PR Nightmare, A.K.A….

By Jamie Hooker

It’s one of the most dreaded words in PR – the “C” word. (Crisis… we’re talking about crisis.) It’s been described as “a PR nightmare” and referred to like, “I would hate to be (insert company name here)’s PR person.” But crisis doesn’t have to be so bad, not if you’re prepared for it!

That’s where Snackbox comes in. This post is the start of our next series where we’ll be talking all about crisis, from different types of crises, how to prepare for one, what to do after one and everything in between. Call it advice, free of charge 🙂

Crisis communication is defined as “a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation.”

First, let’s focus on that last part – “a public challenge to its reputation.” There are countless situations that fall into this category, and we’ve seen them all over the place. The first one that comes to 90 percent of people’s minds is the BP oil spill. This was a crisis of epic proportion, but not all crises get the attention this one did. A crisis can be anything from an angry customer’s Tweet gaining traction, to a private lawsuit from an employee. We’ll discuss different types of crises later, in terms of who knows what and when.

So please, join us on this journey through the wonderful world of PR crises and we promise you’ll come out of it smarter and prepared for whatever crazy thing comes next. You’ll thank us later!