Monthly Archives: September 2010

Changing Ways

Published on 28th September 2010 by . Leave a Comment

Until recently, large corporations with a prestige in certain niches used to avoid using the term “PR.” They’d use “corporate communications” or “marcom” to describe the management function of initiating activities directed at building relationships with their different publics. They found PR to be something to avoid, or as something to simply use to promote news, rather than as a proactive, positive tool.

This quote, from an article by Ronn Torossian that was published in our latest Crisis Manager newsletter, describes the old school attitude that was held by many banks and other large corporations. As Ronn, president and CEO of 5WPR, states in his article, these attitudes are changing, and as a result organizations formerly seen as stodgy or uncommunicative are experiencing great success through solid media relations and flexible reputation management strategies.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

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Crisis Leadership

Published on 25th September 2010 by . Leave a Comment

An organization’s leadership plays a huge role in crisis management. We saw this first hand with the BP oil spill, a mess that only got worse as CEO Tony Hayward continued to deliver damaging quotes to the press. In an article for our Crisis Manager newsletter, Spanish PR pro Carlos Victor Costa describes the challenges that face BP’s new leader, Bob Dudley. A quote:

  • Overcoming the “disaster of communication” (term used by a company employee interviewed by The Financial Times) that constituted the public relations activities of BP during this crisis. What could be positioned as a genuine effort to repair the damage in a very adverse operational environment, comparable to conducting brain surgery in the dark, ended as an assault to the company´s  reputation, a reason for scorn and dark humor directed at BP. After the Deepwater Horizon crisis, the newly appointed BP CEO will have to give a new face to a company with its brand image tarnished by the incompetence and lack of credibility fostered by his predecessor.

Whether you like it or not, in a major crisis your leadership becomes the public face of the company. To your stakeholders, any careless words or action from leadership is taken as the official position of the organization, making it extremely dangerous to have an unprepared CEO.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

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New Crisis Manager

Published on 22nd September 2010 by . Leave a Comment

Another new Crisis Manager newsletter is up on the BCM website! This week we feature articles from two different PR experts about issues that many crisis management professionals face. First up, a piece by Spanish PR pro Carlos Victor Costa that describes valuable lessons learned from the BP spill regarding leadership’s role in crises. Following that, we have an article by Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5WPR, that’s all about changing corporate perspectives regarding PR.

Still not a subscriber? Just click here and enter your email address.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

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Social Guidelines

Published on 21st September 2010 by . Leave a Comment

While the steps and theory involved in using social media for crisis management are a frequent topic on this blog, it is just as important to control who is interacting with your stakeholders and in what manner. In a recent article for the Social Media Examiner, Cindy King offered a spot-on list of guidelines for a successful social media team:

On one hand, the people interacting on behalf of your company must:

  •  Be knowledgeable of various legal terms and what they mean in your business environment, such as defamation, endorsements, intellectual property, and any form of wrongful disclosure
  •  Be aware of global implications of your online communication
  •  Avoid inappropriate comments about competitors or others online

On the other hand, they must also:

  •  Remain positive
  •  Be helpful and add value
  •  Be transparent

And in addition to this, they are entrusted with cultivating relationships and building community on your social media profiles.

The better your social media team is, the more goodwill it creates. Although the tone of discussions may vary between organizations, these guidelines are a good start for any business and across all platforms.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

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Ready to Engage

Published on 20th September 2010 by . Leave a Comment

As news headlines show us on an almost daily basis, many companies still neglect to prepare detailed and workable crisis plans, hindering their ability to react when disaster rears its ugly head. If your organization believes itself ready to actively engage in crisis management, go through this list of questions from former Presidential communications director Anita Dunn, published in a PR Week article:

When crisis hits, who sent the first tweet you must respond to?

How quickly will your response website be launched?

Who is your public face in the first 24 minutes, let alone the 24 hours, of the crisis and when was he or she last media-trained?

How will you communicate with employees to stop false rumors and leaks – and how quickly?

There is no time to search for the answers to these questions after a crisis has broken. At that point most any delay in communication will lead to further reputation damage, warranted or not. Proper planning, though, sets up the right moves in advance, holding them ready until a crisis breaks.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

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