Fundamentals of crisis communications
I took part in a discussion the other day about how companies should manage their reputation in times of crisis. Here's a summarised version of the three questions posed and the answers I gave.
1. How can a company mitigate its reputational risks? When it comes to business crises, there are three phases of reputation management: preparation, response and recovery. The adage that prevention is better than cure applies well to corporate reputation. But, in my experience, too few ...
Andrew thrown under royal carriage in reputation crisis
The latest developments in the Prince Andrew saga have been dramatic. The Palace has stripped him of his Royal titles and says he’ll have to contest the legal case against him as a ‘private citizen’. But two important reputation management points have been largely overlooked. Firstly, many have praised the Queen's decisiveness. Her actions were certainly swift, but ...
Crisis communications for care home charity
We’ve been providing crisis communications support for The Fremantle Trust, a charity providing support for older people and adults with learning disabilities.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) had carried out an inspection of one of its care homes, which highlighted significant failings. With nine other care homes in operation plus a number of additional services supporting more than a thousand people, it was vital for the Trust to defend its reputation. Publication of the CQC report was looming and ...
How to (mis)manage a personal crisis
North Yorkshire Police Commissioner Philip Allott finally quit today in the wake of his inflammatory comments about the tragic case of Sarah Everard, abducted and murdered by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens. Three big problems stand out for me in the way Allott has (mis)managed his reputation throughout his career crisis of the last two weeks. The first - and most obvious - is his ludicrous ....
Brewer hounded by reputational crisis
Maverick Scottish brewer BrewDog found itself under fire earlier this month as more than 100 ex-employees sent a blistering open letter to its founders – condemning them for fostering a "toxic" culture and wrecking employees’ mental health. The signatories have since grown, now numbering more than 300.
The craft beer firm is no stranger to controversy: it has a habit of ...
Crisis talk at charity conference
I enjoyed talking at Fundraising Intelligence Conference 2021 last week about how to manage your reputation in times of crisis.
Charities, social enterprises, non-profits and public bodies are, of course, just as susceptible to reputational disasters as private companies. The sector was rocked last year by a large-scale ....
Charity in “toxic culture” crisis
I see NCVO – the hundred-year-old charity supporting Britain’s non-profits – has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. With a damning investigation uncovering a deeply “toxic culture” and its board bluntly admitting it’s all true, there are several curious points that strike me from its reputational crisis. The independent investigation was carried out last year, with its findings revealed at that point only to NCVO staff. But it's all come to the fore as the report has just been leaked to charity publication Third Sector, which has run a blistering ...
Law firm in reputational saga
A London law firm has just won £25,000 from High Court action against a client who posted a negative review online - and is seemingly now battling the repercussions. The court found the client's TrustPilot review defamatory, and the firm said it lost business. But how much might it lose now its client management 'technique' has hit national headlines - headlines that will forever come up when anyone searches for ...
Shocking 114 year crisis denial by New York zoo
I’ve just read this shocking account of how New York's Bronx Zoo exhibited a kidnapped African boy in a monkey cage in 1906 – and spent 114 years denying its wrong doing. It’s a stark example of doing the wrong thing in a crisis – exacerbating reputational damage by denying the undeniable instead of taking responsibility. It’s finally taken the Black Lives Matter movement to prompt ...
“I thought I’d just ignore it”
“I thought I'd just ignore it,” he told me. There are many cases where I’m sure this is absolutely the best policy. Junk mail. A minor insect bite. An insult from someone you don’t care about. But an approach from an investigative BBC journalist isn’t one of them. I was a bit surprised the other day when I first got the call the other day to ...