We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Frank Buscemi, CEO & Chief Creative Officer, MBE Group. 

During his 24-year career, Frank has worked in the global automotive and heavy-duty truck markets, on both the OE and the aftermarket sides, as well as in the motorsports and retail sectors – all at the agency and corporate level. Likewise, being born and raised in Detroit, Frank grew up in and around the automotive industry. Frank’s passion for the industry and communications is contagious, mobilizing people intuitively. He brings global experience in all aspects of marketing communications strategy and actions to our clients including branding, public relations, creative, social media and corporate event planning.

Before joining MBE Group in 2016, Frank was global communications director of TI Automotive, where he facilitated and executed all of the company’s worldwide marketing and communications initiatives, including the opening of new facilities in North America, Asia, Europe and India. Prior to his work with TI Automotive, he handled day-to-day communications activities at the agency level for global automotive suppliers including Continental, Eagle Ottawa Leather, Nexteer, Takata, Tower International and ZF.

Frank is a graduate of Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. He is a member of the Automotive Press Association and has served on several automotive-industry councils, including the Board of Governors of the OESA Communications Executives Council, the Automotive Public Relations Council and MICHAuto Steering Committee.

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

For a brand or a company, reputation management is ensuring that your target audience trusts and respects you and largely provides positive comments and posts about you online. Additionally, it means that your company consistently works at having a positive online reputation through good customer service, positive interactions, your general actions and a quality product or service. It takes work to establish a positive reputation and even more work to maintain it. It differs from public relations in that PR is based on what you put out to your audience (outbound) and how it gets covered in the press, while reputation management is based on what they say about you (inbound).

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

The biggest mistake we often see is companies who think they should “do social” just because everyone else does. Social media is – or should be – an integral part of your PR program. You cannot just “do” social. You must have a platform strategy, consistent output and the ability to read the room and respond quickly to both opportunities and issues. You can avoid mistakes by:

1) having a social media strategy and execution plan,

2) having people committed to your social media program (do not hand this off to “your son’s friend who’s ‘on social all the time’ and seems pretty good at it…”)

3) studying the analytics to know when to post, which posts gain the most engagement and which platforms fit your brand/company, and

4) addressing issues quickly and directly as they arise.

The bottom line with online reputation is to avoid letting others set it for you. You have to be the one to set it. Establish your position and continually push it outward.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

In most cases today, social media is your reputation. There are no filters and people can say whatever they want about you, with limited repercussions. This is why it is so important to have a strategy for each platform. Understand what you’re getting in to. Twitter is wildly different from LinkedIn, for example and you have to treat it as such and understand the audience on each. You must make social a key part – and, in some cases, the most important piece – of your reputation management strategy.

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

The first thing to do is to have a Crisis Management Plan that contains a social media “playbook.” Establish a chain of communications and empower your team to handle the lower-level crises (mad customer, broken part, etc.). Second, find out what caused it and determine if it is legitimate crisis or problem. If it is, address it immediately. You can do this by responding directly to comments online with a dedicated statement about the issue or putting out a clarifying statement across all platforms. If it’s one specific person with one specific problem, address them directly and tell them you’re going to do so by placing a comment on the post or page itself. Most importantly, with regard to online crises, it’s not an “if”, but a “when” situation. Despite all of your best efforts, you will have problems online. If you can keep those problems to fewer than 10 percent of all of your online interactions, you’re in great shape.

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

Preparation is key. Simply knowing and accepting that there will be some sort of crisis, at some point, helps. Having said that, no two crises are the same. During the crisis use common sense, act quickly and responsibly and – depending on the crisis – empathetically. Afterwards, learn from it. Keep those lessons in mind for the next one.

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

Have a readily accessible Crisis Management Plan in place. Know that a crisis will happen. Ensure that your team is ready to act when it does.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Much, much harder. Nearly everyone on the planet has a device in their pocket or purse that can instantly connect them to the rest of the world. They can say whatever they want about you and your company and someone, somewhere, will believe it. Being first has become more important than being accurate or factual and the negative becomes amplified far beyond the positive. This is why you cannot simply let your online presence “just happen.” It is absolutely critical that you play an active, ongoing role in positioning your online reputation.

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

During my career, I’ve handled many crises, including 9/11, the Japan tsunami and accompanying Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, the shipyard explosion in Tianjin, China, the Indonesian tsunami, other natural disasters in multiple countries, manufacturing plant explosions, fires and fatalities, corporate litigation, corporate embezzlement, supply chain and labor disruptions, product recalls, plant closures and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each one carries a different weight and requires a different level of attention and action. Some become widely public and further reaching, like 9/11, Fukushima, COVID-19 and the natural disasters, while some never see the light of day.

While 9/11 changed the global landscape, there was no social media at that time. We used traditional news outlets for information and communicated with our global organization through email at varying intervals. Essentially, we communicated regularly, but did so on a daily basis for about 10-14 days.

The still-ongoing COVID-19 crisis was like nothing we’ve ever seen. In the early days of the U.S. shutdowns, we were working in 30-minute increments. We have more than 25 clients, most of which are multi-national and involved in manufacturing, meaning there was no set of rules to cover all of them. We found ourselves writing statements for our clients at 11:00 am, and by 11:30 am, they were obsolete. We had to communicate on behalf of our clients with their customers, employees, government officials, suppliers and shareholders and had to do so via email, general press releases, positioning statements and social media.

This frenetic 30-minute pace of COVID-19 communications kept up for about five days, then moved to half-days, to full days, then slowed to every couple of days. This covered about six weeks as the virus moved throughout North America.

While this was happening, MBE Group had to keep its own house in order. With offices in Detroit and San Francisco, we had to reset some of our own policies to ensure we could work effectively. Additionally, the many events we handle for clients were getting cancelled or postponed on a near-daily level, which changed our long-term planning.

During recent weeks, we’ve supported clients with product launches related to social distancing, provided statements for reopening and directed consumer-facing e-commerce programs.

For the past three months, the COVID-19 crisis has dominated our workload and workplace and it may continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

How to Connect

Website:  https://mbe.group/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-buscemi-556a243

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Naomi Grandison, a publicist at AMW Group, a marketing and entertainment group with headquarters in Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City. While at AMW Group, Naomi has worked with a variety of clients, from tech companies to entrepreneurs to musicians/bands. Her clients have appeared in various publications such as Entrepreneur.com, Thrive Global, and Bass Musician Magazine. Naomi is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, although currently, she is based in Los Angeles, California. She has a special passion for music and for helping artists and entertainers share their talents with the world.

 

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

 

Reputation management is about keeping your brand in public favor. Creating a positive presence that people feel comfortable working with or buying from. This is a large part of public relations because when doing PR work, it’s all about connecting with people through the story of your brand and business. A reputation for professionalism, quality, purpose, flexibility, and humanity is essential in multiple areas — with your customers, within your industry, with the media, with your local community, with your employees, etc.

 

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

 

Many companies neglect to actively commit to PR campaigns in the first place. You can have a beautiful website, great SEO, but your long-term credibility and reputation will come from positive relationships with the media. Media features, product reviews, expert interviews, etc. are going to help you build a long-lasting brand that’s endorsed by media outlets that people trust and recognize. 

A lot of companies also give up early after they start a PR campaign, which is a huge mistake because PR is about playing the long game and getting better and better results over time. Many of the larger media outlets that you’re aiming to be featured in are only going to be willing to pick up your story if they see that you’ve already been active and successful in media exposure by smaller outlets.

