We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Melinda Goodman, founder of FullTilt Marketing, a boutique marketing agency she founded eight years ago. A self-proclaimed foodie, ag advocate and a storyteller, all which come by naturally and are deeply rooted in her history and her own personal story. Melinda grew up on a family ranch outside a “no stoplight” kind of small town where her mom owned the local grocery store and everybody knew you by first name. Fast food meant eating on the run in the tractor and good food started at home with Mom’s scratch cooking, three square meals and an abundance of fresh chocolate chip cookies straight out the oven, along with a few scoops of cookie dough for good measure. It was a place where doing the right thing mattered most and serving your community was always a priority.

Melinda didn’t realize at the time how small towns, gardens, plucked chickens, a rouge pig and the show steers of her history would become her direct connection to food and her future, but today it’s all part of her work at FullTilt Marketing.

Throughout her career, Melinda has worked in diverse roles including sales, marketing and new business development at commodity boards, private companies and marketing agencies. Melinda has also leveraged her creativity to conceptualize and expand brand concepts and retail promotions, overseeing the development and implementation of more than 350 new packages, dozens of trade promotions and brand awareness campaigns for a variety of clients, including national brands like Disney, Paula Deen Enterprises, The Biggest Loser and the Sneaky Chef.

Her love of people, food and agriculture is what allows her to get her hands dirty in any business, meet new people and become instant friends and busy herself with learning what makes the business of anything tick. It’s the deep appreciation for people, food and places that helps Melinda find the story for every brand.

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

Reputation management in its simplest form is the managed public persona of a person, brand or company. This relates to public relations as it is the managed or controlled construction of everything from press releases, media interviews, social media and all public-facing interaction with the brand, company or person.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided?

I think the biggest mistakes many companies make is the lack of authenticity. They work so hard to control every detail of their public image that they fail to say anything or build a relationship with their audience. Then when an issue does occur and they need to make a public statement that audience doesn’t have any reason to connect, feel compassion, believe the information or even care to be a peer support system because they have no connection to the brand at an emotional level.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Today so much of the public facing image of a company is through social media either directly or indirectly. Seventy nine percent of U.S. consumers have at least one social media profile. Consumers use social media to get news, make reviews, ask questions and research new products. In many cases social media may be the first place a consumer finds out about a brand – either good or bad. Companies should be cultivating an authentic social strategy that creates brand engagement and tells stories that have an emotional connection to the people and the products.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

Of course the first thing is always to assess the damage. It’s easy to get into response mode before thinking, especially because social media happens in real-time and is immediate. But assessing the damage and level of crisis is about having information. Basic questions should be asked, for example, is it true, how widespread is the reach, what platform is it on, who posted it, what is the likelihood of viral pickup, what is the cause and effect of this content crisis and how can we manage it? Each question and its corresponding answer provide a roadmap for next steps. Not every piece of social content needs to be responded to instantaneously. Taking even a short breather to ask yourself a few questions can help you draft an appropriate response and necessary steps for proceeding, especially if the crisis is likely to grow over the course of several days or weeks before it is controlled.

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

If you want your employees to help during and after a PR crisis (and do so effectively) you should already have a culture of transparency where your employees feel they are valued and trusted members of your team. If they are truly on Team Company they can be important consumer advocates in dispelling negative information, but most importantly misinformation that spreads rapidly on social media. However, employees should never be asked to speak about anything they are uncomfortable with and they should always understand how and when they should provide company information. Even best intentions can go awry if team members are not properly informed in a situation.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

Senior executives should build companies based on transparent cultural values and consistently share authentic stories about their people and their brand. They should worry less about saying the “perfect” thing and spend more time saying meaningful things that people care about. If they are a company that has invested in doing the right thing from day one they will generally be better equipped to manage a PR crisis because the language will be closer at hand and from the heart rather than trying to fabricate the reputation management story that best suits the necessary narrative of the day.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Reputation management is clearly getting harder because of social media. Today more than ever before, misinformation can spread on social media like wildfire. Trolls love creating internet controversy and there is little concern to fact check information before sharing. Photoshop can make a quote, news story or tweet that never happened looked real and today’s Google will give you an answer for just about anything that verifies your own echo chamber. Lack of trust in everyone from doctors, news media and politicians makes it difficult for consumers to discern what information they should trust and often times they turn to the latest internet influencer to give them the information they are hungry for…even if that person is pedaling the same snake oil in a different package.  

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

Out of respect for our clients we opt not to share specific issues and outcomes but we’ve covered issues that include food safety, workforce safety issues, corporate social responsibility, and even organizational trust issues related to mismanagement of funds. The level of success we were able to achieve for each organization was completely dependent on the level of transparency that their management was willing to provide. There is a time to fight and there is a time to say I’m sorry and I made a mistake, but there is never a time to put your head in the sand.

How to Connect

Website: https://www.fulltiltmarketing.net/

LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/melinda-goodman-74042b4

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Ilissa Miller, founder and CEO, iMiller Public Relations (iMPR).

Ilissa Miller brings nearly two decades of experience in sales, marketing, and product development to her clients in an effort to help them differentiate their messages and achieve notoriety within an ever-expanding and evolving industry. With a wealth of experience and knowledge in the emerging global telecommunications and technology industries, her extensive expertise and practical skill set have allowed her to implement and spearhead and launch many companies as well as global product and marketing campaigns including that of international private line and networks, IP transit, peering, IPVPN, hosted PBX, cloud computing, Ethernet, managed services, colocation and data center products and solutions. She is a recognized leader in the global telecom and technology space where her knowledge and insights provide strategic guidance that enhance performance resulting in a remarkable reputation for effectiveness and client satisfaction.

In addition to her aforementioned role, since 2013, Mrs. Miller has also served as the President of NEDAS where she functions as the driving force for the association’s annual programs including conferences, training sessions and networking socials. A key ingredient to the Association’s success is the Advisory Council, which was formed in 2013 consisting of industry executives and thought leaders who actively interact with the highly dynamic landscape of the in-building wireless industry.

In 2012, Mrs. Miller was elected to public office as Trustee in the Village of Mamaroneck where she successfully ran for re-election in 2014. As Trustee, she sits on the Village’s Board with legislative and policy decision-makers, governing over 19,000 local residents and serving her community with steadfast dedication.

Prior to founding iMPR, Mrs. Miller was the Managing Partner at a Public Relations firm serving the telecom industry where she spearheaded the company’s growth from 2008-2011. While her current experience works ‘on’ the sector, Miller has extensive hands-on experience working ‘in’ the sector. From 2007-2008, Ilissa was the Director of Marketing Communications and Public Relations for the interconnection company, Telx; a product marketing manager for Australian incumbent carrier, Telstra, where she was responsible for the company’s International Private Line (IPL) and IPVPN/MPLS products; and also served as a channel marketing manager for Telstra where she successfully positioned it’s Asia-Pacific network solutions as a leading partner to various leading US-domestic network operators. From 2000 to 2004, Ilissa worked with Band-X, Inc. the US subsidiary of Band-X the Exchange where she held roles including Director of IP Services and Director of Business Development and Marketing. In this position, Mrs. Miller supported the global marketing efforts of all Band-X’s products including the procurement and exchange of global IPLs, colocation, and voice minutes.

Mrs. Miller holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing and Literature from SUNY Potsdam where she also studied voice performance at Crane School of Music.

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

Reputation management is the practice of ensuring your brand, messages and the sentiment associated with your brand aligns with the position the company articulates to the market.  This can be monitored and observed through digital tools such as media monitoring, job boards, company reviews, social media and more.  Ensuring your brand is perceived as you want it to be is the core purpose of reputation management, and it requires diligence, proactive communication and monitoring on a regular basis.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided? 

The biggest PR mistakes many companies make online are in their use of words and context.  In an ever-changing world, moving more rapidly by the moment, companies must stay in tune with global and local markets and stay close to what matters most.  When companies are not paying attention, you bet the market will let them know.  This could cause disruptions to day-to-day business goals. By tuning in to current events and key social considerations, companies can avoid common mistakes and be relevant when joining conversations, rather than distracting from them.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Social Media is a large factor in monitoring and ensuring a positive reputation for brands.  Reiterating words and context and how important they are, social media channels allow PR firms, like iMiller Public Relations, to monitor conversations, keywords, topics and more to align corporate brands and ensure their messaging stays on point with value-added insights.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

When a company has an online crisis, the first thing they should do is identify the source.  When you identify the source and validate it (or not), you can then track the reach and implications associated to ward off further challenges.  The source could simply be misinformed, and by contacting them to correct, it could also release a domino effect of a more positive result.

