BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

It took a week, but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos finally did the right thing - and in the end, what Amazon did to create a controversy about its popular Kindle device, and how it handled the fallout, offer valuable lessons for companies on the cutting edge of the digital media economy. It all started with an old book, ironically George Orwell's 1984, which tells the story of a totalitarian dictatorship overseen by a mysterious tyrant called ... READ MORE

Add United Airlines to the list of companies that have now experienced social media's power to ensure consumers' voices are heard. The airline found itself out of tune earlier this month after a satirical music video describing poor customer service exploded virally. As I discussed with Aviation Week last week, this video is yet another reminder that the Web has fundamentally changed crisis communications for good. The YouTube video by musician Dave Carroll, "United Breaks Guitars," ... READ MORE

On Friday, President Obama said he "could have calibrated" his words more carefully when he criticized the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. Applying a classic crisis communications term to justify his statements, the President said he hoped the case would provide "a teachable moment" to spur improved relations between minorities and the police. Better he should have obeyed another PR shibboleth: Know the facts before you enter a fight. By jumping into the ... READ MORE

Each week, Bulletproof Blog features exclusive interviews with thought leaders on issues of critical importance to companies and countries. This week, we interview Stratford Sherman, a partner with the corporate leadership advisory firm Accompli; co-author of the bestselling book Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will; and a former journalist who conducted high-stakes interviews with countless executives over two decades at Fortune magazine. During an interview with General Electric CEO Jack Welch in 1988, Mr. Sherman ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Daniel S. Mason, a partner in the San Francisco office of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP, one of the nation's leading firms on both the plaintiffs' and defense sides of complex litigation. We asked Mr. Mason to address the trends affecting plaintiffs' antitrust actions, an area where ... READ MORE

Millions of Americans like to talk on the phone while they drive - and Congress apparently knows it. The New York Times reports that a National Highway Transportation Administration (NHTSA) study of the dangers posed by distracted drivers was suppressed, at least in part because of fears that the results would anger influential members of Congress. Now, two activist groups - the Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen - have their hands on the information ... READ MORE

Fifteen years ago, companies could reasonably expect that confidential or sensitive information disclosed to internal audiences would remain within the cozy confines of the office walls. As a story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal makes abundantly clear, those days are now long gone. The speed and ease with which information travels in the digital age has signaled the extinction of purely "internal" audiences. When companies share messages meant for their employees' eyes only, the odds that ... READ MORE

As reports of The Washington Post's plan to sell access to reporters and government officials played out over the last few weeks, one thing became abundantly clear: While lesser publications can engage in similar behavior - as they have for decades - without their readers batting an eye, a founder and guardian of the Fourth Estate cannot. It's a question of fundamental branding: The Post is held to a higher standard if only because that ... READ MORE

There are many factors as to why JP Morgan Chase is widely recognized as a healthy, well-capitalized bank despite the pall that has been cast over the financial services industry as a whole - and one of the marquee reasons is the leadership of Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon. During the deepest economic crisis of our generation, Mr. Dimon has become the face of what's right in the financial services sector - and he's done so ... READ MORE

From the outset, companies that file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection fight an uphill battle. They must overcome the fact that bankruptcy proceedings highlight what the media loves most - bad news. They must build a compelling, forward-looking narrative while critics focus on past mistakes. They must evoke sympathy from a public while having little to offer except promises. And they must define angles of interest that enable the conversation to rise above procedural detail. Just ... READ MORE