Crisis communications

boris johnson

He WAS there. He has apologised. But is it all too late in the reputation stakes?

Our founder, Melissa Davis, looks at how No 10 could have handled the current PR crisis. How it started…'Bring your own booze'. Rarely have four words caught the public attention quite as effectively or quickly as those have. I’ll give you two more words. Sue Gray. I use them as until a few minutes...


Boris Johnson

If I was No 10’s PR adviser…

Our chief executive Melissa Davis discusses the latest crisis gripping the government, which has led to the resignation of No 10's senior spokesperson. Last Christmas was a difficult time for everyone.  I certainly understand and share the anger the alleged Downing Street party has caused. Many of us might think party-gate...


Wellbeing, being human, strongholds and innovation – reflections from the IBA’s Business Development and Marketing Conference

MD Communications partner Keith Hardie shares his thoughts on this week’s virtual Legal Business Development and Marketing Conference, hosted by the International Bar Association. Summarising four days of great speakers, collages and roundtables pulled together by our CEO Melissa Davis, Itzik Amiel and Deborah Farone – three leaders of...


When a PR crisis hits

Co-authored by Melissa Davis, CEO MD Communications and Natalie McEvoy, Counsel, Slateford.  Reputation problems very rarely come totally out of the blue. That is an advantage – identifying problems earlier gives you more opportunities to achieve better outcomes and build the organisational resilience to handle them. In our previous blog,...


Your reputation in a crisis: why an apology can be cheaper and more effective than litigation

When well-known local celebrity Freddie Mercury (not that one) came off worst in a tussle with a QC’s dog, the barrister’s legal response and warnings to the media backfired. Our CEO Melissa Davis looks at why. A dog is our best friend, they say. Which is true for many people and...


As social media mistakes go, this one was, well… a bit of a whopper

Our CEO, Melissa Davis, looks at the perils of not thinking before posting on social media, after Burger King's misjudged International Women's Day tweet. In amongst all the positive, supportive and often inspiring posts on International Women’s Day, in tune with the theme of #ChooseToChallenge, one post stood out. Sadly,...


How to manage your firm’s reputation during turbulent times

This week we hosted six illustrious speakers at our reputation webinar. Up for discussion was how to protect your brand during turbulent times, looking at the UK government's and legal sector's reputation, press interviews that went right and wrong, the risks associated with social media, and how important it...


How to handle the media in a crisis

As businesses of all sizes navigate through the challenging times caused by COVID-19, it’s important to ensure your crisis communications plan is up to scratch to deal with the impact the coronavirus may have on your company’s reputation. Crisis communications means immediately working in a reactive mode, whereas most businesses usually...


Can your crisis plan stand up to the effects of Coronavirus?

Where is your crisis communications plan? It could be that it's in your head, because it's obvious to you what should be done and said when your business is disrupted. Maybe you think your business isn't 'big' enough or as entire countries go into apparent 'lockdown', it might even feel...


What we can learn from Burger King’s latest PR error

Veganism has become an increasingly popular movement over the past few years, and clearly where there’s tofu, there’s gold, with £740m sales of meat-free food in 2018. The latest brand to try to tempt the green market (which has grown fourfold in the past four years, according to the Vegan Society)...