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

Employees play a large part in a company’s PR crisis management.  Employees can support and amplify the company’s position, they can stay quiet and out of the fray or add unwanted attention by joining the conversation without prompt or a known cause.  When companies encounter a crisis situation, they should ensure their entire company is alerted with actionable, helpful information on how they can add value to the brand.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

Senior executives and companies can better prepare for a PR crisis by paying close attention to those who have successfully weathered their own crisis, as well as those who have not done as well managing their own crisis. As a PR professional, I’ve learned that nearly every day a new brand crisis erupts online. These are opportunities to think hard about how we would/could/should handle the situation if we were providing sound advice to clients.  These daily observable challenges and internal exercises strengthen your ability to respond effectively.  Every day is an opportunity to learn.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Personally, I believe that reputation management is getting harder. There are so many factors that go into a negative or global crisis situation that companies must be equipped to properly manage.  With the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movements in simultaneous full swing, many emotions and personal positions drive individuals to respond and take action. Any perceived slight could cause major disruptions for a brand. This further reinforces my position that words and context matter – be thoughtful and purposeful with your brand’s message and positioning accordingly.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

Every day could be the day that our firm tackles the biggest PR or crisis communications challenge.  We have been witness to and part of a number of challenges from immediate management disruptions through unforeseen exits, to a client’s mention as an employer to an accused murderer, lack of sensitivity to current affairs and not understanding the real issues or concerns to immediate loss of life, loss of clients and more. Each situation must be considered and managed in its singular event, and pinpointing an end goal is the starting point.  As you encounter a crisis, the first question to ask is ‘what is the result we want?’ then you can make your plan on how you will get there.

How to Connect:

Website:  https://www.imillerpr.com/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilissamiller/

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

Your brand is what you say about yourself. Your reputation is what other people/stakeholders think about you. Your brand should match your reputation. Reputation management is critical to a business’s success, internally and externally. A company must always be mindful to manage its reputation since it is based on others’ perceptions. Public relations are intertwined with reputation management as public relations is the discipline that tells your story and demonstrates your values to key audiences. Companies must continually control their message, tell their story, talk to all key audiences (internal and external), listen to those audiences to ensure they are being perceived as they want to be, and make adjustments as needed to effectively manage their reputation.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided?

Companies make many mistakes online. While they believe online is the best and most direct way to talk to their consumers, without the filter of the media, most use online as a one-way channel instead of understanding it is very much a two-way communication channel. They think online is easy – their kids can do it – so they post content without a strategy or plan to understand how to engage their online audiences. They post what they want people to hear/know, but they often don’t practice what they preach online. They almost never listen to what is being said online. All of these are huge mistakes. A company’s followers can also use that platform to control the narrative and/or hurt a reputation in a blink of an eye. And remember, things live online forever, so it’s imperative that a company and its employees are always ‘on message, on strategy’ to ensure they are protecting and reinforcing a company’s reputation.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

It’s a very important piece of the puzzle. It enables a company to be seen by and communicate with wide audiences in real time and cost effectively. But, it must be done strategically, effectively and thoughtfully. More importantly, social media should not be the only piece of the puzzle that a company implements; it should be one piece of a more comprehensive communications plan. It is most effective when integrated with other disciplines.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

Move it offline immediately! The longer it stays online, the greater the damage it can inflict. Engage that person(s) and have them DM the issue and then make sure you respond to them/address it right away. People want to be heard – and if it’s not by the company, they will be happy being heard by others who are following them (or you). So the sooner you can move it offline, the more you will be protecting your reputation.

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

Employees are a company’s best brand ambassadors and messengers. They can help communicate what you do, why you are doing it, your company’s success in weathering the crisis, etc., with one caveat – they must understand it and be invested in it and in the company’s reputation and success. That means companies must put employees central in their communications plans (both regular ongoing communications and crisis communications plans). Share the information with them, explain to them first (not last) what you are planning/doing and why, tell them how they can help, listen to their concerns, and act upon them. Leaving employees out of the loop will disenfranchise this key audience and will ultimately harm a company’s reputation.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! It’s too late to start thinking of how to handle a crisis when the crisis has hit or is imminent. You must plan far in advance. We work with clients to identify every scenario that could trigger a crisis (interruption of ‘business as usual’) and then create a plan on how to handle it and communicate the facts about the crisis, how the company is addressing the situation now and to ensure it won’t happen again, and pre-writing all the communications for it. But, planning is not enough. We make them PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE it – how they will get the information verified, communicate it, what platforms they will use, who will speak and how, answering the tough questions, etc.  The most effective crisis communications communicates that the company is in control and has steady, smart, thoughtful leadership, and a solid plan.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Today everyone has a platform to be heard; everyone wants to be heard immediately and everyone is interconnected (we all know our six degrees of separation on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). Everyone has an opinion and it’s easier than ever for people to use that opinion for their own good/validation/attention-seeking above all else. We are also a very cynical society today, so we judge every statement made and look to find mistakes / inconsistencies / problems, so we can highlight them to harm the messenger and elevate our own status. Reputation management is much more challenging than ever before, but it is certainly doable and doable successfully.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

So many.  As a general rule, the hardest challenge is always to get clients to understand they need to tell the truth and the whole truth immediately, not parcel out tidbits of information slowly which allows others to fill in the blanks and/or perceive the company is not telling the whole truth. Transparency, honesty, humility, compassion, and timeliness are key elements of successful crisis communications.

One situation that comes to mind was when I handled the communications during the Writers Guild strike. Thousands of TV and film writers were striking against the media companies that own the broadcast and print media we wanted to tell the writers’ story in. We developed a two-pronged approach – one was to use humor and the Writers Guild East was among the first to use YouTube and blogs/social channels to tell the story.  But, the second was to address head-on the perception that all writers were rich and successful and therefore greedy to be striking for more money.  I had to convince the Guild to be transparent and not be afraid to publicly say that at any given time half of all Guild writers were unemployed looking for their next gig and that the average writer made only a five-figure income.  Being about to share that truth and letting the media talk to any writer on a picket line (not just the cherry-picked high-profile ones) demonstrated the Guild was being honest and transparent, and their strike requests that writers get a reasonable percentage of revenue from the works they wrote was valid. Media responded favorably and did stories with balanced messaging, even media owned by the companies being struck.  We were able to turn public sentiment to the writers, even though the strike had taken their favorite TV shows and movies off their screens. It was the basis for the 100-day strike’s media strategy, for which I proudly won a Silver Anvil Award for Crisis Communications.

 How to Connect:

Website: www.goldmanpr.net
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sherrygoldman

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Risa Hoag, founder of GMG Public Relations.

Risa has more than 30 years of experience in public relations and marketing. Prior to founding GMG Public Relations in 1991, she was a Director of Public Relations with Ernst & Young with responsibility for media placement, writing feature articles and press releases, developing and coordinating special events, market research, and the design and placement of advertising.

Risa has been active with numerous not-for-profit organizations. She is a co-founder and the current Vice President of the Greater Nanuet Chamber of Commerce. She serves as President for the Rockland Business Women’s Network (RBWN) and is a board member for Meals on Wheels in Rockland and created and co-chairs their annual gala titled Cornucopia. Risa was selected to be a mentor to female students through The Gerald P. Buccino Center for Leadership Development at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business. She has held numerous board positions with the Westchester Association of Women Business Owners (WAWBO) over a fifteen-year period including President and twice received the organization’s President’s Award. She has also served as Vice President for the WAWBO Education Fund and for the Partnership For A Better Westchester, an organization she helped launch in 1997. She is a past Public Relations Chairperson for the Advertising Club of Westchester as well as a past Vice President of the Tappan Zee International Trade Association. She has served on the board of the Orange & Rockland Community Investment Committee and the Hudson Valley Visiting Pet Program where she did animal-assisted therapy work with her dog Annie, visiting nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and schools where she worked with children helping them learn to read.

Risa is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and a recognized seminar leader, presenting numerous public relations, marketing, and social media workshops. An accomplished business writer and source, Risa has appeared on several radio and television programs and has been quoted and featured in numerous national and local publications. She is the creator and co-host of a show titled The Bigger Picture which highlights Rockland’s hardworking entrepreneurs who find time to give back to the community. She is a member of the 2018 Class of Leadership Rockland and was the recipient of the RBWN Service Woman of the Year Award in 2017. She has also been honored with the 2019 Lillian Vernon Award for Community Service from the Women’s Enterprise Development Center and she received a 2019 Distinguished Service Award from the County of Rockland for her dedication and support of businesses and nonprofit organizations.

