy to combat rumours and speculation about their compliance status. Other PR agencies in Hong Kong agree there is much companies can do to present a unified Y2K message to the public. 'We have ongoing plans with some of our clients to deal with Y2K-related communications issues,' said Denise McGuire, managing director of Hill and Knowlton in Hong Kong. She said that while clients have not specifically asked for Hill and Knowlton public relations staff or managers to be on alert, the company is taking internal measures to make sure key PR executives are reachable by mobile phones and have laptop computers. 'Our IT guys will definitely be here overnight,' she said. Executives from Newell PR and Shandwick said some of their clients were putting in place measures to deal with PR problems during Y2K. But Burson-Marsteller is taking the Y2K PR idea one step further. 'The plan is for nobody in our company to go on holiday between November 1999 and February 2000,' Mr Zinkin said. 'Some of our clients have already set up contingency plans, decided how to respond and we'll be here to help them do that effectively.' One thing is for sure. Burson-Marsteller bosses will not be spending New Year's Eve partying at the Millennium Dome in London, or experiencing First Light in New Zealand. They will be in Hong Kong waiting for the phones to start ringing.
