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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

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Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

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Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

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Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

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Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

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We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

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Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

We've covered a few of the PR crises that have hit brands this year and the timing to reenter this discussion is important as a new app, Bodega, received condemnation on social media last week. This post on how brands should apologize can help you be prepared for a crisis, rather than scrambling after you're in the thick of it. Download our ebook, Media Intelligence for Crisis Communications and ensure that you'll be able to control the damage, no matter the situation.

2017 has brought us more than its share of communications disasters. Pepsi’s controversial Black Lives Matter ad featuring Kendall Jenner, Adidas’s Boston Marathon email campaign (“Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon”). And, of course, United Airlines, which made a series of missteps in its attempt to appropriately apologize for the forced removal of a passenger. And these are just but a few of the corporate communications faux pas we've seen in recent times. 

When these misfires occur — and of course, they do — it’s vital that brands are prepared to make amends. The first step in this process is the apology. And, it had better be a thoughtful apology. It’s not enough to simply apologize—it’s HOW you apologize that matters.

“Companies need to think carefully about their policies and their crisis communications, so they can quickly move from a defensive crouch to honest, heartfelt apologies,” says Andrew Winston, author of The Big Pivot.

“The biggest mistake is for brands to hedge their apology with phrases such as, ‘We’re sorry to those who were offended,'” says Brad Phillips, president of Phillips Media Relations and author of the Mr. Media Training Blog and the Amazon PR best seller The Media Training Bible. “Such language places the burden on the offended person and stops short of accepting full responsibility.”

Brands should also avoid denying any wrongdoing when they apologize.

“Denial is the simple thing to do, and people grasp wildly at the first straw to occur to them,” said William Benoit, Ohio University Communications professor, and author of Accounts, Excuses, Apologies: Image Repair Theory and Research.

Denial can hurt subsequent apologies. Sincerely owning the mistake is at the heart of an effective apology. There’s an appreciation for laying it all out there by simply saying, “We messed-up and we’re sorry.”

In the case of United, CEO Oscar Munoz did eventually offer a heartfelt apology. After his first two apologies created a backlash, he finally took full responsibility, promising to make it right with the passenger and pledging to put new procedures in place.

“The problem for Munoz is that he bungled the first two apologies, undermining the impact of his third one,” says Phillips. “Had he started with that apology, the incident would have played out far differently.”

The Situation Helps Determine the Tone of an Apology

Another factor to consider is the nature of the incident. “For example, it’s much easier to apologize in cases in which you, too, can be perceived as a victim,” Phillips said. “A medical supply company that couldn’t get vital medications to customers due to an unexpected snowstorm is unlikely to face long-term reputational damage, whereas that same company failing to make deliveries due to incompetence would.”

In some cases, explaining what exactly took place can help clear the air and help folks be more forgiving. For example, at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, PricewaterhouseCoopers made a mistake with the Best Picture envelope, causing the presenter to announce the wrong film. Because the company offered an immediate apology with an explanation of how the mix-up occurred, they were able to keep the client.

So, what exactly should be in an effective apology? According to Dr. Beth Polin, an assistant professor of management at Eastern Kentucky University and co-author of The Art of the Apology, an apology should include one or more of six components:

An expression of regret — this, usually, is the actual “I’m sorry.”

An explanation (but, importantly, not a justification).

And what words should you choose when you apologize? Simple language is best. No need for flowery prose. An example of this is Adidas, who immediately took responsibility for its insensitivity with this apology from spokeswoman Maria Culp: “We are incredibly sorry. There was no thought given to the insensitive email subject line we sent Tuesday. We deeply apologize for our mistake.”

Need more examples? On a site called SorryWatch, you can find examples of apologies that worked—and those that didn’t. The founders, Susan McCarthy and Marjorie Ingall, write a weekly post that reviews poorly handled public apologies, giving tips on structure and language.

Their best advice? In the end, don’t make excuses. “Apologizing well means acknowledging that, at that moment at least, you were not good,” says Ingall.

