Crisis & Reputation Management

A San Diego-based organization with a significant number of employees experienced a workplace accident that resulted in an employee who was working an overnight shift being seriously injured. Local media got wind of the incident and appeared on-site without notice. The media started running segments featuring incorrect information and unauthorized footage of the employee pinned by heavy machinery. NST was quickly brought in during the early morning hours to lead the crisis management effort, and better control external communications around the event.

NST arrived at the organization’s facility and was briefed by company representatives on what happened, the current state of all employees involved, and the status of all media interactions. NST quickly took control of the situation’s narrative, tapping into the agency’s well-established relationships with the media outlets involved and the representatives on-site. NST developed a positioning and messaging platform based on the facts known at the time and then briefed and media trained a company spokesperson to be able to share this accurate information with the media. Leveraging the positioning and messaging platform, NST facilitated live news interviews with the company spokesperson and worked closely with the news outlets to clarify and correct all misinformation. The news outlets immediately issued corrections on air and stopped airing the unauthorized footage. NST continued to handhold the media throughout the crisis, ensuring only accurate facts of the event were reported in subsequent stories.

Engaging NST gave the organization better control over how the incident was being portrayed by the media. The resulting media coverage was more favorable and provided an accurate description of the event. With only accurate information now being shared, the company’s executives had the space and capacity they needed to better focus on their employees and ensuring a safe workplace for the future.