5 Puzzling Aspects of Media Relations Through decades of work assisting with media-related crisis communications and media training spokespeople who are facing daunting tasks like live nationwide news interviews, we’ve come to realize that many people assume there are a …
Why This Should Be The Year Of Crisis Preparedness For Your Brand
Would you be ready if you needed crisis management today? When a full 63% of your brand’s market value can be tied directly to how strong its reputation is, a single negative news article or popular social media post bashing …
Avoiding the Legal Response Syndrome
[Editor’s note: Australian crisis expert Dr. Tony Jaques has just published a new book which addresses the challenge of how to balance legal and communication advice when a crisis strikes: Crisis Counsel: Navigating legal and communication Conflict (Rothstein 2020). …
Managing a Crisis During a Crisis
What happens if a second crisis hits when you’re already facing another? [Editor’s note: This guest post from our colleague and BCM team member Tim Scerba digs into a topic many businesses are hoping to avoid confronting in the midst …
Marketing During A Pandemic (Without Creating Crises)
Protecting your reputation is critical when marketing and advertising [Editor’s note: We’ve all seen some seriously tone-deaf marketing messages going out as everyone works to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, so we thought this reminder from PR and marketing expert …
Coronavirus and the Permanently Changed Face of 21st Century Crisis Management
The face of 21st Century crisis management has been permanently changed, for worse and for better, by the coronavirus threat. We have always preached the idea of preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. The reality is …
Freakout Crisis Management: The Wrong Way to Respond to COVID-19
Freaking out is not a crisis management plan Headless chickens running amok appear to be in charge of many organizations – including media outlets – in response to the spread of COVID-19 globally and its imminent status as a pandemic. …
A Different Take On Peloton’s PR
Our crisis management consultants share their takeaways from this outrage outbreak You’ve undoubtedly already seen coverage related to Peloton, maker of high end exercise bikes and treadmills, becoming the first brand to draw the internet’s ire in the 2019 holiday …
Why Crisis Management Best Practices Matter To You
Ever since the early days of Bernstein Crisis Management we’ve referred to much of what we share with readers as, “for all crisis managers, whether it’s in their job description or not”. While we know most of the folks who …
Boeing: “Sorry” Doesn’t Have To Be The Hardest Word
[While there’s absolutely a need to take care when dealing with issues involving major risk of litigation, sometimes the situation demands a clear, “We’re sorry”. In this guest post, reputation and crisis expert Mark Story asks why it was …
Don’t Let Good Attorneys Make Bad News Worse
[Editor’s note: The following guest post from Silicon Valley-based writer Leslie Kelsay leverages her previous experience directing strategic and crisis communications to help us understand the unintended consequences that come with over-lawyering a public issue.] Don’t Let Good Attorneys …
Crying Wolf Pt. 1 – When a Crisis Really Isn’t
[Editor’s note: This compelling blog series comes to us from international crisis management expert and Bernstein Crisis team member Tim Scerba.] When a Crisis Really Isn’t In Aesop’s famous tale, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a shepherd boy convinces …
What Do You Do When The Media Goes Too Far?
This article, written by Bernstein Crisis Management president Jonathan Bernstein, has only grown in relevance since it was written. More often than not when we’re assisting clients with breaking crisis response there are reporters involved, and a worrying percentage of …
Musings on Measuring Corporate Reputation
[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. …
The #MeToo Backlash — The Crisis is Just Beginning
Why every organization is vulnerable to #MeToo allegations When humans are oppressed and repressed long enough and finally find a channel for venting their feelings, for finding justice, we sometimes overreact. Riots occur, with innocent individual and businesses damaged (or …