For more insights on crisis management, visit the May 2025 issue of Strategies & Tactics.
From Fortune 500 companies to local startups, no business is immune to the lightning-fast spread of reputational threats.
The stakes of public missteps are high, making quick crisis response essential. This is especially true for highly regulated industries like logistics, supply chain, and robotics. Yet, shockingly, Capterra’s 2023 Crisis Communications Survey found that only 49% of U.S. businesses have a formal crisis communications plan. Talk about living dangerously.
Being prepared is the tried-and-true way to handle a crisis. At our firm, we swear by the PREPARE model: Plan, Review, Preempt, Assess, React, Execute.
This isn’t just a fancy acronym. It’s your roadmap through the storm, guiding you from initial planning to final execution. Each step is crucial, ensuring that you’re not caught off guard when crisis strikes.
Data as your secret weapon
In the digital age, data is king. Monitoring social media and tracking industry news — it’s all crucial. It helps you spot trends and stay ahead of the news cycle. When a crisis hits, this data becomes your lifeline.
Data is everywhere — within our organizations and externally. It comes from sources like sales reports, website analytics and social media metrics. Web analytics can reveal how potential issues are impacting site traffic and user behavior, while social media offers real-time insights into public sentiment. Sales figures may reflect how emerging concerns are impacting consumer confidence.
During a crisis, the ability to analyze this data in real-time is crucial. Social listening tools, media monitoring platforms and web analytics provide up-to-the-minute feedback on how the situation is evolving and how communications are being received.
This real-time data allows us to be agile in our response, quickly adjusting our strategies as the situation evolves. If we see that a particular message isn’t resonating or that misinformation is spreading through a specific channel, then we can pivot our approach immediately rather than waiting for the next news cycle.
AI: more than just a buzzword
AI remains a hot topic these days, with everyone buzzing about its potential.
To use it correctly for crisis communications, it’s crucial to focus on where AI truly excels. While many are jumping on the bandwagon of employing chatbots for content creation, this approach misses the point. Using AI to write a bland press release is like using a bulldozer to plant a flower — it’s a mismatch of tool and task. Instead, it excels at tasks that would overwhelm human analysts, such as processing vast amounts of data, identifying patterns and making predictions at lightning speed.
These capabilities are where AI becomes a game-changer in crisis management. It can scrape the web, social media platforms and news outlets for mentions of your brand or industry. It’s like having thousands of eyes and ears constantly monitoring the digital landscape. But AI doesn’t stop at data collection. It dives deeper, interpreting the emotional tone of messages through sentiment analysis. This gives you not just what people are saying but how they feel about it – crucial intel for crafting the correct response during a crisis.
In the future, AI platforms may be able to predict audience reactions without the need for time-consuming focus groups. You could test and refine your crisis response strategy in real-time without the real-world consequences. That’s the potential of AI.
The time crunch: When seconds count
When a crisis strikes, time seems to vanish. There isn’t any room for lengthy debates with the C-suite. This is where planning pays off. The more you prepare, the more time you buy yourself when it matters most. In a brand reputation incident, you don’t have the luxury of time. Debate too long, and you’ll lose control of the narrative faster than you can say “no comment.”
Scenario planning is your best friend here. It allows for thoughtful deliberation before the storm hits. You can align stakeholders, define roles and create a playbook for various crisis scenarios. When the real thing strikes, you’re not starting from scratch. You’re ready to act fast and control the story.
The art of moving on
An often-overlooked tactic in crisis management is knowing when to let the story die. The news cycle moves fast. Focus on resolving internal issues and rectifying problems within your organization. However, continuing to comment on a crisis situation only adds fuel to the fire and keeps the crisis burning.
Recovery isn’t about silence, though. People crave transparency during a crisis. Silence breeds mistrust. However, beware of oversharing. Too much information can prolong a crisis, muddy your message and divert attention from real issues. The key is simplicity and directness. Use data to identify crucial messages, then communicate them clearly and concisely. Crisis communications will always be about people — their fears, hopes and trust in your organization.
Preparation is the ultimate advantage in a crisis. By embracing the PREPARE framework, leveraging data as a strategic asset, and harnessing AI’s analytical capabilities, companies can position themselves to navigate even the most turbulent PR storms.
The ability to anticipate, react swiftly and recover strategically isn’t merely a nice-to-have — it’s the difference between sinking and swimming when a brand reputation is on the line.
Jessica Whidt, APR, is managing director at Warner Communications. She leads the agency team, supporting clients across multiple complex industries, including supply chain, logistics, transportation, renewable energy and technology.
Illustration credit: zenday
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