 

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

 

Social media is how you can easily access your audiences. It’s a window for people to see how your business operates. Do you respond promptly and kindly to questions in the comments? Do you provide consistent value beyond the product/service you’re selling? Are you involved in multiple facets of your industry? Do you care about the people in your community and what’s going on in the world? If you’re intentional about your social media and if you really are passionate about connecting with people, you’ll be able to build a healthy online community of loyal followers and supportive industry professionals.

 

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

 

PR crises are usually time-sensitive, so your first thought needs to be about the statement you’re going to make to the public. Even if you haven’t figured out the full strategy to remedy the situation, the statement should express your full dedication to getting to the bottom of the issue and detail the next steps you’re taking next to make things improve. That’s better than remaining quiet for too long. So, the first thing you’re going to want to do is call a meeting with relevant employees, partners, etc. who you need to help you put together a strategic message. From there, your next move will be to reach out to the media and prepare for a public statement.

 

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

 

Employees should think about stepping up and taking action beyond what their job description may be. Offer new ideas. Volunteer to take the lead. You become invaluable as an employee when you are flexible and eager to help the company grow.

 

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

 

Companies often overlook the responsibility of putting together a crisis plan. A crisis plan contains multiple resources — a list of local media contacts you can reach out to, potential crises and suggested strategies on how to respond to them, press announcements and email copy that you can edit and tweak (rather than having to write up the whole thing during a time-sensitive crisis). You won’t be able to plan for everything, but having a professionally crafted crisis plan will help you to have a set format to work off of and to make sure that you don’t forget or overlook important details in a time crunch.

 

Is reputation management getting easier or harder?  Why?

 

Personally, I believe it’s getting easier, because we have so much direct access to our audiences, so our intended messages can be relayed loud and clear to the exact people we want to send them to. A lot of people are afraid nowadays to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, so I know there are many who believe it’s getting much harder, due to the added social pressure of everything you say and do being online and easily accessible. But it shouldn’t be hard to manage your reputation if you are committed to being educated and to doing the right thing in the first place. People often get caught when they lack education on a subject, lack empathy, are unwilling to admit wrongdoing, or are unwilling to make changes.

This is where you need to take a good look at yourself. Your brand is an extension of you. It’s your baby, it reflects what you know. If you want your brand to appeal to people of all different backgrounds, you need to be aware of your own personal shortcomings. You need to know that as an individual, you have a limited perspective and you see the world in a very specific way, no matter who you are or where you come from. From there, you will truly be able to commit to being open-minded, having empathy, and becoming more and more educated. Reputation management should never come from a place of fear — it should come from a place of humility.

 

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

 

I haven’t been directly involved in a major crisis during my time as a publicist. But I know the horror stories all too well. The COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests have been a reality check for a lot of businesses, a chance for brands to really show their true colors in who they care about and how much they are willing to sacrifice for the community and greater good. In certain cases, the manner in which you respond to a crisis will absolutely make or break you. 

My advice is to consider every stakeholder you are connected with. Many companies’ first reaction is to take care of their customers and figure out how to mend that relationship. But all brands deal with multiple publics, main ones being consumers, employees, partners, local media, local community, and fellow industry members. Yes, take care of your customers, but the work to manage your reputation through a crisis never stops there.

How to Connect

Website:  https://www.amworldgroup.com/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-grandison-574223112/

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Jasen Woehrle, Senior VP, The Firm Public Relations & Marketing.

With a drive to win and the ability to see the big picture and beyond, Jasen is an invaluable member of The Firm Public Relations & Marketing since joining the organization in 2006. Leading the agency staff, Jasen’s professional experience includes launching new products and businesses, organizing and facilitating community events, and developing results-driven public relations campaigns. The Firm’s clients benefit from his marketing skills and creativity in developing unique story ideas and partnerships.

He has managed numerous clients and campaigns through his 25+ years of marketing and public relations experience with some of the most recent including Boyd Gaming, Three Square Food Bank, Nevada Public Radio, and Comprehensive Cancer Centers.

Prior to rising to Senior Vice President at The Firm, he thrived in leadership positions with many well-respected and nationally renowned artistic institutions, including the Tony Award-winning Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the critically acclaimed Stages St. Louis, the historic Goldenrod Showboat and The St. Louis Conservatory and Schools for the Arts.

Jasen previously served on the board for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (The Center).

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

Reputation management related to public relations boils down to this: Without a positive, solid reputation with your existing and potential/future customers, you have no business.

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

We’ve all seen the mistakes made by companies in the midst of the current Black Lives Matter movement. Some organizations were called out for not actually being diverse whatsoever on #blackouttuesday and only participating in a social media trend.

Companies can avoid these public-facing missteps by having an actual social/online strategy in place. These strategies need to be as well thought out as a business’ core plans themselves. Jumping in on trends or popular hashtags could backfire if your company doesn’t walk the walk.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Some companies think they need to be on every social media platform to reach the widest audience possible. I suppose that depends on your brand/product. However, businesses should pay attention to analytics – if you are pouring a lot of time (and budget) into a platform that isn’t helping boost your brand, go with the social media channels that are.

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

Managing an online crisis depends on what exactly you’re handling. A quick assessment of the situation to understand the immediate severity of the crisis is key. Is anyone in harm’s way? Do you need to get authorities involved? Is the crisis related to a rumor or an actual event? Once you manage the immediate situation, actual reputation management could be needed if perception about your business has been tarnished.

How can companies better prepare a PR crisis?

One cannot prepare for every possible PR crisis scenario, however a general outline will help guide businesses through the initial crisis situation – especially in areas where it may be more likely to encounter a problem. Know who needs to be contacted internally and externally, who has been designated as the spokesperson, if the crisis will require legal advice, who is drafting a media statement if applicable, who is managing social media communications, etc. You may not utilize everything in the outline, but it will be valuable to have a starting point.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

It’s not so much that reputation management is easier or more difficult now, however there is certainly more to manage, oversee and be aware of because of the continued expansion of how we communicate. It’s not only how businesses are using these diverse tools, but maybe more importantly how the public is using these tools to make decisions.

How to Connect

Website:  www.thefirmpr.com

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

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Esther Buchsbaum, APR, FCPRS, President and co-founder of energi PR.

Esther is a seasoned public relations and marketing strategist with over 35 years of experience. She is President and co-founder of energi PR, a national and independently owned Canadian firm with offices in Montreal and Toronto and network affiliations around the world.

Esther specializes in corporate communications strategy and development, crisis, issues, and reputation management and has a core competency in the negotiation, development, and implementation of CSR programs. She has provided brand development and strategic PR counsel to such clients as P&G, the Lufthansa Group, SunLife Lumino, Pom Wonderful, Hotels.com, Sunbeam, Hilton Canada, His Excellency The Governor General of Canada, The Caribbean Tourism Organization and The Italian Trade Commission to name but a few.

In her role as senior counsel for the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Esther sat as a member of a global crisis communications advisory panel mandated to develop communications strategies to deal with hurricanes, Hepatitis A, SARS, and the increasing number of crimes against foreign travelers.  In her capacity as senior counsel to Hilton Canada, Esther was instrumental in the development of the communications strategy to address the aftermath of 9/11 and its impact in the Travel and Tourism industry.

Esther holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science.  She is active in community affairs and has served on several Boards of Directors including the Executive Committee of the Montréal Holocaust Museum, Montréal’s Centaur Theatre, and Tostan International.  She is an accredited member of the Canadian Public Relations Society and was the former Canadian Representative on the Executive Committee of the Public Relations Society of America’s Counselor’s Academy.  Esther is an internationally accredited APR and is a Fellow of the Canadian Public Relations Society, which recognizes her significant individual contribution to the field of public relations.