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

Jeff Bezos purportedly said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” I would suggest that you think of your brand and your reputation as one and the same.

Some people think of “branding” or your brand, as your logo, the colors of your website, your iconography, etc. But it is, and should be, way more than that. Your brand is also your reputation. And your reputation is based on everything you do as a company. It is something to be established, built, protected, maintained, and enhanced. And that process happens through public relations as well as everything you project to the public as a company, planned and unplanned.

Your reputation consists of the information you disseminate, the customer service you provide both in person, online, via phone, email, etc. and your company’s ability to react quickly and positively to requests for support. And it is judged on quality, swiftness, and professionalism, both verbally and visually.

Reputations aren’t built in a day, but they can be destroyed overnight. Therefore, a company’s reputation should be carefully maintained, protected, and strengthened. Most companies will go through a crisis of some sort at one time or another and the quality and the strength of your reputation could determine the swiftness with which the company recovers.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided?

First, everyone must be on the same page. And I really mean everyone. From the person or people who answer the phone (and perhaps those people more than anyone) as well as everyone in between and all the way up the line to management, must adhere to the same messaging and principles that the company stands for. Any deviation or crack is a threat to the reputation of the company.

Some of the biggest online mistakes include being tone-deaf to what else is going on in the world or in an industry. If your responses are automated and your emails are pushed out without someone monitoring the process, you risk offending people. This was very true during the pandemic when companies (big and small) found themselves pushing out traditional sales messages at a time when people were suffering from illness and out of work. Someone needs to carefully oversee the automation process and take over if appropriate to say, “this is inappropriate right now, let’s pivot.”

Having someone in charge of your brand voice and therefore your reputation who didn’t get the memo which told them what words to use and what not to use, and having employees who aren’t informed about what not to say, are all a direct threat to the company’s reputation.

There must be a document or a guideline that explains to every employee and even to vendors, what your company stands for and how individuals should respond to anything they may see online. As we know, individual employee responses can now become global news in an instant, therefore be sure to:

• Carefully craft companywide guidelines and/or statements that are distributed to everyone
• Ensure that those guidelines are crafted by people directly involved with the public and directly involved with any issue at hand, not just attorneys or PR people
• Remember that straight-forward transparent communication is key to success

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Social media is now a critical component of every company’s reputation management and should be built into the strategy.

Again, it should be communicated throughout the company what can and should be said online and what shouldn’t. What can be posted and what cannot. Social media gives us an extremely effective tool that we can use to build up our business or tear it down in an instant. It is a double edge sword to be carefully implemented. When preparing the previously mentioned company guidelines, be sure to include how each social media platform can and should (and shouldn’t be used).

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

A company crisis policy should be developed ahead of any actual crisis. That means convening a crisis task force before you need one. Who should be at that table? Attorneys, PR professionals, management team, front line employees, HR, IT, consumers, customers, vendors, industry experts/consultants…. There should be a deep and thorough thought process that has gone on ahead of a crisis. While we can’t plan for every challenge, we can have a plan in place that at least acts as a blueprint should one arise and can be enacted when needed. Waiting until after there’s a crisis could make for hastier decisions not always in the best interest of the company.

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

Wait for guidelines to be issued from management and for a company’s statement to be released, then share that statement if appropriate. While it might seem obvious, employees should be instructed not to comment to the media. Depending upon the severity of the crisis and the nature of it, the media could station themselves outside of a work location in the hopes of speaking with someone as they leave or enter a building. Be sure that everyone knows that it is inappropriate to comment. That includes texting, speaking with media over the phone, and especially commenting online. The task force or appropriate individual should release guidelines within 24 hours so that everyone is on the same page.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

As mentioned, convening a crisis task force and meeting ahead of time, perhaps monthly or quarterly, and discussing potential issues, is one way to address in advance any issues that might arise and have your team better prepared should an issue arise that you didn’t anticipate. Have a preliminary plan in place that addresses steps to take in the event of a crisis and make sure everyone has read it and discussed it and that you have answered any outstanding questions. Fill it in as you go with any new or updated information, and at the very least, update it every six months. Don’t forget to acclimate new employees to the company messaging and guidelines.

Another great strategy is to read and research other companies in your industry; what issues did they face; what did they get right? What did they get wrong? Learn from their mistakes and from their wins.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

In some ways it is easier. Companies of all sizes have the ability to quickly respond to basic questions and complicated issues in a broader way and have others share that messaging both inside and outside the company. They also have the ability to reinforce that messaging on a daily basis and to many different audiences. The trick is ensuring that your messaging is consistent across platforms and that everyone is on the same page regardless of the interaction they have with the public. Don’t underestimate the significance of speaking with your entire staff, even if it is only one other person, to make sure that everyone understands the company’s priorities and messaging. Of course, reputation management can be very difficult if you have people bent on bringing you down as they also have access to a wider audience to share their negative information, true or not. Therefore, ensuring that your foundation is strong can help you weather a storm whether it was created by the company or by outside influences.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

The biggest PR crisis we have dealt with was when one of our clients was put in a difficult position that ended up offending parents of children with a specific illness. As with most situations, there were two sides to the story, but as you know, it is all about perception. And in this case, the perception was that they did the wrong thing and it was nearly disastrous for them. The parents quickly rallied, hired an attorney, and turned to social media to share their bad experience. Overnight the company, which took great pride in not only providing a wonderful experience for kids and families, but also supporting numerous nonprofit organizations over the years, found itself at the center of difficulty controversy. We worked with one of our partners to gather the parties together, talk it out, find common ground, and come to a good conclusion where everyone benefited, but without question, it would have closed a business with lesser resources. Their reputation went from being the most fun place for kids in the area to a place that was labeled as ‘anti special needs’ – disastrous. All parties learned a great deal from the situation, not the least of which was that regardless of what you stand for, what you have built, and what your company ‘norms’ are, your reputation can be negatively impacted, temporarily or permanently, by one incident. So, planning ahead, communicating to all, and quickly responding to negative circumstances, can save that precious reputation that has taken years to build. Guard it carefully.

How to Connect:

Website:  www.gmgpr.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/risahoag/

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Bob Hope, president and co-founder of Hope-Beckham in Atlanta, is a 40-year veteran of the public relations and event marketing industry and one of the most experienced public relations counselors in the country.

His extensive background includes public relations director for the Atlanta Braves when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record; vice president of both the Braves and the Atlanta Hawks teams, while also handling Ted Turner’s personal publicity; executive vice president with the global public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller, working with high profile products, companies and individuals, including: Wayne Huizenga, Fred Smith, Roberto Goizueta and Charlie Loudermilk, The Coca-Cola Company, Turner Broadcasting, Federal Express and General Electric.
Active in the Atlanta community, Bob is a director of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Covenant House of Georgia, the Georgia Global Health Alliance, Wesley Woods Foundation and is co-chair of the advisory board of the Celebration Bowl. He is a member of the Investigative Committee of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Bob is a member and program chair of the Rotary Club of Atlanta and was selected District Rotarian of the Year for 2012. He is a founder of HAVE Foundation, which builds and maintains schools in rural Honduras. His is the chief executive officer of Atlanta Peace Inc., working to bring the Nobel Peace Summit and the Nobel Peace laureates to Atlanta. He is on the board of councilors for the Carter Center and has represented the Carter Center twice as an international election observer in Nepal. He was recently honored as Father of the Year by the American Diabetes Association.

Bob received the George Goodwin Award from the Public Relations Society of America, the President’s Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation, twice named Director of the Year for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and has been the recipient of the International Service Award, the Hospitality Award, the Ivan Allen Club Service Award and the Community Leadership Award by Rotary Club of Atlanta – the only Rotarian to receive all four awards. He also received Rotary International’s highest honor, the Service Above Self Award. Bob received the 2018 Archie Crenshaw Impact Award for Christian Service by HOI. He was a 2015 inductee into the Atlanta Hospitality Hall of Fame and the only communications professional selected. He is also a 2015 recipient of the Richard Stormont Award for promoting the city of Atlanta internationally.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle named him one of the 100 Most Influential Business Leaders in Atlanta in 2015, as Atlanta’s Most Admired CEO in 2017, and he was recently inducted into the Atlanta Hospitality Hall of Fame. Atlanta Magazine lists him as Legend on its list of the 500 Most Powerful Atlantans.

Bob received a B.A. in journalism from Georgia State University. He has written two books: “We Could Have Finished Last Without You” about his early years with the Braves and “Greater Late Than Never” about people who achieve success after age 50.

