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May 13th 2013 McDonalds CEO gives textbook performance After watching countless spokespeople over recent weeks dodge the issue of the food industry’s ever

April 19th 2013 How much is too much? In a world of 24 hour news it’s easy to see how the need for new content is paramount. But in light of the two...

March 20th 2013 “Enjoy your lunch” - Pope Francis shows CEOs how it’s done: guest blog post from Peter Heath It seems the Vatican has a media rock star on its hands. Pope Francis is,

February 26th 2013 Why crisis media training is about more than just the message As the horsemeat saga rumbles on, it is becoming clearer and clearer which organisations invested

February 14th 2013 Supermarkets set the standard in horsemeat crisis communication It’s easy to be critical of organisations’ attempts at crisis communication when you’re observing from

February 8th 2013 Crisis planning: shutting the stable door before the horse has bolted I landed back in the UK this morning fresh from a two day crisis management

February 4th 2013 Effective communication is not an option, it’s a must At Insignia, a considerable part of my work relies on Internet research – be it

December 17th 2012 Embedding your social media policy: the first step to preventing a social media crisis TV meteorologist Rhonda Lee lost her job last week after she responded to a viewer’s

November 15th 2012 5 reasons why the BBC crisis is so damaging No one disputes that the BBC is currently facing one of the biggest crises in

November 8th 2012 Perception is Everything I recently got into a discussion with a family member who’s worked in hospitals for

October 31st 2012 How Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary turns every media interview into an opportunity Ryanair polarises opinion. Its success shows that its low prices are attractive to many passengers,

September 27th 2012 Social media: an essential part of crisis communication training and planning I was talking to a senior businessperson from a global organization last week about their

September 12th 2012 Risk assessments: the first step in reputation protection Crises don’t seem to respect the summer holiday season and so businesses like G4S and

August 1st 2012 Beware your security guard becoming your company’s crisis media spokesperson Any firm of a significant size and reputation can suffer serious damage as a result

July 24th 2012 Why planning for a crisis is the best way to prevent it I've often stated with great conviction that the act of preparing for a crisis in itself

July 18th 2012 When becoming part of someone else’s crisis is the right business decision When you’re affected by a major crisis, but not at the heart of it, you

July 4th 2012 Proof (almost) that swift and open crisis communication preserves business value I’ve long been an admirer of the work of Oxford Metrica which focuses on the

June 23rd 2012 Three crisis communication insights from NatWest outage NatWest currently finds itself engaged in a battle to protect its reputation as its crisis

June 12th 2012 Media training: a lesson from the front-line I’m Monika Bogdanowicz, the newest member of the Insignia Communications team. I began my role

May 14th 2012 Yahoo shows the importance of people in crisis management planning News that Yahoo's CEO, Scott Thompson (photo), has stepped down following accusations that his

May 8th 2012 Six principles for reputation management in a transparent world My previous blog posting looked at the dramatically different context for reputation management in an

May 3rd 2012 Is social media and B2B marketing not the right match? Xerox’s recent attempts to engage with Twitter (for example through Promoted Tweets) and Pinterest have

May 1st 2012 Reputation management in an era of total transparency This year’s TrustBarometer from Edelman shows that trust in chief executives has plummeted: only four

April 26th 2012 Why client relationships without trust are doomed to failure The April issue of CorpComms magazine includes fascinating research about the level of trust between

April 5th 2012 First Steps to Protect Your Corporate Reputation If you’re a regular reader of this blog and already have robust crisis management plans

March 27th 2012 Lessons from Greg Smith’s letter of resignation from Goldman Sachs When considering customer backlashes, boycotts of products and services or anger spread throughout the media

February 29th 2012 Claire's crisis communication response: designed for success? Claire’s, the accessories and jewellery retailer, has found itself cast in the classic role of

February 24th 2012 C4 Dispatches results in two very different issues management strategies When a TV documentary team goes undercover to expose malpractice in your sector, important decisions

