NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CrisisResponsePro, an innovative technology resource for crisis and litigation communications, today released its third-annual list of the worst- and best-handled crisis communications responses.
For more detail on the rankings, please view the post on CrisisResponsePro’s blog, “Confront the Crisis.”
“With the election of Donald Trump as president, this year really saw an extraordinary number of high-profile crises that touched on political issues,” said James F. Haggerty, founder and CEO of CrisisResponsePro and author of the new book Chief Crisis Officer: Structure and Leadership for Effective Communications Response (ABA Books, 2017). “This includes excellent responses from companies and others on the ‘best’ side, and others that were downright horrid. As in years past, the dominant characteristic of entries on our ‘worst’ list was an initial bungled response that poured gasoline on the fire of public outrage.”
THE TOP FIVE WORST
1. Harvey Weinstein (sexual harassment)
Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s statement in response to allegations of sexual harassment and assault was, in our opinion, one of the worst ever, and led to a deluge of (for the most part) equally bad communications responses from other accused men, ushering in the Year of the Sex Harasser.
2. United Airlines (passenger dragging)
We believe United’s handling of the incident in which passenger Dr. David Dao was dragged off a flight was abysmal. The company wavered on the tone and content of its messages, going from defensive to — after it and its stock got pummeled — prostrate.
3. Equifax (data breach)
Equifax was criticized for its terrible handling of the communications around its cybersecurity incident. Its first messages showed lack of concern. CEO Rick Smith looked bored in a video message. Massive complaints rolled in about the website it set up.
4. Uber (toxic culture)
Uber’s crises this year were many, but its two biggest — and related — problems were its toxic culture and its CEO, Travis Kalanick. The mess revealed a desperate need for in-house systems to detect problems before they blow up into major crises.
5. Facebook (Russian advertising)
After the election, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it was “a crazy idea” to suggest that Facebook might have influenced it. In July, the social-networking giant said it had “seen no evidence that Russian actors bought ads on Facebook in connection with the election.” But in September, it admitted it found 470 profiles linked to Russian agents that bought about 3,000 such political ads before election day last year. Not a great effort.
THE TOP FIVE BEST
1. Corporate America (Trump travel ban)
Corporate America was impressively united and strong in its denunciation of President Donald Trump’s January executive order curbing U.S. travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. Tempting a Trump Twitter reaction, the companies emphasized in their statements the importance of immigration to the country’s history and to their corporate missions.
2. PwC (Academy Awards mix-up)
When a firm partner made a mistake and handed an Oscar presenter the wrong card for the best-picture award, PwC took the situation seriously. It tracked down what went wrong and apologized, including the U.S. chairman giving several apologetic interviews with media outlets. The company took the blame without excuses.
3. Nordstrom (Ivanka Trump)
When President Donald Trump lashed out at Nordstrom for dropping daughter Ivanka’s fashion line due to poor sales, the company didn’t lose its cool. It calmly said it had told the Ivanka Trump company about its decision earlier and reiterated that it wasn’t personal, simply business.
4. Tiki Brand (Charlottesville protests)
After white supremacists carried Tiki Brand torches during their August demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, the company was vehement and righteous in rejecting any association with their cause. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive; Facebook users shared the message more than 10,000 times.
5. Chobani (Alex Jones attack)
When shock-jock conspiracy theorist Alex Jones accused Chobani of bringing crime and disease to Twin Falls, Idaho, where the company has a plant, the yogurt maker sued, garnering a ton of media coverage. Less than a month after Chobani filed its legal action, Jones retracted the stories and apologized.
About CrisisResponsePro.com
Created by leading crisis and litigation communications firm PRCG | Haggerty LLC, CrisisResponsePro offers highly secure, web-based subscription portals to bring the crisis communications team together, and provide content, resources and a collaborative platform to respond quickly and effectively to immediate crises like physical accidents, data breaches or product recalls, as well as longer-term issues related to legal, regulatory or public affairs matters.
For more information about CrisisResponsePro, visit http://www.crisisresponsepro.com.
CONTACT:
Isaac Benjamin
PRCG | Haggerty LLC
212-683-8100
ibenjamin@prcg.com