How to Deal with a Public Relations Fiasco

Big or small, PR crises can be tough to navigate, especially when they affect people’s lives and safety. At the very least, these can tarnish a company’s reputation. At worst, they can close down businesses completely.

In the Philippines alone, we have witnessed our fair share of PR blunders. Take the infamous cancellation of all flights within the Philippine airspace on New Year’s day of 2023. Or a plane overshooting the Davao airport runway in 2013. 

In cases like this, how brands and their public relations teamsrespond determines whether they come out of the storm relatively unscathed or in tatters.

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What is a Public Relations Crisis?

The first step to handling a PR crisis is understanding exactly what counts as one.

A PR crisis is a situation that negatively affects the reputation of a business, organization, or brand. It can be as small as a bad review on your Facebook page, or as massive as an international scandal.

There are different types of PR crises, including:

● Accidents or natural disasters. These are events that cause the disruption of services, endangerment of people’s lives, or dissatisfaction of customers due to calamities, unforeseen events, or accidents. 

​● Staff or product failure. One of the toughest crises to handle are those caused by issues of incompetence, error, or malfunction. When not handled correctly, they can significantly erode people’s trust.

● Scandals. These are events that are usually related to a lapse of virtue, such as when a high-ranking official is accused of a crime or when a company’s handling of funds comes under question.

Every business will experience some crisis one way or another. As important as it is to put systems in place to avoid as many problems as possible, it’s crucial to know how to deal with disasters when they come.

What to Do in a PR Crisis

Crises are a great opportunity for businesses to show what they’re made of. These are times when their values will shine through. 

But it takes careful strategy to ride out a PR storm with dignity and grace. It certainly is easier said than done. But it’s not impossible.

Here are five key things you need to do:

Gather the Facts

When something goes wrong, the first thing you need to do is assess the situation. Try to get a clear understanding of what happened, who’s involved, and how it can affect your business and stakeholders.

Many people will want answers. And they’ll want them right away. 

If, for example, you’re a restaurant owner and someone had a severe allergic reaction to the food you served, these are some of the questions you’d want to ask:

● Who were involved?

● What was in the food?

● Did the customer give instructions to exclude the allergen from their order?

● What is the customer’s current condition?

● How did the staff respond?

The more you know, the better. However, there are cases where very limited information will be available immediately after an incident. 

Note: Get only the facts. Now is not the time for conjecture or people’s opinions, especially not those from within your organization. 

Evaluating the situation objectively will help you accurately gauge the gravity of the problem and determine what to do moving forward.

Appoint a Crisis Response Team

You don’t want to build a response time when disaster strikes. You should have one in place before you even need one.

But even with a response team in place, there’s one thing that you’ll likely want to change depending on the problem at hand: Who you appoint as your company’s public face.

This person will act as your spokesperson. He or she will face the media, do the interviews, and give statements. Needless to say, your choice of spokesperson is critical, because as your business’s representative, not only will his words matter. His conduct, demeanor, and even appearance will be taken note of.

However, when a problem is extremely grave, such as when a death is involved, a spokesperson may not be enough. 

In serious events like this, a representative from the company may need to be visible to the public to assure, explain, and even apologize, if needed. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the President or the CEO, however. A credible representative, high-ranking official, or officer directly overseeing the issue will do.

Craft Key Messages

Let’s go back to the restaurant example. Let’s say the customer suffered anaphylactic shock and passed away after eating your food. Public outrage ensues.

What do you say to assuage the people’s anger and grief? What do you say as a response to this unfortunate incident? That’s your key message.

To be effective, crisis communication has to be:

● Honest. Don’t sugarcoat, minimize details, or deny what caused the problem in the first place.​

“In a crisis, lying has always proven to be disastrous,” says PR crisis expert Rene Pineda.

“Cases in point: the Chipotle food poisoning in the US and the tragic fire incident at Kentex flip flop factory in the Philippines. Although the two incidents involved the admission of fault during the later stage of the crisis, all became too late for the public to understand and forgive—hence the two brands suffered irreparable damage,” Pineda added.

According to Pineda, the better way to attack a PR disaster is to admit fault at the earliest opportunity, instead of dallying to respond or take responsibility. “There is great virtue in the “Mortification Strategy”, a plan of action of admittance during crises,” he said

.● Sincere. People detect insincerity. We just know when someone is saying something for the sake of saying it–or, worse, to escape blame or punishment. Dig deep and ask yourself, “How would I want the company to respond if I were in the customer’s or affected person’s position?”

● Open about steps moving forward. People will want to know your course of action. Be as transparent as you can be without sacrificing other important steps, like an investigation.

● Aimed at de-escalation. The last thing you’d want to do is add fuel to the fire. Exude calmness in your message, but be open about what’s really happening and provide solutions.

Act Fast

Going back to the New Year’s day fiasco where no flights could be allowed within the Philippine airspace, people were increasingly angered by the slowness of the response from the authorities. 

As a result, people came to their own conclusions. Many other agencies were blamed for the passengers’ troubles. Nobody knew what was actually going on.

When you’re dealing with a PR crisis, don’t delay damage control. Do it quickly. People will be angrier the longer you wait. 

On the other hand, when problems are dealt with swiftly and responsibly, people recognize that too. 

It gives companies the opportunity to rise above negative events. It also shows that they are true to their values and are worthy of people’s trust. 

Have a Crisis Plan Ready

To navigate the murky waters of crisis management, you need a reliable, forward-looking PR strategist who can take on the challenge with you and see you through it. 

The best time to have a crisis plan? Right now.