‘Don’t lie’: How to navigate A crisis through effective communication

27 February 2025

Imagine a scenario where your company’s survival hangs by a thread. It feels like the whole world is watching you teeter on the edge; a difficult newspaper article, a critical social media post, challenging emails from the Board and legitimate Executive concerns that if the market finds out what’s going on, shareholders will be spooked. One wrong move, one misstep, and it could spell disaster. This is where crisis communications experts, such as Chris Philipsborn, Managing Partner at Kreab London, come into play. 

Armed with strategies to manage communications through turbulent times, these experts are the helping hands working to turn the tide and guide the ship safely back to shore. We sat down with Chris to talk about the dos and don’ts of crisis communications, and how to remain resilient in the constantly shifting media and social media landscape where modern business takes place.

“Perception matters much more than reality. Managing a communications crisis depends on shaping what different audiences believe to be true, whether or not this reflects reality. Working with narratives can be tough – it takes discipline to operate within a landscape which is constantly in flux and infinitely up for debate. It can be really, really difficult for an organisation to adapt to an hourly evolving news cycle and accompanying social media commentary. That’s where we come in,” says Chris.  

Kreab is a Swedish-founded and Stockholm-headquartered strategic communications advisory operating worldwide. With a team of 500 consultants in over 25 locations globally, their mission is to guide corporations, individuals, governments, and organisations facing complex communications challenges. 

“We are very much rooted in our Swedish heritage. Carl Bildt is our joint Vice Chairman with Peje Emilsson, our Founder, who is still very much involved in the business. Peje only recently handed over the Executive Chair role to Charlotte Erkhammar. "As a result, we are different to our competitors. We have a network of offices throughout Latin America, and our four largest offices are in Brussels, Tokyo, Stockholm and Madrid.”

In London, Kreab has a specialist crisis communications and reputation management team, as well as a global media hub and expert support across public affairs, corporate communications and financial communications. Chris elaborates: “We represent clients from a wide range of sectors, from international sporting bodies to governments; multi-site corporates to law firms; HNW individuals to industry. For instance, we have just signed a global deal with the Republic of Cyprus to reposition and promote the country’s international brand.”

The cornerstone of crisis communications: controlling the narrative
Any businesses, regardless of size or sector, exists because it has successfully convinced a wide range of audiences – regulators, local government, the general public, etc. – of its value. When a crisis strikes, these hard-earned narratives are threatened and material business continuity issues follow suit unless the organisation is appropriately defended.

Managing a communications crisis is a decidedly human endeavour. It may sound obvious, but the people behind the response team often make or break the recovery effort. This is all down to who or what is in control of the narrative:

“A crisis can either control you and your firm, or you can control it. If it controls you – it makes the day to day running of your organisation incredibly difficult. Retaining operational delivery in a crisis can become almost impossible. That’s partly where we come in. We handle the issues in real time alongside the client and free the operational or delivery side of the organisation so it can continue to function and trade.”  

After 30 years in the field of crisis communications and reputation management, both in-house and through consultancy, Chris has identified some common mistakes when it comes to preventing and managing crises effectively.

“The issue often originates in a disconnect between what is happening on the ground and senior management. An organisation can have best practice, cutting edge governance and compliance procedures, but these are worthless if they are not implemented day to day throughout the management chain. That can be a management issue, or it can be a growth issue. Rapidly growing start-ups and relatively immature organisations can experience rapid growth and find that their governance and compliance structures simply haven’t kept up. I often see this in adolescent entities, which are making the transition to adulthood.” 

Chris continues: “When we get called in to advise, usually it’s a little like observing a slow-motion train wreck. Even though the client can see the crisis looming, there is paralysis within the organisation which prevents the leadership team from taking action in time. In these situations, we employ techniques to enable senior management to look at their organisation as the outside world might do, to consider the perceptions as opposed to the realities as they understand them, and to ask questions that insiders may feel unable to articulate out loud.” 

