Social Media Crisis Management #Fail: The Secret Plumber

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Facebook, 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, Twitter, Weiner Awards Leave a Comment

Twitter is not a private discussion, your statements are there for all to see! The UK Twitter crowd got their own show of spectacularly bad social media crisis management earlier this month, and it all started with this tweet: MASSIVE thanks to the @secret_plumber van reg no SL62FKG for almost …

Campaign Aide Lands Herself in the Running for a Weiner Award

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, internet crisis management, internet reputation management, Jonathan Bernstein, online crisis management, online reputation management, reputation management, social media, social media crisis management, social media reputation management, Twitter, Weiner Awards Leave a Comment

Another nominee, and a personal crisis management lesson for the young’uns While we certainly knew there were a lot of social media mistakes happening all around us, the launch of the Weiner Awards has resulted in our being told of an absolutely staggering number of outrageous incidents requiring serious crisis …

Fonterra Crisis Report Exposes Failure to Prepare

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

[From the editor: This article, originally printed in Tony Jaques’ Managing Outcomes newsletter, breaks down the incredible series of crisis management failures from New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra during its botulism-in-milk-powder crisis.] The independent report into the ‘botulism-in-milk-powder’ crisis at New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra is a searing assessment of …

Crisis Management Musts – Understanding Digital Security

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, cyber threats, cybersecurity, Erik Bernstein, internet crisis management, internet reputation management, internet security, Jonathan Bernstein, online crisis management Leave a Comment

The Internet can create serious issues for your organization, educate yourself to avoid danger If you work with the Internet a lot, and that includes pretty much all of us at this point, understanding digital security is a crisis management must. There are endless examples of trouble sprouting from a …

Obama’s #FuneralSelfie #Fail

Jonathan Bernstein Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations, reputation management, social media, social media crisis management, social media reputation management, Weiner Awards Leave a Comment

Could the President REALLY have been foolish enough to shoot this selfie ? You would expect the President of the United States to be well-versed in the ways of decorum and aware of the image he’s projecting ANYTIME he’s in public – especially when it comes to events like, say, …

The Weiner Awards – Recognizing Social Media Darwinism at Work

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, Facebook, internet crisis management, internet reputation management, Jonathan Bernstein, online crisis management, online reputation management, reputation management, social media, social media crisis management, social media reputation management, Twitter, Weiner Awards Leave a Comment

[Editor’s note: We’re happy to announce the first-ever Weiner Awards, a fun way to remind everyone out there that the way you use social media can bring some seriously nasty consequences!] LOS ANGELES, December 10, 2013 — Have you ever horrendously embarrassed yourself using social media?  You send a Tweet, …

Crisis Management Resources for Business from the CDC

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

Great example being set by the government org The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has really taken the lead when it comes to government organizations getting on board with online crisis communications and crisis management. For years now, the CDC has been exemplary in its use of web-based education …

Tesla Nails Crisis Management for Viral Car Fire Video

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

A demonstration of effective crisis communications Electric vehicle pioneer Tesla Motors has hit a couple of speed bumps this year. First was a dustup with the NY Times, and then one of its vehicles caught fire after a collision and video of the event quickly went viral. What do you …

Booze, Women and another Secret Service Scandal

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

Does the Service have crisis management policies in place to cope with misbehavior? Another incident that appears to involve women, sex and booze is further damaging the reputation of the Secret Service, already threatened by revelations related to the scandal in Cartagena. The most recent trouble didn’t start on foreign …

Japanese Airlines Flying in the Face of Reason

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

JAL and ANA put unwitting civilian passengers through contested airspace China’s newly declared air defense zone over a disputed area of the East China Sea has drawn the ire of quite a few countries, including the U.S. and neighboring Japan. While it’s not surprising to see the U.S. continuing to …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Setting Goals

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

Your efforts are far more effective if you know what you’re working towards It really is incredible how much wisdom from nearly 2,000 years ago can still apply so perfectly to business today. Take this quote from Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the famed Roman philosopher celebrated in the writings of Dante, …

Texas Fertilizer Plant Neglected Crisis Management

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

Lack of proper prevention practices led to loss of life Incidents like the devastating explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant are exactly why we push the idea of planning for crisis management so hard, and so often. As was suspected when the federal investigation began months ago, the plant has …

Hey Thai Airways, it’s not 1950 Anymore!

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

Crisis management mistake exposes antiquated thinking at the international airline The recent Thai Airways mishap, in which a jet skidded off of a Bangkok runway, isn’t terribly unusual for an airline. Don’t get us wrong, any incident involving even a minor plane crash is going to attract coverage, but it …

Crisis Management Lessons from Royal Caribbean

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

Rough seas lead to valuable lessons Learning vicariously through others who have endured crises is one of the very best (and least painful) ways you can better your own crisis management ability. Early this year we wrote, repeatedly, on Carnival Cruise Lines’ failures to do proper crisis management, but they …

United Gets it Right with $0 Ticket Crisis Management

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

Perhaps the airline has learned from painful experience Could it be that United Airlines has learned something from the series of crisis management mistakes it’s made over the past couple years? The company accidentally priced some fares at $0 on its website recently, which meant an unspecified number of customers …