The NRA’s Measured Silence

Erik Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, Erik Bernstein, Jonathan Bernstein, online reputation management, public relations, reputation management 12 Comments

Will an atypical crisis management plan help preserve the organization’s reputation? In the wake of the tragic killings in Connecticut, there has been a remarkable silence from the National Rifle Association. The typically vocal organization has shut its Facebook page down, ceased updating its Twitter feed and definitely isn’t returning …

CDC’s Crisis Management for Flu Season

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Comprehensive online crisis communication from the Center Most of us pay little heed to flu season, accepting that there will be a bump in absences from work or school and maybe hoping to boost our own resistance with some over the counter vitamins. However, influenza is more dangerous than most …

Failed Child Abduction and Atrocious Crisis Management

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How do you excuse letting a kidnapper leave custody? When a man attempted to snatch a two-year-old girl from a Virginia Fashion Square mall while she walked with her parents, entering in a wrestling match with the father in the process, security officers came in to assist and managed to …

Online News and Reputation Management

Erik Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Erik Bernstein, ethics, Google, Jonathan Bernstein, Journalism, online reputation management, PR, public relations Leave a Comment

Hard evidence for the importance of fact checking Late last month a PRWeb press release went out stating that Google had acquired Rhode Island-based ICOA Wireless for some $400 million. It’s not unusual for the big G to pick up a smaller company, so what’s the problem? Well, how about …

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 …

Dow’s Premature Release Crisis

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

Chemical company does some quick crisis management after announcement drops early Double checking your work is always important, and it’s even better to get a couple of other people to look it over for errors. The core reason behind this, at least from a crisis management perspective, is not simply …

Busted! Constant Recording as a Crisis Management Reality

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Recording catches joyriding mechanics, highlights possibility of constant surveillance In our tech-heavy world, recording devices are everywhere. From the cell phones we all carry to the plethora of James Bond-esque gadgets available online, the chance of your actions being recorded at any given time is such that a prudent crisis …

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

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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

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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 …

Pingdom Gets “We’re Sorry” Right

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Editor’s Note: The following mea culpa email was so surprising in its quality and thoroughness that our friend Crockett Dunn had to pass it along, and we thought we’d share it with you. Major kudos to the Pingdom team for doing online reputation management right. Subject: Bug temporarily affected monitoring …

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

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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 …

No “Likes” for Facebook’s Crisis Management

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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 …