February 20th 2012 Social media policy is first line of defence for online crisis management A series of YouTube videos by an American Airlines employee have added to the issues

February 8th 2012 Crisis management 2012: are you prepared? The first few weeks of 2012 have seen a succession of businesses in crisis management

February 1st 2012 Business communication - 6 confidence building tips I was running a media training course with the board of a large organisation last

January 30th 2012 Subway's unprepared spokesperson gets eaten alive in media interview An interview with national radio provides a wonderful opportunity to enhance the reputation of your

January 25th 2012 LA Fitness fights for reputation in court of public opinion When LA Fitness threatened to enforce its contract with a heavily pregnant woman who had

January 16th 2012 Costa Cruise's blame game is dangerous crisis communication strategy As I glanced through the statement issued by Costa Cruises in the wake of the

January 12th 2012 Effective crisis communication essential when health is on the line Concerns and coverage about potentially faulty breast implants produced by French company Poly Implant Prothese

November 15th 2011 Perfect crisis communication essential to protect Loyd Grossman brand Premier Foods is not the first food manufacturer to undertake a product recall following a

October 13th 2011 Why Blackberry's crisis communication response is so damaging Blackberry looks set to once again prove the crisis communication adage that it's not really

September 16th 2011 Effective media relations in a crisis - five questions to ask beforehand Recent experience demonstrates that major incidents unfold under the unswerving gaze of 24 hour news

September 16th 2011 Reputational overdraft hinders UBS in crisis communication efforts With news that a "rogue trader" is responsible for a $2 billion loss, it is

September 9th 2011 Social media in crisis communication: lessons from UK riots One of the main sub-stories of the August riots was the use of social media

August 25th 2011 Cautious crisis communication by Nurofen Plus is risky strategy If you heard that your regular painkiller could have been replaced with antipsychotic drugs instead, you

August 24th 2011 How Seychelles' spokesman got his crisis communication so wrong For a country whose econony relies on tourism, there's no bigger crisis communication challenge than

July 22nd 2011 News International phonegate: why crisis communication efforts failed News International has applied many of the right crisis communication tactics to preserve its reputation. So

July 7th 2011 Can the News of the World be good? Yesterday we considered the crisis communication lessons that businesses could learn from the News of

July 6th 2011 News of the World phone hacking: crisis management lessons for all businesses As we observe News International's phone hacking crisis lurch from bad to truly horrendous, it's

June 21st 2011 Setting the communication agenda: how Primark seized control When the BBC's Panorama programme apparently showed Primark's use of child labour in Bangalore, the

June 17th 2011 Crisis communication - why the dustpan and brush no longer works I attended a conference earlier this week at which the head of corporate communications from

May 27th 2011 World class crisis communication essential if FIFA is to restore trust News that FIFA President Sepp Blatter is under investigation regarding alleged corruption further plunges football's

May 24th 2011 How better change communication could have eased Kraft's post-Cadbury issues Kraft took another battering from MPs this week as the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee said

May 19th 2011 HTC shows why words AND actions are essential for effective crisis communication Earlier this year I blogged about how the principles of excellent customer service could be

April 27th 2011 Sony's approach to crisis communication fails to reassure PS3 owners Sony is not the first company to suffer from hacking, nor is it the first

April 12th 2011 Sir John Vickers shows how media training provides skills you can't bottle Faced by an array of cameras and journalists at a press conference called to reveal

April 8th 2011 PR will eat itself Communication professionals like myself have long fought to establish PR as the equal of advertising.

