Confidentiality Is a Given. Our relationships are built on trust, and trust requires discretion and an assurance of confidentiality.
PR and Crisis Management
Problem: An eldercare community evacuated during the California wildfires.
Solution: All of our work was done behind the scenes to not raise any eyebrows. Amid the chaos, we coordinated a comprehensive communications plan which included reassuring and updating the residents & their families, statements to the media, and reminding employees of the importance of consistent messaging.
Result: The media covered what we told them to cover. Residents and their family members were thankful and comforted in knowing that their loved ones were taken care of.
Problem: A luxury retailer was the subject of an angry mob of mommies who’d taken to the Internet to damage its reputation. What was it about? Breastfeeding.
Solution: We defused the situation by crafting responses directly to the ring-leader’s public Yelp review. We flagged erroneous comments. We mobilized key influencers within the Facebook Mommy-sphere to defend our client. When the media came sniffing, we steered them to our public post of our side of the story.
Result: Not only did we get the false reviews taken down, but the accuser even apologized to business owner and offered to take down her negative review. No news stories ever appeared.
Problem: A childcare center accused of neglecting & abusing children. The owners were concerned about losing trust with parents after disgruntled former employees started spreading rumors so gnarly that it threatened the school’s existence.
Solution: We advised on how and when to respond to worried parents to regain their trust.
Result: The parenting community’s fears were eased, the accusers’ allegations were discredited, and the childcare center went on to grow its membership by 200%.
Problem: The Company took a DIY approach to handle a situation that made matters worse and created a media firestorm.
Solution: We were brought in to stop the bleeding & clean up the mess. We partnered with leadership to correct course, get the right narrative sorted out, and worked with the media to shift the spotlight.
Result: We succeeded in quickly replacing initial negative coverage with positive stories about the client’s vision for the future.
Strategic Communications
Problem: An entertainment company protecting its brand after its founder was accused of sexual harassment. When your founder has sole control over your finances & business accounts, is responsible for the majority of fundraising, and is the face of the organization…how do you come back from that?
Solution: We worked alongside the Board and outside legal counsel to smooth the transition and keep the issue out of the media’s glare and reduce the impact of the rumormill.
Result: No stories were written. The employees and investors were reassured that everything was being handled.
Problem: An electric utility was planning major changes in the way it did business and feared it may cause an exodus of worried employees, especially managers in whom it had a lot invested.
Solution: We rolled out the changes in a non-threatening manner and motivated employees to embrace them.
Result: We exceeded expectations. Not only was there no exodus, but normal attrition decreased 50%.
Problem: A company brought us in early to keep the real reason for the “controversial” organizational change from becoming public.
Solution: We found a positive angle that deflected the media’s inclination to seek “the real back-story.”
Result: Few media carried the story, and those that did were perfunctory or positive. All equally desirable results.
Problem: The head of large nonprofit organization was under criminal investigation by the IRS. The media was sniffing around, and the nonprofit was terrified it might become public.
Solution: Our staff worked with the media in an effort to sidetrack the story.
Result: Better than hoped. No story was published. Ideal outcome for the client.