Crisis Management

Since brands are trusted more than politicians, this dark moment is an opportunity for them to shine, argues creative director Mark Sorensen. He offers several ways brands and their leaders can help direct the public to do the right thing, proving that capitalism cares about more than profits.

Working in quarantine poses unique challenges for communicators. What videoconference tools should you be using? Can you air a video press conference or statement from your CEO remotely? These questions and more were asked of PRNEWS’ recent webinar panel on COVID-19 communications. For answers, we scoured the web and polled the PRNEWS community for their favorite internal and external digital communications tools amid the crisis.

Since it was nearing tax time, we wanted to interview a communicator in the tax industry. Then the pandemic arrived, and April 15 became just another day. Jesse Hamlin, who runs communications for Avalara, tells us that it’s almost always tax time somewhere in the world. She discusses how her team is monitoring its employees’ needs during this difficult moment.

As part of our series of interviews with senior communicators, we asked Aflac SVP, chief ESG and CCO Catherine Hernandez-Blades to tell us what she and her team have learned during the early stages of the virus.

When a crisis such as coronavirus hits, the volume of news can be overwhelming. Here are seven tips and tactics to manage and monitor the information flow during this difficult moment and future crises.

PRNEWS and partner Yonder recently gathered a panel of senior communicators for a webinar about coronavirus and PR. With more than 1,500 attendees, the session produced more audience questions than we could handle. Here are some of the best questions, with answers from another panel of PR pros.

We surveyed more than 200 senior PR professionals to find out how they are coping with coronavirus, what changes they are making (or not) in their communications internally and externally. Some of their answers surprised us.

Next in our series of interviews with senior communicators we speak with Julie O’Donnell, who last month was named EVP/global head of digital at health communications and PR firm Evoke. We asked her what she sees communicators doing well or badly in this moment with their digital communications.

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rise, your organization likely will need to respond to media about an employee(s) testing positive. This is not a time to panic. To help you respond, we offer guidance from the law firm of Goldberg Segalla. Key points include communicating calm, being transparent and offering accurate information about the employee and your coronavirus procedures.

Communications during COVID-19 is fraught with challenges. From communicating to employees about the potential for pay cuts, furloughs or even layoffs, to determining how to notify people of exposure to the virus, communicators have their work cut out for them. Since health care arguably is at the center of most of our lives at the moment, communications in and out of hospitals is in the spotlight.