After all, even good people (and brands) can make mistakes. 2017 Has had more than its share of communications disasters and as big brands like Pepsi, United, and Uber make big missteps, a simple statement that brands should apologize becomes a loaded PR strategy. If you’d like to be prepared for the next time you need to apologize, download our crisis ebook.

This Strategy in Practice: Wins versus Fails

By now it's clear that when a very public mistake or mishap occurs within your organisation, a public apology – and a commitment to right the wrong – is in order. 

A swift mea culpa, coupled with some affirmative action to make good and ensure that the likelihood of such an event occurring again is minimised, is the correct approach and will generally help an organisation win back the favour of its customers. Moreover, if the response can be injected with a little humour (where appropriate of course), so much the better. 

Here we have highlighted examples of winners and losers when it comes to public apologies in the aftermath of a PR crisis. 

Last year, KFC went through a highly publicised crisis when “operational issues” with new delivery provider DHL caused a mass shortage of chicken at its fast food outlets across the UK. One of the most bizarre consequences of this was police forces in London and Manchester having to issue statements urging the public to stop contacting the emergency services about the shortage, as it was “not a police matter”! 

KFC responded by taking out full-page ads in the national press, featuring one of its famous buckets with the company name rearranged to read ‘FCK’ instead of ‘KFC’, to reflect the mood of its chicken-deprived customers. It also acknowledged that “a chicken restaurant without any chicken is not ideal.” This humorous response to what was a serious situation for the company was very well received, and no lasting damage was done to the brand. 

One of the highest profile cock-ups to take place anywhere in the world in recent years was the Oscars blunder in 2017, when an envelope mix up resulted in Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly announcing ‘La La Land’ as Best Picture winner, when the actual winner was ‘Moonlight.’

Beatty had a duplicate card with the winner of Best Actress, which had been awarded to Emma Stone for La La Land immediately prior to the Best Picture announcement. Beatty paused as he read the card out but continued anyway, wrongly announcing La La Land as the winner. The La La Land production team and cast were already on stage collecting the prize and delivering their speeches before a representative from accountancy firm PwC came onto the stage to inform them of the error. 

PwC was in charge of supervising the counting of the ballots for each award, as well as the presentations on the night. Following the error, which could scarcely be more public, given that around 30 million people were watching it live in the US and many millions more worldwide, PwC issued a statement saying “We sincerely apologise to Moonlight, La La Land, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture.” 

PwC added that it deeply regretted that the incident occurred and said it appreciated the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, and the host Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation.

Adding to the embarrassment felt by PwC in the wake of the blunder was the fact that in the week leading up to that year’s Oscars ceremony, PwC’s Martha Ruiz and Brian Cullinan, who were responsible for overseeing the counting of the votes and are the only two people who know all the winners before they are announced, gave an interview to the BBC in which they outlined its “watertight system” for ensuring that the awards presentations pass without a hitch.   

Following the ceremony, PwC assumed full responsibility for the blunder and promised to fully investigate what went wrong with the system to prevent such an error occurring in the future. Given that the profile of the event could barely be higher, that PwC have emerged from it with their reputation fairly intact is a credit to them and the steps they took in its aftermath.     

One of the most valuable case studies for comms professionals comes from Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. When it emerged early in 2018 that a political data firm had harvested the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge or consent, consumer backlash was immense. 

When the scandal first broke, Facebook vigorously and indignantly defended itself, arguing that people had consented by virtue of their privacy settings. But the backlash only intensified when it was reported that Facebook’s privacy settings were buried across 20 pages of the site, and that Cambridge Analytica were one of many organisations guilty of exploiting that by harvesting Facebook users’ data without their knowledge. 

Eventually, Facebook’s chief privacy officer said Facebook would move all the privacy settings into one place (without offering an explanation as to why they weren’t in the first place), something Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to do “within weeks” of another privacy breach eight years previously but failed to follow through on. 

The lesson? Be wary of launching into defence mode without addressing the grievances of your community; also, ensure to follow through on any corrective measures issued alongside your apology.   

In 2017, Pepsi drew a barrage of negative publicity for an ad featuring Kendall Jenner, in which she quelled a riot by offering a police officer a can of Pepsi, a gesture which elicited cheers from the onlooking protestors. 

