Crisis Management

This past Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock market index hit its lowest point in 2019. Many critics pointed to President Trump’s decision to tie his performance to the markets and start a trade war with China, while economists worried about something called the inverted yield curve, which can point to an imminent recession. For communicators in either the financial sector, or those speaking to an organization’s finances, this panic yields many opportunities to practice educational, non-siloed PR. Here are a few things to focus on.

The Newark water crisis, like its sister tragedy in Flint, Michigan, has proven to be an insurmountable PR challenge for local government. More than 100 of the 240 water samples derived from the city of Newark this year contained federally unacceptable levels of lead, leaving impacted occupants of the city panicked for clean water. As families grow thirstier for an explanation behind the chaos, they have started to believe legal action may be the only way to motivate local government. 

Monsanto’s targeting of  journalist Carey Gillam grants PR professionals a revelatory look at just how far the agrochemical giant was willing to go to silence its critics. For communicators, many of the tactics used against Gillam look familiar. In this case, though, they were weaponized in the interest of spinning factual reporting. Here’s what we learned.

We live in an era with unparalleled access to information. Anyone can search for a name for a background check on a person’s work, family or interests. Every company should continue to vet investors and senior management on an annual basis, especially during sensitive political times.

Despite the fact that these frequent crises could have been mitigated early on, even a small team can take on a seemingly insurmountable catastrophe with the right preparation. To help your team understand what conversations need to be happening, PRNEWS asked three crisis experts from the b2b, nonprofit, and brand sectors how they make they approach crisis prep in their fields.

Four years ago, Volkswagen received extensive punishment for lying about noxious levels of their diesel vehicles’ emissions. The company is back in the news as German prosecutors charged Rupert Stadler, former chief executive of Audi, the luxury arm of VW, with fraud for his role in another emissions cheating scandal.

Data breaches are happening at an alarming rate. They’re almost a fact of corporate life. As such, it’s critical that communicators be ready to communicate around a cyber crime incident. Capital One is the latest large brand to experience a mammoth data breach. Fortunately, the bank moved quickly to communicate and the hacker advertised her dubious accomplishment, which led to her arrest.

There’s an adage in aviation that safety begins at the top. If so, how does the chief executive of Boeing still have a job? For months Dennis Muilenberg insisted that the 737 Max 8 aircraft was not to blame for a pair of crashes that killed hundreds of people? There are many questions here. Did the company put profits above safety? Did Muilenberg refuse to accept the possibility that Boeing was at fault? Where was Boeing’s board during the past few months? Or was it a cover-up?

The massive growth in businesses shifting functions, products and processes online means cyber risk is growing too. Hopefully you and your clients already have top-notch crisis plans in place—but do you have a specific plan to address a cyber attack? If not, the time to tackle that is now. Don’t wait to strategize until you face a hacking or breach scenario that could potentially destroy you or your client’s brand.

Today is Amazon Prime Day. It’s a day (or two) of deep discounts on everything from electronics to apparel and household items. But the highly publicized event has grabbed headlines instead for timed global protests and a work stoppage in Minnesota. Some Amazon staff are upset with working conditions and employment policies. Amazon has not publicly responded—and what happens next is an important case study in handling an internal comms crisis.