Nontieal, Naine anu Atlantic

Railway, LTB.

2u14 Communication Plan




Cassanuia Bawson, Koii Fieueiick, Rhiannon Bill, Richa Patel

Table of Contents


Backgiounu


1

SW0T Analysis


S

uoal 0bjectives


4

Publics


S

Bevelopment of Stiategy


6

Stiategies Key Nessages


7

Implementation Tactics


9

Contingency Plan


12

Buuget


1S

Evaluation


14
Backgiounu

The Nontieal, Naine anu Atlantic Railway (NNA) is a Class II fieight iailioau that pioviues
swift, efficient anu ieliable inuustiial tianspoitation seivices. 0wning 26 locomotives anu
S1u miles of ioute tiack, NNA opeiates between Ameiican states veimont anu Naine, anu
Canauian piovinces Quebec anu New Biunswick. Although the main souice of tiaffic is the
pulp anu papei inuustiy, NNA also caiiies petioleum, foiest piouucts, anu chemicals.

0ui Nission
To pioviue the businesses we seive with efficient anu ieliable fieight tianspoit in oiuei to
piomote anu sustain theii success.

0ui vision
NNA wants to change the way oui customeis think about tianspoiting theii piouucts. We
stiive to give them the best expeiience possible by pioviuing them with opeiational anu
seivice excellence, ensuiing quick, quality ueliveiy each anu eveiy uay. It is with these
initiatives that we help oui customeis excel in theii own inuustiies.

0ui values
0ui beliefs guiue oui actions, anu oui actions uefine who we aie.

Accountability - We will acknowleuge anu assume iesponsibility foi oui actions, uecisions,
anu policies.

Community - We will continue to contiibute to the giowth anu piouuctivity of oui society,
anu uemonstiate coipoiate social iesponsibility.

Integiity - We will be honest, foithiight, anu tiuthful.

Quality - We commit to pioviuing exceptional seivice to the businesses anu communities
that we seive.

Safety - 0ui iigoious safety stanuaius ensuie the safety of oui employees anu the
communities we suppoit.

Sustainability - We commit to upholuing a business mouel that piomotes economic anu
enviionmental sustainability.

The following uocument outlines oui plan to iebuilu The Nontieal, Naine anu Atlantic
Railway's image following the tiagic acciuent in Lac-Ngantic on }uly 6, 2u1S. With this
plan, we intenu to enfoice key oiganizational messages to ensuie that oui publics -
incluuing, but not limiteu to, stakeholueis, customeis, anu othei uomestic anu inteinational
auuiences - aie awaie of oui ieviseu safety iegulations anu policies. In piomoting these
safety initiatives, we wish to show oui publics that we aie continuing to acknowleuge oui
past mistakes, anu aie taking appiopiiate measuies to pievent any othei iail acciuents.










SW0T Analysis
Stiength Weaknesses
Stiong focus on piocess innovations
Low cost opeiations
Establisheu customei base
Assets incieaseu in 2u12
Pooi image among stakeholueispublics
Economic ciisis
Aging technology
Pooily maintaineu iailways
Pooi communications with public
Pooi iailway safety iecoiu
Low piofitability in iecent yeais (annual loss
of $4-S million)
Solu many assets to ieuuce costs
Nany employee lay-offs, iesulting in low
employee moiale
Limiteu communication with publics
0ppoitunities Thieats
Pioviue suppoit to Lac-Ngantic community
in theii iebuiluing initiatives
Pioviue suppoit foi affecteu community
membeis anu families
Aiu in uecontamination effoits
Revaluate safety initiatives
Become inuustiy leauei in fieight tianspoit
safety initiatives
Nove to moie open anu tianspaient
communication with publics
Show social anu enviionmental
iesponsibility
Belp municipalities like Lac-Ngantic
equippeu anu suppoit fiist iesponueis foi
iail acciuents
Competitois taking auvantage
Competitois well-funueu
Negative meuia coveiage
Becieasing customei loyalty
Tensestiaineu ielationship with Lac-
Ngantic community
Ethical piessuie
Economic ciisis
Community uissatisfaction
0se of iail tianspoit in uecline
Public skepticism iegaiuing safety
inspection policies
Business piactices subject to vaiious
complaints fiom pulp anu papei customeis
Ninoi ueiailments in iecent company
histoiy


0veiall uoal
The oveiall goal of this plan is to iebuilu the ieputation of The Nontieal, Naine anu Atlantic
Railway anu iegain tiust aftei the ueiailment acciuent in Lac-Ngantic. We wish to show
oui publics that we aie continuing to acknowleuge oui past mistakes, anu aie taking
appiopiiate measuies to pievent any othei iail acciuents.

