Crisis Insider

This month’s terms to know include Decentralized Autonomous Organization and WhatAboutism.

There used to be a belief that businesses could, and indeed should, stay away from the campaign trail. Sure, they donate to candidates and often have lots of lobbyists. But, it was not seen as their role to try and support or strengthen the democratic process itself. That all changed in 2020.

Reading McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski’s ill-conceived comments about recent shooting deaths of two children in Chicago (including one in a McDonald’s drive-thru) prompted out contributor to write about the Emotional Intelligence Quotient, or EQ.

Companies are collections of people. So, one way to judge them is how they measure up during challenges, or a crisis. A Salesforce survey of 12,000 global consumers and 3,600 B2B buyers provides evidence.Polling people during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey found 90 percent say how a company acts during a crisis demonstrates its trustworthiness.

While smaller companies have less room for error during a crisis, crisis pros argue a mix of preparation and free or low-cost tools can provide a solid foundation before one begins.

Making crisis communication part of 2022 planning and strategy is critical. Effective planning, including an evaluation of a company’s crisis process, team, tools and resources, ensures organizations are prepared to respond in a timely, effective and responsible manner.

Exposing the emotional elements of a story during a PR crisis can be extraordinarily powerful. Unfortunately, it is too often deemed an unacceptable risk. Yet, the team at Oxford was able to employ storytelling effectively during these difficult days.

Like many social media platforms, Facebook is no stranger to reputation crises. How Facebook and other companies have managed them offers lessons in how to (and not to) address stakeholder concerns and shore up reputation when the proverbial excrement has collided with the rotating blades.

We provide a book review of Evan Nierman’s new book., which contains mostly standard crisis advice, though the novelty is whom he’s attempting to reach and how his insights are presented. This book’s main beneficiaries are owners of small businesses, with limited or no background in PR or media relations.

The National Football League has endured a slew of issues and crises in the past five years. This month’s Crisis Averted takes a look at the most recent issues.