She is a member of the CPRS, PRSA, Counselors Academy, the Travel Media Association of Canada, and The Society of American Travel Writers.  Esther is a regular guest lecturer in McGill University’s MBA program and she sits on the McGill Desautels Faculty of Management Global Marketing Expert Panel.

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

Reputation management, in the classic sense, is defined as controlling and/or influencing a person’s or group’s reputation. From a PR perspective, reputation management is everything.  It can build a brand or it can also destroy it. A brand and its ambassadors are accountable for how they behave, how they treat others, what they say, how they operate, how they perform, and how they give back to the public and communities they serve. They are guardians of the brand and are responsible for protecting the integrity of their products or services.  Everything they do or say, the people they surround themselves with, will be scrutinized from a reputation point of view, and in a day and age of social media, it’s immediate.

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

We see any number of mistakes over the course of a given day. They include but are certainly not limited to, lack of transparency or authenticity, poor choice of affiliations or brand ambassadors, denial, outright lying and the list goes on. We also have a pretty good idea when legal counsel is directing the communications strategy.  It’s typically “no comment” which of course in our PR world represents the kiss death. It smacks of something hidden, which of course drives media to dig even deeper.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

It’s first and foremost. Social is deeply integrated into our strategic communications approach for all clients, especially as concerns reputation. We are all acutely aware that anything and everything is in the public domain and anyone with a phone is a journalist. And so what we say, how we react, how we look from a brand perspective – and that includes who a brand chooses to keep company with – everyone is under a microscope. We not only monitor our clients, but we also monitor their stakeholders and competitors as well to determine how they are managing issues.

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

Make sure that the right people are on the front line monitoring the situation and who are in a position to speak/react on behalf of the company. This is by no means an entry-level task. The crisis must be dealt with in real-time – we no longer have the luxury of space or time to create a buffer or to assemble a war room, the chief executives, or train spokespeople. Regular “drills” and coaching sessions are a must in anticipation of an online event. Planning and practice are key. Be proactive.

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

Employees are a brand’s best ambassadors and strongest advocates. They are a key stakeholder and open and honest communications with your rank and file is critical at all times. Keep them updated, share key messages, keep an open-door policy, provide professional support and resources as required.  Keep them informed and equip them with the right tools and they will continue to feel good about where the work and the brand(s) they represent.

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

Planning is of utmost importance. But as the saying goes, “the best-laid plans…”. Regardless, have a plan of action. At the very least you will have a playbook, a point of departure. Be prepared. Run media preparedness coaching workshops with your senior executives and spokespeople. Keep them fresh and on their game. That goes for online preparation as well.  In this day and age of instant communications, where anyone and everyone with a phone is a journalist, any misstep is likely to go viral.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

One would think that in a day and age of corporate governance and brands being scrutinized relative to every move they make it would get easier. But to the contrary – and for a number of reasons. Brands are continuing to take risks and are pushing the limits of creativity. And often without the benefit of a second pair of eyes – namely the reputation management folks.  This has resulted in a number of gaffs that have forced brands to apologize, pull creative, pull product, etc. The rush to sell their “widgets” at the expense of reputation shows lack of judgment, insensitivity and a deaf ear to the environment within which they operate.

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

Too many to even list. We’ve dealt with death, negligence, product recalls, misappropriation of monies, the KKK, abuse of all kinds, hurricanes, disease, 911, pandemics, rising crime, you name it.  They are all different but at the end of the day, there is one underlying value that we encourage our clients to practice- the truth. Be honest, be transparent, be authentic, and get in front of the bad news with your truth and don’t allow others to speak on your behalf.  Of course, there are circumstances that don’t allow for full immediate disclosure e.g.  the file is under police or fire investigation. But I would counsel clients to bring legal and communications to the same table.  Determine what you can and cannot say – and “no comment” is not an option.

How to Connect

Website:  www.energipr.com

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-buchsbaum-apr-fcprs-02a2753/

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Ashley Davidson, Senior Director, Media & Industry Relations for Fish Consulting, a national communications consulting firm specializing in public relations and marketing for the franchise industry.

Fish’s clients include FOCUS Brands, Best Western Hotels & Resorts, Regus, Neighborly, Chicken Salad Chick, FASTSIGNS International, Inc., and Sola Salon Studios, among others.

In this role, Ashley leads the agency’s crisis communications, new business development, and executive speakers bureau. Since joining Fish in 2012, she has led national media relations strategy for brands across the restaurant, retail, fitness, and health/wellness segments, securing coverage with CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, FOX Business, Cheddar, and more. Her crisis communications experience spans a variety of issues from the COVID-19 pandemic and foodborne illnesses to sexual assault allegations, data breaches, natural disasters, and fatalities.

Prior to joining Fish, Ashley held various agency and in-house PR and corporate communications positions with O’Connell & Goldberg, Femwell Group Health, and Burger King Corporation.

Ashley is also a freelance writer who has contributed to national and local media outlets like HuffPost, Wine Enthusiast, RunnersWorld.com, The Washington Post Magazine, Chewy.com, and USA TODAY NETWORK’s sponsored content studio, GET Creative.

Ashley received her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Miami and currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

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

Reputation management is the practice of managing the public’s perception of a brand or individual. With the growth of social media, reputation management has come to be synonymous with how your brand is perceived online through these channels. It’s a significant part of public relations, as PR’s primary goal is to influence the public to have a favorable perception of a brand or individual and, ultimately, to do business with them. I think your PR strategy will not be nearly as effective if you don’t have effective reputation management. A favorable image can take years to build, but can be destroyed through one viral Facebook post that damages your reputation.

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

I primarily work in crisis communications and constantly remind brands and small business owners not to get defensive when someone attacks them — whether the criticism is true or not. It’s easy to get emotional when you’ve spent so much time building a business and any attack on it feels extremely personal. So, when people respond from an emotional place, situations can easily spiral out of control and hurt your reputation. Composure and empathy are valuable learned skills that are incredibly useful in these instances and can help you avoid a single comment turning into a larger PR crisis.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Social media gives anybody the power to publish almost anything. If we look at the recent Black Lives Matter protests, countless videos documenting police brutality, destruction of property, and more were disseminated on social media as it happened. We saw things on Twitter hours before media picked up the videos. Any person with a phone can make or break an organization’s reputation and, unlike in traditional media, you don’t have the luxury of a reporter giving you a courtesy call to get your statement before the world hears about it. Brands have to be prepared to implement their crisis response strategy at any given moment because of the speed of social media. There’s much less time to think about how to react.

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

Assess the situation to the best of your ability. What was posted/shared? Who posted it? Where was it posted (e.g. a personal Facebook page, a private group page)? Is it gaining traction, meaning, are people responding and sharing the post? And don’t forget to take a screenshot of the post, just in case it’s later deleted and you need to refer back to it. The first thing I ask when I get on the phone with a client dealing with a crisis is, “Tell me everything you know at this point.” So, having that information is helpful. That way, I can understand the current situation, gauge the seriousness of the issue and urgency of our response, and advise on next steps.

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

Resist the urge to respond to social media comments or speak to media unless specifically advised to do so. It’s important during a crisis to have consistent messaging and that’s often achieved through a single spokesperson. Having other voices chime in to defend the business, no matter how well-intentioned, can reignite a fire that was in the process of being put out. When in doubt, employees should ask their supervisor if and how they can help. If the answer is to do nothing and let the crisis communications team take the lead, trust that leadership has it handled.

Of course, there are always exceptions. If, for example, a company is under fire for serious allegations like sexual harassment, an employee may feel it is their duty to speak up. However, I recommend doing so through the appropriate channels, so they’re protected.

