Crisis Management

Flat organizations can be great. They are cost efficient, and enable fast communication and quick decision-making. On the other hand, a flat organization can become an issue during a crisis, argues Kevin Elliott, SVP, Hill + Knowlton Strategies. His advice is to become hierarchical when a crisis occurs.

In a wide-ranging address during day 2 of PRNEWS’ Crisis and Measurement Summit in Miami, political strategist Ana Navarro had positive and negative things to say about social media. In the end, though, she believes PR pros have a difficult but important mission to promote truth in messaging. “Don’t give up on the facts,” she said.

Crisis communications principles are well known, and most companies and organizations have robust crisis plans. Still, we see daily examples of iconic brands floundering with crisis. Why? Former Burson-Marsteller chairman and new novelist Jim Lindheim addressed this issue during his keynote at PRNEWS’ Crisis and Measurement Summit in Miami. In addition, attendees received a bevy of crisis takeaways during the Feb. 25, 2020, sessions.

We often hear about the adversarial relationship of PR and legal departments. Replacing that traditional viewpoint is one that advocates for a collaboration between communicators and lawyers, particularly as PR becomes a strategic advisor in the C-suite and boardroom. Exploring that collaboration in the regulatory space finds the lines are blurring between PR and legal.

It can be a dirty business defending criminals. Whatever you might think of those who represent Harvey Weinstein in court, you have to admit his lead attorney, Donna Rotunno, is, for the most part, using earned media tactics well. Her PR goal seems to be building name recognition in anticipation of future #MeToo clients.

In this update to our first story about coronavirus and PR, we focus on the fallout over communications, or the lack thereof. Our first story included comments from PR pros insisting that transparency and fact-based communications are critical during a health crisis. At the start of the virus, China went in the opposite direction, clamping down on communication about the virus, giving the killer several weeks head start.

No matter the size of your company, mistakes happen, issues occur. Once there you have several options. You can own the situation, apologize heartily and announce a plan of action. Or you could say nothing and hope the situation remains a secret. Last, you could issue a weak apology and hope the whole thing blows over. PRNEWS Crisis and Measurement Summit speaker Bobby Amirshahi, SVP at Univision, explains the good, the bad and the ugly of crisis apologia.

You may remember the backlash of #OscarsSoWhite after the 2015 nomination announcements. Many outraged directors, producers and actors, including Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith, boycotted the awards in 2016. How did the 2020 Oscars do on diversity and inclusion? We take a crisis PR perspective to grade last night’s ceremony and the larger issue facing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

When it comes to crisis, there’s good and bad news, according to a survey from PRNEWS and CS&A International, a risk, crisis and business continuity management consultancy. More than half the executives surveyed said their firms have crisis plans. Far fewer knew whether or not those plans are updated regularly. In addition, few companies are practicing crisis scenarios regularly.

While everyone anticipates the release of Iowa Caucus results, PR and crisis management pros are more inclined to discuss the crisis response of the Iowa Democratic Party. Technological glitches may be common, but to fail on such a grand stage, when timely results are expected, shows cracks in an already shaky system, debilitating public trust in a year when it’s most important.