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

Companies are like people: they are known for what they do and how they do it. Companies have a personality, a certain approach and style, and identifiable characteristics. Reputation management is defining what they do and their way doing it, while staying within their code of ethics. Public relations links who they are to what they do through storytelling. Public relations explains and exemplifies a company’s approach in line with its reputation. You cannot have one, without the other.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided?

There was a time not so long ago when there were only three major TV networks and mainstream daily newspapers in big cities. Those were the pipelines of news flow.  If those pipelines were managed well, keeping stories accurate, fair and consistent could be easily managed. Now, everyone has a pipeline; anyone with a computer or cell phone can distribute news, or in some cases, phony news. It is impossible to control the flow of what is posted on social media, whether it be real or inaccurate. The greatest problem is when inaccurate information is shared. Companies need to ensure the content that is shared online is consistent and accurate.  Standards must be set, an approval mechanism must be in place, and news flow must be orchestrated. The only way to prevent misinformation is to have a system in place that monitors and fact checks all content before it goes out.

Companies, and individuals for that matter, need to keep in mind that once something is posted online, it is out there for the world to see. You can no longer delete a story or a tweet without it being noticed. Companies must evaluate what they are sharing and posting to make sure it is sensitive and appropriate. The last thing companies want to do is put something out there that is divisive and controversial. This will only lead to more problems. Companies need to have standards and review online content, keeping in mind all angles individuals may view the information, and ask themselves if the content is in line with the company mission and reputation.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Social media visually reflects a company. This can be a tool to help shape the company’s reputation by sharing its personality, mission and core values. Today, social media is as much of a news pipeline as newspapers or television. Content must be consistent through all channels of communication. The same content your company would share on other outlets, must be appropriately modified for your social media channels. Social media is a public relations tool where a company can exemplify its style and unique characteristics for the world to see.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

Until a company has figured out a plan of action to correct the crisis, the first thing a company should do is remove the post that caused the crisis. Once the post is removed, the company must quickly come together to address the crisis. Whether the plan of action includes addressing the crisis in a statement of apology, responding to those reacting to the crisis, or making a statement of correction, the company must be ready to quickly and efficiently address why the post was removed.

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis? 

Employees are assets in many ways. There was a steel mill that once used the theme, “Steel is our product, but people are our strength.” That is true in many ways.  Employees are important voices internally as well as externally in communities where they work and live. Employees are the trusted voices who represent the company wherever they are. As part of the company, employees deserve to know the entire picture of what is going on. It is important that employees be aware of the crisis, of what the company is doing to respond and how they as employees should respond to any mention or question of the crisis. They have the ability to speak out on behalf of the company, so they must be provided a clear, consistent and truthful message regarding the crisis. There is no point in telling the media one story, and not sharing the full truth with the employees—that will only lead to a larger crisis. The key is to have one unified and truthful message across the board.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

When preparing for a crisis, senior executives need to have a general crisis plan in place. There are two things executives can do: ensure general crisis messaging has great clarity and is simple for everyone to understand, and to ensure there is a response mechanism in place so they may quickly respond to the crisis. Senior executives can brainstorm general crises and general responses, so they may be tailored quickly for use when needed.

Senior executives have the easy part in responding to crisis, but they seldom do it well.  First, they need to accept there is a crisis and be contrite in accepting whatever responsibility they might have for creating it. That sounds obvious, but a lot of denial can be present when bad things happen. Second, they need to assess the degree and scope of the crisis. Third, they need to determine one point of contact that assures all information is accurate and consistent.  Fourth, they need to be forthcoming, accessible and tell the truth. Honesty is always the best policy. Fifth, keep communication simple and to the point. Do not create more questions by saying too much. Finally, they need to use their moral compass. Doing the right thing is the only good option.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Reputation management is becoming more difficult. Every disgruntled employee or customer has access to voicing complaints on social media or by contacting reporters.  It is hard for a news reporter to keep from being influenced by angry employees sending out a volley of accusations when a company makes an announcement. Social media is a marvelous tool, but the underbelly of social media is that unsubstantiated claims of misconduct can be so steadily communicated. When media is so easily accessible to everyone, everyone has a say, and it can be even more difficult to manage and navigate all of the voices.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

I have been around a long, long time and have been involved in almost every kind of crisis you could describe. To say I have been in the middle of the most famous crises is like Maxwell Smart saying he is the world’s most famous secret agent. If I was so good, why were the crises so famous? However, I will mention a couple of famous crises I have experienced over the years.

In October of 2001, it was revealed Enron, one of America’s largest companies, was committing accounting fraud and was involved in corporate corruption. Senior executives would face jailtime for their actions. I was one of eight PR practitioners from around the country on the initial Enron call.  For some background, I am historically prone to downplay any crisis, saying there is much less of a chance that people outside a company will be as upset as the people inside who feel they are under siege. In this case, it was different. After all of the practitioners listened to the call intently, everyone was asked how they felt about the problem. I was next to last. Each before me said the scandal would not be a big problem, and I was about to burst at the seams. When it was my time, I blurted out, “Somebody’s going to jail.”

I noted I knew a crisis when I saw one, and this was a CRISIS. I was told I was being alarmist, but luckily, the last practitioner to respond after me was Joe Lockhart, the former White House press secretary. He said, “I know what a crisis looks like. Bob is right.” To this day, I have never met Joe Lockhart, but am thankful for him.

In one conversation, they wanted to tell the media “shredding documents” was common practice. Our advice was two words not to volunteer to the media are “shredding documents.” It would pour fuel on the fire. The Enron scandal turned out to be a lesson in senior management denial.

Another example was the reveal of the new Coca-Cola recipe. I was summoned to the “bunker” on a Saturday morning to be made privy to the upcoming announcement of the “biggest marketing story in history.” When I was told Coca-Cola was changing its formula my response was, “You’re going to get your socks blown off.” However, I was shown extensive research proving me wrong, and I bought into it like everyone else involved.  And, of course, they did get their socks blown off.

The official announcement was made in New York and not Atlanta. When local Atlanta shareholders complained, I was then assigned to create a giant event in downtown Atlanta. In just three days I would need to create an event that looked like it had been planned for six months. So naturally, I rerouted two circuses to Atlanta, and we created the “Step Right Up for the Greatest New Taste on Earth” outdoor circus to toast new Coke to Atlanta’s civic elite. We set up a green room for executives, and I was calling role when the CEO of The Coca-Cola Company asked me when he would go on stage to toast new Coke. I sent a trusted assistant to check with the emcee, and he came back and reported, “You are on right after the elephants and the human cannon,” which he was.

Later, I was called to a meeting to discuss an important matter on the same project. When new Coke was released, it was hoped the CEO would not be subjected to the backlash of new Coke and unrest would die down. However, it had been learned that the CEO listened to a particular country music radio station, WPLO, in the morning on the way to work and in the afternoons on the way home. Our assignment was to ensure only good news was reported about new Coke on WPLO, regardless of what it took to get that done.

As things continued to get worse, a secret meeting was held in New York. The assignment was to find a solution, to come up with the idea that would turn the tide and make new Coke a success. We were there a week and whenever we would say there was nothing that would work, we were told that was not an option. What we did not know was that there was another secret meeting across town determining how best to bring back the original formulation of Coca-Cola, labeled Coca-Cola Classic.

The new Coke crisis did not put lives at risk, but it did not do much good for a few careers. It was an interesting journey, and one I will never forget.

How to Connect:

Website:  https://www.hopebeckham.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-hope-4216454/

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Scott Baradell, founder and CEO of Idea Grove, one of the top 25 technology PR firms in the United States. For more than 15 years, Scott has been a thought leader on the future of public relations. He created one of the original PR blogs, Media Orchard, which at one time had a larger audience than PRWeek. His focus in recent years has been on growing his agency by helping his technology clients grow.

In 2020, Scott began writing Trust Signals: The New PR, outlining a new framework for the practice of public relations, to be published by LionCrest in 2021. Put simply, “trust signals” are evidence points, from media coverage and online reviews to website “trust badges,” that make people believe in your brand. This site shares a new framework for PR centered on building and promoting trust. Scott has an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the PRSA and speaks on PR and marketing topics at industry events nationwide.

