Reputation and the Financial Sector

Erik Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, cyber security, cyber threats, cybersecurity, data breach, Erik Bernstein, information security, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Identifying the biggest threat to financial firms’ reputations Reputation is your most valuable asset, and today there are more threats to reputation than ever before. One of the fastest-growing and most impactful issues is information security, and the results of the 2015 Makovsky Wall Street Reputation Study show why. According …

Austin City Managers Take a Trip Back in Time

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

A situation that begs the question, “what were they thinking?” Austin, Texas has been making a name for itself as a hip and progressive city in recent years. While you would expect city officials to be celebrating their new majority female City Council, the first in Austin’s history, their reaction …

Customer Service Matters for Crisis Management

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

Customer service is often the first line of defense when it comes to reputation We’ve all had an awful customer service experience. Whether it was in person, over the phone, or now through email and social media, it never leaves you feeling eager to do business with the entity responsible. …

DoT Forces Takata’s Recall Into the Fast Lane

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

Dragging your feet is an easy way to make a bad situation worse Air bag manufacturer Takata has been dragging its feet when it comes to a widespread recall despite agreeing that a defect does exist which causes potentially deadly ruptures in its product. Used in cars from a variety …

Public Opinion in PR Crises

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

Your reaction to crises can help shift public opinion Public opinion often shifts rapidly when it comes to crises, and how you react in the immediate aftermath can have a major impact on which direction it goes. The team at Alterian put together an awesome infographic demonstrating how this happened …

The Price of Losing Your Cool

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

Flipping out is not an option Composure is everything, and whether you’re a public figure or an ordinary Joe, blowing up in front of anyone with a recording device can quickly make you headline material. The Cincinnati Reds have been having a tough time recently, and manager Bryan Price finally lost …

Crisis Management Risk: .sucks Domains

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, internet crisis management, internet reputation management, Jonathan Bernstein, online crisis management, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Don’t let nasty new domains create trouble for your org We often caution clients to snap up URL’s like yournamesucks.com or yournamescam.com in order to protect themselves, but a newly approved domain is taking that issue to a whole new level. Starting in June, .sucks domains will go on sale …

Infographic: Lessons in Nonprofit Communications

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

Stats and info that will improve your communication capabilities Nonprofits typically have a mission of doing good, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean they don’t have their fair share of sticky communication situations. We think you’ll find this infographic, from the 2015 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report, useful for any organization’s communication …

The State of the Media

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis management, crisis public relations, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, media crisis management, media relations, media training, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Staying on top of changes in media is a must Knowing how to work and optimize contact with the  media is crucial in any type of public relations. This isn’t like riding a bike, however. You need to constantly be educating yourself on the latest changes if you want to …

Guest Post: Great Idea, Horrible Execution

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

[Editor’s note: This post, originally published in Jeff Chatterton’s Winning Reputations newsletter, provides a perfect example of how using the wrong language can completely disrupt the message you’re trying to get across.] Brussels Airlines has launched an international ‘image makeover’ campaign in an effort to disassociate Africa from the horrible …

Infographic: Top 10 Benefits of Online Reputation Management

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis management, Erik Bernstein, internet reputation management, Jonathan Bernstein, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

Whether you’re doing crisis management or pumping out ads, a solid online reputation is a must If you’re not already putting effort into managing your organization’s online reputation you’re well behind the curve. The Internet, and what people say about you there, is perhaps THE largest single influence in how …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Perception and Reality

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis management, crisis management quotables, crisis public relations, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations Leave a Comment

Helping stakeholders to see things as you do is a core aspect of all public relations Stuart Ewen is a man of many hats, including historian, author, professor, and artist. Ewen is also a highly esteemed expert on that ever-present factor we know as the media, and it’s that knowledge …

SeaWorld's Hashtag Disaster

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

Before you launch that “hot” new hashtag, stop and think about what could go wrong What’s it going to take for people to learn that you can’t just slap up a hashtag and assume the outcome will be a positive one? From huge organizations like McDonald’s and British Gas to …

Krispy Kreme’s KKK Crisis

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

“We didn’t know” is a weak excuse these days Krispy Kreme was left apologizing after a store in Hull, England started promoting “KKK Wednesday”. Meant to stand for “Krispy Kreme Klub”, the promotion was shared on the popular doughnut shop’s UK Facebook page and quickly drew shocked reactions from stakeholders, …

UCLA Using ‘Net for Superbug Outbreak Crisis Comms

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

Becoming a go-to the source for information is a proven crisis management tactic The deadly “superbug” outbreak at UCLA Medical Center that left seven sick, two dead, and 179 potentially exposed to bacterial infection has made headlines across the country. Several news stories we reviewed referred to statements from Medical …