Communicate in a Crisis

Kate Hartley is co-founder of Polpeo, a crisis simulation training consultancy that works with some of the biggest brands in the world. Hartley has 25 years' agency-side experience in crisis and reputation management and corporate PR. She has spoken and run workshops on the impact of social media on crisis management at international events including SXSW, The Global PR Summit, PR Week's Crisis Comms, and Social Media Today's Social Shake Up. She is a member of the CIPR and the PRCA, and sits on the PRCA's digital steering committee which is designed to shape digital best practice in the PR industry.

Section - ONE: Understanding how consumer behaviour has changed;


Chapter - 01: Kick a brand when it's down – Why we love to hate our favourite brands;
Chapter - 02: The issue of declining trust in the spread of fake news;
Chapter - 03: Who do I trust? The rise of individual influencers versus declining traditional media;
Chapter - 04: It's outrageous! Understanding the new response to outrage and bad news, and the role of social media;
Chapter - 05: I want it now – Managing consumer expectation for instant information;
Chapter - 06: Profile of a troll – Understanding and dealing with trolling behaviour;
Chapter - 07: The conscious consumer – The question complex and pressures of brand transparency;


Section - TWO: The role of changing consumer behaviour in crisis management and response;


Chapter - 08: The new challenges – Understanding the impact of changing consumer behaviour on crisis management strategies;
Chapter - 09: What is acceptable in a crisis? How to differentiate business as usual versus crisis management;
Chapter - 10: The social media Hydra: Principles of transparency versus suppression of information in crisis mitigation;
Chapter - 11: Crises in action: Lessons learned from crisis responses from five major brands;
Chapter - 12: The importance of telling the truth and its role in crisis and reputation management;
Chapter - 13: Withstanding the attack: The importance of resilience in your communications teams;


Section - THREE: Building your crisis communication strategy and response;


Chapter - 14: The brain's response to a crisis and training your team to cope;
Chapter - 15: Insights from crisis communication influencers on managing the threats facing brands;
Chapter - 16: The role of leadership in a crisis and preparing your crisis team;
Chapter - 17: Showing humanity and empathy in a crisis: When it counts and when it's empty;
Chapter - 18: What do I do first? Getting your priorities right in a crisis;
Chapter - 19: Harnessing the crowd: Using influencers and advocates to calm the crisis: An interview with Scott Guthrie;
Chapter - 20: The role of technology in crisis management: Using predictive analysis, social listening, search data and insights;
Chapter - 21: Practical steps to prepare, execute and analyse a crisis response (and avoid common pitfalls)

"A timely analysis of the environment in which crises emerge and must be managed."

"Above all a sane and sympathetic approach to the people embroiled in a crisis at the sharp end. Buy this book, read it, follow Kate Hartley's advice and breathe more easily."

"Whilst the principles of crisis communications haven't changed the environment has - beyond recognition. Understanding what that means to the corporation under fire and how best they should engage with all stakeholder audiences is the essence of this book."