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations? Reputation management is PR playing defense. When PR is on offense, it is working to get you attention and build your reputation. But as you build it, you also have to manage and protect it – such as when a crisis hits or customers are leaving bad reviews on review sites.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided? Companies don’t do enough to earn trust online; they take their credibility for granted. If you met someone in person for the first time, you would make an effort to build rapport. Too many companies don’t do this; they come off as stiff and salesy rather than helpful and authentic.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Review sites are social media that send very important trust signals. People want to know what your customers and employees think about you and they find that information in Google, Glassdoor, and other reviews. Putting in place a proactive program to encourage positive reviews and reduce negative reviews is a key component of a reputation management strategy.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

Find out what’s going on so you can gather yourself and tell the truth. Don’t feel pressured to leap to conclusions. Until you know the facts, it’s better to say, “I don’t know” or “We are looking into this and will get you answers as soon as possible.”

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

Don’t freak out. Wait for the facts and then stand by your company. Your company needs you most during times of crisis.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

Be prepared to be spontaneous and roll with the punches. I’ve been doing crisis communications for a long time; I’ve managed responses to workplace shootings, salacious lawsuits, and everything in between. What I see too often in executives is a lot of huddling and conferring. That may make the lawyers happy, but it makes it less likely the public will believe you.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Definitely harder. It’s a 24-hour news cycle, and it’s much more difficult to fight against misinformation. Rumors and conspiracy theories take on a life of their own. Look at the ridiculous Wayfair conspiracy theory trying to connect the company to child trafficking, for example. In an earlier era, it wouldn’t have seen the light of day. Now it’s all over social media and Wayfair has to put out statements to try to tamp down these baseless accusations.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it? I

was the face of the wireless messaging industry for two days when almost everyone in the country lost service because of a satellite outage – millions of peoples’ lives were disrupted, including healthcare workers, law enforcement, and first responders. I handled it with vulnerability and honesty; frankly, I don’t know if I even looked at our official crisis plan. Preparing is good, but caring is better.

 

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Lee McEnany Caraher, President & CEO, Double Forte. Double Forte PR & Digital Marketing is a national agency headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York and Eau Claire, WI. An acclaimed communication strategist, Lee is known for her practical solutions to big problems. Her company works with some of the top consumer lifestyle, digital life, wine brands, and professional services companies in the country. Lee serves on the board of directors for the Public Relations Council, the national association for public relations agencies.

Lee is the author of Millennials & Management based on her experience with epically failing and then succeeding at retaining Millennials in her business. Her second book, The Boomerang Principle: Inspiring Lifetime Loyalty From Employees provides a practical guide to building positive, high performing workplaces.

Lee has a reputation for building cohesive, high producing teams who get a lot done well and have fun at the same time. She is a straight talker who doesn’t hold too many punches, although she does her best to be pleasant about it. Her big laugh and sense of humor have gotten her out of a lot of trouble.

She started her career in communications in Boston and then moved to California, working with high profile and groundbreaking companies along the way. She moved to the Bay Area in 1995 to serve as the Vice President of Corporate and Consumer Communications at the $1.6 Billion SEGA of America. She then served as Executive Vice President of The Weber Group and Founder and President of Red Whistle Communications, both Interpublic companies.

Lee is active in the community and currently serves on the Executive Committee for Farm Technology Days 2020, and on the Public Advocates Board of Governors.  Previously Lee served as vice chair of the Board of KQED Public Media, Executive Committee for the Grace Cathedral Board of Trustees, Chair of the Board for Community Gatepath, Menlo College’s Board of Trustees, and was the founding Chair of the Board for the St. Paul’s Choir School.  She consults with other non-profits on effective board organization and practices.

A graduate of Carleton College, with a degree in Medieval History, which she finds useful every day, Lee lives in Western Wisconsin with her husband, two sons, a blind cat and an energetic dog. She splits her time between San Francisco, New York and Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

Reputation Management used to mean “make sure everything people say about us is positive.” Today, Reputation Management is the practice of ensuring that a person or a brand is known for what they/it stands for and does. It is a holistic view of the business – from its mission to its values and standards and communication and relationships with its stakeholders. Public Relations is the HOW the stakeholders know what a company or person stands for and does – one does not exist without the other.  

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided? 

The biggest mistakes any company can make is pretending to be something that it is not, and not admitting when it’s made a mistake. How to avoid? Don’t do that! It’s ok not to be perfect – no one is. It’s not ok to pretend that you are.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

HUGELY! However, it depends on the company or person. There are many examples of companies and people who have excellent, authentic reputations but do not have their own social media channels. However, their reputations are carried by the media, influencers, competitors, and people who do share their thoughts, articles, newsletters, memes, etc. on social channels.

The important thing to remember about social media is that you can’t control it! So first, whatever you own should be the ultimate resource for information – your website. Then how to leverage your own social media channels to distribute, defend (not allowing someone else to operate them) and amplify what you want to share (news, sentiment, support, etc.) KNOWING that you don’t control the social media companies, all of which have their own goals and manipulate their platforms for their advantage, not yours.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

It depends (my favorite answer as there are no absolutes).

1. First figure out the facts. Don’t do anything until you understand the facts. Having said that, you may need to acknowledge the situation while saying that you’re looking into it and will respond when you have the facts.

2. What are the risks? Has someone died? Could someone die? That’s a real crisis and requires a whole different level of response than finding a bug in your drink.

3. Keep track of the crisis – where it is? What channels? Who’s amplifying? How is it traveling? What bots are involved if any?

4. Once you know the facts create the situation/message document that everyone in the company will use to respond to inquiry.

5. Execute appropriately.

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

Please don’t assume that you can help by getting involved in a social media war about an issue big or small. Mostly likely you don’t know all the facts. Wait until the Comms team or the CEO has informed you on the situation and given permission to act.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

Plan, Plan, and Plan some more. And then practice.

Every time I get a call to help in a crisis (with a company we don’t already work with) I’m shocked that there is no blueprint for what to do – even just the who needs to be involved list of people.

Every company – however large – needs a crisis plan that at least identifies a Modus Operandi, who will be involved, who takes the lead, what’s the approval process. “Call Lee” is not a crisis plan – well it could be but it’s an expensive crisis plan because you’ve lost time and authority by the time someone figures out to make a phone call.

The best crisis plans lay out the different scenarios that could derail a company.

• Accident
• Product-related death
• Employee misconduct
• Natural disasters (fire, hurricane, earthquake, pandemic, etc.)
• Data breach

Then when an actual situation happens, you have the starting point and aren’t trying to create a workflow and action plan while you’re responding. No plan will be perfect – but every plan should give you a running start.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Easier for companies who are transparent and don’t say they’re something they’re not. Much hard for companies trying to hide behind a fake visage.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

Oh my gosh – I’ve had to handle some doozies in my career. A few stand out:

• A person trained to kill someone on a videogame,
• A huge product recall because of salmonella that caused 11 deaths (thankfully not our product, but we weren’t sure about it for about 10 days)
• A competitor that announced a directly competitive product at a substantially lower cost that we did on the same day which tanked our stock
• A massive earthquake that took out a manufacturing plant and then a predatory competitor launched a huge FUD campaign to dislodge the company from its premium shelf space and contracts
• And at least a dozen I can’t talk about.

In each case, I focused on what’s the truth, what’s the motive, who’s at risk and how can we mitigate that and then charted a best and worst-case scenario using the plans we’d created as my guides and then managed as much as I could to move us to the best-case scenario outcome.

How to Connect

Website:  double-forte.com

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecaraher/

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Chris Boehlke, Principal at Bospar.

Chris has logged 30+ years of success in leading PR for several hundred of the best-known consumer and technology brands in the world. She spent the first third of her career working with packaged goods giants like Procter & Gamble, Oscar Mayer, Kraft, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel, and Levi Strauss, in senior management positions at Edelman and Burson-Marsteller, before starting her own firm in the mid-90s. Her personal trademark has been to bring global brand sophistication and ultimate consumer pull-through to B2B and B2C clients alike. Chris has special branding expertise – creating memorable campaigns ranging from Cisco’s “The Human Network” to Dolby’s “The Sound of History.” She personally leads strategy, branding, core messaging, and regular quality review sessions for every Bospar client. Her clients have received more than 300 awards and special industry acknowledgments for outstanding marketing and PR. Chris has won multiple Silver Anvils – “the Oscar of PR” – and has served as a judge for Silver Anvils and other agency awards. She served on the Executive Committee of the Counselors Academy of the Public Relations Society of America where she spearheaded the organization’s first re-branding initiative. She holds a BA from The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Chris’ favorite mantra: “Only when you learn how to see the invisible, can you do the impossible.”

