Royalty, reputation and crisis: lessons from the Oprah fall-out

Our strategic partner Steve Double was asked by German communications firm Engel & Zimmermann, a fellow member of the Crisis Communications Network Europe, to give insights into perhaps the biggest non-Covid story of 2021 – Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In the video below, Steve discusses changes to the royal family’s communications approach, the difficulty of handling issues around race and mental health, and whether Buckingham Palace got the tone right in its statement.

He draws a clear lesson from the affair, saying: “Personal disputes are almost certainly never resolved in the media – the temptation can be to retaliate, and retaliate strongly, but invariably a more restrained response is more effective. It’s always best to take a step back and think what the long-term objective is and what sort of outcome you really want.”

Employee Activism & Internal Crises

Google sacked 28 employees last week following internal protests over Israeli contracts in another example of a growing trend of activist workplace issues that employers are having to navigate. However, it is not just the private sector that has found itself affected by issues like those seen at Google, as many third sector organisations have […]

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Reputational Threats for Growing Organisations

Whether you are soon to become a tech unicorn, a charity that has received major funding and is about to expand or a school that has seen significant year-on-year pupil increases – growing organisations have many reasons to celebrate.

But it is important to remember the caveat that with growth comes increased reputational risk. Greater visibility, a rising profile, evolving stakeholder needs and growing employee numbers all contribute to a heightened exposure to reputational threats and media scrutiny for growing organisations.

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Gender identity – how to avoid a media storm

Policy debates are not new for senior leaders; on the contrary, many heads often enjoy entering the fray. However, with political pressure mounting on multiple fronts, the sector is somewhat beleaguered and many schools have understandably lost their appetite for making headlines.

In this blog we will cover how schools should manage these important policy debates, the risks, and mitigation measures that can be put in place for potential media approaches.

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Insights

Royalty, reputation and crisis: lessons from the Oprah fall-out

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Employee Activism & Internal Crises

Reputational Threats for Growing Organisations

Gender identity – how to avoid a media storm

Insights

Royalty, reputation and crisis: lessons from the Oprah fall-out

Share this

You might like

Employee Activism & Internal Crises

Reputational Threats for Growing Organisations

Gender identity – how to avoid a media storm