Corporate Crisis Management Blog

Another Labor Day is over, another summer is in the rearview mirror.

The flip-flops are stowed away, the grill cleaned and the beach just a nice memory.

Now we are ready for the most wonderful season of all – no, not Fall, I mean budget season.

In the past, crisis planning usually made it onto the long list of projects for the budget.

But when the decision was made about the top priorities, too often the crisis plan was deferred until ‘next year’.

It’s Hurricane Season - which is not nearly as much fun as football, baseball and soccer seasons.

Here in Florida, it kicks off by driving to a local hardware store to spend lots of money on really boring purchases like batteries, bottled water, hardboard, nails and flashlights.

You think about finally investing in a generator, but they cost a fortune and you probably will not even need it, right?

I live and work in Florida.

From my living room balcony, I can sit and sip a cold one while watching the boats on Boca Ciega Bay.

A 100-yard stroll from my front door takes me to a beautiful Gulf beach.

Idyllic.

Until it isn’t.

Are you one of the many communications professionals who are clinging to old ways of doing things when more innovative technology is available to make your job more effective?

Or, are you one of the few blazing trails, being adventurous and taking on new technology tools even in the face of skepticism from more conservative colleagues?

Do you ever feel uncomfortable that you are one step behind on the new technology that is driving communications and marketing?

Do you have that nagging feeling that other people are quicker to adopt technology innovation?

You are not alone!

We live in complicated, uncertain times for brands and organizations.

The dizzying speed of communication, the growing skepticism of institutions of authority and the mass adoption of social media have changed radically the context by which we plan for and manage crises.

You know what Fake News is, right?

It’s all those made-up stories on Facebook and social media that are designed to make people, political parties or companies look bad.

Politicians have also been known to create or, at least repeat, “facts” that are anything but true (while decrying ‘fake news’ from other sources simply because it makes them look bad).

When companies get it right, the lesson is even more powerful for the rest of us as we grapple with the implications of the new rules of crisis management for our own digital-age response planning.

Six months into 2018 and we’ve had a rich crop of crises.

They are a fascinating, varied bunch.

Let’s look at the ones which have the most to teach us in our own crisis planning.