I imagine that “crisis communication” is a scary phrase to many business owners.

Most think that they’ll never need this type of plan, and many would rather not think about the potential drama. But what’s the harm in having it at the ready—just in case?

In the age of the 24-hour news cycle and the omnipresent internet, you need a plan, you need a statement, you need a singular message, and you need a spokesperson. You can’t afford to be caught off guard and left scrambling to pick up the pieces once the uncontrolled story is making the rounds.

Of course some people will never need to put this plan into action, and not every predicament your business faces will match the magnitude of the Komen/Planned Parenthood catastrophe, the BP Gulf Coast oil spill response disaster, or even celebrity chef Paula Deen’s ill-timed, simultaneous announcement of her years-long, Type-2 diabetes diagnosis and her partnership with diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk.

But let’s just say something happens, someday, where you find yourself in need of serious crisis communication. Why not be ready with a plan? And, while we’re at it, why not entertain the idea of that plan including a genuine apology? Not the, “I’m sorry that you got mad,” apology or the, “We’re sorry you took our actions out of context,” apology. A real one. (more…)

When innovative, fresh ideas explode on the scene, it’s inevitable that copycats will be trailing only a half-step behind. Sometimes, this is a good thing, producing a variety of similar goods and services at a range of prices.

However, sometimes, this is a bad thing.

Take, for example, the fantastic Old Spice, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” campaign engineered by advertising giant Wieden + Kennedy. This campaign took the world by storm during Super Bowl XLIV and is arguably one of the most successful ad campaigns in recent memory. After its debut, Old Spice sales jumped to a high of 107 percent, traffic to oldspice.com increased by 300 percent and the video garnered nearly 40 million YouTube views in 12 months.

Cue the look-a-likes.
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In the days following the assassination of Osama bin Laden, you might have checked your Facebook Newsfeed and Twitter home page to see many of your friends posting the following quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

Beautiful? Yes. Inspiring? Absolutely. Factual? Not exactly.

While the sentiment remains, the quote above is apparently an interesting conglomeration of excerpts from King’s book, “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?,” his speech, “Strength to Love,” and misplaced quotation marks from reposts of the original Facebook status.
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