I wanted to get my thoughts out there and what I think are the lessons learned from a Crisis PR standpoint related to the mass shootings.
No matter what you believe in in terms of gun control, I think every audience is ticked off by what seems to be a lack of action. This goes back to the point I’ve made countless times in these video blogs. No matter who you are — government agency, government entity, nonprofit or for-profit organization — in any crisis, two things must be present: Empathy and Action.
Everybody’s offering their thoughts and prayers to the victim of a mass shooting, but nowhere do people seem to come up with any actionable items.
If you are an organization continues to deal with an adverse matter that occurs time and time again, you’ll wind up losing a lot of your market share and significantly impact your ability to command the revenue and the profitability you once did. Because if people just don’t believe your words don’t carry any weight, they’ll end up going away.
I think the politicians, because of their lack of action on either side, are going to find themselves on the outs pretty soon. Because they’re not following the tried and true course of crisis PR. You can say all the thoughts and prayers you want, but you better damn well do something and quick.
Organizations should take notice. Don’t be like a politician. If you’re going to say thoughts and prayers or show empathy, you better follow up with some action or you’re going to be out of a job.
