By Sarah Dale
23 July 2025
Public relations is all about raising the visibility and boosting the reputation of an individual or organisation. Done well, it builds your reputation, it builds trust and it shapes how people feel and talk about you.
Some of it is done behind closed doors working on internal communications, culture and brand with your key stakeholders; some of it involves sending out stories to the media to encourage media coverage.
At SASS media, we spend a lot of time working to get clients INTO the press to showcase all their positive news, from jobs creation to financial growth, and introducing them to key partners, however, we also work very hard to keep clients OUT of the media – or rather, mitigate negative press through the use of strategic communications support to ensure clients see the virtue of speaking out when it is needed and staying quiet when it’s not.
This work, on the whole, goes unseen. Shouting about the work we do to protect clients’ reputations would be counterproductive! But it is a vital part of the support we provide to clients. Sometimes, we must don our firefighter helmets and protect our clients from the many fires they could face. These could include a poor watchdog report, a public complaint from a stakeholder or even legal proceedings. They could also include a sudden death on site of the organisation or being thrust into the spotlight because of a national issue.
People often think crisis communications doesn’t apply to them – “We’ve had no complaints so far!” But how many crises are predictable? Can you predict when the washing machine is going to start leaking or the boiler goes on the blink? That’s the whole point of crises: they can strike at any time. Some scenarios you can plan for and have procedures in place while others can happen at any time.
Our key advice is always consult with your communications team and if you don’t have one, get the experts in!
Business leaders may sometimes do one of the following: react emotionally or put their heads in the sand. Neither of these approaches work. You must be strategic and think long-term.
If you or your organisation has made mistakes, then own them. Simple as that. Don’t shy away from them. Your customers and the public appreciate honesty and humility. And say what you are doing now to make amends and what you will do next.
And if it is a crisis scenario which does not involve any fault or blame, but is sensitive in nature or has far-reaching consequences, consider how to respond. It is wise to have strategies and procedures in place for any potential crises, a contingency plan just as you would have for other aspect of your business.
Having a media partner like us on a retainer basis means that you can receive high-quality timely advice when you most need it and, crucially, you have someone on your team who has worked in the media, knows what questions journalists will ask, the news angle they will take and media law (what can be reported and what can’t).
We can then discuss strategy and craft a media statement and importantly, field any media enquiries on your behalf.
Quotes from clients we have helped over the years:
“We really appreciate all of your support.”
“We couldn’t have ridden this storm without you.”
“Invaluable advice.”
“Having you on the team to field media enquiries and advise us has meant that we could concentrate on logistics.”
“We have never dealt with anything like this before; having your expertise to hand has helped immeasurably.”
“Having an expert eye over our comms is reassuring.”
Disclaimer: We are not literally firefighters; all our fires are figurative.
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