Given that the US was at the time (and still is) mired in controversy over the killing by police of African American youths, and the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining momentum with protests over perceived unlawful killings happening all over the country, the idea that a protest could be quelled by a can of soda was not well received to say the least. 

Following the ad’s release, Pepsi was eviscerated on social media, as they were seen to be capitalising on the Black Lives Matter movement to sell soft drink. The daughter of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Bernice King, even weighed in, posting on Twitter “If only daddy would have known about the power of Pepsi.” 

Pepsi eventually pulled the ad, but a few months later, Pepsi’s CEO, Indra Nooyi continued to defend the ad, demonstrating that the company still didn’t get what all the fuss was about. The lesson? Purpose driven marketing and CSR are increasingly important for today's consumers, but authenticity is key here. Brands need to ensure that if they're involving themselves in political and social conversations, their message is not only culturally sensitive, but also aligned with their internal corporate business practices and values. 

Want to find out more about managing Crisis Communications? Get in touch with us below.

How Brands Should Apologize

Wondering how to improve supply chain risk management? You’ve come to the right place. Supply chains are complex ecosystems to navigate. Their impact, both good and bad, ripples through the whole organisation, and it’s this interdependency that makes them extremely vulnerable. What starts as a small supply chain incident can quickly impact the entire network. Without full risk visibility at each stage of the supply chain, it’s impossible to mitigate risks and fully assess the likely consequences of disruptions. 

Due to the vast sources of potential risks that can impact supply chains, internal and external risk management plays an integral role in keeping them ticking over. While executives have become pros at detecting internal supply chain risks, external risks are sometimes overlooked. One way executives are plugging the external risk visibility gap is by equipping themselves with strategic media intelligence solutions that analyse external data types and signal when a potential risk is on the horizon.

During this article we’ll walk you through the basics of risk management, types of supply chain risks to be aware of, and how to optimise supply chain risk management with media intelligence.

What do we mean by supply chain risk management?

Risk, in an organizational context, is usually defined as anything that can impact the fulfilment of corporate objectives such as profitability, innovation, productivity and market share – all of which are critical for business survival. Companies must, therefore, have supply chain risk management strategies in place to stop them diverging from their key corporate focus areas.

Supply chain risk management refers to the identification, evaluation and prioritization of risks, as well as the application of resources in order to minimalize, monitor and control the probability of them developing. Supply chain risk management has multiple benefits including:

How do I Optimize Supply Chain Risk Management With Media Intelligence?

A large percentage of logistic disruptions occur due to external factors, for example, volatility of suppliers, weather events, political developments, cyber-attacks and more. Internal data types that companies typically monitor, like sales volume or stock availability, do not help professionals predict the arrival of external risks, therefore, only looking inwards at your company puts the organisation in a weak position. This is why executives are increasingly turning to media intelligence to enhance supply chain risk management. Let’s look out how in more depth.

Each day consumers and businesses leave a trail of online breadcrumbs, a litter of digital activity that provides valuable information which assists companies with corporate decision making, such as controlling, managing and mitigating risks.

From supplier acquisitions to customer complaints on social media, insights from digital breadcrumbs sprawled across the web can help businesses stay agile and protected by alerting them of danger signals long before they pose a risk.

Common methods used to identify risk exposure

The graph below demonstrates common methods used by companies to mitigate risks. The SCM World study from 2014 found one in five supply chain professionals leverage insights from social media monitoring (social media insights) for the purpose of identifying emerging risks. While this figure is relatively low compared to others in the chart, professionals are starting to transform their processes and introduce datasets seldom used before. According to SCM World, the use of social media monitoring for risk management will increase rapidly over the coming years.

So what risks can social media monitoring help identify? 

Examples of emerging risks social media monitoring can spot

Read on for some examples of risks we're seeing become more prevalent due to social media, and how social media monitoring can help you identify and manage them.

