Forward Thinking Means Better Crisis Management

Erik Bernstein crisis avoidance strategy, crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, public relations, reputation management, risk assessment, risk management Leave a Comment

Plan ahead to protect yourself When we sit down to discuss crisis management with clients, one of the first steps we take is to have them list what they see as their vulnerabilities. From internal problems like disgruntled employees and mechanical breakdowns, to external issues like supply line disruptions or …

How Heineken Beat a Crisis Management Nightmare

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management, social media 3 Comments

Fast response, genuine feeling, lead to success In what can only be described as a crisis management nightmare scenario, popular beer maker Heineken was blindsided by a picture of a dog fighting ring surrounded by banners promoting its product. The photo quickly went viral, and looked to be snowballing into …

University of Pennsylvania’s Crisis Management Fail

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

You can’t hide facts in the age of the ‘net When it became known that Dough Lynch, vice dean of the graduate school of education at the University of Pennsylvania, did not in fact have a doctorate as he claimed, the University slapped him with “sanctions”, but he kept his …

Cowboy Crisis Management

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

It takes a village to solve a crisis Like it or not, crisis management is a team activity. An individual may direct and coordinate the team’s efforts, but it takes input from every department to do things right. In a recent CPA Insider article, Lee Terry drew a colorful metaphor …

Citibank Stars in Fairy Tale

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

Stay honest, or your reputation will suffer No matter how badly you want more business, it never pays to deceive your customers. One reason is that it’s ethically wrong, another is that you never know if the person you’re attempting to fool has a larger audience than your average citizen, …

Crisis Management for Small Business

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

Everyone faces crises, take this advice to make it through It’s easy for small business owners to become lax in their crisis management. The constant appearance of multinational corporations’ troubles on the front page may lull them into a sense of complacency, assuming that their single shop or small chain …

The Crisis Management Impact of a Single Tweet

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

One false report can spiral out of control in a flash As use of social media by legitimate news outlets rises, so too do the opportunities for irresponsible reporting to plunge individuals and organizations into crisis management mode. If you thought reporters that skipped that pesky “fact checking” part of …

Navy Gets its Feet Wet with Social Media Crisis Management

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

Social media provides valuable platform for military crisis management On May 1, 2010, Naval Support Activities Mid-South experienced floodwaters that displaced over 300 families, single sailors and geographic bachelors, destroyed office buildings, stranded cars and shut off electricity and telephone services. After the first day’s flooding, David Crenshaw, NSA Mid-South’s …

Google Plays Ostrich with G+ Woes

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

Don’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to crisis management If you’re working in social media or crisis management, it’s probably safe to assume that you’re set up on Google Plus. Unfortunately for Google, it’s also pretty safe to assume that you’re ONLY there to have another …

Get Engaged and Boost Your Crisis Management

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management, social media 1 Comment

Spend extra time with major players in social media In a crisis management situation you’ll be taking fire from many directions, and sometimes just monitoring and responding to inquiries on social media can take more time than you’ve got. When you’re at risk of getting overwhelmed, finding ways to engage …

Legal, Meet Social Media

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, litigation-related PR, media relations, media training, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

It pays to have everyone on the same page when it comes to crisis management Crisis management professionals and legal teams have historically had a relationship full of clashes, with one wanting to communicate profusely and the other seeing new legal threats emerge with every spoken word. Now that social …

Red Cross UK Disaster Challenge

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, disaster response, red cross 2 Comments

Extreme crisis management exercises It’s one thing to armchair quarterback when someone else is handling a disaster, but could you actually get down and dirty to tackle crisis management in real time? That’s what the Red Cross’ UK Disaster Challenge is all about. Constructed by real Red Cross emergency responders, …

The Modern Smash N Grab

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparation, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, media training, reputation management Leave a Comment

Crisis management for a thoroughly modern crime The corporate hack attacks perpetrated by the Anonymous collective are certainly not the first of their kind.  However, the fact that the group gained access to unprecedented levels of information, penetrated top-tier government and corporate systems, and boldly claimed responsibility caught the attention …

Kenyan Chief’s Twitter Crisis Management

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

Fighting crime with social media His Twitter account is so popular that, he says, even the thieves in his village follow him. One night his phone rang at 4am warning him that thieves were invading a school teacher’s house. He tweeted the message – and within minutes, villagers had gathered …

The Ryan Braun Saga: Part Two

Erik Bernstein communications, crisis communications, crisis expert, crisis management, crisis preparation, crisis preparedness, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, crisis training, issues management, litigation-related PR, media training, PR, public relations, reputation management, strategic reputation management Leave a Comment

The following is a guest article from frequent contributor and director of crisis communications for Triad Strategies, Rick Kelly. If you missed Part One of this story, head here first. The Ryan Braun Saga: Part Two We who practice crisis communications for a living are intimately and sometimes painfully familiar …