Crisis Management

“Crisis? What crisis?” a headline famously quoted. Well, from experience, the most important thing with a crisis is to realise that’s exactly what it is, and secondly, to respond quickly. Burying your head in the sand is no option, and the old ‘no comment’ routine went out in the last century. 

In this day of digital and social media, quick thinking is vital – and that requires experience. Outside had over half a century’s experience of crisis management with everyone imaginable: chefs with overheated businesses to politicians waving bananas, even a royal who warned us “not to trip over the corgis on the way out”. Not to mention the countless rockstars who claim they weren’t misbehaving.

We know when to put in that all-important call to the night editor and how to get hold of them. Sending endless emails isn’t enough; you need to know how to navigate relationships – something we’ve been building over a very long time. With relationships comes trust and authority in what we do and say.

We understand the client’s position and understand the necessity of ensuring that everybody has a joined-up strategy. A heavy handed and ill thought out approach might solve something short-term, but it can be disastrous long-term and invariably it’s the client who pays the price.

In reality, news organisations want to get it right as much as we do, but they may need convincing and contextualisation of certain situations. It can come down to a lot of late-night intense conversations, that’s where our experience comes in. There’s no time to organise some long, drawn out meeting – you’ve got seconds to think. We’ve acted for hundreds of clients in crisis situations including Amy, George, David, Naomi, Bocelli, Iron Maiden, The Who, and many other high-profile clients, even including an Ambassador and a Prime Minister.

This knowledge is crucial. In moments of crisis, knee-jerk reactions are to be avoided at all costs. We really have dealt with every imaginable situation, when and where there’s always a new flashpoint. There are a multitude of nuanced views and feelings running high. Advice needs to be very thoughtful.

We’re not a proverbial sledgehammer; we have an intrinsic understanding of fame, music, media and public mood simultaneously. Outside Crisis sees all parts of the problem and takes them into account before acting on them. 

There’s not much we haven’t seen at Outside. From Bowie to Beckham, we’ve handled some of the highest-profile stories: weddings and funerals and all the issues that surround them, air rage incidents to disputes with overzealous paparazzi, songwriting conflicts, band breakups, and short-lived reunions. 

Announcing to a stunned nation that a Spice Girl had gone solo, seeking out a lawyer to help with an injunction in the middle of a Premiership football match, answering questions about questionable financial practices, to health issues that require maximum sensitivity, how climate change has begun to affect live events. Crisis management is a never ending, and ever more needed, area of communications. 

Nobody is more versed in this area than Outside; we have lived and breathed it, popped up and contributed invisibly to so many stories. It’s not just dealing with the initial shock of an unexpected crisis but the inevitable rebuild and reposition. We are there for the whole journey all the way back to full health. We build reputation as well as protect them.