Role of Public Relations During Crisis

We do have some idea of what PR does so let us discuss about what role PR plays during a crisis. Every organization goes through tough situations as they are vulnerable to crisis and the only way to deal with a crisis is to be prepared else you may incur serious damages. To avoid such situation, every organization has built an in-house PR team or hires PR firm so that they can deal with crisis effectively. PR professionals devise Crisis management plan which is necessary today when news and information are traveling faster than ever.

First, let us define crisis. A crisis is an unplanned event that can cause serious damage to the brand and its reputation. Therefore crisis management is vital for every organization.

Pre- Crisis Plan- PR professionals must be very proactive and should be prepared to deal with the crisis by preparing a crisis management plan in advance with the help of crisis management team.

Media Handling- Everyone is scared of negative news in the media but if handled well, media can prove as the most favorable tool for disseminating the message to the targeted audience.  PR agencies should be in constant touch with journalists and should know how to handle media effectively.

Damage Control- Damage control is primarily about minimizing the negative perception caused by a crisis.  PR professionals play an important role by minimizing the damage done by a crisis by getting back the trust of customer’s base, minimizing loss of sales along with credibility, earning consumer trust and a lustrous public image.

Post-Crisis Analysis- After the crisis has passed; PR professionals should conduct a formal assessment of managing the crisis and should introspect about how such crisis can be managed effectively if it were to occur again in future. 

 The author of this opinion article is Ms. Priyanka Tomar at PR Professionals