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

Over time, what we used to call “your reputation” has come to be known as “your brand.” The concept of “branding” comes largely from the marketing space – how to analyze your environment, choose the positioning that best differentiates you, and then create the look and feel of that branding across all analog and digital channels.

The concept of “your brand” itself is tied to the reputation you earn.  And the best definition I’ve ever heard is “a brand is the way a company behaves.”  Performance equals brand reputation.  And just like branding lives mainly in the world of marketing, reputation performance inhabits the world of PR.

This is the world of good deeds – or misguided ones. On one hand, it is so simple.  But it’s also the world of skillful communications that set expectations among a broad variety of publics, across a great many venues, which gets complicated.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided?

The biggest PR mistake companies make online is realizing only the tiniest potential of how virtual presence can bond their brand to each of their audiences, bringing value that goes well beyond the pure product or service itself. Online allows an amazing level of virtual brand presence that no one could ever afford if trying to execute that in the analog world.

Companies have recently awakened to the possibilities of what online can do for their brand, due to COVID-19.  It is heartbreaking that this has become necessary.  At the same time, the innovation taking place around online brand performance right now is exhilarating.  Restaurants are helping people to turn their home dining into levels never dreamed of, while offering the full enchilada to make a rarified experience. Galleries and performance studios are bringing the artists to the viewer in ways far more intimate than achieved in actual theaters. Exercise venues are achieving such success with homegroup classes that clients are asking to keep them going even as they also return to the physical studios.  And the list goes on and on. The cost-effectiveness of “killer apps” like Zoom is a game-changer for brand performance – and now everyone is learning that.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Often, a lot more attention is paid to content than to distribution. But effective reputation management obviously requires that you go where your audiences go! So – duh – the first step of distribution is to map audience consumption behavior and then follow that map!  These days, the vast majority of a map is usually made of social venues.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  On the one hand, social allows for the continual feedback loop essential to the moving target of reputation management – with lots of great built-in feedback. On the other hand, social is like a bonfire that can easily flame out of control on multiple fronts. But if given the proper respect, skill, and care, social is the greatest tool ever given to reputation management professionals.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

The term “when there is a crisis online” is not quite accurate. “There is a crisis” is accurate – and it may have flared up first online.  But the crisis tracks back to something the company has said or done – and that’s where the patient needs to be treated, back where the problem started.  And then online intervention needs to be addressed immediately – but first, you need to get to the root of the problem!

And then you need to address the problem everywhere it has flared up, without inadvertently spreading it beyond where it has gotten on its own. Most crises are spread by – guess who – the company executives themselves. The big thing to remember is to stay reactive – only go where the problem has gone.  Don’t seed the problem into new areas by trying to be too thorough.  In order to do just the right amount of containment, research is essential.  Guessing is not allowed.

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

The best ways employees can help their company during a crisis are ways we all know because we learned them back in grade school. The first is “stop, look, and listen.”

When a crisis erupts, employees can play an invaluable role in keeping their ears to the ground – across both the online and analog worlds.  The company should be doing hourly online sweeps to keep abreast of what is being said on all fronts.  And depending on the scope and consumer-facing dimension of the issue, it may need to conduct daily third-party quantitative opinion and brand research.

But no quantitative sweeps can drill down to the actual pulse of the company’s changing environment like its own employees can. These are the people who know the people who can play the biggest role in helping the company through this. A company should set up a hotline for employees and encourage them to submit summaries of what they are hearing – and from whom – throughout the day as they go about their course of business.  This can provide some of the most relevant input a company can get in times of crisis.  And the company can use this information to help build its circle of “friends of the company” who can help turn the tide to a more positive stance.

Employees also can follow the tried and true success advice we learned in school – “do your homework.”  It’s hard to get people to remember what a company says – and especially during a crisis, where drama tends to overshadow the less exciting pure facts.  Employees should strive to understand the details of what’s happening – and the company’s position on every aspect of them – so that they can be the most educated supporters out there.  This is true while the crisis is happening, as well as after the fact, when brand reputation needs all the “repair” help it can get.

The best defense is a strong offense. Often, a crisis sucks all the air out of the room, and all the positive news comes to a halt as everyone focuses on how to stop the negative.  This may be appropriate for the very early stages.  But as quickly as possible, you want to get back to the pre-crisis situation of the good content far outweighing the bad.

Remember – good news goes viral the same way bad news does. Employees need to be the best cheerleaders of the company, helping to gather the positive stories throughout daily operations and sharing with the communications team; following whatever communications guidelines the company provides; hopefully being able to help build positive social presence, and talking about the company’s strengths among all they encounter in the course of both business and pleasure.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

There’s a lot of lip service paid to crisis planning, but the follow-through is often not there. Large public companies tend to do a much better job of it, no doubt driven onwards by board members who have dealt with their own over time and know the ravaging effects crisis can have on a company’s reputation.  Many large companies take crisis preparedness so seriously that they have full days or even weeks of enacting simulated scenarios. I’ve participated in a number of these, and they are extremely powerful and effective.  But that takes a major commitment.

In my experience, smaller to mid-size companies see the need for a crisis preparedness plan, but in the crush of business they just usually don’t get around to it.  Or they do a little bit of it and put it aside for something else and never get back to it.  That’s unfortunate, because when a crisis does hit, it’s so fast-moving and distressing that it’s at least 10 times harder to conduct the actions needed that could have been handled in much calmer times.

I think the main reason most crisis preparedness plans don’t get completed is because someone makes them way too complicated.  The phrase “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” certainly holds true here.  If a company simply follows the following steps, the process can go quickly, and team members then will at least have a solid framework to start from when and if something happens.

• Appoint a crisis team that should faithfully meet once a month. This likely would be driven by the person who heads the corporate communications function.  Choose a high-level executive from each operational area of the company, including operations, product development, marketing, HR, and finance. You want people high enough up the chain that they have the ear of top management and the board of directors, since speed is essential if a crisis hits.
• Inventory the company’s vulnerabilities. This is similar to getting your annual physical. Map this out by systematically discussing each operational area and listing what could go wrong. Then each member of the crisis team should study the ins and outs of how they would go about addressing various scenarios, just to get a better feel for it themselves.  The monthly crisis team meetings should focus on one operations area at a time, so that everyone on the team develops a big-picture understanding of what could happen.
• Map the company’s audiences, along with the “who needs to hear what” influencers among them. Prepare the contact list, along with who would contact whom – and how – if a crisis hits. And keep it current!
• Develop “straw man” positions and message tracks for each potential crisis scenario based on vulnerabilities. There might be one to two dozen of these, depending on what the company does and how it’s structured.
• Create a list of keywords that map to areas of concern, and ask the communications team to do daily monitoring for world events that could cause a crisis or alter the company’s position on certain elements as time goes along. A brief weekly report to the crisis team based on these daily findings should serve to keep the team current.
• The crisis team should present these components to the board of directors, so that any significant adjustments can be discussed early on. And it should update the board quarterly with any significant changes as the company and its environments evolve.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Reputation management has gotten exponentially harder as communications channels have increased and time to communication has decreased. I actually laugh when I remember how there was a time when we would tell clients to appoint just one spokesperson, with all inquiries flowing to that person.  Ha!  Someone in their 20s likely can’t even conceive of a day when control like that was actually possible – or desirable.

We now function in a “real-time” crisis environment, where everyone has the ability to publish their own observations and opinions within seconds.  And we have the ability to track what’s happening in real-time as well, all on a global basis.

The only real way to fully address crisis communications in today’s world is to make it part of the DNA of a company, with employees kept up to speed on what’s happening from the company’s point of view. Everyone should be enlisted to help get the story out correctly – and across a myriad of channels.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

I’ve worked on a vast variety of crisis situations in my career. High-level embezzlement.  Leukemia clusters.  Sexual misconduct. Union strikes. Product recalls from tampons to turkey and pimentos to Girl Scout cookies.  I once helped write a sermon for an archbishop to deliver on a Sunday morning during a church-related crisis.

