Crisis communications

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 legal marketing...


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, How to...


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, not...


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 is...


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)...


Are you prepared for when a PR crisis hits?

Many people in the legal community were shocked to learn of a major fire at the Law Society that started Saturday evening and in to Sunday. Thankfully no one was hurt, and the Society’s main building seems largely untouched. But staff have still lost space, work and, of course, personal...


The biggest PR disasters of 2019

It’s been a big year for people and companies putting their foot in it, but which PR mistakes have been a meme-seeker's triumph, and which have been enough to sink a career? How not to give an interview If you’d told us a year ago that one of 2019’s biggest TV moments...