These days it pays to remember that, to the general public, bloggers, Tweeters, and the like hold a growing degree of credibility. As this quote from an Economic Times article explains, it’s just as important to form relationships with these “I-Reporters” as it is traditional ones:Companies faced with a crisis …
Get Social
No one can predict a crisis before it occurs, but you can be prepared in the event that it does. Who will respond? How will you respond? Which social media platforms will you use? Will you address first or wait for the conversation to happen and then respond? Who are …
Keeping the Wolves at Bay Preview
Jonathan Bernstein’s “Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training” is the “how to” guide for anyone who may have to deal with the media in any capacity. Full of tactics learned through nearly three decades of crisis management and media training, this book will prepare you for situations that are …
Rebuilding a Reputation
Rick Kelly believes that Tiger Wood did better than alleged by many pundits. In his article, “Rebuilding a Reputation,” from this week’s Crisis Manager newsletter, he explains why waiting to get in front of the media may have been a good crisis management move. He has this to say about …
New Crisis Manager Includes Excerpt from Keeping the Wolves at Bay
Jonathan Bernstein’s “Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training” has just been published, and in celebration Crisis Manager is featuring an excerpt about a seldom covered topic – how to maintain your skills after the media training is over. After that, Rick Kelly, director of Crisis Communications at Triad Strategies, …
SeaWorld Crisis
The fatal mauling of a SeaWorld trainer by a killer whale has placed the theme park in a precarious position. As a business that thrives on the attendance of families, anything that creates the perception of risk is a danger. The company didn’t hesitate to start crisis management though, and …
Toyota Plays the Villain
The sheer scale of Toyota’s recall has caused many to compare it to the J&J Tylenol recall of 1982. The reality is, though, that these crisis management cases are similiar only in the fact that both involve recalls of entire product lines. As this quote from a PR News Online …
Toyota’s Troubles
Toyota’s recent string of problems has caused significant damage to its once-spotless reputation in the U.S.. Not only did the company’s leaders stall far too long before launching a crisis management campaign, but when they did it was clearly not a priority. Early this month, the automaker finally began making …
Open for Conversation
We often say that social media is a conversation, and what we mean by that is unlike traditional broadcast and print mediums, which are often one-directional, social media is very much a two-way channel. Not only can businesses communicate with their customers, but their customers can communicate with them and …
Criminals Tweet Too
One reason people love social media services is because they enable them to see where their friends are and what they’re doing. What many don’t realize is that this information is often available to anyone who visits their page or profile, including criminals. While it’s rare these days to find …
Google Dodges a Bullet
Last week, Google launched an add-on to Gmail called Google Buzz. Almost immediately, the world howled with complaints that the product exposed users’ privacy by publishing lists of followers made up of the people a user e-mailed and chatted with most. This made Google Buzz a danger zone for reporters, …
High Stakes Litigation & Crisis Communications Podcast March 24
More and more often we are seeing successful lawyers and law firms reaching out to crisis management experts to manage their client’s message in the public eye. Regardless of how things are “intended” to run, a strong communicator can educate stakeholders and minimize reputation damage for those involved. On March …
What’s Important to You May Not Satisfy Your Stakeholders
Simply stating your case and letting it lie is a path that leads quickly to crisis. Unfortunately for many, this realization comes long after the time to act has passed. Recently, a WebWorkerDaily article interviewed several crisis management experts, including Jonathan Bernstein, and offered these thoughts on the right way …
Crisis Management and the Media
If you decide to confront the media head on, you’d better have perfect manners and a healthy dose of respect for their power to shred a reputation to pieces. Unfortunately for them, the Lee County Electric Cooperative had neither, and instead has put on a display of crisis management gone …
Workplace Rumors
The spread of misinformation can often be more damaging to a company than any real crisis. This is especially important in smaller organizations, where workplace rumors can cause enough concern and insecurity that morale and productivity suffers, and your best employees may decide they’d be better off working elsewhere. Rumors …