The speed in which information is disseminated across the web has reached new heights since the introduction of social media. Negative conversations, whether they’re true or false, travel fast. Messages become amplified from others engaging in the conversation until the conversation reaches boiling point and turns into a full-blown crisis. It’s this speed and reach that has strong potential to weaken corporate reputation and when customers lose confidence, it’s directly felt on the turnover of the company.

Risks impacting the reputation of an organisation can take many faces and emerge at different stages of the supply chain. For example, this could be down to bad product design, unethical practices of suppliers, lack of customer service or poor protection of customer data. While this means that we have to keep our eye on many signals during supply chain risk management, reputational risks do have the advantage of being easily identifiable – and therefore manageable.

By monitoring trending themes associated with your brand, you can improve vigilance by quickly spotting unusual mentions, for example, words that suggest something is faulty or at threat. Filter the conversation further by selecting trending themes by their sentiment. For supply chain risk mitigation purposes, negative conversations are most important. To ensure you quickly react to risk signals, set up an alert that notifies you when something abnormal occurs like a spike in negative mentions or an increase of conversations in general since this suggests an event you need to be aware of is taking place.

To spark some food for thought, here are the 10 most-watched risks in 2017: 

Active monitoring of social media allows companies to anticipate a problem and react before it becomes uncontrollable or develops into a full crisis. Moreover, social media management also plays a key role in both improving and understanding long-term brand damage, for example, has the sentiment of your brand dived for a prolonged period after a crisis? Are there certain countries who have a particularly negative opinion on your company? What trends are associated with your brand – are they positive, how have they changed prior, during and after a crisis? Answers to such questions should be used for corporate decision making, guiding you on the next step to take.

Regulatory risks can lead to financial penalties, reputational risks and weak links in the supply chain in the case of non-compliance issues. By continuous monitoring online news mentions around regularity topics, businesses can understand the likelihood of future regulatory changes coming into play, giving themselves time to put alternative plans in place and ensure the smooth adoption of regulations with minimal disruption to the supply chain.

Social media is also a critical source of information when it comes to ensuring the compliance of your suppliers, employees and other stakeholders. A brand that’s affiliated with a company who are breaking the law can easily become bogged down in their mess too. Even if the brand didn’t break the rules themselves, audiences may believe they’re endorsing a company that does, purely due to the affiliation they have with the brand causing negative influences for supply chain risk management. 

Financial risks are those that directly affect the revenue of an organisation. Two common risks that often occur include the interruption of activity and breaks in the supply chain. A weakened link in the supply chain can be caused by many external factors including natural disasters, market evolutions, the financial health of suppliers, bad anticipation of the demand, obsolete technologies and an increase in costs of raw materials.

Here are the top financial risks companies are concerned with:

It’s interesting to see that back in 2018, only 14% of companies ranked human diseases as a concern for interruption activity. We’ve witnessed first-hand how COVID-19 disrupted almost every industry and I expect this percentage will rise considerably post 2020.

The emergence of social media has also given rise to new types of risks that are directly related to the public's use of social networks. One example of this is fraud. Over the last few years, numerous cases of social media fraud have come to light, however, the best known is undoubtedly that suffered by Associated Press. In 2013, one of their Twitter accounts was hacked. Messages announcing a double explosion at the White House were published and quickly retweeted by thousands of people. Although the truth in the message was quickly denied by the press organisation, by that point the damage had been done. The market fell by 150 points in minutes, representing a loss of about $150 billion dollars. This goes to show the importance of not underestimating the damage of fake news and the speedy response needed to minimize the damage.

Tip: Learn how to perform an influencer risk assessment.

Since this example, we’ve seen many other cases where companies that have fallen victim to fraud and fake news; many also subsequently saw a drop in their share price as a result.

Another challenge directly associated with the use of social media and supply chain risk management is loss in intellectual property.

The top 1,000 largest companies in the world have invest more than $45 billion a year in corporate intelligence. This practice has a bright future, facilitated in many ways by the growing use of social media and the insightful digital breadcrumbs users leave behind. For example, employees who post a message on Facebook or Twitter about their work may be of interest to competitors who are gathering information on other players in their field. One notable example to mention is that of a security consulting company who was able to predict the bankruptcy of a company based on tweets from employees complaining of budget cuts and the fact that the Vice-President Operations was looking for a new job on LinkedIn. Many businesses are upping the ante using competitive intelligence. While executives understand the importance of stakeholders being careful not to give away too much information since their competitors are listening, controlling this can be easier said than done.

