Good Crisis Management Means Getting Your Hands Dirty

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

[Jonathan Bernstein here to say that I’m proud to introduce an original thought piece by my son, “chip off the old crisis manager” Erik Bernstein.] Keep leadership involved for crisis management success Organizations frequently bring in outside crisis management professionals in time of trouble, but just because you’ve hired someone …

Walmart’s iPad Abuse Crisis

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

Ugly employee actions create reputation management crisis for retailer We’ve seen a growing number of YouTube-based crises created not by the actions organizations themselves, but those of employees. Domino’s was one of the first high profile cases, and this month Walmart joined the list. Four employees of a Pikeville, Ky. …

Twitter’s Own Crisis Management

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

What crisis communications “must-do” did Twitter miss? If you have a Twitter account (and who doesn’t at this point?) you may have witnessed a bit of crisis management first-hand earlier this month. When a widespread security issue within the service put a large number of accounts at risk of being …

Sharing Responsibility for Social Media Crisis Management

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, media training, online reputation management, public relations, social media 2 Comments

Get everyone involved in social media and bolster your crisis management People work best when feel that they have ownership of a project. It’s a long-accepted fact of business and team building, so why are so few integrating that thought with their online reputation management programs? Often the social media …

KitchenAid Turns Social Media Fail into Reputation Win

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, KitchenAid, online reputation management, PR, social media 3 Comments

How a nasty post became a boon for housewares giant Now Kitchenaid can add itself to the list of companies who’ve run into social media crises stemming from an apparent slip of the mouse. Right smack in the middle of last week’s presidential debate, this post went out from the …

Social Media Doesn’t Close for the Weekend

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

Use online reputation management to help you catch problems early, or risk walking into a full-blown crisis Monday morning We applaud social media networks for allowing us to communicate with the public on a massive scale, but it’s critical to remember that while many businesses may close for the weekend, …

#drought12

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

Farmers put social media to work in combating a devastating drought The reach and flexibility of social media makes it an ideal crisis management tool, even in industries that are thousands of years old. When a crushing drought put the crops of farmers across the U.S. in danger, they turned …

Bic’s “For Her” Crisis, or How to Play Ostrich

Erik Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, online reputation management, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

Nonexistent crisis management from the pen maker Are you a woman? Are those manly black, white, red and blue pens keeping you from writing? Well look no further, because Bic’s “for Her” line is here! Yes, we’re being sarcastic, but no, we aren’t making up the “for Her” line. Industry …

Colleges Use Social Media to Defuse Bomb Threats

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

Crisis management that reaches its intended audience This past Friday, the University of Texas at Austin and North Dakota State both received bomb threats from unidentified individuals. The obvious first step after receiving such a threat is to clear the area, but how do you notify the tens of thousands …

No “Likes” for Facebook’s Crisis Management

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

What drives a social media innovator to sit silent while his stock plummets? With Facebook stock, one of the most anticipated public offerings, well…ever, sinking from day one, you would think that the company would be eager to trot out the man who brought it all together, THE face of …

The Crisis Show Ep.12 – Recalls, Apple Leak, Montreal Shooting and…

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

The Crisis Show’s 12th episode aired this week, and as usual hosts Jonathan Bernstein, Rich Klein, and Melissa Agnes had no shortage of topics to discuss. Two shooting incidents shocked the public this week, one at a PQ Montreal Victory Rally and another at Pathmark in New Jersey. The foul …

Yeah We Lost Your Kid, So What?

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

Appallingly poor online crisis management from United Airlines United Airlines was riding a wave of social media success following the Olympics. With Facebook contests and Twitter stunts accompanying pictures of returning athletes embracing United staff, the campaign was a mounting success. Suddenly, the Monday after closing ceremonies, a new and …

The Crisis Show Ep. 10 – Akin, West Nile, Sports Crises, and that’s not all!

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Jonathan Bernstein, Karen Freberg, online reputation management, reputation management, Rich Klein, social media, The Crisis Show Leave a Comment

In the latest episode of The Crisis Show, hosts Jonathan Bernstein, Rich Klein, and Melissa Agnes welcomed guest Karen Freberg, assistant professor in Strategic Communications at the University of Louisville and adjunct faculty member for West Virginia University. The crisis management mishaps continue to roll in, and we covered the …

How to Trash a Political Career in 15 Seconds or Less

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

Rep. Akins reputation is beyond crisis management “Legitimate rape.” If you don’t know what I’m referring to, prepare to be shocked. This weekend, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) was the guest on a St. Louis TV news program. A vocal opponent of abortion, Akin should be used to answering questions related …

Progressive’s #Crisisfail

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

Don’t let lawyers control your crisis management Progressive has made a fortune branding itself as the “everyman” of the insurance world with its kitschy commercials, but a major crisis management failure has caused the brand harm it could have avoided. At the heart of the controversy is a Tumblr created …