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VOL. 7
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editor’s Letter
Dear Reader,
rises are part of doing business. As they unfold
in the media, in the digital space and elsewhere,
they test your organization’s mettle and ability to
maintain composure.
When handled well, a crisis can demonstrate your organization’s
agility and desire to put people before profits. And truth before spin.
When handled poorly, they can inflict irreparable damage to your organization’s image.
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation,” the saying goes, “and five
minutes to ruin it.”
This Guidebook is all about successfully navigating that perilous five
minutes. Crisis management is all about preparation. When setting out
to formulate a crisis plan, an honest assessment of your organization’s
weaknesses and vulnerabilities is of prime concern. Crisis planning also
means looking outside of your comfort zone, formulating messaging
for constituencies—mostly strangers to your brand—that your organization is not used to communicating with.
Proper crisis preparation alleviates initial panic and sets the tone for
repair after a crisis has passed. More than anything else, a crisis plan
breeds confidence in the face of calamity.
This 7th edition of PR News’ Crisis Management Guidebook brings together the latest research, case studies and expertise from the field of
crisis management. The authors have real-world experience working
for agencies, corporations and nonprofits, and they bring a wealth of
experiences to the table. The content in this book will provide you with
guidance on issues ranging from internal communications to social
media tactics to handling the press.
Crisis management is an art, not a science. In this book, you will discover many different views on best practices, and you are certain to find
takeaways from our contributors that will transform the way your organization handles crises.
I want to thank our contributors to this Guidebook who so eloquently
shared their ideas, tips and best practices. And I want to thank you,
our reader, for taking time to learn more about crisis management.
The current environment demands expert crisis management, and this
Guidebook will help you deliver it.
C
Sincerely,
Brian Greene
Editor, PR News
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Index of Companies & Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 1 – Overview & Research
Build a Plan For Managing a Crisis in a Multi-Channel, Technology-Driven World — By Bobbie Wasserman . . . . . . . . . . . .
Have Advanced Knowledge of a Crisis? Better Use Your Time Wisely — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
When Working to Mitigate a Crisis, the Best Defense Is a Strong Offense — By Christen Graham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Keeping Calm in a Crisis Depends on the 3 P’s: Plan, Then Practice, Then Proceed — By Joy King Lutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lanny Davis’ Crisis Management Rules: Tell It All, Tell It Early, Tell It Yourself — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Manage Crises Proactively—and Even Prevent Them—with Media Monitoring — By William Comcowich . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Craft a Better Plan by Understanding the 7 Stages of Crisis Communication — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Control Your Company’s Responses to Crises with New Measurement Techniques — By Kenneth A. Lachlan and Patric R. Spence . . . . .
Damage Control: Creating and Managing Your PR Defense by Being Proactive — By Melissa Arnoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PR Pressure Cooker: How to Handle Stress by Finding Balance, Boundaries — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How to Ensure a Good Relationship With Your Crisis Communications Agency — By Stella du Plessis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter 2 – Media Relations
How to Pitch the Media During a Crisis: Critical Lessons from Superstorm Sandy — By Zipporah Dvash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
PR Pros Adjusted, Informed Stakeholders As Hurricane Sandy Pummeled East Coast — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Media Training: Turning a Reluctant Boss Into an Outstanding Media Communicator — By Mark Bernheimer . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Scooping the Newspaper: An Account of Guerilla Media Relations in a Crisis — By Adam Myrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Managing Communications for a Tourism Client When Natural Disasters Strike — By Agatha Capacchione . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
With Crisis Communications, It’s Best to Plan Ahead and Think Outside the Box — By Arthur Solomon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Twelve Ways to Build Strong Media Relationships Before a PR Crisis Hits — By Joan Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
When the Crisis is Doing a Slow Burn, PR Has to Light a Fire With the Media — By Steve Cody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Fresh Approaches to Media Training Offer C-Level Executives Better Results — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
City Manages the Worst of Crises With Planning and Authentic Communications — By Mark Maley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Chapter 3 – Internal Communications
