After the year we all had, it should come as no surprise that crisis communications has become more important to PR. In fact, 73 percent of respondents to a survey Agility PR Solutions ran in December said so. There’s a lot that can be said, and has been said, about...
When faced with a fast-moving crisis, organizations need to be ready to respond at lightning speed. Traditionally, PR executives have used hard-copy crisis communication plans to determine next steps in addressing the media during an emergency. However, these plans...
Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched as details around the water crisis in Flint, MI have emerged. Cover-ups regarding the amount of lead in the water to the blatant denial by government officials have resulted in very sick families, a state of emergency and a...
Influencer marketing—you’ve heard a lot about it, and the potential benefits it can have on your business and communications efforts. For example: Increasing earned media for your brand; Increasing the reach of your message through your desired audience; Increasing...
As Chipotle wages its battle with E-coli and salmonella, just about everyone has come out of the woodwork to assess its response to what is a significant brand crisis, and speculate on what it needs to do moving forward to regain customers’ trust. Someone, somewhere,...
If a well-thought-out strategic plan is in place and an organization has the capabilities to support it, it will allows the organization to adapt both to opportunities and issues that present themselves. But what does all this have to do with Powerball?
When it comes to health education, there’s no such thing as too much. This has been made abundantly clear every time we lurch toward another health crisis. In 2014, widespread panic surrounded the much-publicized Ebola outbreak in West Africa. As researchers scrambled...
This has been the year of crisis management in PR. From Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, to ex-Subway mascot Jared Fogle’s “mild pedophelia,” companies are seeking best practices for building and implementing their online reputation management strategies. And with...
During the 2002 Breeders’ Cup at Arlington Park outside Chicago, a senior programmer from Autotote, the company that processes the majority of wagering on horse racing in the U.S., accessed the system after some of the races had been run and altered betting tickets...
I offered some thoughts this week on the PR value of an apology, to a reporter with The Chicago Tribune. That got me thinking…when won’t an apology suffice? A sincere mea culpa has always been one cornerstone of any crisis communications plan, but there are times when...
Not all news is good news, particularly when it’s a crisis involving your client’s company. No matter how long it took for a brand to build credibility, it can all be washed away with one swift wave of negative press. With agencies of record often not specializing in...
I was as disgusted as everyone else by the news that former Subway spokesguy Jared Fogle pled guilty to child pornography charges, including paying for sex with two minor girls. Looking at this through the prism of public relations, this development either potentially...