0bjectives
! Infoim the public of incieaseu safety measuies, that will aiu in the pievention of
moie acciuents

! Inciease the numbei of foiums that we use to communicate with the public
incluuing Facebook, Twittei anu YouTube

! uive ongoing company upuates to the public by upuating the website on a monthly
basis



Publics
This plan will be uiiecteu at foui main gioups of public to help iebuilu oui ieputation anu
iegain tiust, Town Citizens, Employees, Customeis anu Stakeholueis.
Town Citizens
This is oui laigest anu most impoitant public to incluue when tiying to iebuilu oui
ieputation anu iegain public tiust. This gioup incluues people that live in the towns in
which the iails iun thiough. This gioup of people aie the ones that aie most affecteu
whenevei theie is an acciuent oi spill. These aie people who neeu to know that it is safe foi
them anu theii families to be living in these towns.
Employees
It is impoitant foi us to incluue the employees of the oiganization as they aie the ones that
we iely on to keep this company iunning. They neeu to be well infoimeu of any changes
maue to safety measuies in the company. Also, it is impoitant foi them to have confiuence
in the company to make suie that they, as employees, aie safe while they aie woiking. They
also neeu to have tiust in the company so that they will continue to woik haiu to keep the
company iunning smoothly
Customeis
It is impeiative that we insuie we iegain anu keep the tiust of the company's customeis.
Foi this company to continue to be successful, we iely on the suppoit anu the business of
oui customeis. We neeu to continue to be theii numbei one choice foi theii tianspoitation
neeus.
Stakeholueis
This incluues anyone involveu in the company, such as the town heaus of locations wheie
the iailway iuns thiough. All of the stakeholueis within the company neeu to be well
infoimeu of what is going on with the company so that they too can iegain tiust anu be a
pait of oui company. Without the help of the stakeholueis, the company coulu not function
piopeily

Bevelopment of Stiategy
To assist in the uevelopment of iebuiluing oui image, NNA will be woiking with the town
of Lac-Ngantic on a long-teim basis. The key membeis of the Lac-Ngantic community
woulu neeu to be contacteu anu iecoiueu foi cuiient anu futuie use. This woulu be
accomplisheu by fiist contacting the Nayoi of Lac-Ngantic anu ueteimining which
community membeis woulu be the most impoitant to woik with.

0thei companies woulu also be ievieweu, such as Canauian Nation, in oiuei to gain
peispective on what othei company safety policies, iegulations, anu pioceuuies weie to
best pievent futuie ueiailments, oil spills, explosions fiom occuiiing. We woulu access this
infoimation by contacting theii health anu safety iepiesentatives anu ieviewing
infoimation posteu on theii websites.

NNA woulu also ueteimine which aieas of Lac-Ngantic neeu the most assistance anu
wheie iesouices can be best useu. This woulu be uone thiough communicating with the
Nayoi of Lac-Ngantic anu by ieviewing the buuget set asiue foi Lac-Ngantic iepaii.


Appioval anu Special Consiueiations

It woulu be impoitant to consiuei sensitivity to NNA Lac-Ngantic citizens may feel anu
expect some iesistance in having the company iesponsible foi the acciuent iemain in town
to assist with cleanup anu ieuevelopment. Theiefoie it woulu be impoitant to uiscuss
cuiient plans with iepiesentatives fiom the town anu ensuie NNA piesence is welcome.

0sing footage of Lac-Ngantic (piioi to ciisis, uuiing the ciisis, anu post ciisis) woulu have
to be appioveu by town leaueis to ensuie no sensitive images aie being useu anu the town
is ok with NNA using footage of the town foi its own piomotional use.


Stiategies anu Key Nessages

We plan to use newly uefineu key oiganizational messages to elicit immeuiate assuiance
anu confiuence in public.

The key messages that we will be using as a iefeience to set fiamewoik foi oui tactics aie
as follows:

! Spaie no expense to iestoie the beauty of the city by giants, funus, anu assistance to
the town anu any inuiviuual homeownei who has been affecteu by the acciuent.

