Crisis Management Advice for Sochi Sponsors & You

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

Major brands backing Games prepare nervously for potential troubles The Sochi Winter Olympics is indisputably the most tense Olympic Games in many years. Mired in politically-charged debate since the announcement of its location, concerns over everything from mass protests and flash mobs to acts of terrorism have everyone involved on …

The Biggest Mistakes in Crisis Communications

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, crisis communications, crisis management, crisis preparedness, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Featured Articles, Jonathan Bernstein, PR, public relations, reputation management 2 Comments

The 10 Biggest Mistakes in Crisis Communications By Jonathan Bernstein All organizations are vulnerable to crises. Disasters, lawsuits, accusations of impropriety, sudden changes in ownership or management, and other volatile situations will happen. The threat of serious damage to people, property, reputation is real for virtually any organization, and many …

New Accusations Mean Christie Crisis Management Continues

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, litigation-related crisis management, litigation-related PR, PR, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

New accusations re-kindle “Bridgegate” crisis for Christie Gov. Chris Christie’s assertions that he had “no knowledge” of the George Washington Bridge closings until after the incident was over were enough to sate much of the public, but, as we discussed on a recent edition of Rich Klein’s “The Crisis Show”, …

Royal Caribbean Latest Cruise Line to Sink Crisis Management

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, customer service, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, PR, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Another weak response to big trouble You’d expect every cruise company to be well-prepared to spring into crisis management for just about any incident after the myriad troubles that plagued the industry over the past year.  But the more than 600 passengers who got way too familiar with their tiny …

The Gap’s MLK Advertising Gap Hurts Reputation

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

Another social media #fail from a big brand It seems every holiday brings new mistakes from retailers who seem hell-bent on using them to promote product, hurling common sense to the wayside in the process, and then acting shocked when they’re forced to do crisis management in response to a …

Categorizing Crisis Management

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Setting plans for broad categories of events can help you cover all the bases It’s undeniable that planning and preparation are critical to maximizing your crisis management ability. At the same time, if you try to create a specific plan for every possible event you’ll soon find yourself with a …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Learning from Angry Stakeholders

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

Look past the heated tone and understand the issue at hand We don’t think anybody’s going to dispute the brilliance or business savvy of Bill “Microsoft” Gates, so let’s get right into this week’s Crisis Management Quotable: “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” — Bill Gates …

Online Reputation Management Done Wrong

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

What NOT to do when it comes to crisis management for negative reviews While online reviews have exploded in popularity, and are given more credence than ever before, the actual laws addressing the topic are still a bit murky. In what could become a precedent-setting case, online retailer KlearGear.com is …

Should I Post This? A Social Media Flowchart

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, Facebook, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations, reputation management, social media, social media crisis management, social media reputation management, strategic reputation management, Twitter Leave a Comment

To post, or not to post? In today’s business world, it’s important to build your own personal brand online. This means that, just as any business would, you need to set some crisis management rules for yourself in regards to what you put out there for the world to see. …

The Demise of Secrecy

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

A Lesson in Crisis Avoidance [Editor’s note:This is a particularly timely post from Rick Kelly, as Chris Christie joins the ever-swelling ranks of public figures who have fallen from grace (or at least risked it big time) by letting their personal feelings triumph over common sense.] This Sept. 12, 2013 …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Fixing Mistakes

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

From 500 BC to the year 2014, some things only grow more true with time Confucius is a man who needs no introduction, a man whose philosophical thoughts are still repeated on a daily basis thousands of years after his death. Of course crises are no modern development, so it …

LinkedIn’s Not-So-Convincing Intro Defense

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

When it comes to crisis management, choose your wording carefully to avoid giving the wrong impression LinkedIn’s new Intro app has information security experts sweating. Why? The app, which inserts profile information about the sender into emails you receive, intercepts emails and passes them through LinkedIn servers before they reach …

Car Service Hack No Fender Bender

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, hackers, hacking, internet crisis management, internet security, Jonathan Bernstein, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Improperly stored private information leads to a heck of a crisis Hackers who broke into the Corporate Car Online servers must’ve felt like it was Christmas morning when they came across a TEXT file listing everything from credit card numbers and private flight numbers to personal preferences and records of …

Worst Weiners Honored for Acts of Social Media Darwinism

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

Winners of the 2013 Weiner Awards Announced [Editor’s note: The Weiner Awards winners have finally been decided by our panel of expert judges, so without further ado, here is the official announcement!] LOS ANGELES, Jan. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Social media has made it easier than any time in history …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Helping Others to Help Yourself

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What goes around, comes around in the world of business Leo Burnett was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, and for good reason. In a time when advertising meant putting out copy-heavy ads in which consumers had to have a …