Austin City Managers Take a Trip Back in Time

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

A situation that begs the question, “what were they thinking?” Austin, Texas has been making a name for itself as a hip and progressive city in recent years. While you would expect city officials to be celebrating their new majority female City Council, the first in Austin’s history, their reaction …

Customer Service Matters for Crisis Management

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Customer service is often the first line of defense when it comes to reputation We’ve all had an awful customer service experience. Whether it was in person, over the phone, or now through email and social media, it never leaves you feeling eager to do business with the entity responsible. …

Sexual Innuendo Bus Ad Backfires

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Another easily preventable crisis creates financial loss In a perfect example of the type of crisis that would have been averted had those responsible thought to use the just-launched AvoidTheApology.com, UK-based New Adventure Travel Limited thought it would be brilliant if there were images of half-naked folk holding signs that …

Tech Failure: American Airlines iPad Glitch

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You need backup plans in place for when technology fails Many organizations have looked to technology to lower costs and lighten the load, but they often seem surprised when that very technology encounters issues or just plain stops working. This was the case when iPad software used by American Airlines …

Send in the Reinforcements!

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Don’t let a sudden spike in workload worsen an ongoing crisis When you’re running an organization you staff for day-to-day operations because keeping extra bodies on the clock is a waste of resources. What happens, however, when a crisis suddenly ups the volume of work far beyond what you’re able …

Information Security (or Lack Thereof)

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A look at an all-too-common cause of crisis Whether it’s exposing client data or losing corporate secrets to unknown competitors, failing to secure sensitive information can quickly create a crisis. But, despite the high profile examples we’ve seen over the past couple years, an “it won’t happen to me” attitude …

The Price of Losing Your Cool

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Flipping out is not an option Composure is everything, and whether you’re a public figure or an ordinary Joe, blowing up in front of anyone with a recording device can quickly make you headline material. The Cincinnati Reds have been having a tough time recently, and manager Bryan Price finally lost …

Crisis Management Risk: .sucks Domains

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, internet crisis management, internet reputation management, Jonathan Bernstein, online crisis management, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management Leave a Comment

Don’t let nasty new domains create trouble for your org We often caution clients to snap up URL’s like yournamesucks.com or yournamescam.com in order to protect themselves, but a newly approved domain is taking that issue to a whole new level. Starting in June, .sucks domains will go on sale …

Infographic: Lessons in Nonprofit Communications

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

Stats and info that will improve your communication capabilities Nonprofits typically have a mission of doing good, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean they don’t have their fair share of sticky communication situations. We think you’ll find this infographic, from the 2015 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report, useful for any organization’s communication …

Infographic: Top 10 Benefits of Online Reputation Management

Jonathan and Erik Bernstein crisis management, Erik Bernstein, internet reputation management, Jonathan Bernstein, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

Whether you’re doing crisis management or pumping out ads, a solid online reputation is a must If you’re not already putting effort into managing your organization’s online reputation you’re well behind the curve. The Internet, and what people say about you there, is perhaps THE largest single influence in how …

Crisis Management Quotables…on Perception and Reality

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Helping stakeholders to see things as you do is a core aspect of all public relations Stuart Ewen is a man of many hats, including historian, author, professor, and artist. Ewen is also a highly esteemed expert on that ever-present factor we know as the media, and it’s that knowledge …

SeaWorld's Hashtag Disaster

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

Before you launch that “hot” new hashtag, stop and think about what could go wrong What’s it going to take for people to learn that you can’t just slap up a hashtag and assume the outcome will be a positive one? From huge organizations like McDonald’s and British Gas to …

The Dangers of Oversharing

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, cybersecurity, data breach, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, social media Leave a Comment

Watching what you post is a must for both personal and business crisis management Sharing on social media seems innocent enough to most, but it can create all sorts of issues. One of the most common, and most damaging, is oversharing of personal info. As you can see in this …

Erroneous College Acceptance Letter Spark Crisis

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, reputation management, school crisis management Leave a Comment

Flawed process devastates 800 eager students About 800 applicants to Carnegie Mellon’s elite master’s program for computer science had a brief moment of excitement before their hopes were dashed after receiving erroneous acceptance emails from the university. The emails were sent on a Monday, and by mid-day Tuesday Carnegie Mellon’s …

Krispy Kreme’s KKK Crisis

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

“We didn’t know” is a weak excuse these days Krispy Kreme was left apologizing after a store in Hull, England started promoting “KKK Wednesday”. Meant to stand for “Krispy Kreme Klub”, the promotion was shared on the popular doughnut shop’s UK Facebook page and quickly drew shocked reactions from stakeholders, …