Speak Carefully

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

Choose your words carefully or your reputation will suffer Merrie Spaeth’s BIMBO Awards are a constant reminder of the power that words carry and the danger of using them without thinking. The latest edition of the BIMBOs features a medley of examples, including this outstanding one: “The crisis was not …

Reputation Rehab

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

Designer heads to rehab after rant in bar Fashion designer John Galliano is the latest high-profile person to be captured on film making a complete ass of himself and embarrassing his employer, Christian Dior, in the process. Already cut from the Dior team, Galliano is headed straight to rehab for …

J.C. Penney Cheats Google

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

Shady SEO tactics create a reputation crisis While it can certainly net you temporary gains, in the long run it doesn’t pay to be dishonest. Retailer J.C. Penney is a perfect example, having been outed by The New York Times this week for using “black hat” SEO methods to unfairly …

Answering Questions

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

Active crisis communication always pays off In the past, when all hell broke loose, regular sources of information could be hard to come by, unreliable, intermittent and downright infuriating; a phone number with a taped message on the other end, a sliver of advice, half-heard from the radio or a …

Protocol Counts

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

No matter how talented your team is, crisis management is not something done best on the fly. While obviously some improvisation is necessary, it’s important to create a plan and follow through. That’s why, as Risdall McKinney PR president Rose McKinney wrote in a recent article, “protocol counts.” A quote: …

Red Cross Twitter Mixup

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

Strong crisis communication prevents reputation damage The Red Cross is extremely experienced with social media, having been an avid and active user for years now, so when a rogue tweet went out from its Twitter account at nearly midnight last night, the organization was not caught flat-footed. The Tweet, from …

Thank You for Suing Us?

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

Why Taco Bell’s crisis management strategy doesn’t measure up Taco Bell’s response to claims that their taco filling does not actually qualify as beef was certainly unorthodox, but was it a success? Bruce Bonafede, president of Bonafere communications, doesn’t think so, and in an article for the latest Crisis Manager …

Build Your Army

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

Treat them right, and customers will do battle for you The difference between a small hitch and extensive reputation damage is often the effort that is put into building relationships before the fact. Once you understand this, then, where do you begin? Marketing pro Peter Shankman gave his advice in …

Barack’s No Father-Figure

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

Obama’s leadership is no “how to” class In hard times, people turn to their leaders. For a business, this means the CEO, in the United States, it is the President.  Even in the midst of a crisis, strong leadership can empower followers and turn things around. Unfortunately, Barack Obama has, at …

Badly Babbling Blogosphere

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, online crisis management, reputation management Leave a Comment

It pays to be part of the conversation, but how do you stay safe? How you react to discussions on the Internet can make or break your reputation. Responses to blogger’s comments, whether positive or negative, must be honest, tactful, and stay on message. In this week’s issue of Crisis …

Too Little Too Late

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

Be ready for online crisis response…or else The Internet is the center of information today. What this means for businesses is that when a crisis breaks, their fans, critics, and everyone in between will flock to the Web for the latest details. If this happens and the business has no …

Crisis Manager Newsletter

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

PR Disaster & Dealing with a Badly Babbling Blog It’s that time again, a new Crisis Manager newsletter is out, and with it comes more guest articles from professionals aimed at improving your crisis management skills. This week, our focus was on the topic of social media – Twitter, Facebook, …

Keep it Honest

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

Stakeholders reward transparency in communication Maintain honesty and integrity: Every business model should be molded around these two pillars, but while you’re in the eye of the media, (more than ever) maintaining honesty and integrity is crucial. Executing this simple concept can be difficult, but if you’re at fault, accept …

UnGoogle Yourself

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

Not everything on the Web is forever The general theory held by most people is that once something is published on the Web, it is all but impossible to remove. While this is true much of the time, in some cases you can actually modify or wipe damaging search results, …