And You Thought 2020 Has ALREADY Been Bad? Crisis Preparedness and Response Is About to Get Tougher As I write this on October 12, 2020, never in my almost 40 years of crisis management experience have I ever seen an America more prone to erupt in new crises than right …
As more healthcare providers see ransomware attacks crisis preparedness is put to the test Universal Health Services (UHS) is one of the United States’ largest health care providers, with 26 acute care hospitals, 328 behavioral health facilities, and 42 outpatient facilities. so when media reports of a ransomware attack impacting …
Are you ignoring the power of proactive positive crisis communications? “And there’s still a lot of faith, warmth, and trust When we keep on keeping on” — Curtis Mayfield, Musician, “Keep On Keeping On” September 8, 2020 — As we head into the last days of Q3 2020 the year …
[Editor’s note: Australian crisis expert Dr. Tony Jaques has just published a new book which addresses the challenge of how to balance legal and communication advice when a crisis strikes: Crisis Counsel: Navigating legal and communication Conflict (Rothstein 2020). In this extract, he introduces the idea of what he …
There is a psychological concept that 12-step programs introduced called “hitting bottom.” It refers to the point at which an individual feels so much pain from what he or she has been doing that the fear of continuing “as is” is greater than the fear of change. At that point, …
Avoiding reputation management issues while discussing social change In the midst of widespread demands for change across America and around the globe, many brands are shifting tones in their marketing efforts to share with powerful messages of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s a welcome sight, but it’s …
Avoid these #fail behaviors if you want to stay out of #crisiscomms trouble It’s the year 2020 and yet, sadly, some organizations and individuals seem to still be living 10 to 20 years in the past in terms of crisis communications best practices. Here are five ways in which they …
What is Crisis Management and Why Do We Need A Plan? — The Expert’s Guide Learn what crisis management is, why you need a plan, and the key ingredients that will help you survive Defining Crisis Management Crisis management is defined as the process undertaken by any organization to prevent, …
Managing a Crisis During a Crisis What happens if a second crisis hits when you’re already facing another? [Editor’s note: This guest post from our colleague and BCM team member Tim Scerba digs into a topic many businesses are hoping to avoid confronting in the midst of all the coronavirus …
Protecting your reputation is critical when marketing and advertising [Editor’s note: We’ve all seen some seriously tone-deaf marketing messages going out as everyone works to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, so we thought this reminder from PR and marketing expert Megan Licursi was quite timely.] Advertising during today’s pandemic can …
The face of 21st Century crisis management has been permanently changed, for worse and for better, by the coronavirus threat. We have always preached the idea of preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. The reality is that most organizations don’t fully prepare for the worst cases, …
[Editor’s note: This guest post from crisis pro Janie Jordan highlights the importance of avoiding negative language in your crisis communications. While it’s more natural for many people to use words like don’t, not, won’t, or can’t when describing situations, substituting more positive or at least neutral ways to …
Do you need a professional opinion? While it’s an established best practice to make crisis management a part of day-to-day business, we know the reality is that not everyone has room on their plate to truly make it a priority every single day. That said, it’s important to remember there’s …
[Editor’s note: This post was originally published on Bernstein Crisis Management team member Jon Harmon’s Strategic Comms blog, and he was kind enough to allow us to reprint this important open letter to senior leaders in every sector that addresses why the COVID-19 coronavirus concerns mean you should be …
Preventing issues where you can Unprecedented volumes of email are slowing servers and crashing some systems. Customer service lines for many businesses are completely overwhelmed no matter how well staffed they thought they were. Websites are crashing, running erratically, and otherwise not performing as usual as a result of extremely …
