Reputation and Crisis Communications: The Decisions That Matter
How a brand prepares for and responds to incidents such as outages, recalls, complaints or negative coverage.
Priya Raghunathan
The key figures
- Holding statements
- prepared statements buy time while facts are gathered
- Spokespeople
- one trained voice avoids contradictions
- Disclosure duties
- public companies have specific disclosure obligations
- Records
- communications during incidents may be reviewed later
Why this is worth getting right
Response speed and honesty shape the lasting damage, and prepared organizations respond far better than improvising ones.
Do this, not that
Do
- Prepare holding statements for likely scenarios
- Name spokespeople and decision-makers in advance
- Acknowledge issues quickly and factually
- Coordinate legal and communications review
- Debrief after every incident
Don’t
- Silence while speculation spreads
- Contradictory statements from different people
- Speculating before facts are confirmed
- Deleting complaints without response
When to bring in help
Our advice Bring in help before an incident, not during one.
Where this comes from
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — Fair disclosure (Regulation FD)
- Federal Trade Commission — Advertising FAQs: A guide for small business
The figures and practices above come from the sources listed.
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