! Fully investigate the cause of the uisastei anu impiove opeiating pioceuuies to
make a safe iail netwoik even safei, anu enhance the safety of oui customeis anu
employees.

! Woik with the feueial goveinment to ensuie the auoption of wiue ianging safety
measuies acioss the iail inuustiy to ensuie tiageuies like this can nevei happen
again.

0ui CE0 - Ni. uiinuoiu woulu pay a visit to Lac-Ngantic anu peisonally meet the
community to communicate the messages. Ni. uiinuoiu will also meet with Ns. Roy-
Laioche, mayoi of Lac-Ngantic, to get hei opinion on any aieas of impiovement that we
shoulu be taking into consiueiation, anu whethei Ns. Roy is willing to be the official
spokespeison anu that hei office can be the key point of contact foi the people of Lac-
Ngantic to iepoit any conceins oi issue ielateu to the inciuent.

If Ns. Roy-Laioche uoes not want to be a pait of the aiiangement then we we will have a
shoit announcement on iauio station wheie people will have the oppoitunity to get in
touch with NNA ambassauois using a toll-fiee numbei to shaie any conceins that they
want NNA to auuiess.

We only have two uiiect communications channels in the city of Lac-Ngantic - weekly
newspapei anu a local iauio station. As we want to communicate moie substance, we will
be choosing newspapei which the oluei population of the town will be ieauing it anyway.

To communicate with otheis, we woulu be using oui social meuia channels wheie in the
meeting of Robeit with the locals of Lac-Ngantic will be shaieu, followeu by visuals of the
uevelopments to ensuie that oui ieputational uamage is unuei contiol.



ImplementationTactics
1. Revamp website to focus on the new uiiection of NNA. The new website hopes to
pioviue ieassuiance that safety measuies anu guiuelines aie being followeu, upuateu,
anu NNA is conscious of the impoitance of tianspoiting goous anu seivices iesponsibly
thiough veimont, Naine, Quebec, anu New Biunswick.

Timeline Neuium(s) Nessages Public(s)
To be implementeu piomptly
aftei ciisis has been uealt
with


Nonthly upuates to ensuie
infoimation is accuiate anu
ielevant
Website NNA pioviues safe anu ieliable
tianspoitation of goous anu
seivices
Customeis
Investois
Employees

2. NNA will establish itself on social meuia to inciease communication acioss publics.

S. NNA will cieate a shoit viueo that highlights impiovements maue in Lac-Ngantic, the
company, anu the uiiection the company is heauing.

Timeline Neuium(s) Nessages Public(s)
Film to be shot
piomptly aftei ciisis
has been uealt with


Post on website anu
YouTube within the
fiist thiee months
YouTube
Website
NNA takes full iesponsibility foi
the acciuent that occuiieu in Lac-
Ngantic }uly 6, 2u1S


Ensuiing safe tianspoit of goous
anu seivice is NNA's numbei one
focus
Customeis
Lac-Ngantic
town citizens
Investois
Timeline Neuium(s) Nessages Public(s)
Will be implementeu
piomptly aftei ciisis
has been uealt with
Facebook
Twittei
NNA will communication the
following subjects acioss social
meuia:
New safety measuies
stanuaius that will help
ieuuce the likelihoou of
futuie oil spills, ueiailments,
explosions, etc.
0ngoing ieuevelopment of
Lac-Ngantic
Bills oi legislatuie that
influence safety of iailway
tianspoitation
Customeis
Lac-Ngantic
town citizens
Investois


Steps NNA is taking to ensuie
this type of acciuent uoesn't
happen again




4. Continually following up with Lac-Ngantic citizens anu officials anu assisting with
ieuevelopment effoits. NNA wants to take iesponsibility foi the acciuent anu also
become a key membei in iepaiiing uamages.

Timeline Neuium(s) Nessages Publics
0ngoing Website
Facebook
Twittei
YouTube
e-
newslettei
Bonations maue to Lac-Ngantic has helpeu
iebuilu local builuing, homes,
neighbouihoous, paiks, etc.


