Tone-deaf communication can ruin your company’s reputation. A PR consultant can save it.

In the face of a national tragedy or a natural disaster, businesses often feel an obligation to rush out a statement. To ignore catastrophic events may seem heartless; to weigh in on anything else may seem insensitive. A simple comment posted to Facebook, or an official response distributed to the press, can demonstrate the company’s awareness and compassion.

PR disaster communications strategy Such statements don’t always work out as planned, however. In fact, they frequently backfire, with well-intentioned but tone-deaf sentiments that make the business seem callous or out-of-touch. When this happens, the outcry from an increasingly online public can be swift and severe, with the ill-articulated corporate statement becoming its own small-scale disaster.

More Harm Than Help?

You don’t have to do a historical deep dive to find an example of tone-deaf gestures in the wake of a catastrophic event. During the fall of 2024, most Americans watched in bewilderment at the havoc caused by Hurricane Helene. Many businesses and organizations responded with appropriate notes of empathy and offers of humanitarian aid—but some were not so wise.

Case in point: One company, whose employee base was directly affected by flooding (resulting in multiple deaths) offered its workers and their families solace in the form of inexpensive gift cards, including credits to places like McDonald’s. What was surely intended as a genuine show of support was widely interpreted as crude and unfeeling, resulting in a reputation-shattering uproar on social media.

This is just one example of how the best efforts to be helpful in the aftermath of a disaster can actually be deeply harmful.

Consulting a PR Pro

Effective communication always involves clarity and precision, and these virtues are all the more important against the backdrop of a disaster. Simply desiring to help is not enough. That desire to help must be conveyed with sensitivity and care, or else there is a real risk of backfire.

One of the most practical ways to guide your communications strategy, avoiding tone-deafness and the attending reputational damage, is to seek the expertise of a public relations company. A PR pro can help you craft talking points that effectively convey your positive intentions. What’s more, a PR agency can distribute that statement through the appropriate channels, ensuring your disaster-time messaging is actually heard.

A good public relations strategy can help you communicate better under any circumstances, but particularly catastrophic ones. To find out more about how Ripley PR can guide your messaging, contact us online or simply give us a call at 865-977-1973.

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