BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

The top six social media tips to know before you leave the office. In today’s digital world, where everyday Web users are empowered to broadcast their thoughts and opinions across the globe, it is easier than ever before for a single disgruntled customer or former employee to permanently stain a company’s image. Attacks on companies take place every second – on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere on the Web – sometimes leading to irreparable damage. Just ... READ MORE

Earlier this month, PepsiCo launched a new blog that created considerable online buzz, but for all the wrong reasons.  When it first came online, Food Frontiers, which covered developments in nutrition science and health policy, while making frequent mention of “healthy” PepsiCo products, was roundly criticized for failing to adequately inform readers that PepsiCo was the blog’s sole sponsor and content provider. Other bloggers on the ScienceBlogs network, which hosted Food Frontiers, were up in ... READ MORE

According to the results of a year-long examination released earlier this week by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ), social and digital media differ vastly in terms of the issues they cover and the news they report. Of the 49 weeks tracked during the study, the same story topped both the blogosphere and traditional media only 13 times. On YouTube, that ratio dropped to eight in 49. On Twitter, it plummeted ... READ MORE

The top six social media tips to know before you leave the office. In the Digital Age, where a 1440 news cycle – one measured in minutes, not hours – can facilitate the rapid spread of rumors and misinformation across the Web, companies cannot afford to be caught flatfooted. All it takes is one disgruntled stakeholder to share a damaging video, message, or story, and the next thing you know, the brand damage is done. To prepare ... READ MORE

The top six social media tips to know before you leave the office. While the number of print publications worldwide is measured in the tens of thousands, the number of blogs is measured in the tens of millions. On average, nearly 1 million blog posts are published every 24 hours and the top blogs attract more eyes than leading newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Simply put, there’s ... READ MORE

In just the last week, Serena Williams, Kanye West, and Congressman Joe Wilson have all led us to wonder what to do once you've made a very public gaffe. As critical commentary about their high-profile outbursts led the news and made front page headlines, there's little doubt that each - given the benefit of hindsight - would likely have chosen a different way to voice their opinions. In today's hyper-connected world, there is no putting the cat ... READ MORE

Last week, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that crystallizes the preeminent challenge of crisis communications in the Information Age. The piece is entitled "The Ten Year Century" - and in it, Tom Hayes and Michael Malone chronicle modern society's dizzying pace of change and what it means to each and every one of us. Hayes and Malone point to a decade that has seen massive technological growth (and an even larger expansion ... READ MORE

Conversations about products and brands used to be held around the dinner table, over the backyard fence, or in the aisles of the local supermarket. Now, they're taking place on the blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and countless other social media platforms - and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking notice. With an increasing number of consumers turning to the Web for what they believe to be disinterested and unbiased product reviews, concerns about the potential for ... READ MORE

Today, it seems that CEOs are blogging, tweeting, and friending at a pace once reserved only for teenagers, professional athletes, and pop stars - and why not? With digital and social media overtaking television, print, and radio in terms of relevance and reliability, if you're not sharing messages online, then you're not being heard in the venues that most audiences migrated to long ago. Before making their first foray into the blogosphere, CEOs must understand that ... READ MORE

In today's e-commerce environment, data loss and theft represents many organizations' worst nightmare. Each time consumers use a credit card or submit other forms of personal information to a company - either online or off - they have a reasonable expectation that the information will be kept safe. It's about trust. When that trust is compromised, companies are instantly thrust into a reputational crisis of epic proportions. I recently spoke with Chris Hayes - who authors ... READ MORE