Strive Notes

Is the PR buzz waiting in the shadows, crisis management? With the recent headlining losses from second largest French bank, Societe Generale and our very own Northern Rock, the public’s trust in banking and investment as a whole is floundering, simply due to guilt by association.

Interestingly, both banks handled their stories in quite different manners. Northern Rock hit the street seemingly in a ‘panic’ whereas SocGen took control with a slightly ‘matter-of-fact’ attitude. This has initially seemed to work in their favour. But now, with the ever looming threat of a global recession hitting the news almost daily, are people perhaps re-evaluating the security of their own investment institutions?

As Danny Rogers, editor of PR Week (sorry, paid access only), rightly states, “to avoid the downward spiral in public trust and performance, the UK’s already cash strapped banks need to take a long hard look at their own crisis communications function and their own internal practice.”

So are the banks listening or are they going to bury their heads in the sand? In my mind, they need to dissipate these negative ripples before they crash onto Isle of Man shores as fully fledged waves!

Filed under: public relations