Comprehensive supply chain risk management analysis

Monitoring external signals By looking outside of your companies walls and monitoring external data available online, executives can sleep well knowing they have covered all areas. From supplier acquisitions to customer complaints on social media, insights from digital breadcrumbs sprawled across the web can help businesses stay agile and protected by alerting them of danger signals long before they pose a risk.

External risks will develop whether you’re tracking them or not, however, keeping an eye on external insights will lessen the chance of them taking hold. Forward-looking companies already include outside insights in their supply chain risk management analysis, but we’re still seeing companies crumble as a result of risks they can avoid and manage simply by monitoring external signals.

Hopefully by now you better understand how media intelligence can help you improve supply chain risk mitigation. Want to discuss what this might look like for your organisation? Fill out the form and we'll be in touch:

Optimize Supply Chain Risk Management with Media Intelligence

Today's news, crises, and complaints travel as quickly as thumbs can type. A customer service issue can ruin a brand's reputation and trending hashtags can help a victim of bullying. Being prepared before a crisis hits is the only way to mitigate the damage from one, that's why this excerpt from our ebook, Media Intelligence for Crisis Communications, is only a small part of a larger PR crisis strategy. Download the free ebook for four more necessary steps, examples of crisis mitigation, and additional actionable tips.

Preparing for a PR crisis requires getting out of the mindset that keeps us busy executing and measuring our tactical goals. Just because we have a social media manager who can push a message out in 140 characters or less several times a day doesn’t mean we have a mechanism in place to handle a full-blown PR crisis. That’s why being prepared for a crisis before it begins is the right strategy. Today, we're delving into some of the most important tips but you can access the rest, and get a competitive edge, in our free ebook, Media Intelligence for Crisis Communications.

14 Tips For Avoiding a Public Brand Disaster

If you only pay attention to one tip on this list, let it be this one. So often I read a story about a company or person that is in the midst of a PR crisis that could have been avoided all together if the right decision were made from the beginning. The spectrum of categories these decisions may fall into is broad, such as giving the proper response to a customer service inquiry,  adding the right features to a product launch, or making a tough call on a product recall simply because it’s the right thing to do. 
The key is to do the right thing. Doing the right thing will always lead to better results and fewer problems. Ethical businesses and people have fewer challenges in the long term; it’s a simple fact.

Businesses need to be as transparent as possible these days. After all we’re public relations pros, not the CIA; we can be upfront about most things. By remaining transparent, we leave less to the imagination and so there’s less for people to wonder about. If you build transparency into your brand and messaging, your customers will learn to expect it, and in the end you’ll gain the respect that leads to trust. Trusted brands have fewer challenges.

3. Encourage fantastic customer service: 

How many times have you seen a story about a consumer that has been wronged by an evil retail company? If you are anything like me, many times. Many of these situations can be avoided by simply providing great customer service and solving a problem before it has a chance to escalate. In customer service the old adage “the customer is always right” is a simple philosophy that can help prevent risk.

Actively monitoring social media and online media with a great monitoring tool will help you see problems as they brew, before they become big problems. Did I mention that Meltwater provides such monitoring tools?

In today’s online world it is imperative that some social media guidelines are in place to ensure that employees are not sharing or communicating inappropriate information, publicly. Like you, I’ve seen countless companies make public apologies for the content their employees share on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Prevent that fire by preparing a social media policy.

This tip is quite simple: always think before you react. By fully thinking through how you’ll react to a situation, be they big or small, corporate or personal, you will always reap better results (factoring in time pressure of course). I’ve seen many companies, and celebrities for that matter, cause problems for themselves by quickly shooting off a tweet that simply was not thought through. Think before you act and you’ll avoid unforeseen pitfalls.

