Sometimes, you have to take a gamble to get your name out there. Novig serves as an example of using controversial advertising to grab people’s attention, but there’s a fine line between controversy and crisis. The sports trading app recently released an advertisement featuring Sydney Sweeney that...
Did summer seem long? It did to crisis managers. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at least 12 organizations faced significant reputational events. But these weren’t simply “PR crises.” Good Good Golf and Callaway lost a partnership, retail distribution, a television program, a PGA Tour...
Buc-ee’s is known for a lot of things: its enormous convenience stores, squeaky clean restrooms, and, of course, the beaver. It’s also known to be a company that protects its brand or a bully that makes smaller businesses change their logos depending on how you look at it. Well, you’ve probably...
You cannot rush the things that produce the best outcomes. A Super Bowl–winning team is not built in a single practice, sourdough bread cannot rise in an hour, and consumer trust can take months and years to earn (and keep). The same is true for strategic thinking — especially when it comes to...
* We’re foregoing any puns this month with the serious topic. Nestlé and Danone are facing scrutiny following widespread recalls of infant formula products due to the presence of cereulide, a toxin that can cause vomiting and diarrhea and poses particular risks for infants. There have been 144...
I used to work for a remarkable woman named Sharon Carstairs. She has been in Canadian politics since she was a child and her dad was premier of Nova Scotia. She followed his footsteps rising all the way to a cabinet member in the Chretien government. To this day, she is one of the smartest people...
Hockey is having a moment. Between Olympic excitement and controversy (which we’re not touching), the success of the PWHL and the buzz around the television show Heated Rivalry, the sport is lighting up the scoreboard. (Remember, this is not a pun free zone!) So why did the NHL hand critics the...
As a new year begins, most of us are thinking about personal goals and ways to hit the ground running, whether it’s finally tackling that pile of unread books, decluttering the basement once and for all, or flossing daily to silence the dentist’s scolding. But businesses need resolutions too, and...
Confucius tells us that “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” Crisis is the shadow that follows every bold decision and for many leaders, fear of that shadow shapes everything they do. But what if that fear wasn’t just unnecessary, but actively holding your organization...
Simulations are one of the most effective ways to prepare your organization for a crisis. They build readiness, clarify roles, strengthen relationships, and help teams respond with speed and confidence when it matters most. As a crisis communicator, you already know this. But getting your...
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...
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...
Is your organization prepared to respond to a crisis and protect its hard-earned reputation? Take our quiz and find out!