In a recession, it’s common to put on the brakes, forget about your long-term plans and cut back spending to save as much as you can. However, if not done strategically, this short-term gain can create long-term pain, and any immediate savings are simply an illusion when you look at the overall business outlook. PR… Continue reading How to Maintain and Build Brand Awareness and Market Share During a Recession
In recent months, many companies worldwide, especially social media and tech-based companies, have cut their workforces citing inflation, the ever-looming recession and loss in revenue as the chief reasons to blame. While some of these layoffs generated only a few headlines in the news, some well-known CEOs and bosses have not handled the communication of… Continue reading Announcing Layoffs: Treat It Like Crisis to Minimize Reputation Loss
Every year, hundreds of companies face major scandals and crises that require a significant amount of damage control. There is a lot that PR and marketing professionals can learn from these situations and the selected response. Here are some of the top five corporate crises from 2022 and key takeaways that every leader can use… Continue reading Top Five 2022 Corporate Crises – And The Lessons Learned
Ethics and transparency, AI and innovations, ESG agenda and constant crisis mode – these are some of the key trends that will shape 2023 for brands and communicators, say PRGN’s leading global communications experts in our annual collection of PR predictions. As the end of the year approaches, PRGN is asking every December its member… Continue reading PR Predictions 2023: Tougher Markets, More Strategic Roles and New Opportunities Await Communicators
One of three tenets upon which Mileage Communications was built, and which guides interaction with clients, partners, staff, vendors, the media and other stakeholders, is observing integrity. Integrity refers to being honest, reliable, and trustworthy. It is about seeking to always do the right thing, standing up for what is right, and addressing conflict respectfully.… Continue reading Observing Integrity – Your Key to Long-Term Success in PR
The Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) announced winners of its 2022 Best Practice Awards at an awards gala ceremony held at the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore and attended by more than 30 member agencies from across the globe. In the 11th year of PRGN’s awards program, 32 member agencies submitted more than 100… Continue reading PRGN 2022 Best Practice Awards: Agencies Win Big in Singapore
As the global Covid-19 pandemic has so clearly demonstrated over the past few years, every organization—no matter its size or industry—is vulnerable to the ever-looming threat of a crisis. These threats can range from security breaches and product recalls, to natural disasters and workplace violence incidents. As PR professionals, we understand that a company’s response… Continue reading 7 Simple Steps to Developing a Crisis Communications Plan
Even managers most prepared to speak in public and to meet the most varied stakeholders are often reluctant to speak with the media and do not know what to do when invited to give a media interview. Whether the interview is a first time or an already familiar situation, success depends on several factors that… Continue reading Five Tips for Giving Media Interviews
Remember the saying “There’s no such thing as bad publicity?” Well, that’s not entirely accurate. More and more, brands are seeing the impact of PR scandals and crises and how they impact their market positions. Depending on the circumstances, a crisis can cast a brand in a bad light, destroy a hard-earned reputation, and put… Continue reading Top 5 Corporate Crises in 2021 to Learn From
The Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) announced winners of its 2021 Best Practice Awards today in an online Awards Gala ceremony attended virtually by member agencies from across the globe. In the tenth year of PRGN’s awards program, member agencies submitted close to 110 entries on client work, agency promotion and campaigns into 22 categories,… Continue reading PRGN 2021 Best Practice Awards: Top Winners Represent All Three Regions
Crisis communications as a public relations practice stands out not just in the execution of high level strategies at an amplified pace, but because every crisis communications scenario serves as a stress test for that organization. Whether that crisis plays out in the headlines or gets managed internally, everyone immediately recognizes what worked… and what… Continue reading The New Chapters You Should Add to Your Crisis Handbook After Covid-19
It’s been a long and challenging 12 months since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Many businesses have moved to remote work or a hybrid workplace model, while others were forced to shut their doors permanently. However, with vaccine rollouts across the United States on a fast track by… Continue reading Five Ways Communicators Should Prepare to Reopen After Covid-19
It goes without saying that 2020 was a year we’d all rather forget. While the vaccine proliferation in many parts of the world offers a light at the end of the COVID tunnel, public relations professionals should keep five potential crises in the back of their mind as we work to normalize again. Vaccine rollout… Continue reading The Five Crises to Watch for in 2021
Global communications group joins initiative calling for communications professionals to do their part in face of the global pandemic, climate emergency and future threats facing mankind The Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) today joined an initiative endorsed by Orbicom, the network of UNESCO chairs in communications, and called the “International Declaration of Communications Professionals and Researchers… Continue reading Public Relations Global Network Endorses UNESCO Declaration on a Healthier, Viable, Better World
What a year. 2020 might as well have been “the year of crisis.” Or maybe it was just one big 365-day crisis. It certainly felt like it, as The Castle Group’s crisis communications practice managed more than 100 crises for 57 clients in 19 states and two countries. As we reflect on 2020, we all… Continue reading 2020 – The Year of Crisis
For most business leaders, 2020 almost certainly will be viewed similarly to sports accomplishments that include asterisks to denote records set under questionable circumstances. Yet, many of us as senior communications advisers are wired for this time in history. While we admittedly prefer to function through carefully planned and crafted strategies and tactics, most of… Continue reading Three Lessons of 2020 That Help You Prepare PR Programs in 2021 and Beyond
Let’s be honest, every company can face a social media crisis at any time. If it hasn’t happened yet, it may come to you sooner or later. A comprehensive communications toolkit today cannot be complete without a blog, so it is quite right to ask: How can a blog be part of your contingency plan?… Continue reading 5 Ways to Use Your Blog to Manage a Crisis
It’s that time of year. We’re all finishing up the current year while looking towards the future, gazing into our all-knowing crystal balls. And in our industry, that means looking at what’s in store for the field of public relations in 2019. I took the liberty of asking my friends and colleagues at the Public… Continue reading What’s in store for PR in 2019?
