Home Marketing and Communications

Crisis Communications in the 24/7 Social Media World

Bill Walker

Crisis Communications in the 24/7 Social Media World

14min

14min

Download offline

Add to library

Buy the book

Every CEO and corporate communications officer has the same nightmare: the moment of crisis that will bring them or their companies to their knees. They don’t know when it will come or what it will look like but even worse: they have no idea how they are going to deal with it. Having a plan is fundamental, mostly because in today’s connected world, all it takes is a click to destroy a person or an entire business. Reading Crisis Communications in the 24/7 Social Media World will help businesses to be prepared to react with a clear head in those inevitable moments of difficulty, and understand how to benefit from any possible crisis.

read more

read less

0:00
0:00

Analysis and key concepts

01.

It is impossible to get the toothpaste back into the tube, but a crisis gives us the chance to reaffirm company values and objectives, when a leader knows how to deal with it the right way

02.

The strength of any media storm lies in the fact that justice doesn’t count, people are guilty until proven innocent and the first reaction is the one that people remember

03.

The natural reaction to a communication crisis is flight, meaning denial, so you need to be counterintuitive, and to shock and awe

04.

Reaction time is a key element to winning, every passing moment increases the size of the problem

05.

People who make decisions are the same people who need to answer for those decisions, the essential role of top management in a crisis is to show up and be seen

06.

The biggest mistake is trying to hide what’s going on: a company’s credibility depends on its ability to give honest answers

07.

Coming out of a crisis is a long process because people need time to get over what has happened and to rebuild their trust

08.

Quotes

09.

Take-home message

01. It is impossible to get the toothpaste back into the tube, but a crisis gives us the chance to reaffirm company values and objectives, when a leader knows how to deal with it the right way

In Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is made up of two ideograms, the first means danger and the second opportunity. In difficult times, so-called communication crises are always just around the corner: 140 characters of letting off steam are enough to cause massive public judgement. We all know how hard it is to keep calm in stressful situations, but knowing how to control our instincts reduces risks and increases our chances of getting through it. Not only that: a crisis can be exploited to reaffirm a company’s objectives, to strengthen consumer loyalty and to stimulate employees and investors.

02. The strength of any media storm lies in the fact that justice doesn’t count, people are guilty until proven innocent and the first reaction is the one that people remember

03. The natural reaction to a communication crisis is flight, meaning denial, so you need to be counterintuitive, and to shock and awe

04. Reaction time is a key element to winning, every passing moment increases the size of the problem

05. People who make decisions are the same people who need to answer for those decisions, the essential role of top management in a crisis is to show up and be seen

06. The biggest mistake is trying to hide what’s going on: a company’s credibility depends on its ability to give honest answers

07. Coming out of a crisis is a long process because people need time to get over what has happened and to rebuild their trust

08. Quotes

09. Take-home message

Unlock this and thousands more with 4books Premium!

You'll have 7 days free, and if you're not satisfied after 30 days, you can get your money back.

Many useful tips to:

  • Identify a series of behaviours to mitigate a crisis.
  • Recognise that in every crisis lies opportunity.
  • Avoid macroscopic mistake that could make situations worse.

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Bill Walker has worked for over 20 years as a reporter for the Canadian daily newspaper Toronto Star. He is a specialist in crisis communications and entered the consulting world when he founded MidTown PR, an organisation that works with both public and private companies. In the early 2000s he went to Washington to work for George W. Bush.

Publishing house:

Paramount Books

Year:

2014

Pages:

192

ISBN:

978-1941688229