Crisis management in PR

The word ‘crisis’ in Chinese is written by using two symbols in which one means ‘danger’ and second ‘opportunity’. As Pam Williams, our core teacher at the University of Westminster said that every crisis that a company faces is a threat, but at the same time it can be an opportunity to show the power of the PR department. If the company  handles the crisis well, it can help it to strengthen its image, but most of all it shows the value of PR. It might be a chance to raise the profile and status of the PR practitioners within the  company. 

The question is, is it a price worth paying to potentially damage to the reputation of a company? Even if the company will handle the crisis the financial health of the company might suffer and the market value of the company might drop.

In order to manage the crisis prevention, planning, testing, evaluation and maintenance to mitigate and minimize the consequences are required. The only good way to fight the crisis is to be prepared for it and have a plan that can be put in place straight away. The plan should be short, to the point and contain information, stating what every member of the team has to do. The first hours after a crisis breaks are crucial, working with speed and efficiency is essential at this point, and the plan should indicate how quickly each function should be performed.  

More about using social media during crisis management in next post.