In recent years social media has played a huge role in disaster crisis management. From Katrina and Haiti to the BP spill, social media platforms are being put to work facilitating communication and tracking all kinds of information. Why are these platforms so attractive? This quote from a Computer World …
Twitter Delivers the News
The Twitter stream alerted the news media to yesterday’s unfolding crisis at the Discovery building, reports Paul Farhi in today Washington Post. In a piece that notes that “Tweet stream alerts news media to the unfolding crisis,” Farhi reports that “for the raw speed and real-time eyewitness accounts, it’s now …
Surviving a Recall
“Recalls undermine trust in a specific brand and it can take the company a long time to recover from the damage to its reputation, but it doesn’t have to take a long time if the company uses good crisis management tactics,” Manpreet Hora, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s College …
Insurance for Eggs
Egg producers are no strangers to recalls, but following the most recent salmonella outbreak, one of the largest in U.S. history, some are looking towards an emerging service that could lend a hand in recall crisis management. BusinessInsurance.com explains: The recall of half a billion eggs tainted by salmonella linked …
Philippine Police Problems
The Philippine police force is facing international criticism after their bungling of the recent hostage situation in Manila cost eight Hong Kong tourists their lives. Broadcast on nearly every major television network, the incident has destroyed any last remaining shreds of good reputation the force held on to and exposed …
Pirates Sink Their Own Ship
Sports teams are vulnerable to crises just like any other business, sometimes even more so because of the large sums of money and public interest involved. Fans of Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates have become accustomed to their team bringing up the rear, but careless handling of questions regarding team …
The Ostrich Syndrome
There are many steps to be taken in a crisis, and while there are differing opinions as to which is most important, Davia Temin made a convincing case for one in a recent Forbes.com article. A quote: Most important of all–in any crisis–is to short-circuit denial! It’s a human trait …
Semi-Transparent
A Washington State fire department is learning crisis management on the fly as it copes with an underage drinking incident involving several of its high-ranking members with a major funding vote approaching. While the response from the department’s Chief shows that he is aware of some of the tenets of …
Crisis and Reputation Management
Your reputation is your most valuable asset. While crisis management can begin with very few reputation management practices in place, failing to bank the good will that it can create before a crisis hits is a dangerous choice. In a recent article Bret Giles, President of agencyside, gave a couple …
Hurd Hurts HP
Hewlett-Packard’s crisis management team has been hard at work this week following the sudden resignation of CEO Mark Hurd. Leaving after revelations of an inappropriate relationship and improper use of company funds, the formerly revered Hurd will float out on a $12 million dollar golden parachute loaded with hundreds of …
Brand Extortion
It has become incredibly popular to turn to the Web to find and post reviews of businesses. Led by services like Yelp!, Google Reviews, and Facebook to levels of use never imagined by the once-formidable Yellow Pages, most if not all remain free to use and profit from banner or …
Target Facing National Boycott
Target is in big trouble. The retail giant’s recent decision to donate $150,000 to Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer has drawn the ire of the public for more than one reason. Sam Stein reports in The Huffington Post: Target has already come under intense scrutiny for the $150,000 it has …
Does New Jersey Stink?
Merrie Spaeth’s BIMBO awards are a constant source of amusement and education as she compiles the poorest communications choices people have made in the previous month. This month the top prize went to the state of New Jersey, which has felt the need for crisis management after the recent rise …
Own Your Identity
As part of an effort to promote a “road diet” on Chicago Drive SW, Grandville officials looked into creating a Facebook page. But they found out the city already has a presence on the social networking website. Although unofficial, the site looks like what city officials had in mind. “We …
Room to Wiggle
Wherever there’s a crisis you are bound to find the media, and simply dropping a curt “no comment” is not going to cut it. While good crisis management dictates that organizations push a statement out quickly, leaving a big of wiggle room can prevent future problems. The Get in Front …