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

First, conduct a vulnerabilities assessment. You don’t know what to prepare for if you don’t know where your business is most vulnerable. Secondly, create a crisis communications plan with protocols for responding to each of the potential crises the business could face. Finally, conduct a crisis simulation where your senior executives and other key team members work through a potential crisis in real-time. It may seem silly to practice your crisis response, but it’s beneficial to work through the kinks now, so when a real crisis happens, everyone knows exactly what to do and can do it quickly.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

A little bit of both. When brands first started to have a presence on social media, I don’t think anyone anticipated how important of a role it would play in the daily life of a business. Back then, there were no best practices, which made reputation management harder. However, there were fewer platforms to monitor and fewer people on those platforms. Today, there is so much more content spread across countless websites and apps, but now marketers know what they’re doing and we have technology to help us manage it all.

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

The COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. hadn’t been impacted by anything of this nature in 100 years and the world was very different back then. There was no playbook and everything was changing so quickly. The only thing we could do at the beginning until we had our bearings was to listen and react. We were listening to what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was saying about how the virus is spread and how to prevent it, listening to what clients were hearing from their franchisees in dozens of local markets across the country about possible shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, and listening to how other brands were communicating their own safety protocols. We essentially transitioned to a crisis firm overnight. We work with over 30 brands, so it required an agencywide effort to share information and resources, so we were providing consistent guidance and no single team member was spinning their wheels. I’m extremely proud of how our team came together.

The other day, I listened to a video from Catherine Monson, CEO of FASTSIGNS International, Inc., and chair of the International Franchise Association, where she talked about how stress and resiliency are like muscles — the more you exercise them, the stronger those muscles, and you, become. COVID-19 strengthened those muscles for many, if not all, of us working in PR and crisis communications.

How to Connect:

Website:  https://fish-consulting.com/

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

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Dave Farrow, CEO of Farrow Communications.

Dave Farrow is best known for his brainpower. Listed twice in the Guinness Book of Records for Greatest Memory, he is first and foremost an entrepreneur who mastered PR to promote his own business. Most PR professionals have a background working in television BUT have no sales or entrepreneurial experience. As for Dave, he took his skill in memory and developed several educational products and used PR as his primary sales tool. His results are impressive.

Dave has personally been on over 2000 media interviews, including multiple appearances on Dr. Oz, Steve Harvey, the Today Show, Fox and Friends, CBS Early Show, Live! With Regis and Kelly, BBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, The CW, QVC, Discovery Channel, Science Channel, and was the star of a CBC documentary. Most recently, Farrow won the $50,000 prize on the new hit show SuperHuman on Fox.

Sales Records: Dave Farrow sold an impressive $170,000 in online products sales as a result of ONE radio interview, and over a quarter million as a result of ONE TV interview. His appearances on Dr. Oz and other prime-time shows have also been highly successful resulting in over $55,000 in sales. This sales volume landed Farrow on the Amazon bestseller list in the category of memory for over a year, a sponsorship deal with Sony Corporation, and several venture-backed infomercials. These endeavors resulted in estimated sales over 10 MILLION WORLDWIDE.

Dave says the secret of his PR success is that he has experience knocking on the media’s door and getting in for over 20 years. His success comes from years of practice selling his own products. For years he supported himself solely from the web sales he received from traffic after media interviews. As a result, he developed the skill of selling in interviews without sounding like a salesperson. Today he runs Farrow Communications and applies this experience to his client’s sales and marketing strategies.

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

Your reputation is a real asset or liability. In accounting terms, “Good Will” is essentially reputation and it accounts for much of the new sales a mature company experiences, so it is essential to keep it strong.

In our business, we are often hired to expand a person’s reputation by getting them exposure in the media. However, the type and quality of exposure will determine the results of their campaign and often their career.

Reputation is the intangible force that makes or breaks a company.

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

In no particular order, the mistakes I see are: 1. Not being bold enough, not trying hard enough to stand out and be different. 2. Not being aware of the audience to whom they are speaking. Sending mixed messages or missing the talking point. 3. Making it all about them when they should focus on tying into other peoples’ stories, which is the key to growth of reputation. Tie your content and story to what others are talking about. Don’t be an island.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

The key to our social media strategy is to place the client as the expert in the area. This could be a field they wrote the book on or just had experience in, but all the content and focus revolves around being an expert, being professional, and sharing that expertise without talking down to the audience.

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

My first advice is to avoid the crisis. Many people try to step into a story because they are passionate about it, which can often get them in trouble, such as for reposting something. This criticism can defy logic as well. I also believe a post does not change the world as much as it is an expression of the individual.

If you are in a crisis the best plan is to be honest. If you made a mistake say why you made the mistake and why it is in keeping with your company’s values. The biggest advice on crisis communications I can give is to have verisimilitude. That is the internal truth about a subject. What I mean by this, is that every statement may not be what people want to hear but as long as it matches your internal values then you do not appear to be a hypocrite.

I decided a long time ago that our company would have a focus on free speech. That every voice deserves to get exposure and that we would, as a result, represent clients from any background or political view (of course this excludes anyone who incites hate or misinformation). As a result, we have had a variety of clients with different backgrounds. If a person says they do not like what one client says, I simply respond by saying it is my job to help them say it and that the public has the right to decide. In this way, I have represented clients from all kinds of backgrounds, but I am keeping true to our original principles or free speech and assisting voices to get exposure.

I believe every company should look at their actions and not necessarily try to appeal to every individual or group in the world. But rather to have a mission and be true to that mission. This way, your communications should match that mission.

When you follow your values instead of the crowd the conversation changes to give a reason behind the crisis.

For example:  If you have a creative person who makes the mistake of hitting a hot button political issue the response might be something like:

“We believe in giving our creative people freedom to be creative, in this case, it went too far and the person has been let go as a result; however we still believe giving creators freedom helps us connect better to our customers in general.”

Most people would not argue with the first statement being laudable and thus the company has verisimilitude.

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

I think they can focus on helping point out the goals of the company and that the goal was laudable. They can support the company by separating its core values from the action that was permitted. This is like when a group of people in America do something terrible. People respond by saying that is not what America means to them etc.  That is our natural desire to separate the action from the core values of the nation.

In the same way, a good communications plan can set in stone what a company believes in and stands for. Then, if/when there is a crisis, it is inoculated against that bad news. It can keep its core values and cut out the cancer.

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

Executives are key to defining the values of a company. They need to look deeply into the company and decide what it stands for. Is it family-friendly? Is it progressive and rebellious? Is it stable and apolitical? Defining what the company wants to be then communicating it is key.

Also, I would add that communicating your core values without words is most important. Communicate the core values of a business with actions. If you are working on diversity, then work on it. Put the work into hiring and internal development. If you are saying you care about gender relations, then implement a plan to help female employees move forward in the company after having children (the most common reason why women do not reach executive levels). In general offer things like flex time, flex pay, or other modern adaptations as solutions. Take the right actions first, then tell people what you did.

The plan needs to fit the company and be in tune with its values. As Yoda says “do or do not, there is no try”

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

I think it’s getting harder to be fake and that can be good. But it’s also harder to be private. Social media culture has given everyone the right to be a virtual paparazzi. I am not happy about this change, but it is here to stay for now. There may be a future law or cultural shift, that values privacy more, but so far Andy Warhol was right about everyone getting their 15 minutes of fame. Whether they like it or not.

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

I am not at liberty to talk about specific client situations. I keep that confidential. There are still some things in the world that are private.

How to Connect:

Website:  https://farrowcommunications.com/

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

 

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Lou Laste, CEO of Brandware Group.

