Crisis Management Quotables…on Why You Don’t Cover-Up

Posted on: 11, Sep 14

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

Sweeping ugly truths under the rug will come back to haunt you down the road Last week we talked about the ability of battlefield generals to do crisis management, but this week we’re looking at another type of leader. Politicians might not be making decisions under direct fire, but they’re certainly …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Making Communication Work

Posted on: 29, Aug 14

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

Ensuring communication is effective is core to crisis management success It turns out composer John Powell, perhaps best know for scoring movies like How to Train Your Dragon, Happy Feet and Kung-Fu Panda, knows a thing or two about verbal communication as well, making him the subject of today’s Crisis …

UK Embassy’s Twitter Gaffe

Posted on: 27, Aug 14

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, internet crisis management, internet reputation management, Jonathan Bernstein, online crisis management, online reputation management, PR, public relations, reputation management, social media, social media crisis management, social media reputation management Leave a Comment

Proof of the need to constantly keep your image, your mission, and your audience in mind when posting to social media It’s not entirely surprising to see brands getting too edgy or controversial as they compete to grab attention on social media, but one would hope for the folks running …

Crisis Management Musts: Alternatives to Apologies

Posted on: 23, Aug 14

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations, reputation management 2 Comments

Showing compassion without apologizing Apologies are powerful crisis management tools, but more and more often we’re seeing reputation-threatening situations that do not call for the ones taking flak to actually say “I’m sorry”. The most common situations are when organizations or individuals stand falsely accused, but other factors such as …

Crisis Management Musts: Employee Communication

Posted on: 10, Aug 14

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Response, Jonathan Bernstein 3 Comments

Don’t keep your employees in the dark When it’s time to go into full-on crisis management mode, many organizations are focused purely on A) cleaning up the situation, and B) communicating with outside stakeholders, whether that means customers, investors or the media. Here’s the problem with that – your employees, …

ESPN Benches Smith for Domestic Violence Comments

Posted on: 31, Jul 14

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

Understandably angry stakeholders and poor crisis management leave sports reporter in a bad spot ESPN anchor Stephen A. Smith won’t be stepping up to the mic for at least a week following his on-air comments regarding domestic violence – specifically that women should avoid “provoking” men into assaulting them. Smith …

Chase’s (ineffective) Compassion-Free Crisis Management

Posted on: 26, Jul 14

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

Lack of much-needed compassion leaves bank’s communications falling flat Having a debit or credit card charge declined is both frustrating and embarrassing no matter who you are or what you’re buying, something we would expect a bank to be aware of. That’s why, when we spotted the below email from …

OOPS! White House Accidentally IDs CIA Spy Chief

Posted on: 28, Jun 14

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

Double-checking is never a waste of time when it comes to crisis management Late last month the White House made headlines when it accidentally exposed the CIA’s top officer in Kabul, Afghanistan. In case you missed the story, here’s a rundown, from a Washington Post article by Greg Miller: The …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Why Hiding Doesn’t Cut It

Posted on: 12, Jun 14

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

Duck and cover is not a crisis management strategy Leave it to a legendary college football coach to understand dealing with the media! Paul “Bear” Bryant spent 25 years as the University of Alabama’s head coach, amassing an absolutely incredible 323-85-17 record and chalking up an immense number of press …

30 Lessons from 30 Years of Crisis Management

Posted on: 10, Jun 14

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

30 Lessons from 30 Years of Crisis Management Jonathan Bernstein got his start in crisis management when he helped launch one of the earliest crisis communications practices in the U.S. as part of a national PR office. Branching off to form Bernstein Communications, which would later become Bernstein Crisis Management, …

Crisis Management Quotables on…Nobody Likes a Lecture

Posted on: 12, Apr 14

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

Communication is a two-way street Many of our Quotables come from celebrities or famous philosophers, but how about one from a man who’s been in the trenches of the crisis management field for decades? Communication that isn’t interactive is lecturing — Jonathan Bernstein Already reconsidering the value of your past …

We’d Take Mike Rowe on our Crisis Team

Posted on: 19, Mar 14

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, crisis communications, crisis management, 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 Leave a Comment

[Editor’s note: A big thank you to frequent contributor Kim May for sending this case our way! If you spot a story you think would be a good fit for our blogs, email erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com] Whether you agree with his position or not, it’s undeniable that Rowe has natural crisis management …

Social Media Crisis Management: When Do We Respond?

Posted on: 14, Mar 14

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

If you haven’t found yourself asking this question already, it’s coming To respond, or not to respond, and how the heck are we supposed to respond anyways? This is a question posed by those faced with a need for social media crisis management on a daily basis, and one to …

Fake Online Reviews and Your Business

Posted on: 12, Mar 14

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, 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, social media, social media crisis management, social media reputation management Leave a Comment

Could this case set a new precedent when it comes to online reputation management and the law? No sooner did we finish discussing the fact that Yelp itself acknowledges 16% of the reviews submitted to its site to be fakes (which leaves, in our opinions, a significantly higher actual number …

Crisis Management Infographic: The 3 C’s of Credibility

Posted on: 10, Mar 14

Jonathan Bernstein communications, crisis communication, crisis communications, crisis management, crisis management expert, crisis management tactics, crisis management training, crisis preparedness, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, crisis resources, Crisis Response, crisis training, Erik Bernstein, infographic, Jonathan Bernstein, media crisis management, media relations, PR, PR resources, public relations, reputation management 6 Comments

Not sure why your crisis communications aren’t having the desired effect? You could be missing one of these vital components. It’s hard to read the headlines without seeing a crisis or two, and, except in rare cases, they all require a response. These responses take many forms – press releases, …