The top 10 PR crises of 2010
Over at the Holmes Report we are running some hefty analysis of the top 10 PR crises of 2010. It was a tough selection whittling this down to 10, but we tried to aim for those that might teach some lasting lessons – whether that meant how corporates should respond to Wikileaks, what Chinese manufacturers should learn from the Foxconn tragedies or how BP’s efforts pre-crisis proved so pivotal to its eventual blunders.
Unsurprisingly this meant few of the high-profile social media crises made the cut – as they turned out to be rather too transient in nature. In addition, we were also able to uncover some interesting information about the PR agencies that were called in to assist beleaguered corporates: Brunswick’s counsel of Toyota, for example, or Burson-Marsteller’s attempts to help Foxconn in China.
Thankfully, we were able to call on a pretty strong cast of commentators from all over the world who helped us shape our thoughts. Please do check it out and let us know what you think.
The lessons here are fundamental and simple:
1) If the way you act and the way you present yourself are not aligned, you will fall.
2) If you do not take Communications seriously enough to have it report to the CEO or the president, you will react poorly.
3) If you hire a journalist to run your Corporate Communications function, they will likely fail in transition.
4) If you build a solid foundation based on accomplishment, the reputational hit from a single incident can be managed (Toyota.)
Tom Mattia
February 7, 2011 at 5:40 pm