What To Do When a Crisis Hits
Crisis communications experts like to say that every organization is going to have a crisis sooner or later, and that in fact, the underlying reasons for your crisis are probably already festering in your organization. Larry Smith, president of the Institute for Crisis Management, likes to point to the story of the Firestone tires that [...]
How to Know If Your Corporate Reputation Needs Fixing
When you’re in PR, it’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day dramas, crises and opportunities, and to lose sight of big picture. The name for that big picture is “reputation management.” Essentially, reputation management is everything you do over the long-term to protect, enhance and burnish your company’s reputation. It’s not something you can [...]
In Firing Their Manager, Mets Prove That Timing is Everything
Everyone in New York, and every baseball fan, knew the Mets were going to announce the firing of under-performing manager Willie Randolph. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when. It turned out that when was at 12:15 am early Tuesday morning on the West Coast, which was 3:15 am back where it mattered, New [...]
Planning Ahead Is the Key to Crisis Communications
If you think your organization is safe from having a PR crisis, think again. More likely than not, you’ll face the unexpected and you’ll need to respond quickly and effectively. Here are some tips gleaned from this week’s Bulldog Reporter PR University Audio Conference: How to get buy-in for creating a crisis communications plan: Pitch [...]
American Airlines Needed a Much Better Crisis PR Effort
I’ve been flying American Airlines my whole life, and I’ve had an American frequent flier number since they started the program. Like any passenger with a brain, I’ve certainly had my issues with them regarding scheduling, delays, prices and frequent flier seat availability. But I had never really questioned my brand loyalty — until now, [...]
The Right Way and Wrong Way to Do Media Interviews by Email
An emerging PR tactic is to insist on being interviewed by email. It allows the interview subject to have almost total control of the information provided to the journalist, and creates a record of what was said. I recommend this tactic when appropriate. Times when it is appropriate include: when time is short and the [...]
The 3 A’s of Getting Good Press, and More on the Spitzer Scandal
It’s not every day that a veteran journalist takes the time to provide a media relations lesson to those seeking “good press.” But that’s what San Francisco Chronicle columnist John Diaz did in Sunday’s edition of the paper. He mainly addressed his advice to politicians, but it applies to business people as well. Here are [...]
Spitzer Prostitution Scandal Reveals Ring of Message Control
Was N.Y. governor Eliot Spitzer “caught in a prostitution ring?” Or did he simply hire a prostitute and get caught? The power of message control was on full display yesterday, with the national media playing along in all its glory. The first word I got of the Spitzer scandal came in a breathless N.Y. Times [...]
Crisis Expert’s Secrets of Success
PR crisis maven Sam Singer dominates the market here in Northern California — I can’t remember the last time a crisis broke and he wasn’t quickly retained as the counselor/spokesperson. His clients include the San Francisco 49ers, BART and Chevron. His latest client: The San Francisco Zoo, site of the horrific tiger attack on Christmas [...]
Top PR Crises of 2007
2007 has been filled with big crises that presented PR challenges, from the Virginia Tech massacre to Don Imus to the NBA’s gambling referee. PRWeek has done a nice job summing up the year in PR with its 2007 Book of Lists, including 10 PR Crises that “tested PR pros” during the year. Here they [...]