3 MAJOR Differences Between Traditional PR and Crisis PR

Know what you’re trying to accomplish so that you can hire the right team to achieve your goal.

Traditional PR and Crisis PR share a common core but have two very different specialized skill sets. The most successful companies and non-profits leverage both kinds of PR to build and protect their brand.

When most people think of hiring a public relations firm, they think of Traditional PR or lump it with Marketing. While a company needs PR and Marketing, it also requires a firm specializing in Crisis PR to protect its reputation.

We get it. After all, that’s why we own the trademark Because Reputation Is Your Most Valuable Asset ®.

The practice of public relations is quite broad. Those who specialize in Crisis PR are rare. Crisis PR is also called Crisis Communications, Crisis Management, and Strategic Communications. For simplicity’s sake, in this blog, we’ll refer to it as Crisis PR.

Here are the differences between Traditional PR and Crisis PR:

1. Promote and Raise Visibility vs. Protect and Maintain Reputation

Goal for Traditional Public Relations (Traditional PR): Get attention for positive things about your business or non-profit.

Traditional Public Relations is about raising awareness by generating MORE stories and creating an attention-grabbing splash – whether promoting a product, celebrating a recent win for the organization, or setting up its members as experts in their field.

Goal for Crisis Public Relations (Crisis PR): Minimize damage by controlling the narrative.

When you’re dealing with a crisis, the LAST thing you need is a spotlight publicizing any (alleged) problems.

That’s where Crisis PR comes in. It focuses on controlling the optics and messaging around situations that can look or sound bad and threaten the organization’s reputation, product, service, or leadership team. As a whole, it’s about protecting the organization’s most important asset – its reputation.

2. Slow and Steady vs. Immediate and Fast-Paced

Goal for Traditional PR: Repeatedly answering, “Why is this relevant or newsworthy right now?”

Building brand awareness doesn’t happen overnight – it often takes years. It takes planning, persistence, and patience. Traditional PR is about creating or leveraging news hooks. Your PR team repeatedly pitches reporters, producers, editors, podcasts, etc. to get you featured.

Goal for Crisis PR: Swiftly stopping an issue before it becomes a crisis or turning a crisis into a short-lived story.

During a crisis, every second counts. That’s why handling a situation must happen swiftly and smoothly to avoid severe reputational damage. If a reputational threat isn’t spotted and dealt with quickly, it can turn into a full-blown crisis, seemingly in a blink of an eye. That’s why the most successful brands have their Crisis PR team on deck and ready to act at the drop at a moment’s notice.

3. Generalists vs. Specialists

Goal for Traditional PR: Leverage your knowledge of what’s happening in the news to benefit your client.

Traditional PR professionals tend to know a little about many things. Since their primary focus is finding ways to make your story relevant and, therefore, newsworthy, knowing a wide variety of topics increases their chances of finding unique angles.

Goal for Crisis PR: Manage high-stakes, stressful situations to benefit your client.

The best Crisis PR professionals have extensive experience working with lawyers and Traditional PR agencies as a team to handle a sensitive or sticky situation calmly and effectively.

Their specialized experience addressing rumors and misinformation circulating within an organization, online, or in the press allows them to formulate and execute quickly. Not to be confused with thinking any two cases are identical and therefore get an off-the-shelf, cookie-cutter response. Doing that is a recipe for disaster.

For more amazing tips on how to protect your reputation and prepare for crises, check out our Crisis PR Guides.

Also, if you’re looking for passionate fixers who are willing to do whatever it (legally) takes to protect and save your company’s reputation, call us at (310) 396-8696.

Gillott Communications is a Los Angeles-based public relations firm that specializes in high-stakes Crisis & Reputation Management with more than 50 years of expertise in strategic communications, corporate public relations, and working with the media.