{"id":55836,"date":"2023-04-07T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mention.com\/?p=55836"},"modified":"2025-01-06T17:00:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T17:00:56","slug":"avoid-damage-with-crisis-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mention.com\/en\/blog\/avoid-damage-with-crisis-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoid Damage to Your Brand Reputation with Crisis Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every company, regardless of its size and sector, has to remain cognizant of public relations and reputation management. Managing brand reputation in the wake of a crisis can be incredibly difficult for businesses to navigate, with 2022 producing some truly noteworthy PR disasters<\/a>, showing exactly what not to do in many cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is only the tip of the iceberg: over the last 10 years, corporate crises have risen substantially. In today\u2019s technology-driven world, negative incidents are bound to make the rounds on news sites and social media platforms before your organization is even aware something has happened. This makes it incredibly difficult to manage your company\u2019s reputation, especially if it\u2019s operating in an industry where consumers are directly affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of an effective public relations strategy is effectively being able to handle negative events, reviews, incidents, or news related to your company. No business is ever 100% safe and risk-free from potential negative events. Some incidents may originate internally, while others may be brought on by external parties. Regardless of circumstance, however, you must understand how to address these problems if and when they occur, so you can minimize the damage it does to your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guide will explore how your company can avoid becoming the victim of a damaging PR crisis, and how you can effectively maintain a positive brand reputation during, and after a negative incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a Public Relations Crisis?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, it\u2019s important to establish exactly what constitutes a corporate business crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Timothy Coombs\u2019<\/a> situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), crises are: \u201cnegative events that cause stakeholders to make \u2018attributions\u2019 (interpretations) about crisis responsibility, affecting how stakeholders interact with the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coombs suggests that an effective response to crises depends on an objective assessment of the situation. Businesses need to interpret the level of threat, who is responsible, and how damaging the crisis will be to the company\u2019s stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support this, he distinguished situational crises into three main categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Victim<\/strong> – where the victim of the crisis is the organization itself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Accident<\/strong> – where the organization\u2019s actions leading to the crisis were unintentional.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Intentional<\/strong> – where the organization deliberately took unnecessary and inappropriate risks.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Examples of victim crises can be natural disasters, which affect physical buildings or infrastructure. These incidents provide little to no reputational threat to businesses, given that the situations are unavoidable and companies cannot prevent them from occurring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"US
    Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Accidental crises put the organization at fault, but with no intent to cause any problems. These can include equipment failure or insufficient product performance, such as the 2014 Amazon Fire Phone<\/a>, which was discontinued a little after a year. These incidents present a medium risk to the company, where it can easily admit fault and take positive steps to address and resolve the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Intentional crises are entirely preventable. Organizations that intentionally take risks leading to negative outcomes or repercussions carry a high reputational risk. There is huge pressure on an organization\u2019s public response, as well as their remedial action following the crisis, with it proving exceptionally difficult to restore reputation. Such an example includes the deliberate Germanwings Airbus crash in 2015 that saw the managing directors and doctors absolved of any responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What Effect Can a PR Crisis Have on a Business?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    It might be difficult to determine the extent of the damage of a business crisis at first. However, trust defines everything of value, particularly in today\u2019s transparent world where consumers and businesses are more aware of their actions, and have greater platforms to voice opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Trust, in the words of David Horsager, who defined the Eight Pillars of Trust, as the single biggest \u201cleading indicator\u201d of the greatest leaders, organizations, and brands of all time. He explains these pillars here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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