With response centres in India, UK , the US and South Africa, Baird’s CMCs crisis management practice helps organizations anticipate, assess, respond to and manage an array of complex situations ranging from intellectual property, product recalls to environmental. Baird’s CMC has counselled five of the top 10 pharma companies, governments and major not-for-profit organizations in industrialised, emerging and developing markets on how to respond to a range of communications and business challenges including:
- Product recalls and product failures
- Litigation communications and support
- Natural disasters and workplace accidents
- Environmental crises and issues
- Challenges presented by NGO’s and activist groups
- Strategic planning for crisis management and response planning, training and simulations
- Company or product boycotts
- Trademark disputes and patent infringement
Consortium attitude towards crisis management
To help organizations properly manage issues before they emerge or escalate into critical problems, we first conduct a risk assessment to identify and prioritize the areas of greatest vulnerability. Public perception, emerging trends and business practices with the potential to affect the organization are studied. We develop management and communications plans to anticipate likely issues; optimize management actions; craft core messages and materials; establish third-party alliances; conduct crisis media trainings and simulations; and put in place monitoring systems to track emerging issues and escalations. Once a crisis has passed, we work with organizations to restore confidence in their reputation and begin the rehabilitative process for companies, brands or management teams.
Should a crisis occur, rapid response is vital. The consortium’s crisis and issues counsellors are on call 24/7 to work with a client’s senior management team throughout the crisis arc to provide guidance, to develop strategic plans, to defend reputation and to implement recovery initiatives. We partner with our clients to develop the most effective responses to crises using our international network of strategic counsellors, quickly assessing the situation and charting a course to minimize the reputational and business damage to the client, its brands and its operations.
Crisis management expertise
Our joint crisis management practice is comprised of senior management and communications counsellors, political strategists and former journalists, all dedicated to helping organizations plan for and respond to complex issues and crises.
The diverse backgrounds within our practice provide an understanding of a full range of audiences at a global, local and technical level. Our team also has solid experience in strategic planning, message development, crisis media relations and stakeholder communications.