The Evolution of Crisis Communications: Key Insights from PR Week UK

https://crisis-comms.prweek.com/gallery-2025

At PR Week UK's recent crisis communications event, industry leaders gathered to discuss how the discipline is transforming in response to new challenges. We were honored to both participate in and learn from this insightful event, which brought together some of the brightest minds in crisis communications.

The New Crisis Landscape

The traditional crisis playbook is being rewritten. Johann Alexander, Corporate Comms and Purpose at Samsung UK, emphasized that what begins as a Reddit thread can quickly become mainstream news, underscoring how social media has fundamentally reshaped media relations. This transformation demands that companies rethink how they manage and enhance their reputations. As the 24-hour news cycle grows increasingly all-consuming, working with media in traditional ways is becoming unsustainable. Alexander pointed out that organizations must adapt and evolve, recognizing that brand message and authenticity are crucial in every situation. The new reality requires constant engagement across all channels, a willingness to contribute across different subjects, and an understanding that organizations can no longer rely on traditional media relations approaches alone.

Toxic Narratives: The Emerging Threat

Building on the theme of rapid digital transformation, one of the most significant challenges facing organizations today is the rise of toxic narratives. In a compelling session, Gideon Blocq, CEO and co-founder of Vinesight, shared valuable insights about the evolution of social crises. His presentation highlighted how the coordinated weaponization of information has become one of the most significant challenges facing organizations today.

"Coordinated, toxic narratives are the new normal," he said, "they move faster and outpace the truth. They're more frequent and coordinated. They're hard to spot and attackers publish user or AI-generated content across an array of platforms." He emphasized that influence campaigns, viral misinformation outbreaks, and narrative cascades can transform minor incidents into major brand crises within minutes, necessitating sophisticated early warning systems to identify threats before they escalate.

This theme of information warfare was further developed by Nick Hope, Edelman's crisis and risk lead in EMEA, who explored the tactical dimensions in his keynote, "Countering Disinformation in an Age of Weaponised Culture." Hope described how false claims, amplified by bots and bad actors, can take on a life of their own—quickly moving from obscure corners of the internet to mainstream media. "Imagine you've woken to find your organisation's name trending for all the wrong reasons," he began, highlighting the psychological impact these attacks have on unprepared organizations. Hope warned that traditional crisis management approaches are increasingly obsolete, emphasizing the need for proactive strategies that include simulation training and cross-functional response teams. His message was clear: "Don't leave a vacuum where others can define you, they might have quite hostile intent."

Lessons from Grenfell: The Critical Role of Preparedness and Communication

A stark reminder of the importance of preparation came from Nick Price-Thompson of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council. Continuing his mission to "make sure nothing like Grenfell happens again, and the response never happens again in the same way," he described an "alarming" disconnect between communication, decision-making, and situational awareness at the council in 2017, stating, "Comms was set up to fail." Price-Thompson emphasized that despite new technologies, "there's some really basic fundamental things that could've been better," including having staff on the ground and ensuring comms has "a seat at the top table."

While advocating for these fundamentals, he warned against abandoning X (formerly Twitter): "We can't really get rid of it from a crisis point of view. It's still too influential." At the time, the organization lacked social media monitoring capabilities, a gap that proved costly. His powerful closing message to attendees served as a sobering takeaway: "If you get this prep wrong, you don't give it enough time, and you're not in the right place to make decisions, this will happen to you."

Effective Crisis Management: Leadership, Impact, and Recovery

A successful crisis response hinges on clear leadership and informed decision-making. The event emphasized the importance of establishing a command structure that avoids the chaos of too many voices while ensuring inclusive stakeholder management. This balance allows teams to act decisively, even in the most high-pressure situations.
A key theme throughout the day was the importance of data-driven crisis management. Organizations need to move beyond simply monitoring media coverage to measuring actual consumer impact. This approach enables communications teams to make more informed decisions and better demonstrate the business impact of crises to leadership.

Equally vital is the recovery phase. The event underscored that returning to normal isn’t enough—organizations must take time to analyze what went wrong, rebuild trust with external audiences, and restore internal morale. This strategic, thoughtful approach to recovery can be the difference between merely surviving a crisis and emerging stronger from it.

Looking Forward

The future of crisis communications lies in the integration of traditional PR expertise with new technologies, particularly AI and advanced analytics. These tools are becoming essential for identifying potential crises before they go viral and engage thoughtfully with their stakeholders. As the crisis landscape continues to evolve, staying ahead will require a combination of human insight and technological innovation.

Overall, the event was a powerful reminder that in today’s fast-paced, always-on world, crisis communications is no longer just about managing bad news—it's about building resilience, trust, and long-term brand strength.

About Vinesight

Vinesight has developed an AI-driven platform that monitors emerging social narratives, and identifies, analyzes, and responds to toxic attacks targeting brands, public sector institutions, and causes. We work with the entities that are at-risk for such attacks, including, the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, and the world's most prominent financial firms. Vinesight empowers brands, campaigns, and organizations to protect their narratives and brand, while ensuring that authenticity prevails in the digital space.

Interested in learning how your brand can leverage  emerging narrative and early attack detection ?