Anticipation & Crisis Management
Prepare for the crisis, contain it, bring it to a close.
A crisis rarely occurs without warning signs. We identify what could affect you, prepare the response while it is not yet needed and, when the time comes, take our place in your crisis unit until calm returns.
Ongoing situation? Write to us and say so: your enquiry will be read as a priority.
- Who it is for
- Executives and boards of directors, institutions, public figures, clubs.
- When to call on us
- Beforehand, to prepare. During, to steer. Afterwards, to restore stability.
- What you receive
- A crisis plan kept up to date, dated and timed situation reports, a position and a timetable for public statements.
What we do
Before, during, after.
Before
Make good use of quiet times.
- Vulnerability mapping
- What, in your organisation, your circle or your past, could become public tomorrow.
- Crisis management plan
- Roles, decision-making channels, prepared messages, a directory of stakeholders, brought together in a short document kept up to date.
- Simulation exercises
- A crisis played out under real conditions and timed, followed by a debrief.
- Preparation for public statements
- Training on camera and in adversarial interviews, for executives and spokespeople.
During
Decide quickly, speak accurately, hold the line.
- Crisis unit
- We join your crisis unit or set one up: position agreed, spokesperson appointed, timetable for public statements.
- Press relations in sensitive situations
- Responses to journalists, rights of reply, written statements, interviews.
- Coordination with your lawyers
- Court proceedings and the media do not move at the same pace. We align them, without ever taking the place of your advisers.
- Heightened monitoring
- Press, social media, weak signals, reported in dated and timed reports.
After
Close properly, learn the lessons, regain the initiative.
- Debrief
- What worked, what was missing, what changes in the plan.
- Rebuilding your reputation
- With the Image & Marketing practice: a gradual return to the media and wherever the next stage will play out.
Vigilance levels
You know, at all times, where the situation stands.
Each of our monitoring and situation reports bears a date, a time and one of these four levels. The level never relies on colour alone: it is written out and clearly marked.
- Level 1 · Watch
Situation monitored, nothing to report.
- Level 2 · Vigilance
Weak signals identified.
- Level 3 · Alert
Risk confirmed, response ready.
- Level 4 · Crisis
Crisis unit convened.
Typical situations
What this practice handles.
Examples of situations, not cases we have handled: we never name our clients.
- A press investigation concerns you and your response is expected within the day.
- A former employee or someone close to you makes public allegations against you.
- Legal proceedings are made public before you have been able to speak.
- An accident, an incident or a data leak affects your clients or your teams.
- A restructuring must be announced on the same day to employees, to their representatives and to the press.
One team
When the crisis goes beyond communication.
First conversation
Let us talk while there is still time.
A confidentiality agreement is signed at the outset of our work together, and the first conversation commits you to nothing. A partner will reply within the working day, by the means you specify.
Or by email:contact@vestapartners.ch