Who’d Create a P.R. Crisis on Purpose? Well, Only the Sweat Was Real
- 7 years ago
Who’d Create a P.R. Crisis on Purpose? Well, Only the Sweat Was Real
Mr. Gilman added, “Several of our clients have war rooms where they want to be ready just in case there’s a Trump tweet,
and in the same kind of way, if it’s an agency or a company that’s advertising a ton or any other business, they want to be prepared.”
That sort of thinking could have helped United Airlines respond more quickly to the video of the passenger’s removal.
“The whole goal is faster reaction time, faster recognition of the issues
and hopefully faster getting the issues off the front page or out of social media,” said Andrew D. Gilman, CommCore’s chief executive, who has consulted with the likes of Johnson & Johnson and General Motors during crises.
The firm would provide the story line, play characters like inquiring reporters
and angry protesters, and provide supporting material like social media posts and published articles, all designed to make us feel increasingly panicked.
“If you put them in a hot pot, they’re going to jump right out,
but if you take a frog and slowly create a nice little hot tub environment, he’ll stay in and finally boil,” Mr. Weiss explained, a little too gleefully.
Our company’s reputation was careening out of control, and we had no idea how to stop the damage — or slow the seemingly endless torrent of social media posts
that were berating us for our ties to the world’s largest polluter.
There were so many outlets, advocacy groups and internal stakeholders to respond to
that it was hard to keep them straight — and the list of options we could use to respond was similarly lengthy.
Mr. Gilman added, “Several of our clients have war rooms where they want to be ready just in case there’s a Trump tweet,
and in the same kind of way, if it’s an agency or a company that’s advertising a ton or any other business, they want to be prepared.”
That sort of thinking could have helped United Airlines respond more quickly to the video of the passenger’s removal.
“The whole goal is faster reaction time, faster recognition of the issues
and hopefully faster getting the issues off the front page or out of social media,” said Andrew D. Gilman, CommCore’s chief executive, who has consulted with the likes of Johnson & Johnson and General Motors during crises.
The firm would provide the story line, play characters like inquiring reporters
and angry protesters, and provide supporting material like social media posts and published articles, all designed to make us feel increasingly panicked.
“If you put them in a hot pot, they’re going to jump right out,
but if you take a frog and slowly create a nice little hot tub environment, he’ll stay in and finally boil,” Mr. Weiss explained, a little too gleefully.
Our company’s reputation was careening out of control, and we had no idea how to stop the damage — or slow the seemingly endless torrent of social media posts
that were berating us for our ties to the world’s largest polluter.
There were so many outlets, advocacy groups and internal stakeholders to respond to
that it was hard to keep them straight — and the list of options we could use to respond was similarly lengthy.