Leaders of B2B brands may not expect to face a crisis where their brand is cast into the glare of public scrutiny, but it can happen.
While consumers may have heard the name ‘Boeing’ mentioned in the news, most don’t have any touchpoints with the organisation.
They deal with airline operators and airports, not plane manufacturers.
Until, that is, Boeing’s run of safety issues kept making headlines. After it was named in two tragic and fatal air crashes in 2018, its reputation for safety plummeted, not helped by a string of issues including stranded astronauts, doors blowing off while mid-air, and faulty parts causing safety concerns.
Similarly, before the CrowdStrike-related IT outages in 2024, most people wouldn’t have known the role it plays in keeping many aspects of their day running smoothly.
But when a crisis strikes, even a B2B brand can suddenly become a household name, for all the wrong reasons.
Boeing and CrowdStrike had very different crises to manage, but both needed to switch from B2B comms to speaking to consumers directly.
The unexpected audience
Most B2B businesses focus their external comms around winning the business of other companies and communicating with suppliers and partners. They aren’t out there forming relationships with consumers every day.
When a crisis hits that propels a B2B brand into public consciousness, they need to adjust and adjust fast.
Aviation expert, Dirk Singer, who spoke to Kate and Tamara recently on the What Just Happened? podcast, sees Boeing as a B2B2C company. While Boeing sells to other businesses, it also needs to sell passengers on the idea that those planes are safe to fly in.
But you don’t usually see plane manufacturers talking to regular people about their products.
How many of us have any sort of relationship with the manufacturer of the buses and trains we take to work? When the train’s late, we complain to the operator, not the company that made it.
During a crisis that affects consumers, B2B brands need to swiftly adapt their communications strategy and focus on elements that they may not have needed to before.
Apologies only matter if followed by action
Consumer brands are well versed in customer communications, B2B brands have less opportunity to practice talking to people as, well, people, rather than job titles.
Boeing has issued several apologies, including a video apology from its then CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, back in 2019, which was followed up by another apology during a TV interview and an apology from CEO David Calhoun in a June 2024 Senate subcommittee hearing.
While apologies are important, they must be followed up by corrective action, otherwise they’re meaningless. Boeing’s admittance to criminal fraud charges and failure to stick to the terms of its deal to improve safety showed that was it was saying and what it was doing were poles apart.
Here is where Boeing has finally done the right thing. It’s current CEO, Kelly Ortberg (appointed in 2024), has a background in engineering. He’s been changing the culture to one that focuses on safety first by doing things like separating safety from profit, restructuring manufacturing oversight, making site visits and being more accessible to employees.
By August 2025 its stock price had risen by 39% in a year.
Any business that impacts people must prioritise public communication
CrowdStrike’s software update error had a massive impact felt by people around the world. People who were trying to do their shopping, watch children’s TV, pay their bills, go to medical appointments, fly (4.6% of global flights due to fly that day were cancelled) – it was chaos.
While CrowdStrike is an extremely successful and effective IT security provider for businesses, the impact of that day showed the fundamental role it plays in people’s everyday lives.
When your business has that kind of reach, B2C comms needs to be a priority.
The crisis saw the brand become a household name and its spokespeople appearing on the news (and in CrowdStrike’s case, its CEO having to answer to the US House Committee on Homeland Security).
As Clarity’s Kristen Ingraham said when she spoke to Kate and Tamara on What Just Happened?, CrowdStrike got things right when the CEO took to X straight away to explain the situation on a public platform, but the first post was lacking in empathy and also lacked accountability.
The post, while factual, didn’t say when they expected it to be fixed, and that’s the information that most ordinary people want to know. When will I be able to do the shopping? Do I need to change my plans or go out of my way? How long will this IT error impact my life?
This is what we mean when we talk about empathy in crisis communication. It’s not just about the “sorry, here’s how we’ll do better”, it’s about showing that you really understand how the crisis is shaping people’s lives. About how that makes them feel and why that’s so important.
Getting communications right is a crucial aspect of crisis management and recovery, and all brands, whether they’re consumer-facing or not, need to practice how they will handle a crisis that impacts the public.
–
Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash
