Crisis Comms 101: Moving on from a PR Crisis

In the digitalised age we live in, news spreads instantaneously a brand can find its self in a situation where it is unexpectedly facing a public relations crisis.

The way a brand responds to a crisis can either provide a dramatic image-boost or significantly change the public’s perception of the brand which could alienate stake-holders.
Because of the wide range of social media platforms, we have today a PR Crisis strategy can be implemented across all channels, quickly and efficiently, but they follow nine essential principles:

1. Be ahead of the Game

There is no time for a drawn-out strategy, if the brand in-question, knows a story is about to break, it is essential that an initial tweet or a post is issued just before the story is leaked everywhere. There is no time for long statements.

2. Communicate the situation to Stakeholders

Communicate all relevant details to key stakeholders, and reply with a ‘comment’ while you assess the situation – make sure that the most important stakeholders are up to speed with the situation before anything is said publicly.

3.  Be Responsible

As mistakes are unveiled, ideocracies revealed and misnomers announced, companies would do well to just ‘Say Sorry’. Nobody likes defensive responses. Never try to cover up issues, it will only come back to bite you.

4. Acknowledge other people’s frustrations.

Demonstrate empathy and Sympathy, make the conversation more human – show that you care about the issues at hand and, more importantly the way it may have negatively affected customers or business partners.

5. Take action

Not only do you need to apologise, but you need to announce, clearly, what you will do to rectify the situation.

6. Be ready for a social media backlash

This is more relevant for smaller businesses, but do not only try to manage the media relations side, everything must be fought on social media too. Social Media platforms will be rife with negativity – and somebody needs to be on tap to monitor the comments and respond accordingly.

7. Avoid Knee-Jerk Reactions

Make sure any initial statement posted in external communication channels is neutral. There is no space for knee-jerk reactions or emotional frenzied responses.

8. Utilise your team

At times of crisis, it is important that you utilise everybody for brainstorms. Your PR team will have some carefully crafted language that will be ready for times like this, and your regular staff may have some good ideas too.

9. Anticipate potential crises

Being prepared, means that you anticipate what issues could arise. Scrambling around at a time of crisis can make things go from bad to worse quickly. Make sure that at times of ‘peace’ you create potential scenarios that could develop a crisis so there are solutions ‘in the freezer’ ready to be ‘defrosted’ at a time of need.

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Curzon PR is a London-based PR firm working with clients globally. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Business Development Team bd@curzonpr.com