March 25th 2011 Report into BAA's crisis preparedness is a must-read for reputation protection The report into Heathrow's crisis management response to pre-Chrismas snow has just been published. It makes

March 18th 2011 Why media training lessons need to be drummed into Phil Collins When Genesis drummer Phil Collins issued a statement confirming his retirement from music, I took

March 1st 2011 Crisis communication: count the cost or feel the value? Last month the Halifax announced that it would be paying customers around £500 million in

February 23rd 2011 A dog's tale, or what great customer service tells us about crisis communication We received a letter from Marks and Spencer yesterday. It turns out that pet insurance

February 21st 2011 Reputation under fire: grin and bear it or take the offensive? A recent article in the Economist reported that the best response to inaccurate online rumours

February 16th 2011 Getting your crisis communication priorities right When Tony Haywood said that he’d like his life back, a catastrophic crisis got much

February 11th 2011 Warming up staff for change: why Nokia's burning platform memo was essential Transformational corporate change is notoriously hard to achieve. Comfort with the status quo, denial of

February 9th 2011 Prepare well to avoid the media skewer Julian Vogel, director of Modus Publicity, must have banked on some free publicity of his

February 4th 2011 Paxman's rant reveals lack of communication planning Jeremy Paxman's rant about the demise of the daily Newsnight email underlines the danger of

February 1st 2011 News from BP and Toyota reveals the long term cost of ineffective crisis management BP and Toyota are living proof that a mis-handled crisis causes long term damage to a

January 31st 2011 Five reasons not to run a crisis simulation Here are five of the most common reasons I hear for not running a crisis simulation: 1) Money -

January 26th 2011 Reputational risk - the human factor News about Steve Jobs' health-enforced absence from Apple and its impact on the continued success

January 21st 2011 Own goal for the communication profession as Coulson goes The resignation of Andy Coulson as David Cameron’s Director of Communications does little for the

December 14th 2010 Effective communication is essential when there’s bad news to tell Christmas 2010 will be a tough time for anyone who lost their job in the

December 10th 2010 How word of mouth can protect your reputation in a crisis Earlier today BBC presenter Clare Balding posted the following tweet: Sat next to nice woman who'd been

December 6th 2010 Why a well-handled crisis can be good for your reputation The idea that a reputation can be enhanced as a result of a crisis seems

December 2nd 2010 Issues management in store for Hamleys As Christmas draws ever closer and Santa receives letters (and now emails) from expectant children,

November 19th 2010 Five questions corporates should ask before engaging with social media A recent survey in PR Week revealed that only 7% of business leaders believe that

November 8th 2010 A masterclass in crisis communication from Qantas Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has delivered a masterclass in crisis communication in response to the

October 22nd 2010 A month of crisis and issues management comes to an end It's the final day of our 28 day review of organisations in crisis management mode,

October 21st 2010 George Osborne, the Chilean miners and expectation management in a crisis George Osborne attempted one of the enduring principles of crisis management in announcing public sector

October 20th 2010 Issues management lessons from Sir Alex Ferguson Employee relations have featured prominently in our 28 day review of organisations in crisis and

October 19th 2010 Beware internally generated crisis Our 28 day review of crises and issues has shown that whilst some crises are

October 17th 2010 5 steps to online reputation management As we enter the final five days of our 28 day look at organisations in

October 17th 2010 Businesses in crisis management mode to avoid Sunday roasting Sport, travel and oil - very different businesses, but linked today by the fact that

October 16th 2010 Calibrate crisis communication response to avoid under - or over - reaction This 28 day review of organisations in crisis management mode has laid bare the sheer

October 15th 2010 Fraught Friday as three more enter the media spotlight As we enter the final week of our 28 day review of organisations in crisis

October 15th 2010 Chile and BP: altogether different crisis management challenges As we start to look back on the rescue of the Chilean miners, comparisons are being drawn

October 14th 2010 Crisis media training essential for reputation protection Today's post about organisations in crisis or issues management mode will be shorter than usual,

October 13th 2010 Filling the communication vacuum It's day twenty of our 28 day examination of organisations in crisis and issues management

October 12th 2010 Planning pays dividends - however big your crisis management challenge When I embarked on this 28 day study of live crisis management, I wanted to explore the

October 11th 2010 Communicate tough decisions effectively - or risk reputational damage Some crises begin with a catastrophic event: a natural disaster, an accident, a fire. Many

October 10th 2010 Two diverse businesses facing different challenges: both fight to protect reputation It's day 17 of our 28 day examination of organisations engaged in crisis and issues