7. Create consistent messaging for customer-facing employees: 

Make sure all outward-facing employees have access to accurate messaging that is consistent with you brand. Generally, providing basic messaging will cover your bases so long as employees know how to escalate if conversations veer off-script.  The goal is to make sure everyone knows what can be said and that they understand that everything else should be escalated (within reason).

Before a story is run that will expose a current brand disaster, you’ll often receive a call or email from a diligent reporter. Do not hide! Get back to that reporter ASAP. Be very transparent and do everything you can to get your story, statement and action plan into their hands. Even if you are not sure what your actions will be, don’t let the message sit. Call back and tell them “we are actively looking into this situation and will be able to provide more information within the hour.” Most reporters will respect that you are working hard to get the answer they need. If you follow rules 1, 2, 3 and 4 in your conversation with the reporter there’s a good chance you’ll come out OK.

9. Add contingency planning to job goals: 

Amidst your daily routine, you might not be able to design a protocol for every potential crisis right away. Pace yourself. Map out two or three crisis protocols per quarter. And make sure that accomplishing this goal is part of your performance review.

A powerful media intelligence tool doesn’t just monitor your brand mentions. You can use it to set up searches on any number of topics and keep on top of them in all your channels. Start by making a list of the kinds of messages you’ve already put out that have met resistance. At any point, this same resistance might come back, get amplified, and take on a life of its own. You’ll also want to talk with sales reps, customer support, and legal counsel on issues that they’ve encountered. Once you’ve made a list of crisis triggers, create news, and social searches for them.

To help you get started, here are some examples:

Executives: 
Journalists, analysts, and sometimes even customers pay attention to what high-ranking executives say and do. And so should you. Keep on top of their Twitter and Facebook feeds, what videos and blogs they post, and how everything they are putting out into the world is received and amplified.

Competitors: 
Pay as much attention to competitor brand mentions as you do your own. Their crisis could easily become yours. And if a competitor decides to come after you, you’ll want to know about it first and respond before others have a chance to amplify their message.

Industry news:
Sometimes a PR crisis will hit you by association. By keeping track of how your industry is perceived and any events that might impact it (such as natural disasters or newly introduced legislation) you are prepared to address these issues as an industry leader.

Events: 
Keep track of trending topics related to the event to help prevent speakers and reps from getting caught with their guards down.

Controversy: 
A media intelligence tool enables you to keep track of any number of business and political keywords. You’ll know when hot-button topics are trending and get ready to explain your position on them before you are equated with the fallout they’ve generated. 

Complaints: 
Make a list of complaints and keep an eye out for them in your search results. Once an influencer amplifies customer concerns, they can be cemented as “expert opinion,” and your credibility can suffer longstanding damage.

11: Create a Crisis Management Workflow: 

Start by outlining the internal steps you need to take before releasing a public statement. Then assign stakeholders where relevant. For example:

Hopefully your company has got some feet on the street to report back on your crisis with first-hand insights, but use media intelligence to understand the full scope of the communications landscape and all of the points you’ll need to address.

When you’re engaged on multiple fronts, you’ll need to man various stations. Decide who will manage influencers, keep the executive team informed, serve as liaison to other key stakeholders (including partners, customers, members, etc.), and record every detail, action taken, external response, and resolution.

A PR crisis may require technical information or strategic insight that you’ll need to get from leaders in IT, accounting, HR, or elsewhere. Identify all relevant functions specific to a given crisis and how to contact them quickly.

The head of PR may be responsible for doing this, or it may fall to the agency that the head of PR should already have on speed dial.

It’s always a good idea to have your CMO review your statement (or the agency’s), as he or she will undoubtedly be asked to defend it.

Any statement you make during a time of crisis should be reviewed by counsel to assess its legal consequences and minimize damage should legal action be taken against the company.

During a PR crisis, your CEO (likely your company’s primary spokesperson) must be kept in the loop.

Break down your audience, both internal and external, into key stakeholders and list the best channels to reach them. Chapter 3 explores in detail how to communicate with and engage your audience as you respond to a crisis.

