Crisis Management
No organization is immune to crisis. It strikes every type of business, industry and nonprofit entity. Effective communication and reputation management often spells the difference between succumbing to a crisis and surviving it – perhaps emerging even stronger than before.
When a crisis strikes, a company facing that crisis must have total confidence in its communications partner. For more than a half-century, Burson-Marsteller has been that trusted partner to countless clients, helping them through the toughest of times and the most sensitive of challenges.
From our work with Johnson & Johnson on the Tylenol poisonings a generation ago, to controversies such as the anthrax letter attack, "mad cow" disease, SARS and avian influenza, Burson-Marsteller continues to redefine best practices in crisis management. Our crisis work wins awards – but more important, it yields tangible results.
All Burson-Marsteller crisis programs are led by our Senior Crisis Counselors, a global network of seasoned professionals with frontline experience in virtually every type of crisis situation, from corporate governance and finance to pharmaceuticals to product recalls to labor disputes to litigation.
Surrounding this team are the broad resources of Burson-Marsteller and its sister companies, including focused expertise in areas such as online/interactive communications, opinion research, grassroots mobilization, advertising and government relations. The result is an unparalleled crisis management operation that combines the expertise of a "boutique" crisis specialist with the reach and agility of a full-service provider.
Our spectrum of crisis services includes:
vulnerability assessments and risk mapping
crisis plans and manuals (traditional and electronic)
crisis simulations
media and risk-communication training
opinion research benchmarking
global 24/7/365 staffing
comprehensive strategic and tactical programs
experience in the full range of organizational crises, such as:
Antitrust allegations
Civil and criminal litigation
Damaging legislation or regulation
Data security breaches
Environmental issues
Food safety
Government/congressional investigations
Labor disputes
Layoffs, plant closings and restructurings
Media-driven controversies
Merger & acquisition challenges
Public health threats
Pharmaceutical concerns
Product liability/product recalls
Race, sex and age discrimination claims
Terrorism/natural disaster response
Workplace violence and accidents
impact assessment and tracking
recovery strategies
ongoing stakeholder outreach
change communications
Call us. Together we'll protect the reputation you worked so hard to earn.
Litigation Communications
Managing today's corporate litigation often involves more than legal strategy. Communications with media, consumers, investors, employees and other audiences can be essential to the legal outcome as well as to preserving corporate reputation. When the need arises, companies want seasoned communications counselors with specialized expertise in legal issues. That's why Burson-Marsteller has been the choice of so many corporations, trade associations and others throughout our 50-year history.
Our litigation communications counselors, some of them attorneys themselves, have provided communications support on both the defense and plaintiff side in a wide range of civil, criminal and regulatory actions in areas such as:
- Antitrust
- Bankruptcy
- Class action and mass tort
- Contract disputes
- Domestic and international arbitration
- Environmental and health claims/toxic tort
- Fraudulent business practices
- Federal and state government investigations
- Labor law or overtime violations
- Libel and slander
- Shareholder derivative suits
- Product liability/wrongful death
- Patent/intellectual property
- Race, age, disability or sex discrimination/harassment
- RICO claims
- Trade violations
- Whistleblower suits
- Wrongful termination
We understand how to work with corporate communications professionals, business executives, and in-house and outside legal counsel to manage the opinion environment surrounding even the most complex legal challenges. And we understand that legal matters demand the highest level of discretion and coordination.
In addition, when litigation has multinational implications, Burson-Marsteller's extensive global reach enables us to provide seamless service across geographies.