Each crisis has its own unique set of challenges and potential solutions, and I’ve loved them all. But I think the one I found most rewarding was when I helped lead the crisis team for the now-infamous Tylenol recall.   The reason that stands out among so many other crisis situations is that Johnson & Johnson was an incredible leader in gathering and sharing of information and of “doing the right thing.”  This was one of the first times that a hugely popular consumer product had actually caused death.  A few of the highlights that caused this case to “write the book on crisis communications” include:

• This was a hallmark case of addressing brand equity. Tylenol was a free-standing brand of Johnson & Johnson. The company could have let it “hang out there to die” on its own, and that scenario was definitely discussed.  But in the end, the company came forth to take ownership of the problem – and put all the power of its Johnson & Johnson brand behind the solution.  This was one of the first huge milestones in “brand parentage” decisions.
• There were many discussions early on about whether J&J should try to protect the Tylenol brand – or just kill it. Massive daily consumer research throughout the entire crisis helped to direct its decision making.
• Internally, the company had to turn on a dime to determine how one of its products had caused death – was there a disgruntled employee on a manufacturing line somewhere? One of the most sophisticated operations efforts ever quickly determined that nothing had happened in an actual plant – but that the product had been tampered with on a grocery shelf.
• In many ways this was a larger problem. There are ways to better secure an internal manufacturing process, but the idea of patrolling the entire world distribution system was daunting.
• Once product tampering in the distribution channel was determined to be the culprit, J&J took the big picture view and declared that this was more than a Tylenol problem – it was an industry problem. It called upon the entire Grocery Manufacturers Association to drive an initiative for safety packaging.
• The media quickly turned its attention to how fast safety packaging could be rolled out for ALL products.
• The Tylenol brand is still a brand leader; J&J’s reputation continues to inspire great trust; and products everywhere are safer because of J&J’s pioneering leadership and bravery – a case where excellent crisis management literally made the world safer for all of us.

How to Connect

Website:  bospar.com
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-boehlke-a464641

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Julie Koester, President of Dragon Horse Ad Agency.

Julie Koester thrives on challenge and seeks to do hard things, as taking the easy way is terribly unfulfilling.

Julie is a 25-year resident of SWFL. She has volunteered with the Conservancy of SWFL, chaired the MS Walk, lead the Columbia University Alumni Association, been a Guardian Ad Litem and is the Founding Board Chair of the Children’s Museum of Naples, for 10 years, until it opened. In her spare time, she earned two National Gold Medals in Taekwondo, is a voracious reader, food lover, passionate traveler and considers wine a form a juicing.

Julie has founded several companies in SWFL including Mr. Toad’s Toy Company, Life with Moxie, co-founded Moxie Creed, an organic skincare company, with partner Patrick Blake Renda and co-founded Dragon Horse Ad Agency with partner Patrick Blake Renda and is managed by Patrick Blake Renda, Edward Clay and Julie Koester. The one common thread through all of these companies is Julie’s insatiable want, to help people do better.

Mr. Toad’s was conceived when Julie was unable to locate a specific filigree carved alphabet block set for her soon-to-be first born. In Julie’s mind, that meant she needed to open a store.

Life with Moxie was established when Julie became overwhelmed with requests for guidance on healthy eating from family members who were distraught from new medical diagnoses. It grew into several years of a weekly one-hour radio show and a weekly column in two online papers. Likewise, Moxie Creed was created to counteract the now well-known issue of toxins in skincare.

Julie has a master’s degree in psychology from Columbia University and a Ph.D. a.b.d. in Public Health, with dissertation work focused on deceptive food company marketing to children. The combination of her psychology degree with her dissertation research delving into their nefarious marketing methods made her realize not only the most powerful methods of spin, messaging and advertising, but also the desperate need to counteract these methods and use it for good.

Today she is the President of Dragon Horse Ad Agency providing marketing, informed by business strategy.

Ms. Koester believes that business owners truly want to help their clients have a great experience with what they have to offer and to make a living as a result of a job well done.  Julie prides herself on her ability to understand and connect with potential clients, what attracts them, how to speak to them, and where to find them. She refers to it as being like a match-making service, we just connect customers with businesses.

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

Reputation management is the proactive protection of a company’s identity by actively promoting all the amazing things about the brand, while attempting to drowned out any less than glowing content.

People often confuse, even collapse reputation management and public relations. Most simply stated, public relations is the internally crafted development and maintenance of a company, brand or personal persona, while reputation management is to redress external influences on the perception of that persona. Public relations done well creates a positive understanding among the target audience about the brand. Reputation management comes into play when that well-crafted persona is attacked in some way, such as a bad online review or a CEO scandal.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online?

PR mistakes tend to fall into two areas where decision making about how to respond is critical. First, if an issue is discovered internally, think data breach for example, do you front run the news, or do you wait to react. If the company decided to wait, on the off chance that no one will notice, take aggressive and immediate steps to address vulnerabilities internally. If the company decides to front run the news proactively, the communications team needs to push the release to those whom they’ve nurtured supportive friendly press relationships with that will create a more favorable presentation of the information as the first impression.

Second, with the current social state of very opinionated defensiveness, and assertive fault-finding, we are seeing more and more PR missteps occurring from businesses of all sizes due to not understanding the inherent nature of “movements”. Many brands are trying to stay relevant by attempting social advocacy. Most recently, with the variety of movements like Black lives Matter that we are witnessing, many companies are impulsively reacting. Often believing that being first on the scene will garner them accolades while not realizing the significance and obligations that go with the space they have so boldly entered.

Unfortunately, for many brands it’s landing as short-sighted empty promises. Backing away from the issue a bit further, the other component that many companies didn’t realize when they declared their position, is that to be seen as being part of the solution and making a difference, they actually have to do the work of making a difference – within their own organization. If this is not party to the companies social advocacy, consumers will quickly and assertively call out the hypocrisy and what a recent Fast Company article labeled “Black Power-washing”, repurposing the greenwashing label of the environmental movement. The moral of the story, be authentic, seek to understand, and be open to the change that may be required.

How could these mistakes have been avoided?

To avoid these missteps, as with most circumstances in our lives, if we give ourselves permission to really get clear on what is happening before doing or saying something about it, we make better decisions. Stephen Covey’s “seek first to understand…” the 5^th habit of his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” couldn’t ring truer. If we don’t fully understand the issue, we can’t devise an effective solution.

The adage, “think before you speak” should be the foundation of every decision when the need or want to react is in play. It should be unnecessary to need to declare this, yet this also keeps being an issue for many – Be. Honest. Hiding from or lying about something will always be a futile tactic. Authenticity and vulnerability will help take the edge off, as well garner support from those willing to support the change that the company/person/brand has declared they will make. Knowing that the truth of almost every situation will eventually be uncovered, avoid having to deal with it twice by doing it right the first time. Aggressive defense of the company/person/brand does not equal denial of the issue, it means addressing it head-on and owning responsibility.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Social media platforms are a significant component of any reputation management strategy as they are the easiest, most accessible and inexpensive way to push out all the positive messages regarding the company/brand/person in support of the brand’s persona. Social media is also the only tool that allows you to connect directly to the constituents you are specifically trying to reach. Understanding the demographics of each platforms gives brands a powerful tool to access those being sought to influence. The company’s reputation is the brand and, as Jeff Bezos said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” If the company doesn’t plant seeds of something great to say about the brand people will decide what to say for themselves. If the brand has a strong, healthy, positive influence and following, it will be significantly harder for a negative story to get traction. If a crisis does make its way to social media, influencers and supporters can be called on to help stem-the-tide.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

The very first thing a company should do when a crisis online has been discovered is to take a deep breath, publicly acknowledge that there is a problem, get very clear on what the actual issue is, then decide a course of action. Triggered, defensive knee-jerk reactions are never the best course of action and often create a situation where even more recovery is required as a result. Understand clearly where the company’s responsibility for the issue is, what they are going to do to rectify it and apologize.

The one and basically only time that releasing a statement and apology may not be in the company’s best interest is if the issue at hand is legal and where an apology could be deemed an admission of guilt. The communications team would need to craft any public facing statement together with their attorney.

Once the information is out there, both the initial issue and the response, monitoring is critical. Be extremely cautious when replying to the public (less is always more and stay on point) and be vigilant about learning what they are saying and stay ahead of it.

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

Once in crisis, the team lead for crisis communications must brief the employees as to the situation at hand, the strategy that has been decided on and provide talking points should an employee be caught off guard. The next tier of affected parties, stakeholders, business partners, etc. should then be notified.

How employees can help during and after a crisis is determined by the company culture. Employees learn from leadership whether or not they are supported in expressing concerns and having them addressed. So, the first line of defense is to never end up there in the first place and open valued communication with employees can help guard against that.

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

Crisis leadership training is essential for leaders in any public facing business of decent size. This training teaches leaders to anticipate potential threats, how to manage conversations from the hot seat, adapt to change, gain insight into stakeholder perspectives, learn how to build an emergency plan, and ultimately create individual and organizational resilience.

