Crisis Communication in Marketing

We’ve all seen how quickly a single moment on social media can spiral. One tone-deaf comment, one AI-generated response that misses the mark, or just a slow internal handoff and suddenly, your brand is trending for all the wrong reasons. When I started building our AI-First Mindset™ transformation program, I knew we couldn’t just focus on opportunity. We also had to prepare leaders for risk and that includes public-facing crises fueled by speed and automation. That’s why I developed a new module focused on building a social media crisis management plan designed for today’s AI-powered workplace. We cover the essentials: • How to build a clear, flexible crisis communication plan • The best crisis management tools to monitor and respond in real time • How to define team roles across marketing, legal, leadership and tech • And how to account for AI-powered systems that can escalate issues if not handled properly In a world where content and backlash move at machine speed, your people need clarity. That starts with a plan that’s actually usable and practiced before the pressure hits. This isn’t about fear. It’s about preparation. AI adoption comes with incredible potential, but it also changes how we manage trust. A good crisis response needs to e part of your broader AI change management strategy. If your team is using AI but hasn’t revisited your crisis plan, now’s the time. Stay tuned for practical guidance on creating crisis plans that perform under pressure. #DigitalCrisisStrategy #CrisisCommunication #CrisisResponse #DigitalCrisis #SocialMediaCrisis

TRUTH bomb of the day: People connect with people, not faceless corporations on social. This insight helped two merging health systems successfully rebrand without losing their employees' trust. When Beaumont Health and Spectrum Health merged into Corewell Health, they were up against: - 21 hospitals becoming one brand - 300+ outpatient locations needing alignment - 65,000 employees wondering "what's next?" The typical thing to do is to blast out corporate memos and hope for the best. (Spoiler: that never works) Instead, Corewell Health's social team did something different: They turned their EMPLOYEES into the voice of the brand. They leveraged 65,000+ people in their organization and empowered them to drive results! Using Hootsuite Enterprise they were able to: - Create one central hub for brand content (keeping 65,000 people across 300+ locations on-brand) - Make sharing authentic stories effortless (busy healthcare workers could share pre-approved content in seconds) - Monitor conversations in real-time (it became easy to spot negative sentiment early and adjust their content accordingly) And I’m still shocked by the results they generated: → 3M+ MORE impressions from employee-shared content →  2.5x HIGHER engagement than healthcare industry average (4.76% to 1.8%) → 50% DROP in negative sentiment since the merger went into effect (14% to 7%) The big lesson? 👇🏻 Your most powerful brand ambassadors aren't your ads or announcements. They're your people. When you empower employees to share their authentic experiences on social media, you build trust in ways traditional corporate communications never could.

Your brand will face a crisis. It's not a question of if, but when it will hit. Lack of preparation ensures disaster. A single misstep can burn years of trust and incinerate your brand equity. Forget complex playbooks. Surviving a brand inferno boils down to three simple steps. Master these actions and your brand won't just survive -- it will forge deeper loyalty by differentiating (doing the right thing while others go wrong), becoming more relevant (you'll win over the skeptics), and demonstrating sustainability (plus proof points for years!). Stop hoping and start preparing. When the time comes, lead your brand through crisis by doing these three things: 1. Get Leadership Front & Center: The CEO must lead the response. No hiding. 2. Acknowledge Truth: Admit the problem directly. No spin. 3. Overcorrect Boldly: Take massive, immediate action. No excuses. Data fuels every step. It's your early warning system for threats. It arms leaders with real-time insights. It measures true recovery. A crisis doesn't have to break a brand. It can reveal its true strength. Art+Science Analytics Institute | University of Notre Dame | University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Chicago | D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University | ELVTR | Grow with Google - Data Analytics #Analytics #DataStorytelling

