Corporate Crisis Management Blog

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.

A credit card company creates a campaign to donate tens of thousands free meals to starving children.

What could possibly go wrong?

And why on earth are we even talking about this in a crisis management blog?

Read on!

Brands exist in what some describe as the ‘Age of Doubt’.

Brand emergencies have increased in frequency.

Crises occur more often.

The escalation from troublesome issue to major threat evolves more quickly than ever.

There are an estimated 36 million negative posts about brands on the internet every single day.

While not every complaining tweet or accusatory Instagram post is a crisis, lurking in those millions of posts could be a fin in the water that will prove to the Great White that will eat your brand whole.

But how on earth do you track an emerging issue amidst so much noise?

If your organization doesn’t have a plan and the ability to get a tweet out in the 15 minutes after a crisis breaks, then you are not ready to operate in the new reality of the digital age.

Think that is too extreme?

Thanks to the Wall Street Journal we got a fascinating glimpse of the behind the scenes response at Southwest Airlines in the immediate aftermath of the terrifying and tragic incident on April 17th, 2018 when an engine failed causing the death of a female passenger and endangering the lives of the entire load of passengers and crew.

Aside from the well-organized specifics of the airline’s crisis plan and response, it was another valuable lesson into how the new rules of crisis management are applied when the worst really does happen.