Crisis communication

Crisis communications is often a hurried plan that is put into action as a last resort and delivered in a stressful environment. It’s very unusual for an organisation to have procedures already in place, or significant advanced warning of when an issue is going to break. This is when it pays to have an experienced communicator on hand to guide you through the situation.

At Liberate Media we are regularly called upon to offer our consultancy on crisis communications as part of our ongoing campaigns, and have successfully guided clients through issues on a national and international stage. We are also equipped to take a proactive stance on the identification and management of potential crises before they break, for high risk brands or those who are keen to have a pre-existing plan in place.

In reality, every crisis situation is different, so although there are some guidelines to follow, the communications team must be fast moving and able to access the latest information quickly. Our experience as a social media agency offers us access to a range of monitoring and reputation tools and strategies which allows us to identify issues as they happen, and gives us the opportunity to converse with the relevant communities quickly. This is especially relevant when you consider individuals are empowered to share their views on a global scale, which will ultimately include your online community of advocates, customers and competitors.

Our crisis management offering includes a buzz and conversation monitoring service to identify and classify threats at the earliest opportunity. It is then important to listen and identify the primary problems before working with you to develop a relevant and useful response. This strategy ensures that any potential damage to the organisation’s reputation is minimised by not rushing in blindly without truly understanding the issue, and relationships with your customers are protected and in some cases may even be enhanced by the intelligent approach to conversational engagement, rather than corporate spin.