Among the many service offerings of Public Relations, a field that has evolved rapidly over the past decade, there are few interesting services, which are worth keeping an eye on. One such area is Crisis Management, a branch that has stemmed from PR and become indispensable for businesses at present. Crisis Management in brief is a process used against significant threats to business operations. Businesses around the world continue to strengthen crisis management process due to the increasing threats from digitalisation. PR Agencies of today are also keen on strengthening their crisis management teams to cater to the high demand of this sector.
How Public Relations help in Crisis Management?
PR has become the go-to option for companies dealing with crises. PR incorporates well-planned crisis management strategies with the help of communication tools, various forms of media, etc. PR professionals help companies handle a crisis from formulating a media statement, coordinating with media, arranging press briefings to Press Releases and everything in between, and ensure to minimize the damage and spreading of rumours, so that the PR agency has a viable space for the rebuilding phase. The experience of PR professionals and the ability to use appropriate PR tools have a strong say regarding the direction of the crisis. Therefore, it is vital to seek the services of an experienced PR agency for crisis management.
Why is communication important during a crisis?
Communication is an essential part of the crisis management plan as it provides an opportunity to quickly respond to the outcomes of the crisis. When a company is faced with a crisis, rumors about it are highly likely to spread to the public sooner than the company expects. Hence, the response also needs to be quicker and should cover all possible communication forms. That’s when the media relationships of PR Agencies come to play a big role in portraying the truth to the public if the actual cause of the crisis has nothing to do with the company or if it has a partial responsibility to minimize the impact.
Key phases of Crisis management
Crisis management phases can be divided as pre-crisis phase, crisis response and post-crisis phase. Pre-crisis phase involves a risk management program to minimize the potential risks that would lead to a crisis. Crisis response is the execution phase where necessary measures are taken to dilute the impact. PR Agencies utilize all their PR tools to design a crisis response, which is aimed at minimizing the impact of the crisis. The post crisis phase or the rebuilding phase is where PR Agencies take necessary measures to confront the reputational damage and win back the customers’ trust. PR Agencies play a key role in each of these phases with the help of all their prior experience in effectively managing crises.