Lou is a diverse executive with more than 25 years’ experience in corporate and agency public relations. He has been a senior leader for some of the world’s largest corporations, including Bell Atlantic, Verizon, and Cox Automotive. Laste has led PR organizations in sales, product, brand, philanthropy, and technology.  He has managed strategies ranging from startups, brand launches, corporate restructuring, crisis communication, and community relations.

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

A reputation is a sum of your actions.  Everything you do affects it.  Protecting, defending, and polishing the reputation of a company or brand is the essence of true public relations. It is above and beyond marketing or the amplification of marketing and it separates paid from earned. A well-managed brand reputation allows a company’s marketing dollars to be spent more effectively.

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

Marketing that does not reflect diversity is one of the biggest and most avoidable mistakes. Overall, paying attention to culture and society is critical online. Don’t post a “Time to Party” ad in the middle of a pandemic.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

More than ever, social media is one of the most important elements of reputation management. Establishing and communicating a company’s voice in social media, apart from social marketing, is a tool that works over time. And on the flip side, a reputation can be severely damaged in very short order through social media when a crisis goes viral.

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

The first thing to do is to make sure whatever the offending material might be is taken down, immediately, if possible. Next, it is important to NOT respond before knowing the facts. Gather all the information, quickly. Then develop a response. If it truly is a mistake that requires an apology, do it fast and do not equivocate. And then do everything possible to prevent a follow-up mistake.

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

It’s important for employees to know that a crisis is a time in which the communications professionals are the only people speaking for a company. One voice is key. Even an employee thinking they are helping by making a Facebook post to friends in support of the company can jeopardize the efforts of the PR team. When a crisis is over, showing general support and pride for the company can be useful as long as it does not re-debate the issue.

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

All companies should ensure their communications team has a crisis plan and that it is up to date. Ensure the team knows who oversees all communications, internal and external. And the crisis communications lead(s) must have complete access to the facts, to the resources inside the company, a direct line to senior leadership, and empowerment. Speaking with one voice is very important, even if it is multiple people. One consistent message is critical.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

The need for companies to bring in communications professionals and empower them with a seat at the table is far greater than it ever has been. In a world of 24-hour news and unlimited social media, companies cannot leave their reputations unprotected.

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

I prefer to not revisit or recount any client or company’s previous crisis. I’ve been involved with a number of issues that resulted in loss of life of customers and of company employees. In a major crisis like these, immediately establishing a crisis communications center and team is the first step. In lesser issues, such as calls for a boycott for advertising on a controversial platform, it is important to have a plan in place and a partnership with related company departments in order to work quickly to diffuse the situation. Get the right people in the room. Get the facts. Evaluate the company position and policies, and make a decision. Then agree on a statement and course of action. Communicate it, quickly. Keep it short and simple. Do not add material for media to embellish. And stay off camera if possible.

How to Connect:

Website:  https://www.brandwarepr.com/

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

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Diana Bianchini founder and President of Di Moda Public Relations.

Di Moda Public Relations is a lifestyle communications agency established in 2002, currently ranked one of the top PR firms in LA and the nation by Upcity.com. With over two decades of solid industry experience, and a 18-year company track record of business success, Bianchini is a significant asset to brands, startups, innovators and disruptors looking to grow and expand business in authentic and meaningful ways.

Bianchini began her career working in Fashion PR for top-name brands like Hugo Boss and Stuart Weitzman. Since starting Di Moda PR, Bianchini and her team have successfully introduced, launched and boosted dozens of lifestyle brands into the market including Gilt Groupe, Handsome Coffee Roasters, Asprey, HELM, Deus ex Machina, and many more. Working at the intersection of lifestyle-meets-culture, Bianchini holds an impressive roster of forward-thinking clients in an array of verticals including art, architecture, design, hospitality, and non-profit. In 2017, Bianchini’s agency handled the PR campaign for the documentary film based on the life of the late Kevyn Aucoin; Beauty & The Beast In Me, which scored a feature in the coveted September issue (2017) of Vogue Magazine and went on to win an Emmy in 2018.

Bianchini’s strategic approach goes beyond pitching a single product or client. She is a pro-active critical thinker and ideas creator, skilled in developing engaging stories and innovative communications to drive new interest in lifestyle-based subcultures. She has helped shape  a number of emerging lifestyles with the help of strong media and influencer relationships.

She currently sits on the Board of Project Angel Food and lends her expertise to a variety of charitable organizations. Bianchini is credited for leveraging millions of dollars in donations to mostly Los Angeles-based nonprofits. In addition to volunteering her time, Bianchini also mentors youth, and speaks to student and entrepreneurial audiences about public relations, social impact, female empowerment in business, and entrepreneurship.  In 2019, she was the keynote speaker for a Women’s Group event hosted by UCLA and spoke on a panel at the Female Empowerment Conference in early 2020. Bianchini regularly contributes to Forbes as a Business Council Member.

Bianchini is a UCLA graduate and endowed scholar. She lives with her family in Santa Monica, California.

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

Reputation management (much like public relations) can include a lot of different services (and definitions). Within the digital space, it can directly relate to search results but perhaps the foundation of reputation in my industry started with a company or individual offline. Both the offline and online spaces are extremely important and can include communicating social responsibility, company values, earned media placement, and brand alignments. One of the first things a person or company does to research the “best of” or find more information on a specific brand/company, is search the internet. How you show up in both spaces are key factors to success.

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

A company that does not have a strong line item for strategic marketing, communications and public relations in its business plan/model, is making a big mistake in 2020. Companies that enter the market (online) still believing if you build it, they will come (or find you on the internet) are setting themselves up for failure. Mistakes like these can be avoided by hiring experts that have successful track records.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Social media and how it is can be used by a company and leadership within a company is extremely important and should always be included in the reputation management strategy.

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

This is a hard one to answer specifically because a “crisis online” can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. I would recommend, generally speaking, to quickly contact your team in charge of communications, PR and reputation to guide and consult on the situation. It is also important to remember that this team cannot give legal advice.

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

It is the responsibility of the company’s leadership to swiftly communicate with the employees on what has happened, how it is being resolved, and advise the team (can involve sample communication and bringing in other types of professionals) on how they can best assist during the time period. It is important to get face time with your employees when discussing a company crisis.

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

Hard to advise because there are many different kinds of PR crises. Overall, it’s important to have a team of experts consulting on best actions to resolve.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

I do believe it’s getting a bit more complex as we add more and more platforms to do business on and watch the digital space grow exponentially in all ways imaginable. Also, news travels at the speed of light. Things seemed to happen a bit slower just five years ago.

What has been your biggest PR or crisis communications challenge? How did you handle it? Instead of naming one specific situation, I would rather speak more generally. Protecting my clients’ reputations while helping them grow their businesses and profiles is a job that takes skill, intelligence, solid relationships, trust, and experience. It’s what I have been doing daily, and with a successful track record, for almost 20 years. Each crisis will have its own special challenges. As a company, it is important to hire an agency / professional that understands what your business needs before, after, and during a crisis.

How to Connect:

 

 

 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with  James Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA.  Jim is widely known in PR circles (and beyond) as America’s Crisis Guru® and is a globally recognized master practitioner of the modern discipline of crisis communications, a field he helped pioneer and continues to shape.

Lukaszewwski was recently named among the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior for 2013 by Trust Across America. He is profiled in Living Legends of American Public Relations; listed in Corporate Legal Times as one of “28 Experts to Call When All Hell Breaks Loose”; and cited in PR Week as one of 22 “crunch-time counselors who should be on the speed dial in a crisis.”

Penn State University invited Lukaszewski to speak as one of three panelists on the topic of “Integrity in Times of Crisis” during its Bronstein Lecture in Ethics and Public Relations in February 2013. In April 2014, he was recognized by the Minnesota Chapter of Public Relations Society of America with the Donald G. Padilla Distinguished Practitioner Award for his role as a PR educator, ethicist, and ambassador.

