The Impact of Social Media in Today’s Crises

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, media training, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

Today’s guest post comes to us from our colleague Melissa Agnes, who has made a name for herself guiding organizations through social media crisis management. Give it a read, and learn what you need to know about… The Impact of Social Media in Today’s Crises Social media has taken traditional …

Red Cross UK Disaster Challenge

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, disaster response, red cross 2 Comments

Extreme crisis management exercises It’s one thing to armchair quarterback when someone else is handling a disaster, but could you actually get down and dirty to tackle crisis management in real time? That’s what the Red Cross’ UK Disaster Challenge is all about. Constructed by real Red Cross emergency responders, …

Kenyan Chief’s Twitter Crisis Management

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

Fighting crime with social media His Twitter account is so popular that, he says, even the thieves in his village follow him. One night his phone rang at 4am warning him that thieves were invading a school teacher’s house. He tweeted the message – and within minutes, villagers had gathered …

Crisis Management at Claire’s

Erik Bernstein communications, crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, media training, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Don’t go corporate in a crisis The blog post came Wednesday. Tatty Devine, a handmade jewelry company in England, posted photos of its own designs next to designs sold at international affordable jewelry retailer Claire’s. The response was explosive. More than 200 people commented before Tatty Devine closed the comments, …

Improve Your Credibility

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, media training, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

Lose people’s trust, and you lose it all. Credibility is everything when it comes to business and reputation. If people can believe what you say about yourself or your product, then you’ll have an easy time selling. Start lying, however, and you throw that right in the garbage. If a …

FedEx Gets Crisis Management Right

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, media training, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

High marks for reputation management via YouTube Early last month, FedEx came under fire when video of a deliveryman literally hurling a computer monitor over a customer’s fence went viral. Although the video drew millions of hits almost instantly, FedEx’s crisis management team wasn’t far behind. Taking the sage path …

Get Your Story Straight

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, media training, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Lying is a slippery slope Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray wrecked his state-owned Crown Victoria sedan on November 2nd. Initially Murray said he was driving within the speed limit and wearing a seat belt when he hit some black ice. According to the Boston Globe Murray said he was out …

Get Prepped for Crisis Management

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Is your crisis prevention plan ready? There are many analogies that can apply to crisis management, but we particularly liked a recent post by Rachel Hedstrom, APR The Gentry Agency. on the LiveProcess blog that compared the process to a workout plan. WARM UP Getting your ducks in a row before …

AAA’s Wrong Way Crisis Management

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, customer service, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Dishonest promotion causes reputation damage We’re always fans of businesses using charitable-type events or offers to promote their reputations. Run things the wrong way though, and you’ll find yourself in crisis management mode instead of reaping in the praise. When AAA announced its “Tipsy Tow” service for New Years Eve, …

You Might Be a Crisis Manager If…

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, public relations 2 Comments

Jeff Foxworthy, eat your heart out. It’s easy to make jokes about rednecks. Try making jokes about crisis management! The Foxworthy influence MIGHT just be recognized in the one-liners that follow. I invite readers to add their own via blog comments. Please note that when you do so, you’re giving me …

Take Shelter!

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Response, social media 2 Comments

Social media scare in Jersey The unfamiliar noise from Jaclyn Boruch’s cell phone startled her. She reflexively grabbed it. What she saw next scared her. In bold red letters were the words “CMAS Alert” followed by “Civil Emergency in this area until 1:24 PM EST Take Shelter Now U.S. Govern.”  …

Did Someone Break the Delete Button?

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

Sometimes the right crisis response is to delete Retailer Lowe’s is in the midst of a social media breakdown, as thousands of racist comments flood a post on their Facebook page explaining why it’s pulled advertising from the TLC show, “All American Muslim.” Media across the country caught wind of …

PayPal Loves Cats, Hates People

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

Weak crisis response leads to reputation damage Early last week, PayPal found itself on the receiving end of a Facebook beat down when it suddenly put a halt to the “Secret Santa” charity drive being run by Regretsy.com (careful, content is NSFW at times) because they had used the wrong …

What’s Your Reputation Worth?

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, public relations, reputation management 2 Comments

Putting a price on complacence Mismanaging your reputation is almost guaranteed to cost big bucks, yet even multi-billion dollar organizations tend to gloss over this crucial part of crisis management. The main reason corporate execs offer is that they believe the results of an investment in reputation management “can’t be …

The Shape of Crisis Communication

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, PR, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

How much has the game changed? The rise of social media was said by some to indicate the beginning of a reclusive state, where communication was done from our individual devices while everyone stayed at home, or in the office. While it’s true that most of us have our nose …