You can’t continue with messaging “as usual” when things are anything but Throughout the crises past week, we saw examples of both individuals and organizations whose communications made them look uncaring, foolish, or both. That’s why, when we read an excellent article titled, “How to Communicate in the Midst of …
Crisis Management Tactics: Control Your Story
Be the source of information and stop damaging rumor and innuendo in their tracks A huge part of successful crisis management is finding, or creating, the opportunity to tell your own story. Why, you might ask? The main reason is that it’s going to be told either way, and if …
Crisis Management in the Pac-12
Rumors of impropriety among officials leads to independent investigation The recent reputation crisis in the Pac-12 men’s college basketball conference, sparked by coordinator of officials Ed Rush’s comments that he would give cash or a trip to any official who handed Arizona’s coach a technical foul during the Pac-12 tournament, …
Crisis Management Ostrich Alert for Colleges & Universities
You Might Be An Ostrich If….. If you haven’t already initiated an independent investigation to determine whether or not you could be the next Penn State or Rutgers…you might be an ostrich. If you know that something which has happened or is happening on your sports programs could seriously harm …
LEGO’s Crisis Management v. Racism Allegations
A Turkish group claims Jabba’s Palace playset creates negative cultural stereotypes, how did Lego respond? Star Wars playsets have long been a part of the Lego brand’s lineup, but one featuring the iconic Jabba the Hutt’s palace recently came under fire from the Turkish Cultural Association of Austria because it …
Social Media Crisis Management in Cairo
A single tweet can create serious consequences We’ve examined many cases of organizations landing themselves in need of crisis management as a result of poorly planned tweets, but the latest Twitter dustup may have larger ramifications than rumblings in the court of public opinion. This past Wednesday, the @USEmbassyCairo account …
Crisis Management: Fix it…but don’t Forget
Fix it and forget it is great when it comes to cooking, not so much for crisis management. Many organizations, once clear of a crisis situation, simply move on with business as usual. While we understand the urgent need to do the things that bring in money on a daily …
Keep Your Ear to the Ground for Crisis Management
Listen up for clues about incoming crises You’ve established crisis management plans and your people are trained. Good to go, right? Well…kind of. Even with excellent preparation, it still takes time to mold messaging specifically to fit the situation, and, especially if you’re a larger organization, to get the green …
CNN’s Shocking Silence in Steubenville Controversy
News outlet ignores basic crisis management in face of massive protest The Steubenville rape trial made national news due to the heavy involvement of social media as evidence, but looked ready to recede from the headlines following the guilty verdict that was handed down to the two young perpetrators. The …
Chasing the Truth
Check your facts, or it’s bound to be crisis management time One of the most important, and often overlooked, building blocks of credibility is making sure you have the facts straight. It’s pretty simple – if you earn a reputation for dishonesty and/or inaccuracy, then nobody is going to believe …
SimCity, Real Crisis
Launch issues leave EA in dire need of crisis management Many of us have fond memories of playing SimCity, building networks of roads and utilities, adding amenities and ultimately destroying it all via alien invasion. Now, fast forward ten years to last Tuesday, when the latest incarnation of the wildly …
Think Before You Promote
Consider carefully, or you could create your own crisis management scenario In Oakland, CA, a city where the burglary rate climbed over 40% last year, Mayor Jean Quan came under fire after members of the public discovered that a lockpicking class was being promoted in her weekly newsletter. An Oakland …
Cracked Buses, Broken Business
Neglecting even basic crisis management, Fung Wah buses are no more When Massachusetts inspectors found cracks in Fung Wah bus frames, we knew the discount carrier line had a crisis on its hands. What we didn’t expect was just how fast things would go from seemingly repairable to completely out …
Did a Robot Write This?
Twitter Crisis Comms Still Lack Ingredient We’ve criticized Twitter in the past for its robotic crisis communications, which regularly lack any semblance of the human touch that is practically demanded these days. Oh, you’ll certainly receive notification if, as in the example below, your information may have been compromised, but …
Cover Ups are so Passé
Stick to Crisis Management 101, admit your mistakes When it was announced that traces of the agricultural chemical DCD had been discovered in milk powder produced by New Zealand dairy company Fonterra, and, even worse, that Fonterra had discovered the problem months before it became public knowledge, it created an …