Gene Grabowski - Pioneer at kglobal in re-thinking "crisis communications"

This is the era of disruption. So, crisis has become, well, standard.

I have a theory: The phrase "crisis communications" should be eliminated. After all, so much of, if not all, public relations is focused on preventing, managing, and following up damage to reputation.

Because of my interest in disruption, I follow how Gene Grabowski, partner at kglobal, guides his clients through those whatevers. There's plenty of information on that because both establishment media such as PR Week and social media analyze his strategies and tactics.

Essentially, Grabowski's a pioneer in re-thinking what to do, when. For example, he hammered that if a crisis began online, it had to be handled online. At least initially.

Also, he designated the first 24 hours as the must timing for intervention. What could be most appropriate, given people's short attention spans, was a brief video.

And, in an interview about a controversial wellness program, he explained how the company could prevent crisis. It was by positioning and packaging a policy as providing employees with a choice.

If the potential for crisis is embedded in just about every organization's actions and policies, then we ghostwriters/speechwriters have to factor that in as we plan the tone and content.

Like Grabowski, at the get go, our mission has to be preventing damage to reputation. If the brand starts becoming undone, then we need to understand the emerging best practices. When stability returns, then we have to pitch in with the rebranding.