Explaining why a slow trickle of “small” bad news keeps companies facing major crises in the headlines Why do seemingly minor issues result in damaging headlines for organizations facing crises? In this interview for NPR’s Marketplace, Bernstein Crisis Management VP …
Is There a Loose Cannon on Your Deck? By Jonathan Bernstein & Anthony Moore Loose cannon referred to an actual weapon before it entered the language as a metaphor. In the days before ships were equipped with fixed-turret guns, muzzle-loading …
[Editor’s note: We love hearing about how other seasoned experts think. Though methods vary, the minds behind those who have risen to the top of their respective fields are typically incredibly interesting, not to mention containing knowledge anyone can use. …
[Editor’s note: When we put out a call for readers to share their experiences with trolls and other online attacks we got some incredible stories back! This true tale from Gerald Baron really caught our attention because it not only …
How to avoid trouble when navigating the social media jungle Social media crisis management has been a part of 99% of the damaging situations we’ve seen this year. In fact, more often than not, social media is a driving factor …
Crisis management mistakes can cost you. In this guest post Tim Scerba, multinational reputation and crisis management expert, explains a deceptively simple problem that impacts crisis teams around the world. There is a lot going on during a crisis training. …
These tips could help you survive an outrage outbreak Though public outrage has always been a driving force in PR crises, I think we’d all agree it’s become a whole new beast over the last few years. Not only is …
The 10 Biggest Mistakes in Crisis Communications By Jonathan Bernstein All organizations are vulnerable to crises. Disasters, lawsuits, accusations of impropriety, sudden changes in ownership or management, and other volatile situations will happen. The threat of serious damage to people, …
Spot a crisis early to minimize damage How do you spot a crisis? Clients are frequently surprised when they bring us in because of what they’ve deemed a “potential problem” and we inform them they’re heading straight for a full-blown …
I haven’t learned to do anything really well without training and lots of practice. I suspect this is true for you in your personal and professional lives. We all have areas in which we’re naturally more skilled, of course, but …
It’s a common occurrence for a crisis management pro – you’re brought into a case, start asking questions, and immediately spot red flags so blatant it seems impossible they were missed. Yet, more often than not, there’s no willful ignorance …
Stay away from bad logic if you want to avoid inviting criticism Logical fallacy is a term you hear thrown about a lot, especially if you keep track of politics. Put simply, logical fallacies are errors in reasoning. Though they …
A discussion of some tough-to-swallow disaster preparedness truths, by Jonathan Bernstein If you’ve been denial about disaster preparedness, this may be a good time for you to avert your eyes, because you’re not going to like what I have to say. …
Why you have to consider the negative when making ad decisions How did an Australian clothing company wind up sending thousands of customers a marketing email that threatened to release compromising photos of them “everywhere”? While the idea is shocking, …
Failure to avoid predictable problems results in backlash Before it became the in-store restaurant for a new Whole Foods store in Long Beach, CA Yellow Fever was operating in two different SoCal locations. Co-founded by a Korean-American chef, it was …
