Most crisis plans get written the week after the crisis. That's backwards. The worst time to decide who signs off a statement is while forty people demand one.
Crisis media, usually called crisis communications, is how you talk when something has gone wrong and people want to know what you're doing about it. It isn't spin. Done well, it's mostly preparation.
Crisis or issue?
An issue is a problem you can fix on your own clock: a bad review, a shipping delay, a grumpy thread. It becomes a crisis when safety, data, money or core trust is at stake, and the timing is no longer yours. In our industries:
- Consumer products and electronics: a safety defect or recall. In September 2016, Samsung recalled about 1 million Galaxy Note7 phones in the US because the battery could overheat and catch fire.
- Video games: a broken launch or a server meltdown. After Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker launched in December 2021, Square Enix temporarily suspended sales of the game to ease login congestion, and its producer explained why in public.
- Tech and AI: a data breach, or a model misbehaving. In 2016, Microsoft took its Tay chatbot offline after a coordinated attack led it to post offensive tweets within its first day.
- web3: an exploit. In 2022, attackers took control of validator keys on the Ronin network behind Axie Infinity and moved funds out of its bridge.
- Music, fashion and lifestyle: an old post resurfaces, or a supplier scandal you didn't cause but must answer for.
- Everyone: the social pile-on, which can make an issue a crisis by afternoon.
Write the plan while it's quiet
The first hours shape what follows. A plan can be short, but it has to settle the basics in advance: who decides, who speaks, who approves, who's watching, and where the facts will live. A statement stuck in edits arrives late, and late reads as evasive.
One story, several audiences
Press, customers, employees and partners all need the same facts, told differently and in the right order. Employees should hear it from you first, and partners need a direct call, not a press release. Getting that sequence wrong turns one story into several.
Social speed
Social moves faster than any approval chain. Saying something true early buys time without guessing; arguing in the replies or deleting criticism does the opposite. The social-to-PR handoff is in One Launch, Two Teams.
When to say nothing, and when silence hurts
Sometimes silence is right: a statement can enlarge a small issue few have seen. Silence hurts when people are affected, when it's already being reported, or when customers need instructions. If anyone would be worse off for not hearing from you, speak.
An apology that's real
A real apology names what happened, takes responsibility and says what will change. Microsoft's post on Tay did all three: "We are deeply sorry," it said, before explaining the oversight and adding, "We take full responsibility." Don't promise what you can't deliver.
Regulators and lawyers
Some crises come with legal clocks, and the US and UK differ. In the UK, the ICO says notifiable personal data breaches must be reported within 72 hours of becoming aware of them. In the US, every state has its own breach notification law, and public companies generally must disclose a material cybersecurity incident to the SEC within four business days of deciding it's material. Recalls involve the CPSC in the US and the Office for Product Safety and Standards in the UK.
We're not lawyers, and this isn't legal advice. Counsel decides what you disclose, when and to whom. We make the public words match the legal ones and still make sense to people.
After the crisis
When the noise stops, fix the plan while memories are fresh. Trust is rebuilt by doing what you promised and saying when it's done. A month after the Ronin exploit, Sky Mavis published a postmortem explaining the attack and its planned security changes. Trust returns through follow-through, not a campaign.
Where media training fits
A crisis spokesperson gives the hardest interview of their career. That's no time for their first media training; more in When Is Media Training Needed? Judgment under that kind of pressure comes from having been in the room before.
Want a plan before you need one? Request a briefing. We'll write it with you, train your spokespeople and run the drill.