The Public Relations Blog

How to keep your company from making reputation-ruining mistakes

Social media is the most accessible tool customers have to learn about your company and become familiar with your brand. It’s also incredibly impactful in helping – or hurting – your company’s reputation.

Urban Meyer’s denial made a crisis situation more complicated

In any line of communication, the audience must trust you. Your message needs to be clear and straightforward. This prevents any confusion or feelings of distrust that may arise if your audience doesn’t believe your message.

These steps could have helped Ohio State in its initial stages of crisis communications

It’s been two months since the controversy regarding Ohio State University’s coaching staff became public, and yet, it’s still the main storyline of the Buckeyes’ season. There are crisis communication steps Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer could have initially taken to prevent the escalation of the situation.

3 critical factors to crisis communications

Mere days ago, in my hometown, a series of explosions and fires from natural gas leaks caused catastrophic damage, including fatalities, the destruction of homes, and the displacement of more than 8,000 families. At the epicenter of the devastation and mass evacuations of three Massachusetts towns stood Columbia Gas.

How crisis communications is becoming more necessary in college athletics

Allegations and subsequent scandals have rocked some big-name college athletics programs over the last several years. Given the 24/7 news cycle that currently operates, these instances show a shift toward the need for crisis communications for an industry whose traditional media coverage focuses on the outcome of a game.

It’s just a matter of time before a crisis hits, and if you’re not prepared, it will show. Following the three R’s of a crisis: regret, reform, and restitution will help your company handle the situation and protect your reputation. Here are five tips to help you manage a crisis.

20 crises Axia Public Relations managed for clients that your company needs to plan for

In today’s day and age, it’s a matter of when, not if, a crisis will happen to your company. When you’re unprepared for a crisis, you’re jeopardizing your company, your employees, your shareholders, your reputation, and your future.

As a public relations firm dedicated to helping companies manage crisis communications, improve their reputations, and manage online reviews, it often surprises us how many of our prospective clients don’t understand the differences between these things. We think it’s important to educate companies about these critical areas of PR. If you don’t know the difference between crisis communications, reputation management, and review management, you’re in luck, as we outline the three below.

Don’t make these errors when a crisis hits your company

On the afternoon of Thursday, April 12, an employee at a Starbucks in Philadelphia decided that two men who were sitting at a table and had not purchased anything were a threat. That employee called the police who arrested the men and held them in custody until 1:30 a.m. the next morning. The men, who were waiting for a business associate, were African-American. Another Starbucks patron, Melissa DePino, recorded the incident and posted the video to Twitter at 2:12 that same afternoon. She tagged the video @Starbucks.

When crisis hits, bravely step up to the microphone

Living in New England has advantages, except for when our region endures treacherous weather conditions. The past few weeks, we’ve braved a multiple-storm nor’easter pattern that flooded our coastal residences and devastated interior areas. Heavy, wet snow and high winds felled hundreds of trees across power lines and roadways causing extensive outages. As a resident, I earned a ringside seat to the fallout and backlash the power companies received because, while they stated before the storms that they were prepared, they were not.