If you’re in business, you need a crisis communications plan. In a year that feels like scandal is the norm, businesses are facing intense scrutiny. Investigative journalism has made a dramatic resurgence. At InkHouse, we’ve never handled more client crisis scenarios than we have this past year -- especially in the last six months.
This year has been marked by high-profile cases involving data privacy, racial and gender inequality, #MeToo, and hacks, among others. With so many ways to hold organizations accountable, disgruntled employees can easily turn into citizen journalists and off-the-record sources. Add in the virality of social media and bots that hijack trending hashtags, and a small issue can get blown out of proportion within minutes -- all before the facts are known.
Once a crisis has caught you unprepared, PR can help, but in those cases, we’re only going to be able to make the situations slightly less bad. When you’re caught reactive, you’re on the defensive, and you’ll be gulping for air in between fending off attacks. However, when you’re prepared you can be responsive and even proactive to keep your reputation intact.
Reputation is not something you can begin building the day a crisis hits. There are no magic tricks in a crisis -- no PR tactic, no well-placed media phone call, no legal maneuver that can make it all go away. However, a good reputation that’s been intentionally built over time can help an organization weather the toughest crisis. That’s where a good corporate social responsibility program comes in, one that’s anchored to your organization’s values.
Crisis PR can feel like the Wild West these days because many of the situations are unprecedented. We’re counseling vastly different approaches based on each scenario, but here are a few of the big things you should consider:
If you have a comprehensive crisis communications plan in place, you’ll be able to respond well even in the midst of the emotional turmoil that surrounds all crises. It’s an in-depth process, but it pays off in the long-term by giving your reputation a fighting chance.
Beth is the CEO of Inkhouse, which she co-founded in 2007 and has grown into one of the top ranked agencies in the country. Beth’s been recognized as one of the Top Women in PR by PR News, the Top 25 Innovators by The Holmes Report and as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Beth believes that shared values, and the freedom to create are the foundations of all meaningful work. She brings this philosophy to building a culture of creative progress at Inkhouse.