NNA is continually woiking with Lac-
Ngantic officials to iestoie some of what has
been lost
Lac-Ngantic
town citizens
Customeis
Investois

S. NNA wishes to be consiueieu a leauing oiganization auvocating with goveinment
officials foi cleai, consistent, anu impioveu stanuaius anu guiuelines foi the tianspoit of
hazaiuous mateiials. NNA also wishes to uemonstiate theii stiict auheience to safety
iegulations to ieuuce the likelihoou of anothei tiagic acciuent.

Timeline Neuium(s) Nessages Public(s)
Will begin
piomptly aftei
the ciisis has
been uealt with
Employee
email
Website


Facebook
Twittei
NNA's cuiient guiuelines anu steps
being taken to ensuie compliance by all
iailway employees


NNA is woiking with policy makeis to
ensuie unifoim compliance of stanuaius
to all Canauian anu Ameiican iailway
companies iesponsible foi hauling
potentially hazaiuous mateiials
Employees
Customeis
Investois
Lac-Ngantic
town citizens


Contingency Plan
Anticipateu woist case scenaiios woulu incluue the NNA website ciashing, funus
suspenueu uue to unexpecteu lack of ievenue, anu oveitime houis iequiieu to put the
communication plan into place.

Nanagement is expecteu to monitoi the houis that employees woik to ensuie limiteu
oveitime houis occui anu aie to iepoit any excess to the home office to appiove.
If the website weie to ciash, all messages woulu be uisplayeu on social meuia outlets anu to
all employees via email. Neuia in Lac-Ngantic woulu also be contacteu shoulu any
messages at that time be ielevant to the city specifically.

Finally, shoulu an unexpecteu ueciease in funus occui, each stiategy woulu be ie-assesseu
anu any extia's being uone woulu be cut foi the meantime until funus become moie
available to continue the pioject.





Buuget

The oveiall buuget foi iebuiluing NNA's coipoiate image is calculateu yeaily foi the fiist S
yeais following the Lac-Ngantic ciisis. The initial yeai is buugeteu at $4S,uuu. Each yeai
aftei that, maintenance anu piomotion is given a buuget of $SS,uuu.

Below is the buuget estimates foi the initial yeai following the Lac-Ngantic ciisis;


Website $8uu
Nonthly check-in's at Lac-Ngantic anu cieation of ielateu
content
$2u,uuu fiist yeai
$1S,uuu yeai
Tiauitional meuia (piint meuia, iauio) $S,uuu yeai
Social Neuia, e-newslettei & Website upkeep $1u,uuuyeai
YouTube viueo $1,Suu
Tiavel anu louging in Lac-Ngantic $S,uuu fiist yeai
$2,uuu each yeai
Total fiist yeai $4u,Suu
Total each following yeai $S2,uuu



Evaluation

The evaluation of this plan will occui in a few uiffeient ways. Fiist anu evaluation will be
uone foi the tasks that have been outlineu in this plan.


Evaluating Tactics

Plans aie in place on how the company plans to woik to iegain the tiust of all its publics.
These plans aie things such as upuating the website anu Twittei account to keep people
infoimeu of all the new safety issues anu impoitant things going on within the company.

To evaluate this we will monitoi all the postings anu have each peison who is in chaige of
posting keep tiack of what they aie uoing with iegaius to the vaiious foiums. Following the
six month peiiou in which we plan to uo the majoiity of oui postings, the communications
team anu manageis will meet to go ovei all the things that weie posteu anu look into the
statistics to see how the public ieacteu to oui messages. Foi example, we will be going ovei
all the postings to see if theie weie many likes, comments, oi ieposts fiom oui oiiginal
postings. At this point we will also be making suie that all the postings that weie supposeu
to go out, actually uiu go out.

If we finu that these woikeu well in iegaining the public's tiust anu iebuiluing the
ieputation of the company, we will continue to posteu in this same way to continually
infoim the public of what is going on within the company.

If these messages uo not ieceive goou feeuback we will look back on the messages anu see
what went wiong, so that we can continue to post but ieceive bettei feeuback fiom the
public.


Evaluating 0bjectives

In geneial the company must be suie to look back on its oiiginal objectives to ieach the
oiiginal goal:

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To uo this we must look into feeuback we have ieceiveu fiom oui publics. Foi example, we
neeu to evaluate if we have ietaineu anu gaineu customeis. If we have not, then we neeu
ievamp oui plan. This coulu involve things like auuing moie infoimation to oui website
anu social meuia pages oi beginning to have town hall style meetings wheie the public can
voice theii opinion to the company.