For Banks, a Crisis Communications Fail

An article in AdAge offers a reminder why staying quiet about a crisis is bad communications strategy.

The piece cites a new PR survey showing that only 8 % of consumers have full confidence in the nation’s financial service companies. AdAge attributes the low approval rating, in part, to the banks’ failure to communicate clearly with their customers in this time of trouble.

We say it all the time, and we’ll say it again: You’ve got to tell your story the way you want it to be told. If you don’t, it may be told by someone else—and they won’t be nearly as nice about it. In the banks’ case, the barrage of bad publicity in the 24-hour news cycle is telling their story.

So once again, we’re seeing how a “no comment” attitude only digs a deeper hole for businesses stuck in a bad situation.