Lukaszewski has spent four decades advising, coaching, and counseling the men and women who run very large corporations and organizations to get through and resolve extraordinary problems and critical high-profile circumstances. His broad-based experience ranges from media-initiated investigations to product recalls and plant closings, from criminal litigation to takeovers. He is frequently retained by senior management to directly intervene and manage the resolution of corporate problems and bad news. Almost half of his practice involves civil and criminal litigation. Lukaszewski is a teacher, thinker, coach, and trusted advisor with the ability to help executives look at problems from a variety of sensible, constructive, principled perspectives. He teaches clients how to take highly focused, ethically appropriate action. He has personally counseled, coached, and guided thousands of executives in organizations large and small from many cultures representing government; the military and defense industry; the agriculture, banking, computer, financial, food processing, health care, insurance, paper, real estate development, and telecommunications industries; trade and professional associations; and non-profit agencies.

You’ve been in the crisis response business for more than 40 years. Some call you America’s Crisis Guru. What do you believe, think, or advise that is different from what we hear from most crisis advisors?

Over the years I’ve developed three fundamental beliefs which guide my thinking and the advice I give. First, I believe that all questionable, inappropriate, unethical, unconscionable, immoral, predatory and victim-producing behaviors are intentional. An adult chooses to cross a line, and if it works once, the behavior continues, and expands.

I also believe that all ethical, moral, compassionate, decent, civil and lawful behaviors are also intentional. There is always a clear choice and it is always up to the individual, often the leader to choose the course, or through silence, to signal other less ethical behaviors.

Third, I also believe that behaviors that vilify, damage, demean, dismiss, diminish, humiliate, insult, disrespect and disparage that exceed the boundaries of decency, civility and integrity are, per se unethical.

The two most powerful forces in resolving crisis situations, preserving, protecting and defending reputation are apology, which I define as the atomic energy of empathy. Apology tends to stop bad things from starting and starting bad things to stop. And empathy which I define as positive, constructive actions and deeds that demonstrate decency, civility and integrity while speaking louder than words possibly can. Deeds rather than words.

How do you define a crisis?

The crisis definition I settled on years ago and remains powerfully useful and focused: a people stopping, product stopping, show-stopping, reputation redefining trust-busting event that creates victims and/or explosive visibility.

The most powerful word in this definition is the word victims. In my experience, you can blow things up, burn things down and destroy a lot of property, but if you fail to create victims, it’s just a bad day for someone’s budget, rather than a crisis. The point of this definition is to stay focused on the real impact of the crisis: victims. It is about whether or not the boss gets to keep his/her job and responding to victims’ needs is paramount.

Always start from a management perspective. My fundamental philosophy about advising in every circumstance, but especially in crisis is that all problems, questions, comments, adversity, and crises are management problems before they are any other kind of problem. One of the biggest mistakes we make in communications is that we tend to make so many problems into crises. It may well turn out that way, but the main lesson is you need to start from a management perspective recognizing that communications is a crucial facet of responding, but there are so many of us that constantly relearn, that management rarely starts with communication, they start someplace else and often wind up never getting ready in time for an effective early response. This is the most crucial and irretrievable error management makes.

The error so many communicators make is to call problems crises. Few problems ever are or will become crises. But every crisis, by definition, is a serious problem.

Every genuine crisis threatens the job security of the person in charge, almost never PR advisors and other staff functions. But usually, the boss’ discussions at the supper table at home are quite different from what’s talked about in the office. With all this stress and pressure, bosses have trouble hearing us because we so often talk about what they could care less about.

Recognize this part of leadership and be prepared to ask some questions about it. Yes, you can be fired for this, but generally not. If you can’t help manage this part of leadership in crisis, what good are you, really?

Keep it simple, keep it direct, make it about victims, and management leadership.

Frankly, if all you have is advice on communications, you will not be called very often. Crises and victim creation are huge embarrassments for those in charge. They’re dealing with all of that personal stuff while you’re talking about op eds, tweets and other stuff. Leaders are frightened.

Let’s face it, all leaders and managers think they’re great communicators. In many ways, it’s actually quite true. Whenever I’m speaking to groups of colleagues, I always ask the question of the group, “Please raise your hand if you work for a boss who thinks they’re a bad communicator.” Gets a big laugh, if there are more than a hundred people at least one hand goes up, more laughter.

But the lesson to remember is if communication is all you’ve got, your boss is already calling on others long before they talk to you: their mothers, members of their cohort, PR people they’ve known in their past, lots of others.

And when you do get there, they are not learning from what you talk about, they’re actually mentally debating with you as to whether they could have thought of something more important and better than you can. Every boss at whatever level thinks they’re great communicators. That’s tough competition no matter how good you are. Even tougher than attorneys.

You talk frequently about the realities of crisis situations, what are those you talk about the most?

I refer to these as crisis truisms, meaning just that. These things are working from the moment a crisis begins.

• Bad news always ripens badly, these situations will get worse, sometimes a lot worse before resolution becomes apparent.
• Every moment of indecision creates unseen but avoidable collateral damage that will hurt you sooner rather than later.
• There’s no such thing as 20/20 hindsight because there’s no such thing as 20/20 foresight.
• Silence is the most toxic, reputation-damaging strategy. It’s unexplainable, unbelievable, and unrecoverable because silence creates permanent suspicion, and management is generally considered untruthful.
• Critics and victims accumulate.
• There will always be bellyachers, bloviators, gripers, second-guessers and backbench complainers, many coming from our own profession.
• Once a critic, enemy, or victim, always a critic, enemy, or victim.
• Speed beats smart every time. Doing something now is always more beneficial than doing something better later. The longer you wait, the more likely you will be facing these old questions rather than explaining what you’re actually doing. “What did you know and when did you know it?” “So much for holding off and waiting for the smart solutions.” Nobody will care.

What qualifies as a victim in your strategy?

There are three kinds of victims: people, animals, and living systems (a lake, a forest, the atmosphere, someone’s backyard). The victim dimension rarely seems to concern crisis managers or communicators early enough when it should be the primary concern that drives response.

What is your response strategy, from the start?

I call it the grand strategy.  Here it is in summary and then with explanations.

• Stop the production of victims
• Manage the victim dimension
• Communicate internally intensively
• Notify those indirectly affected
• Manage the new media, legacy media, bloggers, guessers, bellyachers, people smarter than you

Step 1: Stop the production of victims. Until you do the situation simply gets worse and worse.

Step 2: Prepare to manage the victim dimension. Leaving victim management to the victims themselves, which often happens, or to outsiders leaves you open for immediate and extraordinary criticism, often viewed as an irritating distraction by those to blame. Keep in mind that the greatest threat to a company’s reputation is how victims are treated and cared for. Victims are the permanent keepers of a company’s reputation and credibility. The longer you wait, the harsher you will be dealt with.

Step 3: Communicate internally immediately. Yes, there may be a great deal of external media attention that needs to be dealt with, but what we know about crisis reporting is that most of it is completely predictable. If your planning for crisis response is scenario-based, a part of that preparation is anticipating what various public responses are going to be. One of the major holes in the response strategy is failing to keep the people most important to you and to your reputation up to speed: those who work for you, those who collaborate with you, those who share your vision, those who perhaps provide components for the things you produce.

The reality of the environment of crisis communication is that failure to communicate with key internal audiences authorizes them to communicate on their own. In a crisis we know so little for so long yet we are expected to speak immediately. Communicating promptly, briefly and frequently, internally keeps your base audiences more relaxed and, frankly, less likely to make things up. Remember once somebody makes something up and it gets currency, you own it whether you want to or not.

