The Public Relations Blog

5 lessons you can use in your own company

When Ben Franklin said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” he was referring to fire safety. But this adage applies to many situations, including a corporation’s crisis management strategy. Planning makes for the best success, and this includes planning for an accident, an illness or an attack on a company’s principles.

PR tips for handling routine business and crisis errors

“To err is human,” according to Alexander Pope. But accepting that mistakes will happen is one of the biggest challenges top executives identify in their personal improvement plans.

Having a great team in place is the first step in handling mistakes, and public relations professionals provide rapid response to do the heavy lifting during the good times and the bad. Even if you aren’t certain of the cause of a crisis or the potential solution, responding in a professional (and fiscally appropriate) manner maintains your company’s reputation.

No need to dread if you plan ahead

While many crises are unpredictable, that’s no excuse not to plan ahead. We find that most companies are not prepared for a crisis; therefore, they don’t know how to react when one occurs.

A crisis can happen to any business and the results can be devastating. Even something seemingly insignificant, like an off-the-cuff remark by a CEO or other top executive, can snowball into a major public relations nightmare. When it happens to your company, what can you do?

Here is a checklist your business can use to ensure you handle the problem in the most effective way.

The new feature assists corporations, nonprofits and individuals during crises

In response to the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Facebook activated its Safety Check feature. This marks the first activation in response to an incident in the United States.

Learn the top 4 ways your company can use PR to lessen the impact and longevity of a crisis

You see it all the time: There’s a news story about some large company screwing up in a major way, yet coming out of it relatively unscathed (and often with a boost in profits to boot). How do they do it? More importantly, what can your company learn from their experiences?

In this day of 24-hour news and things that go viral in the night, it’s no longer a question of if your company will go through a crisis, but when. Fortunately, there are plenty of examples to choose from of large corporations using PR crisis management tools in a successful way. Discover the right methods for dealing with a crisis to keep your company out of hot water.

It depends on how much you want to avoid (or survive) your next crisis

Ben Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Indeed, it is much easier to safely extinguish a campfire with water and soil than it is to battle a raging forest fire. You can say the same for crisis management.

Learn why your company needs social media channels for effective crisis communication

General Motors CEO Mary Barra apologized for the disaster surrounding GM’s faulty ignition switches. Domino’s Pizza CEO Patrick Doyle expressed regret after two employees created a disgusting YouTube video prank featuring nothing you would ever want on a pizza. But was this enough? 

Prepare for the worst so you perform at your best

Consumers are irrational. It’s part of the thrill of doing business: seeing if your company can decipher the right combination of wants versus needs and create an optimum strategy for pricing products for maximum profit.

Businesses generally have policies or processes to handle expected variables such as low inventory, staff illnesses or a new product launch. Rarely, however, are companies in the mindset to pre-identify triggers that would help them recognize when events start drifting outside of the realm of normal operations.

Nowadays, it seems that everyone wants to know everything as soon as possible. This culture of instant gratification pervades everything from social media and internet gossip channels to the national news networks. It has even intruded upon the business environment.