October 9th 2010 Rescue of Chilean miners reminds us that crisis is a 24/7 operation As rescuers reach the Chilean miners who have been trapped underground for two months, it's

October 8th 2010 Crisis communication: ignore conventional media at your peril The role of social media in crisis and issues management is a very hot topic,

October 7th 2010 Toyota and BP highlight the importance of effective crisis spokespeople BP and Toyota suffered 2010’s most damaging crises, and it’s tempting to think that these

October 7th 2010 Speedy crisis management essential to preserve reputation Today marks the half way point in our 28 day analysis of organisations in crisis

October 6th 2010 Corporate culture and communication: the keys to crisis prevention It's easy to blame crises on the actions of one person, the front-line employee who

October 5th 2010 Poor customer service invites a crisis As we near the half way mark of our 28 day review of corporate crises,

October 4th 2010 Could you manage an international crisis? The latest posting in our 28 day look at the crises affecting businesses this month

October 3rd 2010 Sunday papers bring bad news for some With Sunday supposedly being a day of rest, it’s ironic that it’s the time when

October 2nd 2010 Why do crises always happen at the weekend? Everyone seems to be struggling with work-life balance these days and many of us are

October 1st 2010 Humans cause crises more often than "acts of God": plan accordingly As we enter the second week of our 28 day snapshot of organisations in

September 30th 2010 Yesterday an issue, today a crisis When does an issue become a crisis? Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the two,

September 29th 2010 Embarrassment for Volvo at "death" of crash test dummy I'm less than a week into my month long snapshot of the diverse crises and

September 29th 2010 In a crisis, the Scouts are right: Be Prepared! PR people looked on as two of the world's most admired companies - BP and Toyota

September 28th 2010 Banks, oil companies, an airline, dead mice and a PR agency in crisis management spotlight It's day five of our 28 day investigation into the crisis management challenges facing businesses around

September 27th 2010 Another week, another crisis... We all get that Monday morning feeling, but it's much more intense when you're beginning

September 26th 2010 No day of rest when you're managing a crisis Sunday's the day for reading the papers, washing the car, taking the dog for a

September 25th 2010 Five more face the crisis communication test It's day two of our 28 day snapshot of the crises affecting businesses and organisations

September 24th 2010 It can happen to you: it's happening to them 2010 has seen more high profile crises than any other year I can remember, and

September 22nd 2010 How communicators can prevent corporate denial in a crisis On March 31 2010, BP was the UK’s biggest company. Six months later, it has

September 8th 2010 Say something! As a cricket lover and someone who advised the International Cricket Council when it grappled

September 3rd 2010 Too much information? William Hague’s statement about his special advisor, Christopher Myers, his marriage and his sexuality was

August 11th 2010 CEOs as leaders in a crisis: essential qualities for success [caption id="attachment_672" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Tony Hayward - a lack of empathy"][/caption] In recent postings, we’ve taken

August 4th 2010 Crisis handling: the role of the CEO [caption id="attachment_667" align="aligncenter" width="171" caption="Branson demonstrates how it should be done"][/caption] CEOs wanting to protect the

August 2nd 2010 Leadership lessons in crisis prevention [caption id="attachment_662" align="aligncenter" width="136" caption="Gerald Ratner - how not to do it"][/caption] If creating the right

July 29th 2010 Re-writing the CEO job description to ensure reputation protection [caption id="attachment_659" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Toyota president Akio Toyoda faces the music"][/caption] The role of the CEO

July 27th 2010 Poor crisis communication seals Tony Hayward’s fate Tony Hayward’s departure as CEO is not so much a good PR move as the

July 23rd 2010 Why it matters that BP photoshopped Gulf images I'm absolutely prepared to believe that there was no malice or deception intended in the

July 20th 2010 Nothing to smile about in interview with dental chief Unconvincing media performances by spokespeople from BP and Toyota mean that they have not only

July 8th 2010 Reputation protection in an online world Last week I was interviewed about the role of social media in crisis management and

