The bottom line for brands heading into 2022 is that crises can offer opportunities to show concern, compassion and offer transparency to customers.
In 2022, more companies are expected to function under the assumption that cyber-attacks are inevitable. This means that PR professionals must plan their crisis response well in advance. Brands will have to run tabletop exercises and move their data and communication platforms to cloud-based applications.
Similarly, CEOs and their reputations are of prime importance when it comes to the overall brand image. Last year’s incident revolving around a former Facebook employee turning whistle-blower against the company shows that PR teams must use crises to demonstrate genuine awareness and compassion.
The COVID misinformation that plagued 2020 is expected to continue well into 2022 as well. Companies can be hit by misinformation causing reputational damage. Brand managers must evaluate how actors and networks are involved in the spread of misinformation and whether the conversation has any real and tangible impact on the brand.
[8 minute read]
