First define what a crisis: It is “any event that threatens the image and reputation of institutions, companies or individual that has the potential to generate negative publicity and to take an extraordinary time for the top management team to face”
Hear and read much about the term “crisis management“. What is it really?
Defined as the strategic management of information and communications to situations that may threaten the reputation of an institution and / or harm their attributes. ”
I stress the word “strategic” because it is vital to understand that in a situation of conflict, where a negative campaign in media may affect the reputation of an institution and its brands left right thing is not to panic but draw clear goals and pursue them. In short, in a crisis situation must be more strategic and less emotional.
It often happens that the executives of a company scandal or the victim of a media attack react very emotionally: Threatening to sue the media or the news editor, offending and sending messages without meaning, without any direction or even respond with a campaign commercial that has no impact on the creation of perceptions at the level of public debate.
In my experience as an expert in crisis management I have found that there are two ways to react to a crisis media:
1. Reacting in a negative way, covering up the facts, avoiding public confrontation, in which case it is difficult to recover the corporate image.
2. No blow to the crisis, to stand and act in an organized manner with the possibility of recovering the company’s image and reputation of the company. In short: Be more strategic and less emotional.
The most appropriate management of crisis is to take control of the agenda of public debate in the media as soon as possible to avoid negative adjectives positioning against us.
How do we control?
Making proper and orderly management of information generated daily by the media and accurate planning and directing our communication through design and implementation of a contingency communication strategy due, with respect, doing an adequate crisis management.
