Preparation is essential for properly responding to PR crises. Organizations typically plan for expected threats such as cyber breaches and product recalls. Planning for unexpected events is far more difficult.

Unusual and unexpected disasters may be a combination of two or three simultaneous events or an event too large or unusual to imagine, according to experts at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Deloitte divides crises into two categories: routine and novel.

Organizations usually plan for routine crises, such disaster recovery and security threats, and issues common in their sectors.  Manufacturers develop safety plans. Food companies create recall plans, and financial institutions create liquidity plans.

The Most Dangerous Crises

However, it’s the novel crises that are most dangerous.

“An unanticipated crisis can easily overwhelm contingency mitigation techniques and risk management programs, such as business continuity, disaster recovery, health and safety plans or emergency response,” states Rhoda Woo, leader of the company’s U.S. Crisis Management practice. In addition, management can make the crisis worse by ignoring it until it’s too late, she adds.

The first planning step is brainstorming expected disasters, such as cyber breaches and criminal attacks, as well as more unlikely events.

The CEO may not be the best person to manage the response to an unexpected crisis as it could distract him or her from important day-to-day business matters. Other top executives and perhaps an outside crisis manager can step forward to lend support. The usual corporate roles may not apply during a novel crisis.

Advice to Follow

The following recommendations can help organizations handle PR crises.

Develop a plan. A crisis management plan designates a crisis management team, outlines communication methods, and lists stakeholders to be contacted.

Test your plan. Testing the plan before a crisis erupts can identify areas needing improvement .A Deloitte online poll indicates that many PR pros and corporate executives don’t know what their biggest gap in crisis preparedness would be. Half of respondents of the 2,000 survey respondents were not sure if the crisis response team had been tested.

Consider social media. Although social media can be instrumental in causing a crisis, it can also help combat it. Following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, energy company Con Edison used Twitter to communicate power restoration efforts to customers, sending out over 1,650 tweets.

Monitor social media. Monitoring social media enables PR to measure the extent of the crisis, perceptions of the company, and how PR efforts may be influencing the brand’s reputation. Social media listening before, during and after the crisis is imperative.

Follow up. Continuing to monitor brand mentions in the media and social media after the crisis fades is an important part of PR crisis management. A concerted image restoration effort may be necessary. After the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP implemented an image repair campaign. It emphasized its connection to the people impacted most by the disaster in an attempt to rebuild its image.

Bottom Line: Planning is probably the most important part of managing a PR crisis. However, planning responses to unexpected events – which can pose the most dangerous crises — is challenging. These tips from crisis management experts can help organizations prepare for the unexpected.

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William Comcowich

William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.