It’s called crisis communications for a reason. And, as the global Internet outage last week reminded everyone, it’s hard. CrowdStrike was criticized not just for shipping software that crashed PCs, but for communicating poorly. The company’s first response came via a tweet from CEO George Kurtz at 5:45 a.m., hours after it started. Kurtz said the outage was “a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.” Filled with jargon, the statement didn’t seem to accept responsibility and directed clients to “the support portal.” The post was updated hours later to say "we understand the gravity of the situation." Big companies run PR disaster simulations to prepare for such events. Someone drafts a scenario like — “there’s E. coli in the salad!” — and they run a war game-style response to stress test how everyone reacts. The CEO huddles with lawyers and the PR team to draft a statement. The simulations, according to friends in PR, can help, but aren’t convened in the middle of the night. They aren't a surprise. People are available. You have a couple hours to respond. Real life comes at you much faster. Simulations don’t include the fact that the rest of the world is freaking out over the Blue Screen of Death. Companies facing PR disasters are not new. What is new: –The speed needed to respond –Communicating via X –The CEO posting directly These days, the most important immediate thing – really the only thing that matters out of the gate – is writing an effective, accurate tweet quickly. Everything else comes second. The tweet needs to a) explain the situation in plain English b) acknowledge responsibility c) provide a sense of what comes next. Before the emergence of X as the default global town hall, a statement would be sent to the news media. Reporters would write an article and often provide context the company left out. Now, the statement needs to stands alone. Most CEOs have scant experience writing tweets that get this level of scrutiny because they don’t have much experience writing tweets at all. I think that will slowly change. Kurtz posts on X, but his posts are anodyne and impersonal – covering topics such as the race car team CrowdStrike sponsors; various honors the company has received and interviews he's done. The lack of direct social media experience probably left him relying on the lawyers and PR folks to draft the post. As CEOs gradually understand how they may be defined by a single tweet posted during a crisis, they will take it more seriously. They will want to be ready. They will realize the most effective crisis simulation may just be someone handing them a scenario and saying: “write the tweet. NOW!” The handful of CEOs who write online -- people like Rich Handler from Jefferies -- are likely more prepared. Writing online is a bit like public speaking. To do it well, you need practice. You can delegate it to others on most days and it won’t matter. But there may come a day when it does

🚨 The Email That Made 200 Employees Panic The subject line read: “We need to talk.” That was it. No context. No explanation. Within minutes, the office air felt heavier. You could hear chairs creak as people leaned toward each other, whispering: 👉 “Did you see the mail?” 👉 “Do you think layoffs are coming?” 👉 “Why would he say that without details?” The silence in the cafeteria was louder than usual that day. Coffee cups stayed untouched, half-filled. Some stared at their screens, pretending to work, but their fingers hesitated above the keyboard. One manager later told me it felt like “a ticking clock in the background you can’t turn off.” What was meant to be a simple one-on-one call turned into an organization-wide anxiety spiral. Productivity dipped. Trust cracked. By evening, HR’s inbox was full of panicked questions. ⸻ 💡 When I stepped in as a trainer, the leader admitted: “I just didn’t think one line could create so much fear.” And that’s the truth: Leaders often underestimate the power of their words. A vague message is like sending a flare into the sky—everyone sees it, no one knows what it means, but everyone assumes the worst. We worked together on Crisis Communication Frameworks: • Lead with clarity: “I’d like to connect regarding Project X progress this Friday.” • Add emotional context: “No concerns—just a quick alignment call.” • Close with certainty: “This will help us stay on track as a team.” The difference? Next time he wrote an email, instead of panic, his team replied with thumbs-up emojis. Calm replaced chaos. ⸻ 🎯 Learning: Leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about how you sound in the small moments. One vague sentence can break trust. One clear message can build it back. If your leaders are unintentionally creating chaos through unclear communication, let’s talk. Because the cost of poor communication isn’t just morale—it’s millions. ⸻ #LeadershipCommunication #CrisisCommunication #ExecutivePresence #LeadershipSkills #CommunicationMatters #Fortune500 #TopCompanies #CXOLeadership #FutureOfWork #OrganizationalExcellence #StorytellingForLeaders #LeadershipDevelopment #CorporateTraining #ProfessionalGrowth #PeopleFirstLeadership

How can companies recover from a crisis? Chocolate Finance has been in the spotlight this week after suspending instant withdrawals, leading to public backlash. While the situation seems dire, people may eventually forget this crisis if Chocolate Finance takes the right steps to rebuild trust. Here’s how companies in similar situations can regain consumer trust: 1. Have a crisis communications plan This should already be in place before a crisis occurs. If your company doesn’t have one, start now (especially if you're a fintech company). It should outline possible scenarios, pre-drafted statements, and response timelines—for example, issuing a statement within an hour of an incident. Too many startups focus on aggressive growth without considering the repercussions of moving too quickly. 2. Reassure customers If trust is broken, brands must work harder to rebuild it. Crises expose flaws, so it’s critical to communicate the company’s commitment to addressing and overcoming these issues. 3. Reevaluate flawed practices or programs Identify and fix the systems, policies, or programs that contributed to the crisis. Ignoring negative feedback can lead to larger problems down the line. 4. Strengthen crisis management and communication Speed is crucial, especially with sensitive matters like money. Communicate changes early and clearly, giving customers time to adapt. Remember, people don’t like change. 5. Offer goodwill gestures Show appreciation to affected customers through compensation like fee waivers, discounts, or exclusive offers to rebuild relationships. 6. Humanise the recovery process Having a person to represent the organisation and apologise is better than hiding behind a faceless company statement. CEO-led communication—through media interviews, live Q&A sessions, or customer success stories—can demonstrate the company’s commitment to improvement and rebuild trust.

