BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

In the Digital Age, search engines are the gatekeepers of information. As such, keeping up with the latest online search innovations has become an absolutely essential element of 21st Century corporate message management. In December 2009, Google fundamentally altered the search engine landscape by introducing its Realtime Search capability, which enables Web users to aggregate and sort the latest online information related to their keyword searches – including posts to social networking sites such as Facebook, ... READ MORE

As part of a continuing series of Bulletproof Blog™ video interviews with thought leaders across multiple disciplines and industry sectors, I recently sat down with Stasia Kelly, an Of Counsel with DLA Piper, to discuss the key elements of corporate crisis response in an age of increased transparency and accountability. Having served in key leadership positions at Sears, Roebuck & Co.; WorldCom; and AIG during several of the most highly-scrutinized corporate crises of our time, Ms. ... READ MORE

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a controversial rule that will provide investors with greater power to nominate directors of public companies. The three-to-two vote – which split along party lines with the Commission’s two Republicans voting no – enables investors that control at least three percent of a company’s stock to put their nominees for board positions on the proxy ballots that are sent out to shareholders each year. With the change ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs’ counsel for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today, we speak to Richard Myers of Philadelphia’s Paul, Reich & Myers, P.C., who for the past nine years has litigated Summers v. Certainteed Corp. and Nybeck v. Union Carbide Corp., an asbestos case that will likely have major repercussions for most other business sectors as well, especially in Pennsylvania. In July, the ... READ MORE

The top six social media tips to know before you leave the office. The seemingly authoritative and impartial articles found on Wikipedia often provide Web users with easy-to-access information on the topics, issues, companies, and products they care about. As the Internet’s “free encyclopedia,” articles on this popular information-sharing site are almost always at the top of search results for millions of keywords and topics. This deep library of content has made the site the seventh ... READ MORE

Early on the morning of June 24, thousands of people across the country lined up to be among the first to purchase Apple’s iPhone 4. Having generated a level of mania usually associated with top rock concerts, the power of the brand built on iMacs, iPods, and iPads was on full display. But when those eager consumers took to their computers that same day to voice rampant displeasure with the iPhone 4’s now well-documented antenna reception ... READ MORE

As part of a continuing series of Bulletproof Blog™ video interviews with thought leaders across multiple disciplines and industries, I recently sat down with Nick Allard of Patton Boggs LLP to discuss the state of lobbying at a time of significant reputational focus for the industry. With politicians and others (from late night comedians to think tanks) rarely missing an opportunity to criticize the lobbying profession in recent years, Mr. Allard is quick to remind us ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs’ counsel for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today, we speak to Shannon Liss-Riordan of Lichten & Liss-Riordan, P.C. in Boston. Ms. Liss-Riordan represents plaintiffs in Pius Awuah et al. v Coverall North America Inc., a lawsuit that has taken employment reclassification cases to a new level. In March, Massachusetts District Judge William Young ruled that the plaintiffs, classified by Coverall ... READ MORE

Bulletproof’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up offers a compilation of key discussions regarding social media’s increasing relevance to business. As social media’s business value continues to grow, everyone from big-time communications and marketing professionals to small business owners are using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to promote their brands. In just the past week, new studies indicated just how powerful Facebook can be as a marketing tool, Twitter announced new functionality for integrating within websites, and ... READ MORE

A panel of doctors sent shockwaves through the country last week, recommending that women above the age of 50 receive mammograms less frequently and women under the age of 50 largely forego what has become for many an annual routine. According to the American Cancer Society, women have a 1 in 68 chance of developing breast cancer in their 40s. In the face of this threat and the conventional wisdom that prevention is the best medicine, ... READ MORE