Brand Crisis Response Protocol

CRISIS SEVERITY CLASSIFICATION

Level 1: Monitor

• Minor social media complaint
• Single negative review
• Internal issue not public Response time: 24 hours

Level 2: Respond

• Multiple complaints on same issue
• Industry press coverage
• Customer-facing service issue Response time: 4 hours

Level 3: Escalate

• Viral social media incident
• Major publication coverage
• Significant product/service failure Response time: 1 hour

Level 4: War Room

• Executive misconduct
• Data breach / security incident
• Legal/regulatory action
• Potential for business impact Response time: Immediate

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FIRST 60 MINUTES CHECKLIST

Immediately:

• Identify crisis severity level
• Alert crisis response team
• Stop any scheduled posts/communications
• Gather facts (who, what, when, where)
• Assess scope and potential spread
• Document everything

Within 30 minutes:

• Brief executive sponsor
• Draft holding statement
• Identify spokesperson
• Set up monitoring

Within 60 minutes:

• Approve holding statement
• Post holding statement (if appropriate)
• Convene crisis team
• Begin full response development

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STAKEHOLDER NOTIFICATION

Stakeholder	Notify Level	Contact Method	Owner
CEO	3-4	Phone
Legal	3-4	Phone
PR/Comms	2-4	Slack/Phone
Customer Success	2-4	Slack
Board	4	Email/Phone
All employees	3-4	Email

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HOLDING STATEMENT TEMPLATES

"We are aware of [issue] and are actively investigating. We take this seriously and will provide an update as soon as we have more information. [Optional: Contact method for affected customers]"

"We apologize for [specific issue]. We understand the impact this has had and are working to [specific action]. We will provide updates as we learn more. For immediate assistance, please contact [method]."

"After investigating [issue], we have [specific action taken]. We are committed to [future prevention]. We sincerely apologize to those affected and are [compensation/remedy if applicable]."

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RESPONSE DEVELOPMENT

Key Questions to Answer

Question	Answer
What happened?
When did it happen?
Who is affected?
What is the impact?
What are we doing about it?
What will prevent recurrence?

Response Approval Chain

Content Type	Creator	Reviewer	Final Approval
Social response
Press statement
Customer email
Employee email
Blog post

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COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES

Customer Email

Subject: Important Information Regarding [Issue]

Body:

Dear [Customer],

We're writing to inform you about [issue that affects them].

What happened: [Brief explanation]

What we're doing: [Specific actions]

What you should do: [If any action required]

We apologize for [impact] and are committed to [resolution].

Questions? Contact [method]

[Signature]

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Social Media Response

We hear you and we're sorry. [Brief acknowledgment]. We're [action being taken]. For direct help: [link/contact]

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Press Statement

[Company] is aware of [issue] affecting [scope]. We are [current action]. [If applicable: We apologize to those affected]. We are committed to [resolution/prevention]. Further updates will be provided at [location].

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POST-CRISIS RECOVERY

Immediate (Week 1-2)

• Continue monitoring sentiment
• Follow up with affected customers
• Complete internal post-mortem
• Document learnings
• Update crisis protocol if needed

Short-term (Month 1-3)

• Implement preventive measures
• Rebuild trust through transparency
• Positive storytelling campaign
• Customer outreach/check-ins
• Employee communication

Long-term (Month 3-12)

• Track brand sentiment recovery
• Annual crisis drill
• Update response protocols
• Measure reputation metrics

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CRISIS CONTACT LIST

Role	Name	Phone	Email
Crisis Lead
CEO
Legal Counsel
PR/Comms Lead
Customer Success Lead
Social Media Manager
External PR Agency

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