How long does it take to form an opinion of a person or organization in the middle of a crisis? Research suggests it is an amazingly quick—and unforgiving—span of time. What’s worse is that companies recognize the danger presented by crises and are failing to take steps to protect their brands. Your organization needs to rethink its approach to crisis communications before an issue develops that can spiral out of control.
Consider these data points:
New York University School of Business researchers found that people make 11 judgement calls on you—ranging from your trustworthiness to level of success—in the first seven seconds of an initial encounter. If your brand is surrounded by negative news that quick assessment of your company can have lasting implications on your reputation.
A 2023 PwC Global Crisis and Resilience Survey found that 89% of companies globally believe resilience was one of their most important strategic organizational priorities in the post-pandemic era and 70% of respondents said they are confident in their ability to respond to various disruptions. However, PwC found that many organizations lacked foundational elements of resilience. PwC pointed out that companies lacking crisis management plans or dedicated response teams are more susceptible to prolonged duration damage.
A 2022 study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) of 150 global companies that found just 10% of companies had put in place the full range of resilience tools necessary to anticipate and recover from a crisis.
A 2019 PwC survey found that 29% of companies lacked staff dedicated to crisis preparedness or response. This was the case even though 95% of business leaders across 43 countries surveyed expect to be hit by a future crisis. Seven in 10 had experienced a crisis within the last five years with financial liquidity and technology failures being the most common type. According to PwC, large companies with 5,000+ employees are most likely to face cybercrime (26%), natural disaster (22%), leadership (17%) or ethical misconduct (16%) crises.
A Deloitte study in 2022 of 700 business executives concluded that reputational risks demand proactive management. However, barriers exist including the top four cited by organizational leaders: scarcity of talent, 59%; competing strategic priorities, 57%; lack of organizational understanding of resilience, 57%; and lack of funding, 44%.
The growing use of social media and the reliance on platforms as news sources adds to the challenge facing brands. A 2025 study from the HSBC Business School at Peking University and the Harbin Institute of Technology School of Management looked at more than 3.1 million social media posts linked to 94 corporate crises that occurred in China between 2016-2019, finding that “traditional crisis response timelines prove inadequate for social media scenarios.” The study found the “instantaneity and openness of social media have significantly increased the speed and scope of corporate crisis communication, making the demands for corporate crisis responses more critical.” The study pointed out a company questioning “when to act and speak” during a crisis should respond as quickly as possible in today’s social media world. “When a crisis breaks out, information asymmetry and people’s uncertainty about the authenticity of its occurrence will negatively affect the enterprise. The faster the processing of information, the higher its credibility, and the more likely its positive impact. A late enterprise response will bring more uncertainties and uncontrollability, yielding negative results,” HSBC Business School researchers found.
At the Accenture Cyber Security Forum in 2023, there was agreement among Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Marketing Officer panelists that collaboration is critical during a crisis. “Trust among the team is foundational” in responding to a cyber crisis and that involving Board level and C-Suite in tabletop crisis response simulations is critical so that they understand the implications of decisions they make during a real crisis. Building muscle memory and testing tools was cited as a critical reason for running simulations.
Here are six steps organizations can take to be better prepared when a crisis strikes:
Build your reputation now. Proactive public relations build stronger, more resilient brands. Get to know key media, build relationships with stakeholders and establish contacts with elected officials when things are good.
Be prepared to respond. Employees, customers and communities expect information and a rapid response to issues. How quickly can your company respond and issue a basic statement to key audiences?
Train to respond efficiently and effectively. Having a crisis communications plan and holding simulation drills can greatly improve your response when it really matters.
Streamline decision-making. In a crisis you will have an expanded team at the table voicing opinions on company decisions. Human nature can lead to conflict avoidance and inaction. Corporate counsel, human resources and finance often tell you what you cannot say or do during challenging situations. That is exactly when the world is demanding answers. Foster collaboration and an understanding about the need to reduce lost time when an issue develops.
Establish warning and monitoring systems. A crisis-response team needs to know what is happening and what is being said. Getting the facts and filtering out misinformation can help you shape your response, avoid missteps and manage more effectively.
Understand what truly matters. In a crisis, health and safety are paramount, followed closely by protecting property, jobs, the community and environment. Understand the key performance indicators of your organization and know the objectives and key results metrics for your executives. Help everyone to focus on the top priorities in a crisis to reduce potential lasting damage.
Being prepared before a crisis hits is essential. Managing first impressions during a crisis starts long before the hint of an issue reaches your desk. Preparedness leads to opportunities to build trust through communication and actions.
Rick Lyke, APR, is Executive Vice President with the Mower PR & PA Group, which provides issues management, media training and crisis simulation workshops for clients.