Crisis management: protecting your brand in uncertain times

Protecting your brand during a crisis can make or break long-term success. When Zoom faced its own crisis with security and privacy backlash during the rapid surge in users at the start of the world’s crisis – the COVID-19 pandemic – the company responded by pausing feature updates, enhancing encryption and conducting a 90-day security overhaul. This swift, decisive action restored user trust and demonstrated the power of a proactive crisis plan. Zoom currently holds more than 57% of the web conferencing market and without crisis management, the platform’s dominance in the current work-from-home landscape may not have happened.

A solid crisis management plan helps prevent brief disruptions from snowballing into lasting damage. To stay prepared, identify industry, organization, product and service vulnerabilities early. Assess areas of risk that may trigger backlash—whether it involves recalls, employee complaints or internal missteps. Once weak spots become clear, task the right team to prioritize preventive measures into a process so that trouble can be averted. When trouble does strike, then during the heat of the moment you can communicate and address it with stakeholders. Transparency builds trust, both internally with employees and externally with customers, partners and your community.

When a crisis hits, timely responses matter. Begin by maintaining open lines of communication, preparing statements for the selected spokesperson and acknowledging the situation head on. Avoid letting rumors spread—control the narrative before the narrative controls you. If you leave the blanks to be filled in by someone else, they will. This person unfortunately may have less facts and trust. Step up proactively to lead during a crisis.

Another step involves empowering teams with clear protocols. Teams informed and prepared to address crises first tend to minimize damage. Provide primary and alternative spokespeople who understand the 24/7 demands of news media, who can remain unflappable and who speak compassionately to external parties with the facts and with safety in mind first.

Finally, monitor and adapt in real-time. Evaluate how the crisis evolves, how your audiences react to it. Adjust strategies as necessary. Don’t rely on a one-size-fits-all solution. Flexibility enhances resilience when times are tough and the ability to weather the storm. Immediately review lessons learned with the team and integrate improvements into the process and playbook.

Proactive crisis management protects brands and strengthens teams. Reliable leaders in difficult times often win loyalty from many and stand out from their competition.

Join our LinkedIn Live on December 10th to learn more about managing crises in your organization from legal and PR experts Kirsten Milton and Kellee Johnson.