Crises happen. But your credibility doesn’t disappear overnight. What truly matters is what you do after a crisis hits. Ask yourself: - Are you in denial or accepting the facts? - Are you deflecting blame or taking responsibility? - Are you coasting on past successes or putting systems in place to protect stakeholders? Your stakeholders’ trust hinges on your answers. Here’s how to maintain trust and credibility after a media relations crisis: - Own up to visible mistakes. - Investigate to find root causes. - Stick to the facts. - Take corrective measures. - Keep affected stakeholders informed every step of the way. Trust is built in times of calm but proven in times of crisis.

Retention Isn’t Sexy - Until You’re Broke Brands chase growth. But when the faucet turns off and the market tightens, email becomes your backbone. So why do we treat it as a short-term fix rather than a long-term asset? I hear this conversation replayed to me all the time from CRM and Brand Managers: Their Manager: Targets are down. Budget’s gone. Just send more emails. CRM: We already sent one this week with a promo. Manager: Send another. Bigger discount. CRM: Unsubscribes were high last time… Manager: Send to everyone — even non-engagers. Add urgency. And so it begins. 📉 Deliverability drops. 📉 Clicks tank. 📉 Unsubscribes rise. 📉 The database - your only owned audience - starts eroding. But the revenue target stays the same. This is what happens when you treat email like a faucet you can turn on and off — instead of a system you build and respect. 💡 Want to break the cycle? Here’s how smart brands avoid the spiral: 1. Build an acquisition engine, even when times are good. Don’t just chase sales. Chase subscribers, on all channels, not just site pop-ups. If 2% of traffic buys, aim for 20% to subscribe. That’s your future revenue. 2. Agree on discounting guardrails. Not every campaign needs a percentage off, even if times are tough. Consider other conversion tools like: - loyalty perks - free gifts - tiered basket incentives - competitions - outlet-style categories 3. Treat non-converters as humans, not dead weight. Reduce frequency, but stay visible. Try to understand why they’re lapsing e.g gift buyers? Promo-only? Seasonal? 4. Use peak trading to re-acquire, not just sell. Black Friday can re-engage lapsed customers. But the follow-up can’t be more noise. Build a new journey. Reset the relationship. 5. Track long-term metrics. Not just revenue-per-send. Show your management week on week how these are growing: -LTV - Repeat purchase rate - AOV - Site visit frequency from consumers on your database 6. Invest in content, not just campaigns. Nurture a community. Give them reasons to stay subscribed. Boost engagement before you ask for a sale. Remember nobkdy going to buy daily and weekly, you need more to keep them engage. Think weekly style tips, news Roundup, podcast drops, games, polls etc Email can be your safety net — but only if you protect the list, grow it intentionally, and stop burning it out with knee-jerk sends. Want to find out our playbook for growing your subscriber base rapidly. (like how we grew out base to 17m). DM me. Build it right. Because when things get tough, it’s your email list that keeps the lights on.

Every week I hear another "guru" claim email marketing is dead. It's become a ritual in the industry: Predict email's demise, propose the next shiny solution, repeat. The data tells a completely different story. The most recent analysis shows email marketing generates up to $36 for every dollar invested. Despite the evidence that almost 60% of consumers make purchase decisions directly influenced by marketing emails, I'm watching brands slash their email budgets to chase fleeting social media trends. Their story is a common one: They see declining open rates or poor engagement, and believe their audience has moved on.  The problem isn't email itself. It's typically a simple lack of strategy. Most experienced marketers would give up their social media channels before surrendering their email program. These aren't marketers clinging to tradition. They simply follow the data. If you want to extract simple, direct money from your brand -- make sure email is locked down tight with a well-thought-out strategy. Easiest win in your entire business.

Honoured to join BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast this morning to discuss the brand implications of the recent cyberattack on Marks & Spencer on UK national radio. M&S is a brand built on history, quality, and competence - all pillars of trust. But when that trust is shaken, even legacy brands are vulnerable. My points was that this isn't just an IT issue. It's a brand crisis, striking at two fundamental levels: ➡️ Functional Trust – Can I buy what I want, when I want it? ➡️ Emotional Trust – Do I still feel safe with this brand? What concerns me most is the current vagueness in communications. In a vacuum, customers fill in the gaps - often with fear, not forgiveness. M&S needs to get ahead of this story: reassure customers, explain what’s happening, and show how they’ll prevent it from happening again. Yes, the brand has built up decades of goodwill - but goodwill has a half-life. Consumers today won’t lower their expectations just because it’s M&S. They want safety, not risk. Cybersecurity is now a brand issue. Reputations are built in peacetime — but tested in moments like this. Listen to the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/eh-u2_rJ #BrandStrategy #CrisisComms #Cybersecurity #MS #BBC5Live #Trust #CustomerExperience