Hiring any consultant is a difficult task. How do you find one that will mesh with your company culture and values? What about the budget? How can you measure results? With public relations, it can be even more difficult, given most people struggle with the intangible aspect of our industry. That said, there are ways… Continue reading So, You Think You Need a PR Firm: Tips from an Insider on How to Do it Right
Social media is a very powerful tool for business. It is a platform for businesses to showcase their strengths and build a community of followers. Unfortunately, that same power can translate to major damage in the event of a crisis. Social media gives publicity issues the fuel to escalate to a full crisis in mere… Continue reading How to Keep Your Business Safe from Social Network Threats
The corporate horizon has been littered with the skeletal remains of brands whose reputations have been tattered by a PR disaster. Three types of crises, in particular, have dominated the news recently: Security breaches (think Equifax) Bad behavior by a “rogue” employee (the Starbucks employee who had two African-American men arrested) #MeToo complaints lodged against… Continue reading Top PR Disasters and How to Avoid Them
Nearly 3 years after the VW emissions scandal broke worldwide, the CEO of VW-owned Audi is arrested for fraud, false advertising and hindering the investigation by German authorities. The first rule of crisis communications is to end the crisis and on something of this scale, that means untainted leadership and a willingness to right the… Continue reading VW Crisis Communications Failures Never End
Do you Google yourself and your company? If not, you should. Google is the first impression for anyone who doesn’t know you. It’s common for clients, customers, colleagues and even competitors to use the Internet to form their opinion of you. They want to know who is saying what? Is the information positive, negative or… Continue reading Reputation Management and Monitoring Your Web Presence
We’ve all seen it on the news. The spokesperson heads to the microphone, reads a statement, then begins taking questions. Then, we notice something. He or she makes a mistake. Whether your spokesperson starts speaking off-topic, becomes a “deer in the headlights” or unintentionally gives away private information, a mistake takes place. Any one of… Continue reading What to do When Your Spokesperson Makes a Mistake
Just as social media has changed everything about communications and marketing, it’s taken the practice of crisis management to new heights. The immediacy of channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others make managing a crisis even more difficult, particularly when the groundswell of public commentary on the issue and the response – or lack… Continue reading Top Five Things to Know about Managing a Crisis on Social Media
For years they have been on separate paths, but since crisis is a synonym of corporate reputation, clients no longer worry about hiring a law firm when looking for a solution to their conflicts, but for several years they have understood that simultaneously they should look for someone who watches over their public image before… Continue reading The New, Close Relationship Between Communication Agencies and Law Firms
For the past 25 years, David Fuscus of Xenophon Strategies has worked on hurricances, plane crashes, earthquakes, tornado and other disasters. Hurricane Irma is the scariest one of them all. He has just published A How to Help Guide by a Crisis Communications Pro based on his experiences and learning what works and what doesn’t.… Continue reading Hurricanes Irma & Harvey: A How to Help Guide by a Crisis Pro
Imagine this: You get an unexpected call in the middle of the day. Your company’s network has experienced a data breach and information for thousands of customers is now susceptible to hackers. You don’t know all the details yet, but the local news has gotten wind of the story and they are planning to run… Continue reading The Importance of a Good Crisis Management Plan – And How to Get Started
At Xenophon Strategies, we’ve handled crisis communication on 13 major hurricanes for a variety of clients. Check out the new blog post on communications lessons hurricanes have to teach from David Fuscus. From planning to execution, getting ready for a natural disaster can be difficult for any organization, these principles will make it easier. http://tinyurl.com/y93tm3lo… Continue reading Crisis Communication & Hurricanes
Good crisis communications planning starts with base fundamentals – assessing areas of risk, preparing your organization including effective policies and solid messaging and narrative that defines the organization and its values. Check out Xenophon CEO David Fuscus’s newest blog post: Key Fundamentals of Crisis Communication Plans. https://xenophonstrategies.com/crisis_communication_plan/
The now famous United Airlines debacle of a bloodied passenger being dragged off a plane will resurface in news stories about United for years. Virtually everyone has seen the video of the crisis, from school children to captain of industries and because of it, they are paying a lot more attention to United. What could United… Continue reading Bloody Incident Will Haunt United Airlines
By now, most people are aware that Volkswagen’s image has taken a severe hit over the past month, when it was revealed that the automaker had installed technology in its cars that could “cheat” emissions tests. VW admitted that worldwide, 11 million cars that run on diesel fuel had this type of technology, and the… Continue reading Volkswagen Exec’s Sincere Apology Blames Rogue Engineers – Not the Best Approach to a PR Crisis