Step 4: Notify the indirectly affected people. These are partners, collaborators, vendors, anyone who has a problem potentially because you have a problem. The rationale is the same These brief communications that are also available publicly tend to settle people down and solve the biggest problem of all in reputation management during a crisis, communication that is more contemporary with events and responses is more credible.

Remember, your response can be perfect technically, operationally, in many respects, but if you bungle the communications part from the beginning, this is how your response will be remembered and rereported, sometimes for many years into the future.

Step 5: Deal with and manage the self-appointed, self-anointed. This is the new media, the old media, the bloviators, the bellyachers, the bloggers, those who appoint themselves, which includes the news media, to cover your story and talk about it, interpret it and find ways to criticize.

In a crisis, you must manage your own destiny. You need to relentlessly correct, comment on, and clarify errors in reporting, even in blogging and bellyaching. Reporters usually never look back at their own errors, and when they do look back they will reexplore the errors they reported earlier, and find new ones to criticize.

It’s your destiny, if you fail to manage it, more than likely, someone you would prefer not to, will.

What if you don’t know that much about what’s going on in the early going?

We never know what’s going on in a serious way at the very beginning, unless we trigger the negative event ourselves. That’s why it’s a crisis. The reason for my strategic approach is so that we have something to talk about from the beginning: Our strategy and the things we are doing that are concrete and specific to move the process forward. Every one of these steps actually begins to reduce the interest and the inflammability of a crisis situation because we are dealing with the most important aspects of a problem, knowing very little. We are ready for the worst.

The metaphor I like comes from military medicine, the concept of the golden hour. After World War II, U.S. military medicine focused on additional preparations to reduce the loss of life in combat. They determined that the greatest loss of life actually came from the wounded bleeding to death on the way to treatment in the back of a bouncing jeep or ambulance. About that same time a company in Connecticut invented a machine called a helicopter and they actually gave a number of the machines to the military service and said, “Figure out how to use this so we can sell you more.” The army military medicine structure looked at the helicopter as an extraordinary blessing. If you remove the gun turrets from the skids and put litters on those skids, you can transport patients extremely quickly and safely from the battlefield.

When the Korean war broke out, the army medical corps made one additional change and that was they created the concept of the mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) everyone knows what those are. But the helicopter transport concept and putting a MASH at the battle line made them really powerful life-saving approaches. By the end of the Korean war, no matter how badly you were wounded, if you arrived alive at a MASH, the odds were you would leave the MASH alive.

Your reputation is in the same circumstance moving to the crisis response process with about the same timeline.

What are the management behavior patterns that perpetuate trouble during crisis response?

I call it profiles in failure. Sometimes the only way to help leaders avoid embarrassment, humiliating visibility, enormous litigation, and just plain stupidity is to illustrate dramatically the pattern of behaviors and attitudes that lead to catastrophic reputational trouble, during readiness training. These behaviors can be easily recognized and their impact predicted. If you are looking for trouble, here’s the way to quickly multitask your way into long-term difficulty.

1.     Silence:

The most toxic strategy possible. Makes you look like a perpetrator, whether true or not. There is no credible way to explain silence in the face of crisis. Silence is the most frequent top executive career-killer in crisis situations. Crisis causes so many counterproductive, aggressively negative and dumb unanswerable reactions. Ultimately, the collateral damage from silence accumulates to where it becomes the root cause of your problems rather than what’s actually going on, even if your response is otherwise technically done perfect.

2.     Stalling:

Speed beats smart every time. Failure to act immediately, even incorrectly, is impossible to explain or apologize for. Doing nothing, even for what appear to be good reasons, is never believably explainable. Stalling begins the moment all the big shots huddle in a room, close the door, and try to figure things out by themselves, while we wait outside.

3.     Denial:

Refuse to accept the fact that something bad has happened and that there may be victims or other direct effects that require prompt public acknowledgment.

4.     Victim Confusion:

Irritable reaction to reporters, angry neighbors, and victims’ families when they call asking for help, information, explanation, or apology. “Hey! We’re victims too.” “What about all those baseball jerseys we bought for the kids?” How many baseball jerseys equal the death of a child?

5.     Testosterosis:

Look for ways to hit back, rather than to deal with the problem.  Refuse to give in, refuse to respect those who may have a difference of opinion or a legitimate issue. Slap back first.

6.     Arrogance:

Reluctance to apologize, express concern or empathy, or to take appropriate responsibility because, “If we do that, we’ll be liable,” or, “We’ll look like sissies,” or, “We’ll set a precedent,” or, “There will be copycats.”

7.     Search for the Guilty:

Shift blame anywhere you can while digging into the organization, looking for traitors, turncoats, troublemakers, those who push back, and the unconvinceables.

8.     Fear of the Media:

As it becomes more clear that the problem is at least partly real, the media begin asking, “What did you know, and when did you know it?”, “What have you done, and when did you do it?”, and other humiliating, embarrassing, and damaging questions for which there are no really good, truthful answers anymore because you have stalled so long.

9.     Whining:

Head down, finger in your navel, shuffling around, whining, and complaining about how bad your luck is, about being a victim of the media, zealous do-gooders, wacko-activists, or people don’t know anything; about how people you don’t respect have power; and, that you “don’t get credit” for whatever good you’ve already contributed. The louder and longer the whining, the more guilty the leadership looks, especially to victims. And they usually are.

Execute one, some or all of these behaviors in any order and I guarantee trouble, serious reputation problems, and brand damage. By the time you recover – if you do – look for some career-defining moments including involuntary departure, and a new team may replace you and yours.

How do you know what to do if your company has never experienced this kind of problem with the dimensions of a crisis before?

All crises are really event patterns we can recognize if we are ready to. This should be part of your readiness process, identifying likely scenarios and literally working them through as exercises with management. This is actually a pretty enjoyable process for them because this is important and they all have a role to play, which they need to rehearse. By the same token, there is a pattern of behavior and decisions and action that if undertaken promptly, or at least as soon as possible, can begin to mitigate the kinds of problems that develop as a result of inaction, indecision, and imprecision in management and lack of readiness.

Remember, all crises ripen badly.

What do you believe are the most important ingredients of a successful response?

The two most powerful ingredients of crisis response are empathy and apology. To repeat myself, you can actually do a technically perfect response to a crisis, and many prepared companies do. But if you bungle the empathy factor, this is reputation damage that will live long, no matter how perfectly your response was executed. The key thinking here is to recognize that apology, which is shunned from the beginning, is really a leadership concept rather than just a legal concept. Yes, all apologies have legal consequences, but ultimately from a communication point of view, those consequences are predominantly positive. Bosses and lawyers are trying to avoid them.

I define apology as the atomic energy of empathy. Apologies stop bad things from starting and starting bad things to stop. I define empathy as positive, constructive actions and deeds that demonstrate civility, decency and integrity while speaking louder than words possibly can. The key concept here again is that empathy and apology are leadership concepts beyond just legal consequences. The fact is you’re going to be sued if there are victims. Hire more attorneys. But if you really want to get these things under control and put them away, learn how to be empathetic and caring as leaders and advisors of organizations.

How do you fix broken trust?

Real reputation repair depends fundamentally on rebuilding trust. This too is an essential process that can be learned and adopted as part of the response strategy. I refer to it in two ways, one is a process called seeking forgiveness, but the same process applies to rebuilding trust. It involves initiating very early in the process of responding nine crucial steps, which ultimately, in my experience all have to be undertaken eventually if the issues surrounding a crisis event to be fully rectified.

