Public Opinion in PR Crises

Erik Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Response, public relations Leave a Comment

Your reaction to crises can help shift public opinion Public opinion often shifts rapidly when it comes to crises, and how you react in the immediate aftermath can have a major impact on which direction it goes. The team at Alterian put together an awesome infographic demonstrating how this happened …

The Price of Losing Your Cool

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

Flipping out is not an option Composure is everything, and whether you’re a public figure or an ordinary Joe, blowing up in front of anyone with a recording device can quickly make you headline material. The Cincinnati Reds have been having a tough time recently, and manager Bryan Price finally lost …

The State of the Media

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis management, crisis public relations, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, media crisis management, media relations, media training, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Staying on top of changes in media is a must Knowing how to work and optimize contact with the  media is crucial in any type of public relations. This isn’t like riding a bike, however. You need to constantly be educating yourself on the latest changes if you want to …

Guest Post: Great Idea, Horrible Execution

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations Leave a Comment

[Editor’s note: This post, originally published in Jeff Chatterton’s Winning Reputations newsletter, provides a perfect example of how using the wrong language can completely disrupt the message you’re trying to get across.] Brussels Airlines has launched an international ‘image makeover’ campaign in an effort to disassociate Africa from the horrible …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Perception and Reality

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis management, crisis management quotables, crisis public relations, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations Leave a Comment

Helping stakeholders to see things as you do is a core aspect of all public relations Stuart Ewen is a man of many hats, including historian, author, professor, and artist. Ewen is also a highly esteemed expert on that ever-present factor we know as the media, and it’s that knowledge …

SeaWorld's Hashtag Disaster

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

Before you launch that “hot” new hashtag, stop and think about what could go wrong What’s it going to take for people to learn that you can’t just slap up a hashtag and assume the outcome will be a positive one? From huge organizations like McDonald’s and British Gas to …

The Dangers of Oversharing

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, cybersecurity, data breach, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, social media Leave a Comment

Watching what you post is a must for both personal and business crisis management Sharing on social media seems innocent enough to most, but it can create all sorts of issues. One of the most common, and most damaging, is oversharing of personal info. As you can see in this …

Krispy Kreme’s KKK Crisis

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

“We didn’t know” is a weak excuse these days Krispy Kreme was left apologizing after a store in Hull, England started promoting “KKK Wednesday”. Meant to stand for “Krispy Kreme Klub”, the promotion was shared on the popular doughnut shop’s UK Facebook page and quickly drew shocked reactions from stakeholders, …

UCLA Using ‘Net for Superbug Outbreak Crisis Comms

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, internet crisis management, Jonathan Bernstein, online crisis management, online reputation management, PR, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Becoming a go-to the source for information is a proven crisis management tactic The deadly “superbug” outbreak at UCLA Medical Center that left seven sick, two dead, and 179 potentially exposed to bacterial infection has made headlines across the country. Several news stories we reviewed referred to statements from Medical …

Guest Post: Too Much Joy About Brian Williams

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

[Editor’s note: This guest post comes to us courtesy of Andrea Obston, president of Andrea Obston Marketing Communications, LLC., and touches upon a topic we felt relevant to today’s social climate.] There’s been entirely too much joy floating around about Brian Williams’ fall from grace.  Folks are either wagging their …

Investment Firms Requiring Cyber Crisis Planning

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations, reputation management 1 Comment

The rising trend of insisting on crisis preparedness reaches the investment industry Last year we saw widespread insistence by insurance providers that the insured have crisis management plans in place, and now it looks like other industries are hopping on board in force. Here’s a look at new requirements being …

What the Google-Twitter Deal Means to Crisis Management

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, internet crisis management, internet reputation management, Jonathan Bernstein, online crisis management, online reputation management, PR, public relations, reputation management, search engine optimization, SEO, social media, social media crisis management, social media reputation management Leave a Comment

Social media’s impact on search position gets another boost Twitter Inc. has struck a deal with Google Inc. to make its 140-character updates more searchable online. In the first half of this year, tweets will start to be visible in Google’s search results as soon as they’re posted, thanks to …

Erik Bernstein Named Vice President of Bernstein Crisis Management

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

February 10, 2015 – Monrovia, CA — Erik Bernstein has been named vice president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. (BCM), a 21-year-old national crisis management consultancy based in the Los Angeles area. Erik started with BCM in 2009 as a writer and subsequently became social media manager for the consultancy …

Crisis Management Must – Coping with Workplace Conflict

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, HR, internal crisis management, Jonathan Bernstein, reputation management Leave a Comment

Creating a plan to deal with clashes is essential to crisis management Conflict in the workplace is unavoidable. You have groups of people, brought together for their individual thoughts and abilities, and it’s just not realistic to believe they will all naturally agree or get along without a bit of …

Advice for Church Officials in Drinking and Driving Case

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

We share the crisis management steps they should be taking Details are emerging in the case of the Maryland bishop who struck and killed a bicyclist while drunk driving this past December, and although church leadership has taken a step in the right direction by sharing some details, it’s not …