Most companies wait to deal with a crisis until it’s already unfolding but by then, the damage is often irreversible.
We’ve just seen this play out with Astronomer, where the CEO’s public fallout escalated into a full-blown reputational crisis.
Too often, organizations don’t expect to be in crisis mode until they’re forced into it. At that point, pressure is high, timelines are short, and every misstep plays out in public.
Companies that navigate reputational crises most effectively are not always the largest or best resourced, but the ones that are prepared in advance.
What is a PR crisis?
A PR crisis is any event that threatens public trust in your organization. It could be a result of negative media coverage, employee misconduct, product failure, data breach, or backlash from a public-facing statement.
Once public attention accelerates, you have a narrow window to make a reputed response, which simply isn’t possible with last-minute action.
Why do companies need to plan in advance?
A well-defined crisis management plan enables leadership to act decisively under pressure,
maintain trust across stakeholder groups, and ensure alignment between internal operations and external communications.
Preparing early can help you:
- Respond within minutes, not days
- Demonstrate leadership, not panic
- Protect clients, employees, and brand reputation
- Ensure consistent messaging across media, internal communication, and stakeholder engagement
- Minimize legal exposure and operational disruption
The larger the organization, the more difficult it is to manage reputation and one crisis can undo years of hard work. Proof lies in the statistics. Data says that companies with a crisis response plan in place are 42% more likely to emerge stronger from a crisis than those without one.
10 Steps to Prepare for a PR Crisis
1. Conduct a PR Risk Audit
Identify your organization’s most likely points of reputational risk across leadership, operations, legal, HR, and external communications. Work with a crisis communications specialist to use past industry crises as benchmarks. They can also data from your company to assign a likelihood and impact score for each risk to prepare your team better.
2. Build a Crisis Response Team
Appoint a cross-functional team with clear roles across executive leadership, communications, legal, HR, and operations. These individuals must be briefed, authorized, and available to respond at short notice during high-stakes scenarios.
3. Draft Internal Crisis Protocols
Create a centralized document that outlines escalation procedures, approval workflows, and communication timelines. You must clearly clarify responsibilities, including how decisions are made under pressure.
4. Prepare Holding Statements in Advance
Develop pre-approved statements for high-risk scenarios such as product recalls, employee misconduct, or data breaches. These messages are only an initial response to acknowledge the issue without blaming anyone. It allows your crisis team more time to diagnose the issue.
5. Set Up Real-Time Monitoring Tools
Implement tools like Google Alerts, Meltwater, or Brandwatch to monitor brand mentions, sentiment shifts, and emerging conversations. Designate team members to review this data daily and escalate red flags immediately.
6. Train Spokespeople for Media and Public Response
Media training should be mandatory for your CEO and any designated spokespeople. They must demonstrate message discipline, respond to challenging questions with clarity, and maintain composure while meeting brand standards.
7. Create a Crisis Communications Channel
Establish a secure internal channel, such as a dedicated Slack group or encrypted chat for instant coordination. Limit access to senior decision-makers to reduce noise and ensure confidentiality.
8. Maintain Updated Stakeholder Contact Lists
Centralize and regularly verify contact information for board members, legal advisors, regulatory bodies, media partners, and key clients. Store these lists in secure, shared locations with tiered access, so decision-makers can initiate rapid outreach without delays.
9. Conduct Crisis Simulation Drills
Run end-to-end simulations at least twice a year to test the strength of your protocols, team coordination, and message clarity under time pressure. Treat these drills as full rehearsals, complete with mock media inquiries, internal escalations, and real-time decision-making.
10. Prepare a Post-Crisis Recovery Plan
Outline a detailed roadmap for the recovery phase, including internal debriefs, stakeholder re-engagement, and brand reputation repair. Assign ownership for follow-up communications using third-party audits by crisis communications specialist.
Boutique Crisis Communications Agency in Toronto
Verified Communications is a boutique Toronto-based corporate communications and PR agency trusted by founders, CEOs, and executive teams since 2016. We offer media training, message development, and crisis communications support to corporate companies and startups across North America.
Book a free strategy call today.
