Damage Control & Crisis Management: What We Can All Learn From Recent Mistakes
May 10 | Dana, Director of Public Relations
Wow, how an image and reputation can be destroyed overnight! If you’ve had your head in the sand, thinking it can’t happen to you, the recent events that have tarnished confidence in the financial industry, celebrity images, company reputations, and brand trust should be enough to make everyone sit up and take notice.
After decades of good business or years of good deeds, it doesn’t take but one mistake to make all of your hard work vanish. However, many corporate leaders and public personalities tend to procrastinate and put off planning for, not if but when, something happens that will negatively affect a personal image or corporate reputation. Or, even worse, they wait until the damage has been done and then call in the PR pros to clean up the mess. It’s not surprising that the image or reputation rarely fully recovers when only reactive public relations has been utilized.
As a lack of true understanding of the public relations discipline continues to permeate our society, people of great distinction fail to recognize the invaluable asset of having a proactive approach to crisis management. Much like attorneys, public relations counselors should be involved and integral to any organization’s business plan or an individual’s image management, and these counselors should always know the good, the bad, and the ugly, in real time, not after the fact. This way, PR practitioners are provided adequate knowledge and time to make strategic recommendations and manage issues before they become crises.
To provide you or your organization with ongoing issues management and proactive crisis planning, helping to secure you in the best position to maintain the reputation and trust you’ve worked so hard to earn, call Patterson/Bach Communications today at 407-645-1880. Don’t be misguided that ‘damage control’ is a smart plan: it’s like building your house with straw.