The last fifteen months have been difficult around the globe due to the pandemic. When the World Health Organization first announced that the virus has spread to multiple countries, many of them announced the closing down of locations where people tend to gather in...
4 essential PR and crisis comms lessons learned from a year-long pandemic
The global pandemic has had a big impact on every single industry, and the businesses that managed to continue operating likely used PR and marketing strategies. PR professionals have learned plenty of lessons over the past year, including the importance of...
4 industries that particularly need good PR now
Good public relations is vital for every single industry in the business world, especially now that most businesses are partially based online and are looking to attract customers from all around the globe. However, acquiring good PR is more important for some...
3 ways to use email for effective crisis communication
As with any important communication, the medium of the message matters. While public statements and interviews are important because of the reach that accompanies them, sometimes in a crisis another medium may be more effective or appropriate. Emails are a powerful...
COVID’s handling offers lessons on how not to make a PR crisis worse
Prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, my first PR job was with a political agency, where I learned on-the-job lessons not taught in communication’s schools about how to deal with the media and approach problems that could change on a daily basis. I have long said that...
Leaders driven by recent crises to reexamine roles and relationships with stakeholders
Newly released research from global comms firm WE Communications (WE) reveals a dramatic shift in executive leadership behavior, prompted by the global pandemic and ongoing moments of social upheaval. Citing a year of profound disruption, 86 percent of brand leaders...
The worst data breaches of all time—are you prepared for this PR nightmare?
Ten years ago, a data breach that compromised the details of a million people would have been big news. Today, it wouldn’t even make page ten—we regularly see reports that billions of records have been accidentally released. In just two of the biggest breaches on this...
5 Ways Media Monitoring Can Help You Beneficially Evolve after a PR Crisis
PR crises are commonly associated with doom and gloom, and for the most part that reputation is rightly earned. No one likes to be blind-sided by a threat that could damage their brand’s, or perhaps their own reputation. However, as we heard from the seasoned crisis...
How Burger King flame-broiled its reputation with purposeful miscommunication
During its International Women’s Day campaign, Burger King UK landed in news headlines because of the company’s interesting and controversial marketing campaign choice. It happened in a single tweet that caused the public to react quickly, where the burger chain...
5 Reasons Why Media Monitoring is an Essential Part of Any Crisis Comms Plan
Just as there’s no such thing as a perfect person, there’s no such thing as a perfect brand. As the experts at our recent Crisis Comms Mastery virtual summit warned, no one is crisis immune. While that’s enough to keep any PR pro, comms professional, CEO, board...
The importance of maintaining social marketing in times of crisis
Before the turn of the year, Group M, the world’s largest advertising media company, produced a report predicting UK advertising sector growth of 6.7 percent in 2020 equating to an industry value of £24bn by the end of the year. Fast forward five months and, as we all...
Why chatbots are essential for your crisis management plan
Chatbots are an incredible tool for maximizing your marketing potential. They can help you to develop customer trust and they can improve your customer engagement. But many businesses don’t realize just how beneficial they can be during a crisis, mainly because they...