Much of how successful a company is during PR crisis has to do with how leadership handled the business before the crisis. Leadership that is authentic, trustworthy, forthright and empathetic as opposed to controlling, secretive and protective will always manage the storm better. A company culture that supports and trusts their employees will have the privilege of learning about potential crisis issues internally and will be more trusted to have them addressed by management before they ever become a crisis.

Simon Sinek , in an interview with Inc. specifically speaks to the leadership trait of “Grace under fire” noting that being in the hot seat “is enough to make people dishonest and to sabotage their performance.”  Being stressed and unable to properly redirect anxiety is a set-up for failure in a crisis. Knowing this, an extraordinary understanding and use of stress management tools is essential. This, in addition to the ability to think critically while remaining objective and not taking anything personally.

A most basic requirement for every organization is to designate a point person for crisis communications. If the company is sizable, a team should be put in place that includes the marketing agency and an attorney.  Parallel to the communications team is having significant monitoring systems in place to be able to identify negative messaging trends online, so they can be addressed before they gain traction.

Maya Angelou’s “when you know better you do better,” brings us to our last suggestion. Once a crisis is over, do an intensive audit including timelines, actions taken, responses and results to try and uncover where internal issues and processes can be improved. Then, get back to restoring a positive image with a variety of good news.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Reputation management continues to become more difficult as the ability for information to spread continues to grow, both in speed and breadth. It used to be simpler. Thirty years ago, bombshells dropped in the local paper and those who became aware were those who read that paper, then a few more who were told about it over a phone call. Very few of these would make it to the media level. If you didn’t like the restaurant you went to, you told your four friends who asked how your night was and that was the end of it.

Flash forward and the Internet hosts more “news” sources than can be counted with more coming online every day. Hundreds of review platforms, hundreds of social media platforms, they all have the potential to be weaponized depending on the issue. Here is a sample of a completely normal reputation management issue – one person can simply tweet an inflammatory (let’s say fabricated accusation for good measure because this is from a recently fired employee) restaurant review declaring health violations, horrible food quality, insulting waiter, being overcharged, etc. It could be seen thousands of times, shared to innumerable restaurant groups, and even get picked up by a local news station within days, causing a noticeable difference in business for the short-term. If the restaurant doesn’t have systems in place to monitor their reputation online, they won’t even know about it until it’s too late.

In the same spirit, larger companies with bigger issues can have a story break and millions will see it within hours, causing the stock to drop or result in the resignation of someone involved. This is why it has become so much more difficult. Online there is no way to build a dam to stop the flood once the storm has started.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

An interesting recent crisis communications challenge was a result of COVID-19. A client was forced to cancel a nationally recognized outdoor art festival, featuring 250 prominent national and international artists and 25,000 guests a few weeks before the event. This happened at the very onset of COVID-19 restrictions being put in place, including the application of do not enter tape around the client’s property. We immediately moved the entire 250 artist show online in just 5 days. The communications ranged from press announcements explaining the cancellation and restrictions we had been placed under and how disappointed we were, press releases about the entire show being moved online, managing upset artists both on and off-line, managing upset national artist associations both on and off-line, threats of litigation and boycotts both on and off-line and media inquiries regarding how were handling the situation, whether we were rescheduling the physical show, questions about the virtual show, etc. This example was very unique and challenging because nobody actually did anything wrong, no one person was ultimately responsible for the cancellation happening as there were state, county, and city restrictions happening and many still insisting that the show should still happen regardless of the restrictions. Everyone was negatively affected and looking desperately for someone to blame, and our client was the target for the blame.

Public relations and reputation management have so much to do with company culture. To really stay above the fray, commit to investing heavily in the company culture. The company will then do a better job keeping the brand out of crisis in the first place.

At Dragon Horse Agency, being both a business strategy and advertising agency, we have an intimate knowledge of our client’s business practices, weaknesses, and company culture while also handling all of the outward-facing communication. This means we have been able to proactively avoid potential crises from the inside before they get out of hand. We are able to learn of whispers of issues (from HR to software) and get them addressed immediately before they have the possibility of becoming a crisis communication issue.

Public relation issues and crises are becoming more frequent and regular occurrences and they aren’t going away. Now is the time to initiate putting the necessary elements and a  plan in place so they are available to access when the time comes… because it’s not a matter of if, but when.

How to Connect

Website:  https://www.dragonhorseagency.com/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-koester-35ba41144/

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Cathy Decker, co-founder of The Decker/Royal Agency.

For more than 30 years, Cathy Decker has helped travel and tourism clients reach their communications goals on time and within budget. Her efforts have garnered numerous HSMAI awards, including leading teams three times to the coveted Platinum Award. A fixture in Caribbean hospitality, Decker is winner of the prestigious Marcella Martinez award, recognizing a public relations career in service to the Caribbean, where she has worked with some of the region’s most well-known and respected brands including for over 25 years, Sandals Resorts International.  In 2014, together with partner Stacy Royal, Decker founded The Decker/Royal Agency, an integrated marketing and communications company that merges traditional public relations with a digital-first approach to connect, engage and influence consumers wherever they are, whenever they are.  It’s storytelling for a new era, now with offices in New York City and London.

What is reputation management? How does it relate to public relations?

When I began in this business, reputation management was not considered apart from public relations but part and parcel of it, alongside media relations, thought leadership, crisis management, and so on.  Today, the term has almost been relegated to the literal practice of ameliorating negative online comments, but our work, all of it, ultimately ladders up to the issue of reputation.  As public relations pros, our job is to effectively manage the reputation of our clients.  How customers, vendors, employees, and the general public feel about the brands with whom they interact may be the most important metric that is not always measured.

What are the biggest PR mistakes you see companies make online? How could these mistakes have been avoided?

I think the biggest communications mistakes are being made by companies attempting to take advantage of circumstances too quickly and without careful consideration of changing dynamics – such as the Edelman layoff controversy or fully understanding sentiment, such as the unfortunate Tweet that resulted in the CEO of CrossFit resigning.  I think the most important thing communicators can do is scrutinize why you are communicating with as much intention as to how the message is crafted.  Often, if the message is to benefit the brand rather than your audiences, it’s probably worth a second, third, and fourth look.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

It’s incredibly important; it should never be considered as an afterthought but rather an opportunity to engage with audiences where they are, when they are.  Social is a platform best suited to experience the personality of a brand, its sense of humor (or not), its generosity, its values, and so on.  In this way, social best tells a brand’s story in real-time and at this moment – that’s where reputations are made and broken.

What is the first thing a company should do when there is a crisis online?

Immediately halt automated postings.  The last thing a company needs is an ill-timed message that makes the first gaffe worse.  Certainly, however, the first thing companies should do before anything is to recognize that there will be a crisis and to prepare for that eventuality before it happens. 

What can employees do to help their company during and after a PR crisis?

Employees are brand ambassadors.  They can help by making a point to understand the information being shared by the company, ask appropriate questions internally, and appreciate that only approved company spokespeople may address questions to the press.  Companies can help employees by being as transparent as possible and arming their people with information.  Trust is broken when employees learn “truth” in the press. 

What can senior executives and companies do to better prepare for a PR crisis?

Again, the single most important thing companies can do to prepare for a PR crisis is to acknowledge that is it unavoidable and that no business plan is complete without the careful consideration of communication, particularly should a crisis befall. This means simple things to the very strategic; from knowing how to contact key people 24/7 and ensuring that key communicators are media trained to processes for securing accurate information quickly.  Senior execs must let their teams know that when it comes to reputation management, almost nothing is more important to the success of the organization and that junior staff will always find a senior team receptive and willing to action concerns. 

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

In a word: speed.  The speed at which messages are carried online is making managing reputation harder.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it?

Throughout my career, I’ve managed crises from crime and corporate malfeasance to devastating weather, but no crisis was quite like the “Bowling Green Massacre,” which actually never happened.

In defense of the travel ban, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the President, cited the “Bowling Green Massacre” during an interview with the MSNBC’s Hardball. Her misstatement regarding a non-existent event went viral prompting a trending topic on Twitter (#bowlinggreenmassacre) and widespread press coverage. Bowling Green, KY, a burgeoning destination that had just recently begun touting its tourism assets on a national scale, immediately saw this as a crisis situation, concerned about misinformation being shared from the highest levels of our government.  With a need to defend the destination, but also not insult anyone for believing #alternativefacts, we helped the destination act quickly to leverage the viral moment, spreading positive awareness on what REALLY happens in Bowling Green, KY and all the cool things waiting to be discovered there.  It was a classic “how to make lemonade from lemons” moment that turned bad news to excellent coverage for the destination.

How to Connect

Website:  http://www.deckerroyal.com/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathy-decker-4258a83