Knowing your audience
It’s not possible to control the narrative if you don’t understand who you’re trying to convince. That’s why Chris emphasises identifying who the key audiences really are: 

“Who really matters? Is it your customers, the government, regulators, the media, or a combination of all of these? And don’t forget your internal audience: from Board members to blue collar workers, or customer-facing staff to middle and senior managers. Always ask yourself: “Who are the people that hold the power to approve or reject our position in this situation?”  

He elaborates: “What you say to people internally will inevitably leak externally, and what you say to your external audience is seen and read by the internal. So, you need to tailor and align your messaging between the two to fit the concerns of each. If these two worlds are seen to clash, the Executive looks inauthentic and dishonest, a real risk in any crisis handling.”

When tailoring the message, choosing the right communications channel plays another important role. While Chris and his team employ the full range of channels, when it comes to internal communications, his view is to tailor the method to the audience.

“Sometimes, particularly in industrial environments, low-tech can be best. I have found that reaching blue collar staff tends to be most effective when we target them in places where they spend free time, such as workplace canteens. Face to face briefings, town halls, and even very low-tech options such as pre-recorded briefings on a dedicated phone line, are also effective. That said, many entities get into unnecessary difficulties by being too impersonal and using poorly worded texts or emails. Effective communications is about connecting with people, so we advise clients to use the right tone as well as an appropriate channel.”

Building trust through communication
Providing clear, honest information, even if it involves bad news, helps maintain trust and credibility once the crisis hits. 

“Don’t lie. Don’t lie to your advisors, don’t lie to yourself, don’t lie to your main audiences, and most important of all - don’t lie to the general public. The issue is not just that this is the right thing to do – it is. It is also that you may be found out, and if that happens, another vital component in crisis communications gets lost: trust.”

Chris emphasises that organisations must ensure their crisis communications is robust, unified, and as honest and transparent as possible, even when certain information cannot be disclosed fully due to legal or strategic reasons, which is often the case. This applies not only to external audiences and shaping public perceptions, but also internally.

“There’s one thing that employees hate above anything else – and that’s uncertainty. So, when it comes to internal communications, it’s crucial to tell people what is going to happen as honestly and openly as you possibly can.” 

Transparency builds trust within organisations, and Chris sees a correlation between consistent relationship-building and effective communication efforts: 
“The more respected a leader and leadership is by the workforce in any given entity, whether that’s a government, corporate, start-up, or financial institution, the more effective their communications. What all good leaders have in common is the ability to communicate effectively or to surround themselves with others who can, as well as the willingness to take the time to establish key relationships with internal and external stakeholders.”

Fail to prepare, or prepare to fail
Companies are naturally better off avoiding crises in the first place. So, what’s the secret to securing the organisation’s resilience and avoiding potential future crises? Preparedness of course. That could be with the aid of scenario planning, media training, or regular crisis simulations. Because as the old saying goes: you’re either failing to prepare or preparing to fail.
 
“Don’t just rely on your risk register, your governance or compliance structures,” says Chris. By their nature, crises often seem to come from nowhere. The media and social media landscape are constantly shifting and re-shaping the corporate field of play. Don’t wait until it’s too late, call in people like us to help you do the preparatory work, establish chains of command, and train key spokespeople so you’re ready to respond at what is almost always short notice.”

When it comes to reputation management, Kreab are experts: helping organisations identify potential dangers through stakeholder audits, crafting and executing tailored crisis communication plans, providing real-time evaluation of sentiment across social media, and conducting hands-on practice through simulations – their ambition is to be the ears to the ground, as well as equipping their clients with the tools allowing them to bounce back swiftly once the crisis hits. 

“There is no such thing as a business without flaws. No business is perfect. If you were to put a magnifying lens on any entity, public or private, you will find something that’s gone wrong or about to. The key is to control external and internal perceptions of your activities so you can concentrate on delivery and success.”