Crisis Communications & the Royal Wedding: When “happily ever after” isn’t the case

As we’ve seen over the past several days, this Saturday’s royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has taken our country – and the world – by storm. Nightly television specials, a constant flood of inane stories about flowers and fancy horses, recipes for wedding cakes with elderflower (whatever the hell that is), and a fascination with fascinators are our latest national obsessions. Journalist Cokie Roberts said the other day that 242 years ago we fought to free ourselves from these obsessions, but alas…

It’s also become abundantly clear that even this fairytale wedding has its family drama with questions surrounding the bride’s father and his (alleged) heart surgery. (I remain dubious that a real surgery took place, but I bet he’ll soon show us the scar to prove it!) But nevertheless, the royal family is dealing with its own share of crises these days. With an abundance of resources (read: money), they can easily fix whatever ails them, even if it means performing “fake surgery” on Ms. Markle’s poor ole dad.

For the rest of us, remedying a threat to our business reputation isn’t quite as easy. As I’ve become famous for saying, it’s not a matter of if, but when.

A crisis doesn’t have to be an issue that takes the world by storm. We consider a crisis something that either disrupts business operations or is a threat to a company’s reputation. Often, one bad review can do that to a restaurant. Someone becoming ill at your food establishment – retail or commercial – can do the same – even if it’s not from the food (and it often is not).

A cranky hospital patient can write a letter to the chairman of the board of directors and the poop may hit the fan. Someone could be injured in your workplace and sue you, making a public stink at the same time. If you’re a hotel operator, I can only imagine how much time your staff commits to checking your reviews on TripAdvisor.

Planning is the key to success. Just as studying for a test will yield an “A,” and sticking to a diet leads to a lower number on the scale, so too will advance preparation lead to success in a time of crisis.

Not every crisis results in a clean bill of health for an organization or a business. Success is often judged by how many days the story lingered (or didn’t) and how the spokesperson was quoted (or not). Success can also be that the crisis was handled quickly and effectively in spite of the public coverage. It’s not always a perfect fairytale ending.

In a career filled with crises, we’ve put together 19 scenarios with tips on how to handle them. Although no two are ever the same, giving thought to preparing in advance may help ensure your business lives on happily ever after.