Corporate Crisis Management Blog

Not everything is new in the new rules of crisis management.

If crisis management were a game of sandlot football, the call would be, “play the same plays…a little differently”, says long-time leader and expert in the field, James Donnelly, a senior member of the team at top global communications consultancy, Ketchum.

James authored the opening chapter in the new eBook, ‘The New Rules of Crisis Management – Issues & Crisis Planning and Response in the Digital Age’, published by RockDove and supported by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

We are in the golden age of crisis.  

So, if you have not already done so, you should download your free copy of the new ebook published by RockDove and In Case of Crisis, supported by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), titled, ‘The New Rules of Crisis Management – Issues & Crisis Planning and Response in the Digital Age’.

You can download your free copy here.

It’s fair question to ask if there was any real need for a fresh set of rules of crisis management?

Weren’t the old ones doing just fine?

‘New York’s attorney general is investigating a company that sells fake followers on social media’ was a headline that caught our eye in the technology and media network, The Verge, on January 29th.

On behalf of In Case of Crisis users who are trying to build robust crisis plans, we are always alert to new risks that are emerging from the confluence of culture, social, economic and political forces and the increasing widespread use of social media and digital technologies such as smartphones.

United Airlines. PWC. Wells Fargo. Pepsi. Delta. Equifax. Chipotle. Dove Soap.

Presidential tweets. Viral videos. Cyber thefts. Sexual misconduct. Brand mis-judgments. Corporate malfeasance. Extreme weather.

From a crisis management point of view, 2017 had it all!

But what lessons do we to take from it all?

 You pretty much guessed that trust for government among Americans fell precipitously in 2017 and is at an all-time low, right?

I am also thinking that you will have no problem holding onto your hat when you hear that trust in the media fell last year.

But did you realize that trust in businesses and NGOs fell at a faster rate than that for the media? I didn’t think so!

On December 6th last year the outdoor clothing manufacturer, Patagonia, took the extraordinary step of filing a lawsuit, on behalf of itself and others, challenging the President of the United States.

California-based Patagonia is protesting a decision by the President, announced earlier that week, to reduce two large national monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, in Utah so that land could be opened up for mining.

It was as recently as October 2017 that the first accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced in the mainstream media pointed at the famed and Oscar winning movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

Since then the list of famous men of (previous) good repute accused of sexual harassment and worse has been shocking, head-spinning and stoked a real anger about what had obviously been taking place unreported forever without any apparent restraints.

Imagine if your organization could get smarter and more effective at reporting and managing workplace incidents – while also saving money.

That’s what SilverStone Group, a full-service risk resource management organization headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, achieved for a big box retail client through its partnership with In Case of Crisis.

SilverStone Group has more than 200 highly qualified Associates providing property and casualty coverage, risk management, employee benefits, business insurance and financial planning services to employers and individuals.

How technology could have improved 2017’s most discussed crisis response

When Dr Dao was forcibly dragged from that United Airlines plane sitting on the tarmac at Chicago’s O’Hare airport on April 9th 2017, it was a Sunday.

Why does the day of the week matter? Because it’s not a regular business day.

We are not privy to the details of United’s process in responding to the incident, but there are reasonable conjectures we can make.