Cats Sleeping With Dogs: How Lawyers and Crisis Communicators Can Work Together
By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications At Hennes Communications, we often tell clients that they have an attorney for the Court of Law. But they have us for the Court of Public Opinion. And those two courts often require different – and at times conflicting – strategies. Attorneys have persuasive arguments for tailoring a strategy completely […]
Truth Without Credibility is Worthless—Getting Your Truth Believed in a Crisis
From our friend, Diane Citrino: The crisis management mantra of “tell the truth, tell it all, tell it first, and tell it fast” to get ahead of a breaking crisis is wonderful advice, but begs the question, “What is the truth?” As famously sung in Jesus Christ Superstar, “We both have truths; Are mine the […]
How Activists And Populists Now Control Your Corporate Brand — And What You Can Do About It
From our colleague, Richard Levick: “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” – Niccolo Machiavelli C-suite executives and board members often ask if their corporation needs a new Facebook strategy or a better way to communicate on Twitter. As pleased as I am that they’re exploring ways to institute change, I […]
The 13 Golden Rules of Crisis Management
Any business, at one point, will face some sort of a public relations crisis and the way you respond can either give you a much-needed image boost or significantly damage your brand, ultimately alienating your customer base and business partners. Especially in this day and age, when news goes viral almost instantly, organizations need to […]
Protecting Our Communities
TO: All Akron-Area Faith-Based Institutions Do you work at a church, temple, synagogue or other house of worship? Do you manage or oversee a religious-based school, day care, community or senior center? If so, you will want to attend the seminar below, to be held at the University of Akron on Monday, July 24. Registration […]
Crisis Leadership: Five Principles for Managing the Unexpected
From Deloitte and The Wall Street Journal: Domestic terrorism, cyberattacks, power outages, white collar crimes and other catastrophic events are just a few of the potential crises companies can face. While many companies have a crisis plan in place, they may not have actually tested their plans, or the plans may be inadequate. A Deloitte […]
Avoiding Social Media Turbulence and PR Disasters: Airline CEOs Speak Out on Crisis Communications
No one knows more about disaster and crisis communications than the airlines. That’s why we have little doubt in our minds that the CEO of United Airlines, in the immediate aftermath of Dr. Dao getting hauled off the plane by police officers a few months ago, was indeed given the right advice by his crisis/PR […]
Don’t Get Too Obsessed with Recent Airline Customer Service Incidents – There are Bigger Sharks in the Risk Waters
Chris Britton writes: Target is a great place to shop. I love going there, and I bet many of you do too. But I also find the company fascinating because over the past few years it has provided huge debating points for those of us who make a living managing issues and crises. Until United […]
Never Tell a Journalist It’s Not a Story
Is the CEO or P.R. person the best to face the cameras in a crisis? How do P.R. reps get into journalists’ good books? Daily Mirror editor Peter Willis gave the lowdown at a recent PRWeek’s Crisis Communications conference. Asked what advice he’d give a PR facing a journalist who is acting aggressively, Willis said: […]
Preparing For a Company Crisis: Protecting Your Business’ People, Assets & Reputation
A Conversation on Company Crisis Preparedness with former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, from Boss Magazine — Every business leader thinks and rethinks their business strategy, weighing the strengths, analyzing the weaknesses, pondering the opportunities and scrutinizing the threats. But when it comes to a company crisis, how many are applying that same due […]