Understanding Threats in the World of PR: PR Crises

Warren Buffett, a famous businessman from the United States, once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. “If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” This perfectly captures the essence of a PR crisis. What Warren Buffett said is deeply connected to what we call a communication crisis. As PR professionals, we must understand that no company or organization is immune to the threat of a communication crisis.

What exactly is a crisis? Simply put, a crisis is an unexpected problem that can cause harm to the company or organization in question. Meanwhile, a communication crisis is defined as a problem related to public communication that has the potential to damage the reputation and image of an organization or company.

Causes of a PR Crisis

A PR crisis can be triggered by various factors, such as poor service, products or services deemed unsatisfactory, criminal acts by company insiders, government investigations, corruption, and so on. As a PR professional, the ability to manage communication crises is crucial because crises must be addressed quickly and effectively. It’s important to emphasize that timing is crucial in crisis management. Even a slight delay can cause a crisis to escalate into a problem that becomes increasingly difficult to resolve.

How to Handle a Crisis

Oh, and of course, a PR professional must take preventive measures before a communication crisis occurs. One way PR professionals predict potential communication crises is through media monitoring. This is exactly what Media Buffet PR does on a daily basis. As a Public Relations and Digital Marketing Agency, Media Buffet PR recognizes the importance of monitoring the media to understand public perception and trends related to its clients’ industries.

Back to the laptop! In addition to considering the time factor, a PR professional must also be able to resolve a communication crisis effectively. Therefore, it’s important to prepare a communication strategy for handling the ongoing crisis.

Case Study: The Eiger PR Crisis

Some time ago, Eiger was the subject of much discussion on social media, particularly Twitter—an incident Media Buffet PR previously covered in the article “Eiger’s Letter Causes a Stir.” It all began when this company—which produces outdoor clothing and equipment—sent a letter of objection to a YouTuber regarding a product review uploaded to his YouTube channel. Upset by this, the YouTuber shared the letter of objection—signed by the company’s HCGA and General Manager of Legal Affairs—on Twitter. Soon after, the post received a flood of negative reactions from netizens who criticized Eiger’s actions.

According to an apology letter issued by the company’s CEO, it turns out that Eiger’s original intention in sending the letter of objection to the YouTuber was simply to offer feedback so the YouTuber could create even better review content. But what can you do? The damage was already done—a communication crisis had erupted, and netizens were up in arms.

So, we can conclude that, in addition to being skilled at communicating with the public, a PR professional must also be vigilant in anticipating potential communication crises. Otherwise, things could get complicated later on~

Written by Debora Septenia, Public Relations Intern at Media Buffet PR