Category Archives: Crisis Advice

Five Simple Steps to Crisis Preparation

Posted on May 2, 2013 by gbaron

I was asked by a local business publication to do a column on crisis management. Since the audience is quite broad from mom and pop operations to some pretty sizeable industrial and healthcare organizations, the assignment helped me think through … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, Crisis Communicator, crisis management | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Aftermath of Boston bombing and news: a call for silence

Posted on April 24, 2013 by gbaron

It was a week to remember–the bombings, the ricin letters, the horrific tragedy in West, Texas. I reflected on one important aspect of public information coming out of the Boston bombings on Crisis Comm on emergencymagmt.com and won’t repeat myself here. … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, crisis management | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Royal Bank of Canada facing social media uproar, boycott–outsourced jobs at issue

Posted on April 10, 2013 by gbaron

I put this one in the category of engagement fail. Another in the long line of social media crises caused by what used to be normal business decisions gaining a firestorm of protest online. Any business decision today is subject … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, Crisis Communicator, crisis management | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Are two fatalities not enough to communicate about?

Posted on April 9, 2013 by gbaron

I noted on the American Petroleum Institute’s daily news email that a major oil company had suffered a West Texas wellhead blowout that killed two contractors and injured two others. In the crisis plans I prepare (for quite a number … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, Crisis Communicator, crisis management | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Fedex takes swipes at social media marketing–the SM backlash begins

Posted on March 26, 2013 by gbaron

Judging from the content of all the email newsletters and PR publishers, social media is the only thing worth talking about. It’s much the same in marketing these days. All the “how tos” are focused on how to increase your … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, crisis management | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Did you hear about DKNY’s big crisis about using unauthorized images?

Posted on February 26, 2013 by gbaron

Wow, this is a big one. Looks like DKNY was negotiating to buy some images from a prominent photographer, they didn’t agree on a price and the next thing you know these unpurchased images showed up in a DKNY store … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, Crisis Communicator, crisis management | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Trust keeps falling–most think our leaders are liars

Posted on January 23, 2013 by gbaron

Only 18% of people trust business leaders to tell the truth–globally. And less than 50% of people trust businesses to do the right things, even less for government. These are some of the findings of the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer–one … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, Crisis Communicator, crisis management | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

“Native advertising” and crisis communication

Posted on January 11, 2013 by gbaron

Advertising and PR are seen as different disciplines and big organizations separate them even more with their internal silos. But advertising is a very important topic for crisis communication. We’ve seen clients buy sponsored links to draw attention to their … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, Crisis Communicator, crisis management | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Bodyform shows how to respond to a viral negative rant

Posted on October 16, 2012 by gbaron

It’s pretty well understood now by most in business that social media has created additional vulnerability: someone gets mad at you for good reason, or not so good, and if they are clever enough or if lightning strikes, their rant … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, Crisis Communicator, crisis management | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s your image and video plan?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by gbaron

Frequent visitors here may have noticed a recurring theme in the past months: the importance of videos and images as part of communications overall, but specifically here crisis communication. I’ve pointed out the stunning statistic from Cisco that says that … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Case Studies, Crisis Communications, Crisis Communicator, crisis management | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment