Crisis PR as a competitive advantage

Crises present the ultimate test for companies and management teams. Here conventional management and communication practices only serve the purpose to a limited degree. Maintaining stakeholdersꞌ trust in a time of crisis and making far-reaching decisions, amid great time-pressure, is a formidable challenge. It is no coincidence that crisis PR as seen as the king of all disciplines in professional communication. Situations that carry crisis potential often arise faster than anyone would like, for instance:

• If a production facility burns down, stakeholders need to be informed
• If there is a threat of job losses, the local press is keen to get more specific details
• If turnover collapses and losses mount, banks and providers of capital expect clear information
• If the boss has an accident, the staff want to know where things go from there
• If a firmꞌs own social-media channels are hit by a shitstorm, channel users want answers

In acute crisis situations, fast action is crucial. In mid-sized firms, communication departments are often too small and a whole range of tasks has to be shouldered by too few people. In the event of holidays or of illness, capacity bottlenecks can quickly emerge; often a company can then no longer ensure that its communication projects confidence and reassurance. This is where a trustworthy agency partner can play a hugely valuable role. For our clients we are ready to step into action straightaway, in Munich and throughout Germany – also outside regular working hours, if this need arises. Due to our strategically advantageous location in the heart of Munich, we can be where the action is in next to no time.

Mastering communication crises successfully

The quality of crisis communication is decisive when stakeholders judge a companyꞌs overall crisis-management performance. If a firm acts in an ill-considered way, it risks sustaining major damage to its reputation. It can take many years to restore lost trust in a company. In many cases what causes the greatest damage inot the crisis in itself, but rather the unprofessional way of handling it.

It is important for companies to understand the particular challenges and the mechanics of a crisis:

1. These days, because of Twitter and Facebook, news of a crisis spreads faster than ever. This leaves companies with less and less time to respond to a crisis. Often all a company has is a few minutes or hours.
2. Management personnel and decision-makers face a higher level of expectation. Successful crisis management demands that they act more professionally and more rapidly than ever before.
3. A key factor is an authentic response, one that does not lose the trust of a variety of stakeholders when an emergency arises.
4. Each crisis passes through a certain spectrum of elements as do the resulting media reporting and the social media communication.

To confront these challenges while projecting self-assurance, it is essential that companies are well-prepared and that every crisis-PR measure slots effectively into place. This is because ultimately each crisis also contains the opportunity to return to the path of success with greater strength. We are happy to provide skilled support, enabling you to continue operating effectively even in an emergency:

• Strategic crisis-PR advice
• Ad-hoc communication in a crisis
• Building-up of structures for effective action
• Taking over the emergency-support functions (e.g. spokesperson function, crisis hotline)
• Operational crisis management
• Bringing in the resources of experts

Of course, we donꞌt only render support to companies when the crisis has already arrived. We are also a reliable partner at our customersꞌ side when it comes to crisis prevention. Ask us about what we can do for you!