June 25th 2010 Hold the front page: BP gets it right So much has been written about BP's crisis communication response (not least by me!), that

June 17th 2010 "Small people", big mistake The content of chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg's statement following BP's meeting with Barrack Obama contained all the

June 16th 2010 Please help me reduce my crisis management income When organisations like BP and Toyota suffer crises I make money. I get phone calls

June 10th 2010 Poacher turned gamekeeper I’ve always thought that the expression “those that can do, those that can’t teach” is

June 4th 2010 Aristotle's lesson in crisis communication I’m currently reading James Borg’s book Persuasion: the art of influencing people. At first glance,

May 27th 2010 Narrow approach to crisis planning leaves reputation in short supply According to a BBC news story Buddhist monks have been engaged to rid a Chinese

May 21st 2010 Cricket passes the issues management test Lord Condon, chairman of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit, will shortly pass responsibility for

May 19th 2010 BP shows you can't market your way out of a crisis Earlier this week, BP confirmed that it had suspended all of its UK marketing activity

May 17th 2010 Poor crisis management knocks England out of World Cup? England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup lies in tatters following Lord Triesman’s taped comments

May 6th 2010 Slick communication by BP Managing a crisis of the magnitude of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of

April 30th 2010 Crisis management lessons from the volcanic ash cloud The disruption caused by the recent volcanic ash cloud laid bare the crisis management plans

April 29th 2010 Gordon's gaffes offers lessons for all media spokespeople When being a media spokesperson is part of your job, the cameras never stop rolling,

April 27th 2010 How to avoid getting lost in the crisis wilderness I recently stumbled upon an excellent blog posting by Peter Bregman, a management and leadership

April 22nd 2010 Clegg squeezed, Cameron uninspired: Brown wins round two Great communicators speak with emotion, authenticity and passion. These rare qualities enable them to engage

April 21st 2010 Seconds out, round two... The first televised leadership debate caused such a seismic shift in the course of this

April 9th 2010 Crisis management: anything but child's play As I sat reading news of an alleged link between certain types of baby bottles

April 1st 2010 Ready for Question Time? Last week I was tasked with drafting an important question and answer document to help

March 30th 2010 BBC examines Toyota’s crisis: global businesses look and learn When the BBC’s flagship business show the Money Programme schedules a one hour special, it’s

March 24th 2010 Goldman Sachs counts the cost of reputational risk The actions of organisations that have been through the harrowing ordeal of a major crisis

March 22nd 2010 BA fails to take to the air(waves) Effective use of online and social media is essential for most organisations wishing to successfully

March 16th 2010 Kraft says sorry - but the damage is done Today Kraft stood before the House of Commons Business Committee and gave its side of

March 16th 2010 Toyota’s “Recall Bulletin” reveals a company under siege Throughout the Toyota recall crisis I have supported many of the communication tactics employed by

March 10th 2010 Sweet communication in battle for Cadbury? A complaint to the City takeover committee alleging that Kraft made misleading comments during its

March 8th 2010 Politicians give media training a bad name In an earlier blog posting, I suggested that an interviewee on BBC Breakfast would have

March 3rd 2010 Time to tear up the guiding principles of crisis communication? Following “conventional wisdom” is safe and easy, whereas challenging the prevailing view is far more

March 1st 2010 Mind your language On Friday, UK bank FirstDirect found itself dealing with a self-inflicted crisis caused by the perils

March 1st 2010 Insignia speaks out on reputation management No one seriously doubts the tangible value of reputation in meeting business objectives. Insignia’s belief

February 24th 2010 Brands play for high stakes when crisis strikes “Could the Toyota recall crisis be helping the brand?” was a headline guaranteed to grab

February 22nd 2010 Toyota's troubles signal an end to the ostrich mentality? I had an email today from a business contact who had read my views about

February 18th 2010 Addressing the communication skills deficit Senior business leaders reach positions of power and influence on armed with academic qualifications, sometimes

