In each edition of PR News we highlight takeaways from select articles as well as important additions to the PR News Subscriber Resources Center, available to paid subscribers at: http://www.prnewsonline.com/subscriber-resources/ You can also access the Center by clicking “Resource Center” at the top, middle of the prnewsonline.com home page.
Select Takeaways
- It remains alarming that in this era of digital technology, where a brand’s reputation can be erased in seconds, some 30 percent of those surveyed said their companies and organizations lack a crisis plan.
- The C-suite’s bottom line with regard to crisis actually is the bottom line. Most of what the C-suite wants to know post-crisis deals with money and customers, says Emma Monks , Crisp’s VP of crisis intelligence.
- Signficant after-hours issues spotted online will linger before communicators are informed of them. This lack of speed is an issue, Monks says, since beginning your response the next day puts you behind.
- Too many brands (nearly 70 percent) are monitoring social media issues manually. This is a potential pitfall since manual monitoring can be spotty, particularly if human resources are thin and monitoring isn’t done 24/7, Monks says.
- In the digital age speed has become a prominent feature of crisis response. Indeed, the survey found 54 percent of respondents said the biggest issue with crisis is the ability to respond promptly. Image Patrol (pp. 6-8): Spokespeople for
- Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft should have resisted the urge to issue a knee-jerk denial of allegations against him until they could have gathered additional facts. A damning fact seems to be the existence of video showing Kraft engaging in sexual acts with prostitutes. Besides hurting Kraft’s image, the credibility of the spokespeople is tarnished badly. CSR (pp. 8-10): The environment for brands seems to require that they stand for something beyond their goods and services. Still, it’s best to do your homework rather than jumping into a socio-political issue quickly. Even an activist brand such as Ben & Jerry’s chooses to refrain from taking a stand on every issue that presents itself.
New to the Resources Center
- Deloitte’s 2018 Global Crisis Management Survey: This 2018 survey of 500 executives reaches many of the same conclusions found in the PR News-Crisp survey featured in today’s edition. An interesting nugget is the report’s finding about the importance of confidence during a crisis.