PR Crisis Management: Protecting Your Brand’s Reputation

A PR crisis is an event that threatens operations and may negatively affect the brand if mishandled. The key to weathering a crisis and retaining consumer trust is effective crisis management marketing.¹

Continue reading to learn about common crises and how to create a crisis communications plan to protect your brand’s reputation.

Almost every brand executive expects to face a PR crisis at some point, but 69% say they have already weathered one in the last five years.² Your business can encounter many forms that stress brand stability, but there are a few PR crisis management examples that are common today.

A product crisis happens when your item or service does not function or deliver the intended results, or causes harm to the consumer. A PR crisis worsens when the business is aware of a problem and is negligent in preventing or fixing it.

An example of product failure is the many airline accidents that have captured headlines in the last five years. After incidents including crashes, injuries and death, one particular brand faced federal inspections. Some of these resulted in hefty criminal penalties—to the tune of billions of dollars.³

Cybercrime happens when companies experience data breaches that lead to the theft of private consumer data or exposure and leaks of stolen information. These data are often highly sensitive and include names, addresses, credit cards, bank accounts, medical information and more.⁴

Reports suggest that 26% of companies with 5,000 or more employees experience a cybercrime event and crisis.² Unfortunately, many large healthcare brands have suffered enormous cyberattacks and data breaches that led to poor reputational status, investigations and financial penalties.⁵

Ethical crises occur when leadership, staff, brand partners or representatives commit unethical, controversial or criminal acts. These behaviors reflect on a brand’s values and may negatively affect others, which leads to a poor reputation.⁴

For example, a news story revealed a business leader at a prominent bank sent a racially insensitive statement internally. The same bank also faced a lawsuit alleging discrimination against minority borrowers. These scandals affected the company’s reputation and led to billions of dollars in lawsuits and fines.³

How do you handle a crisis? The foundation of effective PR crisis management is a robust plan. Yet, new reports show that 70% of businesses don’t have one.⁶

In addition, 29% have zero staff assigned to crisis planning and preparedness.¹ Building a plan with these steps is first priority for most organizations.⁷

The first step in developing an effective crisis communication plan is to acknowledge that a crisis will happen at some point. While no organization wants to face such situations, being prepared is essential. Crises may arise unexpectedly or result from serious misconduct by individuals within the organization or those associated with the brand.

Large brands face them more often. Surveys of business leaders reveal that companies with more than 5,000 employees experienced five crises over five years, or about one a year.¹

The second step of crisis management PR is to prepare your organization and leaders to think about the victims and represent the brand. In cases where a failure or event leads to loss of life or significant harm to consumers, the spokesperson should be the CEO. In other less severe incidents, choose those with a natural ability to communicate well.⁷

Once you identify a few key people, prepare them with media training. The goal of training is to learn how to withstand potentially hostile press meetings and prevent misinterpretation of your statement.

The message matters for crisis management in marketing. The consumer and your audience will quickly place blame as they learn about an incident. Brands that demonstrate transparency and empathy and place care for victims at the center of the message will do well.⁷

Pre-drafting holding statements that you customize during a crisis can be helpful. Having these ready will help you create consistent messaging, minimizing the risk of conflicting or confusing information being released.

Tracking social media and news outlets is vital in today’s world. Being aware of the conversation about your brand can help you address an issue early on and prevent it from becoming a crisis.

Additionally, monitoring feedback about your response during a crisis helps you adapt and change strategies if necessary. You can use PR monitoring software to track communication channels at large. However, Google Alerts is one of the most basic and free options to find headlines about your brand.

Customer service and support teams can also help track and flag upticks in complaints that will give you rapid insight into what’s happening around your products and brand.

Take time to build positive media relations with aligned influencers, journalists and partners. Build your reputation and brand persona and showcase your brand values. Once a crisis hits, you can lean on these relationships to share information and reach your audience.

Consider building a strong social media presence and positive relationships online. Social media platforms have an enormous reach, where information and stories travel quickly. You can use these platforms and communication channels to monitor conversations but also to address your consumers directly or correct misinformation.

Once a crisis hits (and it will), the next step is to take immediate action. Launch the plan to control damage and roll out swift resolutions. Engage the media, social media and your partners with press releases, interviews or official statements.

Balance your internal and external responses. Keep in mind that your internal responses may eventually become public, even if you don’t allow or plan it. Keep all responses consistent with the right message.

After the crisis passes, take time to review events. Identify what happened, the outcomes of your crisis communication plan and the lessons you learned. These strategies clarify any problems with your plan for crisis management PR, so you can adjust going forward.

Once the dust settles, it’s time to rebuild your reputation and trust with consumers, partners and the public. This takes careful analysis of how your brand failed the public or the attitudes, approaches and behaviors that need changing. You might terminate certain staff, identify internal heroes to rely on next time or find new ways of doing business.

The role of PR in crisis management cannot be understated. It is vital to brand reputation and the survival of an organization. Creating a robust PR crisis management plan that you regularly test and update better prepares you and your organization.

Having the right marketing and communication skills is also essential. Discover Medill’s online Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications Professional program at Northwestern University. Learn from marketers what makes people tick and how to use effective crisis communications strategies to reach your audience. Contact us today to learn more.