The Public Relations Blog

October 2022 – Corporate Comms Strategies to Use in Unprecedented Situations

A slew of recent headlines has showcased a unique challenge for PR teams — how to approach bad publicity and what to say when there is no precedent to take. We’ll look at two examples, one bad and one good, of how to shape your communications strategy in unprecedented times.

In this episode, TCE Strategy’s Bryce Austin shares his expertise on cybersecurity and crisis communications. With host and Axia Public Relations founder Jason Mudd, he expands on data breaches and how to prevent them. He also talks about CISO, next-generation antivirus, password keepers, and multifactor authentication. Lastly, he and Jason discuss who’s responsible for promoting cybersecurity within your company.

Tune into this episode to learn more about cybersecurity and crisis communications.

In this episode, Gunster attorney Jonathan Osborne shares his expertise on what to do after alleged or confirmed illegal activities occur. He talks about the steps you should take and the case information you're allowed to know. He also discusses what you can do to prevent something like this from happening.

Tune into this episode to learn about what to do when this occurs within your organization.

Google’s algorithm has been based on links ever since its inception. Link building is one of its top three ranking factorsRecent reports that an agency executive covertly bought a news site that covers the PR industry and used it for dishonorable activities left the public relations industry gasping. This post objectively unravels the story surrounding Ronn Torossian and his agency’s deceptive activities around acquiring and operating Everything-PR.

Having purchased Everything-PR in 2014, Torossian and his agency proceeded to turn the site into a self-serving machine. 

Christopher Britton and Jason Mudd discuss best practices for organizations to consider when preparing for inevitable crises. These involve leveraging technology, forming response plans, and practicing within your team.

If you’re enjoying the vodcast, would you please share it with others and leave us a review?

Guest:

Our episode guest is Christopher Britton, chief operating officer of RockDove solutions. He has decades of executive leadership experience and is known for creating and improving successful public and private companies, such as AT&T and Rosetta Stone.

This post discusses Axia Public Relations’ CEO’s presentation to Loyola University students. In the presentation, Jason Mudd shared some of his experiences as a PR expert, Axia’s team values and ideals, as well as how the pandemic has affected the PR industry.

Smart corporation communications executives know that all it takes is a single public relations crisis to bring down even the biggest enterprises in the industry. How the general public perceives your company directly correlates to how much they trust you. 

The moment there's a reputation crisis, you can expect your company to suffer greatly. The brand and image you carefully constructed and protected over time will inevitably be damaged. It will take an immense public relations initiative to reconstruct the public's perception of the company. Considering how easy it is to find something on the internet, it can take a lot of effort to make the online masses forget.

Cyberattacks cost the global economy close to 1 trillion dollars in 2020, a number projected to rise to $10.5 trillion by 2025. According to the FBI Cyber Division, they received close to 4,000 cyberattack complaints daily at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number likely associated with the fact that 71% of Americans were working from home at the time.

With such dire cyberattack statistics, what can an organization do? Although such attacks are typically the purview of IT departments and cybersecurity divisions, as a critical department in any organization, public relations (PR) has a vital role to play.

Responding to a negative news story and its consequences

Gaining news coverage for your company, yourself, or a member of your executive team is a key aspect of public relations. However, what happens when a news article is published and your company or an executive is presented in a less-than-favorable light? What is your company’s best response to the situation? Do you respond or let it be? And why? 

A news article was published about your company, which included misleading information, factual errors, innuendos, and even half-truths. This leads to a crisis for your company, especially in the court of public opinion. 

Your company has several options to handle this crisis: ignore it, create some FAQs to correct the errors, hold a news conference, or issue a video statement during a crisis.