February 17th 2010 Breaking the golden rule of crisis management I used to believe the golden rule of crisis management: in a serious situation, the

February 11th 2010 It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it: Eurostar provides a case study in crisis management (Part four) Previous postings have examined Eurostar CEO Richard Brown's performance during a BBCTV News interview at

February 8th 2010 It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it: Eurostar provides a case study in crisis management (Part three) In my two previous blog postings we looked at how Richard Brown, CEO of Eurostar,

February 3rd 2010 It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it: Eurostar provides a case study in crisis management (Part two) In my earlier posting, we analysed the performance of Eurostar CEO, Richard Brown, during a

February 1st 2010 Six things Toyota has done right When a company or an individual is in the middle of managing a crisis, it’s easy

January 31st 2010 It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it: Eurostar provides a case study in crisis management Insignia's recent research into the effectiveness of swine flu communication showed that there's much more

January 29th 2010 First thoughts on Toyota's crisis management challenges 28 January 2010 must have been a pretty tough day for Toyota's senior management team.

January 27th 2010 Manchester United tackles reputational risk I was interested to read that Manchester United's offer document for their new £500 million

December 14th 2009 Risk communication: putting it all together When we embarked on our swine flu communication study we wanted to identify the most

December 10th 2009 Risk communication: successful engagement Our recent report on swine flu communication indicated that there are a number of elements

December 9th 2009 Risk communication: a picture’s worth a thousand words Our recent report on risk communication based on the current swine flu outbreak considered all

December 3rd 2009 Risk communication: report proves that content is king Insignia’s research study into swine flu communication is published today (4 December). It contains insights

December 3rd 2009 Thierry and Tiger: crisis communication strategies put reputations on the line Thierry Henry and Tiger Woods: two of the finest sportsmen in the modern world, both

November 19th 2009 Insignia announces webinar to reveal results of swine flu communication research The results of an Insignia-commissioned academic study into swine flu communication will be revealed via

November 5th 2009 Dealing with the Carnage of a tattered reputation Reading the attached news item about student party organiser Carnage UK made me reflect on

October 15th 2009 Managing the media: have the rules just changed? October has witnessed three idiosyncratic approaches to managing media interest: but have any of them

October 12th 2009 Taking charge of media interviews - how you too can "do a Boris" When London Mayor Boris Johnson took on BBC TV’s most feared interviewer – Jeremy Paxman

September 21st 2009 Shopfloor spokespeople help Asda avert potential crisis When an ex-Asda Wal Mart employee captured a series of his unpleasant exploits – licking

September 17th 2009 Ten tips for effective communication at a time of corporate change Turmoil in the world economy has accelerated change management programmes at many corporations. These changes

September 14th 2009 Swine Flu communication: clear as mud? Conflicting advice in the news about Swine Flu has left the public reeling. And it’s

September 13th 2009 London Midland: crisis communication on the wrong track Train operators are often fall guys on a quiet news day, but London Midlands’ crisis

July 17th 2009 Twitter: reputation management friend or foe? Everyone is talking about Twitter and more and more people are tweeting themselves. Others are

July 1st 2009 Insignia talks about crisis communication Food for thought Having just delivered a presentation on crisis communication at a conference for the

June 18th 2009 Insignia Speaks Out Why is it that PR people are unable to apply the lessons that they learned

June 17th 2009 Insignia To Lead Discussion on Crisis Management I met with an old colleague this week who’s now regional director for Common Purpose

June 15th 2009 Insignia Speaks Out On LDV As a Birmingham resident I’ve witnessed with great sadness the slow demise of LDV. My

Sony’s approach to crisis communication fails to reassure PS3 owners

April 27, 2011

Sony is not the first company to suffer from hacking, nor is it the first to lose the email addresses (and possibly credit card details) of its customers. So why are publications like the Financial Times suggesting that its reputation could be seriously damaged? The answer lies not so much in the security breach of [...]

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Sony’s approach to crisis communication fails to reassure PS3 owners