Why being honest matters in a crisis
“Why is it important for companies to be honest in a crisis?” I’m talking to John Brown, founder of Don’t Cry Wolf, an agency that works with ‘no bullshit’ brands – brands that want to make honest and openness a…
crisis communication
Thoughts on managing a crisis from the PRCA’s Exeter simulation
How quickly could you get sign off on a statement during a crisis? When should you respond to individuals on social media? And how much information is too much? These were just some of the questions raised after last night’s…
The perils of change: lessons from the #KFCCrisis
In February, Kentucky Fried Chicken started working with a new “delivery partner”. Now, usually, most people wouldn’t care about this, but then hundreds of KFC branches closed down temporarily because they ran out of chicken and, well, a lot of…
Is your brand prepared to be attacked on social media?
Social media has revolutionised the way we communicate, but it’s also caused some problems. Issues that shouldn’t touch a brand can become reputational crises within hours. Fringe groups use social media gain disproportionate airtime for views held by a tiny…
How to respond to negative reviews
The subtitle to this post should be: “in a way that doesn’t blow up in your face”. No reasonable person expects brands to be perfect. Mistakes happen, it’s the response (or lack of one) that counts. But sometimes businesses seem…
Why brands need to simulate a social media crisis
It’s not hard to understand why your team needs to train to deal with a crisis breaking on social media – one look at the news shows the power that social media posts have over the headlines. Whether it’s the…
BA’s uncontrolled descent into crisis
Most crises are avoidable. Around ten years ago, my boss and I used to carry home back-up tapes of our server data. That way, if the office burnt down over night we’d still have two copies of the back-up. While…
The five mistakes that shaped United’s crisis
At 7:30pm on Sunday 9th April passengers aboard United Airlines flight 3411 started tweeting about an incident as they waited for take-off. Some tweeted the airline, others local news channels. Several took pictures and video of the chaos on board…
Book your place at Digital Download
If you’ve ever wondered what a live social media crisis simulation would be like, now’s your chance to find out! The Polpeo team will be at this month’s Digital Download in Islington, running a live crisis simulation focusing on the…
Brands are more than their CEOs
On a business level, when it comes to reputation with clients, governments, media and the industry that they are in, CEOs (and their actions) carry a lot of weight. But what about their wider reputational impact? For example, I’m currently…