Step #1     Candor: Outward recognition, through promptly verbalized public acknowledgment, that a problem exists; that people or groups of people, the environment, or the public trust are affected; and that something will be promptly done to remediate the situation.

Step #2     Extreme Empathy/Apology: Verbalized or written statement of personal regret, remorse, and sorrow, acknowledging personal responsibility for having injured, insulted, failed or wronged another, humbly asking for forgiveness in exchange for more appropriate future behavior and to make amends in return.

Step #3     Explanation (no matter how silly, stupid, or embarrassing the problem-causing error was): Promptly and briefly explain why the problem occurred and the known underlying reasons or behaviors that led to the situation (even if we have only partial early information).

Step #4     Affirmation: Talk about what you’ve learned from the situation and specifically how it will influence your future behavior. Unconditionally commit to regularly report additional information until it is all out or until no public interest remains.

Step #5     Declaration: A public commitment and discussion of specific, positive steps to be taken to conclusively address the issues and resolve the situation.

Step #6     Contrition: The continuing verbalization of regret, empathy, sympathy, even embarrassment.  Take appropriate responsibility for having allowed the situation to occur in the first place, whether by omission, commission, negligence or stupidity.

Step #7     Consultation: Promptly ask for help and counsel from “victims,” government, the community of origin, independent observers, and even from your opponents.

Directly involve and request the participation of those most directly affected to help develop more permanent solutions, more acceptable behaviors, and to design principles and approaches that will preclude similar problems from re-occurring.

Step #8    Commitment: Publicly set your goals at zero. Zero errors, zero defects, zero dumb decisions, and zero problems. Publicly promise that, to the best of your ability, situations like this will be permanently prevented.

Step #9     Restitution: Find a way to quickly pay the price.  Make or require restitution. Go beyond community and victim expectations, and what would be required under normal circumstances to remediate the problem. Pay more now or much more later. 

But the big question is, how do you get enough attention early enough in crisis to get all these things understood, much less underway?

The Answer is relatively simple and in two parts. Part one: stop talking about crisis management, it’s a PR term that keeps making all public relations people look like chicken littles, screaming that the sky is falling. Instead, and we learned this in our experience in recovering from 9/11, the management term for what we’re talking about is readiness. When you frame handling adverse situations as readiness, it’s an entirely different conversation. The moment you mention crisis management, executives respond immediately, defensively, something like, “Well, we can’t prepare for everything. Why do we need to do something like this for something that will clearly never happen to us?” Talking about crisis management is always a negative, defensive, sometimes irritating discussion for leadership. The larger the organization, the larger and more powerful the leadership, the more omnipotent they tend to feel when it comes to negative events of any kind. When talking about readiness we can explore a menu of options to be ready for various circumstances, rather than constantly debating whether some likely adverse situation will ever happen or not.

Part two: avoid the deadly mistake of beginning preparation for crises without bringing the boss in from the very start. Believe me, when I tell you that if you skip this step you can be replaced. This is a crucial step in building the trust of those you hope to persuade and advise.  Very few situations that we currently call crises will redefine a leader’s career, much less create victims. More crises plans (perhaps most) never truly get off the ground because they were started without senior-level input, progressed without senior level guidance, including stopping that process. The typical management response to crisis: huddling in a room, sometimes for hours, is going to happen. Only the boss can shorten this process, especially if he’s in on the preparations.

When you study crisis response, and all of us have to, the real response has little to do with the news media, it has to do with executive behavior, response to career-defining moments, and creating the elements of failure described earlier. Focusing on readiness will be one of the key ways you become a trusted strategic advisor, well before emergencies occur.

How to Connect:

Website:  https://www.e911.com/

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

Books:  https://www.e911.com/books/ 

We are very excited to continue our public relations and crisis communications expert interview series with Debra Caruso Marrone owner and President of DJC Communications.

Debra Caruso Marrone, president and owner of DJC Communications (founded in 1991), has more than 30 years of experience in the media field and has directed campaigns for corporate entities, large non-profit organizations, unions, trade organizations and leading universities.

Debra is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Press Club and represents the organization as its public relations consultant. A graduate of Fordham University with a degree in journalism, she was previously vice president at Sheehan Communications, Inc.

A known expert on the media, she has been quoted in The New York Times, Marketwatch, ABC News Radio, metro US, WNYC, E-Commerce Times, Arizona Republic, Forbes.com, Christian Science Monitor and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel among others. Featured in The Hill and Huffington Post, Debra has also written articles on public relations in such publications as BullDog Reporter, Ragan.com, O’Dwyer’s PR Magazine and CommPro.biz on such topics as advice for the presidential candidates.

President of the Fordham College Alumni Association, Debra is author of the book, Fordham University & the United States: A History. She and her husband, Mike Marrone, live in Glen Cove, Long Island.

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

All entities, from Mom and Pop retail operations to Fortune 100 companies, rely on reputation management for success. Reputation is how an entity is perceived by its customers, employees, vendors, and all constituents. Without a positive, forward-facing status in one’s realm, businesses will suffer. Public relations efforts support reputation management with proactive, image-enhancing measures like branding, promotional campaigns, media relations and crisis communications.

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

Too many entities, even the largest, most public companies, make the mistake of not perfecting their websites. Some of the largest retailers have websites that fail, that don’t offer ease of use, or cause shoppers to run into obstacles. They don’t have customer service reps at the ready to solve issues.

All companies should invest in web development to allow customers to do business with them and to learn about what they do, all of which should be consistent with their branding and operation.

This has been especially apparent during the COVID-19 crisis. Retailers and restaurants that could not adapt and pursue online ordering with curbside pick-up did not succeed.

How does social media factor into your reputation management strategy?

Social media supports reputation management. Every success a company has and every service it offers should be posted to social media because in most instances today, social sites are the face of the company and the first point of connection to customers. Social sites should be updated constantly and monitored consistently to ensure that all messaging is positive. If there is negative messaging from an unhappy customer, for instance, that should be addressed as quickly as possible.

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

Assess before acting. It is crucial that management, with the support of a PR team, refrain from taking action until they have investigated the crisis, how it occurred and what should be done to solve it. Once the solution is determined, the problem should be confronted head-on and the company should let the public know what action it is taking and why. All of this must be done as quickly as possible.

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

Employees must always be on board. It is up to management to communicate with employees to let them know what crisis has occurred and how the company plans to deal with it. Once determined, employees should be briefed and instructed on what to say to customers and what not to say. Most importantly, all employees should be advised not make statements – to the public or to the media – without the authorization of management.

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

An action plan should always be in place in case of a crisis. Once management is informed of a problem, it should commence immediate communication with a PR team and with attorneys, if necessary. Those teams will advise management on how to proceed. The system through which all of this occurs should be known to all entities and each person involved should know to be ready at any time of day or night.

Is reputation management getting easier or harder? Why?

Definitely more difficult because media deadlines are constant and there is no time of day or night that is immune to criticism or error. Negative feedback, for instance, can be posted to social media at any time. Plus, there are many more outlets available to those will spread negative information. Instead of one hole in the dike, there are hundreds, which makes plugging the holes that much more difficult.

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

My most far-reaching and perhaps biggest crisis communications challenge would have been many years ago when I was a young PR person working for the union that represented New York City police officers. As with today, there were instances when officers were accused of acting in such a way that would cause harm to members of the public. It was very difficult to reconcile those who acted inappropriately with the fact that so many police officers do their best to protect the public in a very difficult environment, which is the tactic that we took. Having that job would be much more difficult today because of video which leaves little question as to whether an officer’s life is threatened in a particular situation, offering potential (though certainly not definitive) justification.

How to Connect:

Website: www.djccommunications.com

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