The Public Relations Blog

By Jonathan Bernstein and Jason Mudd, APR

Current events demonstrate that a crisis can strike a company at any time. It's a matter of when, not if. Don’t think that it can’t happen to you. 

Natural and man-made disasters happen all the time and often without notice. No one knows when or if events like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, SARS, anthrax, or a tornado may occur. In these times, every business must be prepared. Otherwise, you risk the possibility that the media will drag your company through the wringer and allow the public to judge you by scandalous front-page headlines.

How you can use these recent PR crises to your company’s advantage

In the last couple of months, there have been numerous high-profile crises all over the news. An unexpected crisis can happen to any company at any time. How you handle it can either make or break the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build.

Consumers choose your brand based on their perceptions of your company. Get familiar with these case study stories to minimize the chances of your company and its good name being ruined in the event of a major (or minor) calamity.

While the tumultuous Sony waters continue to swirl, public relations professionals stand on the shore, attempting to discern how a behemoth corporation like Sony could have allowed so many PR flubs to occur – seemingly overnight. The most obvious question is whether or not Sony Pictures is so full of its arrogant Hollywood ego that it believes itself safe from attack and its employees absolutely protected from public scrutiny.

No business wants to deal with a PR crisis. In today’s instant-news world, a mistake or blunder can swiftly tarnish a hard-earned, respected reputation. In 2014, there was no shortage of PR gaffes, and most were avoidable. Axia Public Relations developed a list of the top 2014 preventable PR disasters that prove that even the largest, most well known corporations are not goof-proof.

A common theme in this year’s list of major PR goofs is the mishandling of social media. Three major players: DiGiorno, a subsidiary of Nestlé, Oreo, owned by Nabisco, and transportation leader DHL all bungled their use of social networking service Twitter in 2014. By using less-than-savvy tactics and little forethought, all three corporations outraged consumers with insensitive and outrageous tweets. The takeaway: Because of the instantaneous and widespread nature of social media, it is critical that companies use extreme care when posting to social media outlets.

By Jason Mudd, APR

One key phrase oft repeated inside newsrooms is “If it bleeds, it leads.”

To those outside the communications profession, that may sound utterly offensive, but realistically, news editors, writers, journalists and programming directors know that when it comes to news, people listen and watch more intently when it’s negative. In fact, bad news far outweighs good news by as much as 17 negative news stories for every one positive one. Scholars have studied the psychology behind this, too. The human brain evolved in a hunter-gatherer environment where dramatic events required immediate attention for the sake of survival, and we still care (worry/fear) more about the threat of bad things affecting us than hearing about good things. When the news is negative, people take notice.

The world is amid growing panic driven predominantly by fear caused by a microscopic killer called Ebola. Americans now face a unique crisis as Ebola bridges waters and appears in a number of states across our country. Ebola is a viral killer and, naturally, fear and panic about how it spreads, infects and could potentially cause an epidemic in the United States has resulted in a scramble for answers and preventative measures from our country’s government, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hospitals, schools and more.

Learn the PR tools you can use to effectively manage any crisis

When not handled correctly, a crisis can shed a negative light on your entire company. Handled well, it provides an opportunity for your company to demonstrate that it can be tough under pressure.

According to a study Stanford Universityconducted, companies that provide quick, truthful responses and keep a steady grip during a crisis fare much better in terms of public image and profitability. Your company can learn something from these lessons on the right (and wrong) ways to manage a crisis.

Apple, Airbnb and GM might represent three different industries… But their paths have crossed during the past year when they’ve all had to make apologies to the public for their product and service failures.

Because of their sincerity and admittance of responsibility, their customers remain.

Use PR tactics to cool things off.

Lately, articles about embattled company CEOs have flooded the media. It could be the result of a current issue that has gone horribly wrong, such as that of former Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who resigned after a major security breach which left credit card customers vulnerable to identity theft. More often, CEO troubles are caused by the CEO him/herself, usually by saying something inappropriate.

According to research conducted by Protiviti and North Carolina State University’s ERM Initiative in a recent report entitled “Executive Perspectives on Top Risks for 2014” (pg. 5), there are eight top strategic risks for 2014: