Blog

Insights into crisis leadership, reputation and readiness

Blog

Breaking the Crisis Wheel

Breaking the Crisis Wheel

Like my Kith colleagues, I cut my proverbial teeth in politics. Not as a candidate, but as a campaign staffer and, later, political consultant. Campaigns are great places to train for reputation management and crisis communications because everything is a crisis. The latest mud your opponent threw...

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Hot Potato: What To Do When You’re Targeted

Hot Potato: What To Do When You’re Targeted

We’re taking you way back in the wayback machine to when I was a little kid in Canada. It was 1991 when Winnipeg-based Old Dutch Foods entered the Ontario market hoping to gain ground but instead faced a salty standoff. Rival Hostess Frito-Lay was accused of buying all the Old Dutch chips from...

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Stakeholders: Reach Them Where They Are

Stakeholders: Reach Them Where They Are

Let’s talk about precision. In a crisis, speed is critical ... but speed without clarity and accuracy is just noise. When you’ve taken the time to get to know your stakeholders, you understand where they get their information. Even if you just know the age range, you can understand which social...

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The Shockingly Long Tail of Crisis

The Shockingly Long Tail of Crisis

Around here, we warn clients about the long tail of crisis. It’s when the effects of a crisis can drag on for a long time, with unexpected problems, and damage, popping up well after things seem like they’ve settled down. It’s also known as “the ripples,” and can pose an even bigger risk to...

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Know Your Stakeholders

Know Your Stakeholders

If you’ve been around a moment, you’ve heard or read about our Kith formula: Clarity + Trust = Strategic Speed. Today, I want to talk about just one piece of Clarity: Knowing your stakeholders. That means knowing who matters, what they value, and how to communicate with them effectively under...

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Trust Carriers & Credibility

Trust Carriers & Credibility

Here’s one of the most overlooked truths in crisis communication: The messenger matters as much as the message. You can have a perfect statement, a perfect plan, and a perfect rollout. But if it comes from someone your stakeholders don’t trust, it will fall flat. Or worse, backfire. We are in an...

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Are you ready for a crisis?

Is your organization prepared to respond to a crisis and protect its hard-earned reputation? Take our quiz and find out!