13. Have as much written ahead of time as possible: 

Because social media moves so quickly, it can hurt your brand to wait for executive stakeholders to approve detailed statements. Having something pre-approved that acknowledges your awareness of the problem without saying too much will go a long way in putting your audience at ease. Don’t forget that how long it takes for you to get your initial response out could be a detractor’s next headline.

Here is a fill-in-the-blank statement that can be used in any number of situations:

A ___________________ at ___________________ involving __________________ occurred today at _________________. The incident is under investigation and more information is forthcoming.

14. Finalise key messages and update corporate talking points:

Once the worst is over—but before you reach for a beer and put it all behind you—you’ll want to craft a final word. Explain what your company learned from the crisis and how you’ve adapted processes, policies, or products accordingly. Remember, people will want to know you’ve taken action, not just paid lip service. You can then update any relevant company-wide talking points.

Once you prepare for PR crisis, you’ll be ready, if, when, and to what degree it may impact your company and brand. How your brand reacts to its community, audience, and detractors may have wide-encompassing repercussions. It’s hard to prepare for every contingency, so try to prepare for the ones you can by downloading our Media Intelligence for Crisis Communications ebook.

Do brands of every size need to plan for a crisis?

It may be a side effect of the 24/7 news cycle and social media, but it seems like brand crises are coming at a quicker clip than they did a decade ago. And what differentiates a modern brand that recovers quickly from one whose crisis snowballs is—more often than not—preparation well before any hint of trouble. Since stress can run high during a crisis, having a crisis monitoring worksheet and ready plan of action can be a lifesaver. Wade in to read more.

Crisis communications planning has risen to the top of the priority list for many brands, as they watch the train wrecks that seem to occur on almost a daily basis.

Of course, no matter what a brand does, they can never know exactly what to expect or when a crisis might befall them. But it isn’t a good strategy to stick one’s head in the sand, pretending that your business is crisis-proof. Big or small, companies need to plan for a crisis in the event one hits.

“No matter what size company or client you work for, crisis communications needs to be integrated into your overall communications strategy,” says Matt Falso, director of brand strategy, Soteryx Corporation. “While large companies often have these plans baked into their overarching approach, smaller businesses may see them as an unnecessary expense. A crisis, however, can happen to any company—regardless of size.”

“Crisis communications planning is even more critical for smaller businesses because they can less afford the financial consequences of a significant crisis,” says Jonathan Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management and author of “Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management.”

And according to Dave Pidgeon, founder and CEO of Navigate Strategic Communications and former spokesperson for Norfolk Southern, it doesn’t take a lot to create a crisis for your brand.

“Bad accounting, an irritated employee, a customer who had an unfortunate experience, a municipal code violation, a misguided quote in an otherwise innocuous media story – they can all lead to greater public scrutiny of your business,” Pidgeon says. “And if you don’t know how to handle that scrutiny, the situation can get much, much worse.”

Given that a crisis can happen at any time to any business, how should brands prepare in advance?

“The primary preventive tactic is maintaining a very positive online presence on all major social media platforms,” says Bernstein. “This creates a cushion of goodwill and also gives an organization an ear to the ground if negative information starts appearing online.”

Beyond maintaining a good reputation, companies need a plan.

“Being prepared with an established crisis communications plan can make a world of difference when communicating with the media as well as when sharing critical information with your employees,” says Falso.

And make sure to revisit the plan periodically.

“A crisis communications plan works as a living, breathing document,” says Pidgeon. “Don’t let it sit on the shelf unopened.”

And practice. “Avoid assuming what you did last year, or even last month, will work this time around,” advises Pidgeon.

“Actively practicing (simulating a crisis) is essential to being fully prepared,” agrees Falso.

Time is of the essence when responding during a crisis. If you’re not thinking ahead about what you’ll say—and who will say it—you can lose valuable minutes or hours, resulting in a lack of public trust.

Should you handle a crisis in-house or hire external consultants?

Bernstein says hiring a good crisis communications pro in-house can cost top dollar, which many smaller businesses can’t afford. “So, just as a small business would call on outside legal counsel, they can outsource functions such as crisis prevention and response.”

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