Weathering the Storm: Protecting Your Brand in the Worst of Times

What do college basketball icon Bob Knight, former U.S. Senator Gary Hart, and former University of South Carolina President James B. Holderman have in common? All were at the center of a crisis of enormous consequence and all are part of the hard-won experience of Christopher Simpson, author of this crisis communications guide. Simpson, a former newspaper reporter, press secretary in the U.S. Senate and marketing/media crisis chief at three universities, provides a step-by-step approach to creating a crisis plan that can ready your institution to withstand a media assault when times get tough. On any given day, you are ripe targets for a full-blown crisis, writes Simpson. Too few institutional leaders plan effectively. And when crises happen, you scramble, play catch up, and too often, don t get a seat at the senior staff table when lawyers blossom like kudzu and PR decisions are made well outside the court of public opinion. So protect your institution s reputation and build your crisis communication plan straight from the school of hard knocks.