Inevitable and unpredictable, crises don’t discriminate based on sector, size or share price. Amid geopolitical uncertainty, socioeconomic complexity and technological change, crises can blindside, disrupt and test the mettle of both well-known and unknown brands alike. But what separates the brands that recover well from those that drown in questions, confusion and chaos? Crisis preparedness and quality of response.
According to figures from Knight/Pretty’s ‘The Impact of Catastrophes on Shareholder Value’, businesses that are perceived to have responded inadequately to major incidents lose an average of 15% of their net stock value up to one year after the incident. Businesses that are effective in their response see a positive return on shareholder value.
So, what does this mean? Proactivity and preplanning are crucial. Having a solid crisis communications framework in place before any crisis rears its ugly head can make or break how you’ll recover in the short and long term. It enables you to keep calm, follow the right processes and procedures, and move with confidence and speed.
In lieu of that framework, let’s walk through three top tips that’ll help you keep calm and focused when a crisis hits.
1.Create a plan before you need one
Winging it is never a great comms strategy. It takes purposeful coordination and clear underlying protocols to formulate a response plan to address a situation in a controlled and accurate way. If you try to skip procedure you risk making reputationally damaging mistakes. And, if you try to spin that procedure up on the fly, you’ll leave a silence long enough for unhelpful speculation.
Despite this clear need for forward planning, only 49% of companies have a formal crisis protocol, and fewer than 25% actually test it regularly.
That’s why crafting a crisis playbook in advance is so important. Crisis preparations should be routine, with regular crisis simulation exercises to stress test both your playbook and response team so your team can switch from “What do we say?!” to “Here’s exactly what we can say and why we should say it.” That will make for a team that knows its roles, with clear approval flows and response times allowing you to act with intention and precision under the most extreme pressure.
2. Balance diligence with speed
Timing is everything. Responding too slowly might look evasive, but speaking too soon without the facts risks damaging credibility. While addressing the issue quickly is important, some situations call for a strategic pause. Premature statements risk being misinterpreted. Backtracking on previous comments can do more harm than good.
77% of consumers say their trust in a company depends on how it responds during a crisis, so be sure to think smart, not fast for the sake of it. Take the time to understand the core of the issue, your definitive position, and how/why things unravelled before even thinking about a response.
Evaluate your situation, talk to internal and external experts (HR, legal, PR) and align with leadership before deciding when to speak or if it’s prudent to wait and regroup. Crisis is a team sport – collaborate with the relevant parties and gather facts and perspectives before stepping out into the spotlight.
3. Remember it’s not all about you
This might be a hot take, but a crisis isn’t all about you and your corporate reputation. According to the 2025 edition of the Reputation, Risk and Resilience report, we need to shift our crisis mindset from ‘self’ to ‘other.’
It’s easy to get caught up in protecting the bottom line or the reputation of a crisis-hit business – containing the threat and minimising damage to share price as swiftly as possible. But what about the humans impacted by the incident? Are you neglecting or overlooking the collateral damage (i.e. the people) as you hurry to shut down the media frenzy around your broken supply chain or wayward CEO?
Put yourself in the shoes of the humans that interact with your business. What do they want to hear? What do they need to hear? Are you demonstrating genuine empathy and concern? Or is your response performative? Social media plays a crucial role here – it’s where consumers play out their frustrations and complaints against brands. Monitoring these channels (hopefully with some useful tools) not only helps businesses to detect potential crises before they take a more evolved and scary form, but they can also be a great real-time barometer of sentiment and situational awareness. This is crucial information that fuels your communications strategy moving forward. Go where your buyers are, put your ear to the ground, and listen to concerns.
Once you’ve heard the concerns, you now need to respond appropriately – again, putting your consumers, not your company, at the heart of the response. According to Axios, nearly 90% of adults say they are more likely to trust brands that communicate in plain, human language. So, before you issue a response, think about what you would want to hear if you were on the other side of the fence. Make sure statements are clear, understandable and compassionate, rather than cold, robotic and evasive. Think action over lip service. In service of others over ego. If your priority is to do right by those impacted, your response will naturally land much better.
Crises are inevitable, but chaos is optional
Every organisation will eventually face unexpected challenges. The difference between losing control and leading the conversation boils down to your preparedness, transparency, and tone.
With a clear, tested crisis communications framework, built in collaboration with PR experts, you can build the confidence to maintain a steady presence across channels and protect your business and customers. Crisis frameworks should never be seen as an insurance policy. They are investments into your business, requiring cooperation from all levels of the C-suite and beyond, to surface opportunities to improve, as well as manage risk.
How exposed is your business to crisis? Take this quick quiz to reveal your risk level and discover ways to protect your brand.
Or book a consultation at crisiscomms@rlyl.com.
Images from Playground
