Reputation management and social media – averting a crisis

As professional communicators know, sometimes the best crisis communications exercise results in few people, if any, realizing how close you really came to a full blown crisis.

Social media can play an important role in a world that’s moving faster every day.

In today’s Wall Street Journal (8.3.09), the article, “For Companies, A Tweet in Time Can Avert PR Mess” discusses examples where monitoring of social media averted broader PR messes for Ford, Pepsi and Coca Cola.

Not every crisis, or near crisis, can be averted by monitoring tweets, posts and other online chatter, but in this article some of the world’s biggest brands share examples of how, in their cases, they did.

Whether a monstrous global brand, a privately held mid-sized B2B company, or a non-profit organization, being prepared for crisis, having a business continuity plan and, importantly, the commitment to execute it can preserve your hard-earned and well-deserved reputation.

As Winston Churchill once said, “A lie can go halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on in the morning.”  And just think, he said that before the Internet.

Post by Nick Vehr – 8.3.09