7 Ways To Crisis-Proof Your Brand
What’s the cost of a brand crisis? As video of United Airlines passenger Dr. David Dao being violently dragged from his seat went viral last month, the media – and a global audience of prospective customers – were shocked. It may not have hurt the airline’s stock price in the long term, but CEO Oscar […]
Read MoreUnited Flies Into A PR Storm
The public relations team at United had probably just started to breathe easy after the “leggings” mini-crisis when a second PR disaster hit. And this one’s a doozy. Late Sunday, a United passenger who refused to give up his seat on an overbooked flight was forcibly removed from the plane by police, to the horror […]
Read MorePepsi’s Smart Response To Its PR Controversy
Brand Pepsi fell flat this week with its bafflingly tone-deaf ad featuring Kendall Jenner, but in the wake of a public relations backlash, the brand did at least one thing right. After Twitter lit up with nasty tweets and late-night comics poured on scorn, Pepsi reacted quickly. Its response was so simple, sensible, and honest […]
Read MoreThe Biggest PR Disasters Of 2016
2016 had plenty of the kind of the kinds of news-making crises that public relations people dread. It was a year of surprises, setbacks, and scandals. Here’s our list for the top stories that damaged brand reputations, wrecked careers, and kept media and PRs working overtime. Samsung’s product recall gets heated Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 showed […]
Read MoreHow Not To Make A Public Apology
As any PR person will tell you, the public apology has become a ritual for personalities or politicians who’ve made a mistake and need to restore their reputation. But too often it falls short. Call it the fauxpology, the pseudo-apology or, as I prefer, the non-apology. Whatever you call it, it doesn’t work; anyone listening […]
Read MorePR Tips For Moving Past A Public Mistake
This week the Trump campaign and the Republican National Convention reminded the PR community — and everyone else — of the perils of mishandling a public mistake. Within an hour of what should have been the high point of a shaky first day for the RNC, the campaign was in full damage control mode. Melania […]
Read MoreThe Top Crises Of 2015: A PR Update
For those of us in public relations, 2015 has brought a number of crisis situations for well-known brands and individuals linked to them. I reviewed the most visible brand crises of 2015 from a PR point of view for MENG, but in the week since its posting, there have already been some new developments. Besides […]
Read MorePR, Pizza, And Crisis Management In Indiana
One of the tougher PR and reputation management aspects of the furor around Indiana’s Religious Freedom Act is the struggle faced by local businesses who want to separate their own views and polices from the interpretation of Governor Pence’s original legislation as homophobic. Although the state quickly passed a “clarified” bill under pressure last Thursday, the […]
Read MoreFive Cases Of Top PR Crisis Management In 2014
It’s hard to find terrific examples of crisis management PR, presumably because we don’t hear about the crises that never happened. When a true reputation emergency hits, communications experts like to criticize it and offer retroactive advice. Armchair pundits urge businesses to “get ahead of the story,” – good counsel, in theory. It’s not so […]
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