PR Teams Need to Understand and Prepare For Emerging Workplace Issues — By Paul Bernish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Internal Communications Can Bridge the Gap Between Crises and Solutions — By Lindsey Carnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Crisis Management in Universities: Establishing Conditions for Success — By Lawrence H. Lokman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Create a Risk-Sensitive Culture to Avoid Issue Escalation and to Stave Off Crises — By Jon Goldberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter 4 – Issues Management
Con-way Freight Constructs and Sticks to Crisis Plan, Help FBI Stem Terror Threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
When Execs’ Personal Beliefs Compromise the Brand, Proactive Strategies Are Best — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Build a Communications Infrastructure to Ensure You Can Mitigate Crises— By Marita Gomez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
When Facing Unforeseen Obstacles, Keep Your Focus on the ‘Core Mission’ — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Election PR Lesson: Inform, Perhaps, But Never Mandate Voting Decisions — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Avoid a Reputational Hit By Preparing Early for All-But-Inevitable Data Hacking — By Ashley McCown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Chapter 5 – Social Media
Learn from Boston Marathon’s Use of Social Media for Crisis Communication — By Melony Shemberger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Crisis-Proof Your Social Strategy With Policies, Protocols and Community Trust — By Carolyn Mae Kim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Always Be Monitoring: Protect Your Brand Against Malicious Twitter Hacking — By Lisa Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
10 Tips for Protecting Your Company’s Reputation During a Social Media Crisis — By Laura Fracassi and Robyn Gray . . . . 131
To Tweet or Not To Tweet? Key Social Media Questions Confronting PR Pros — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Wikipedia Crisis: BP Shows How Following Protocol May Not Matter — By Marcia W. DiStaso and Colleen McGroarty . . . . 138
Brace for Social Media Attacks: Monitor, Plan and Respond to Online Threats — By Jeremy Rosenberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
The New Crisis Paradigm: Essentials for Dealing With Crises on Social Media — By Brian West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
For Regulated Companies, Social Media Use Presents Unique New Challenges — By Tracy Schmaler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Hurricane Sandy: Lessons in Social Media When Things Are at Their Worst — By Joseph Harasta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Managing a Crisis on Social Media With Strategic Identification and Execution — By Shaina Epstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Chapter 6 – Litigation PR
Lessons from the Trayvon Martin Story: Handling the National Media’s Spotlight — By Lawrence Kopp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Identify and Repair Damage Caused by Internet Defamers Through Legal Action
— By Whitney C. Gibson, Christopher Anderson, Bruce Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
In Reversal of Bloomberg’s Big Soda Ban, Lessons for Fixing Failed Initiatives — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Chapter 7 – The Crisis Plan
How Somali Pirates Taught Me to Plan for Crises Like a Basketball Coach — By B.J. Talley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Crisis Communications Plan: The Must-Have Preparations for Any Organization — By Dan Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
The Executive Apology: Avoid Making It Worse Once You’ve Already Screwed Up — By Sandra Fathi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Follow a Roadmap to Better Manage Communications During a Company Crisis — By Mary Ann McCauley . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
You’ve Made It Through a PR Crisis, But Did You Properly Plan for the Aftermath? — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Tell the Truth Well: How to Be Prepared for Your Next Communications Crisis — By Mark Grimm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Protect Your Brand from a Twitter Hack With Quick Response, Enhanced Security — By Peter LaMotte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
The First Questions to Ask When a Crisis Hits: How, Whether and Where to Respond — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Crisis Simulation Communications Exercise — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
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Chapter 8 – Case Studies
An ESPN/PBS Collaboration on NFL Concussions Creates ‘Perfect PR Storm’ — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
KitchenAid Cleans Up After Learning Valuable Lessons from a Negative Tweet — By David M. DeIuliis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Agency Updates PR Program to Help a Nonprofit Continue to Mentor Children — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Anatomy of a Rollout: Campaign Spreads the Word About Tuberculosis Vaccine — By Anna Gray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
American Airlines Flies High With Response to Alec Baldwin’s ‘Words’ Rant — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The USPS Handles Crises with Three Key Tactics: Preview, Pre-plan and Prepare — By Mark Saunders and Arthur Hill . . . .
Already Embroiled in Scandal, Rutgers Bungles Hiring New Athletic Director — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Piloting Through All-Too-Common Crises, Airline Industry Seeks Smooth Landing — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Parting Ways With Lance Armstrong Remains Risky for Livestrong Foundation — By PR News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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