Every time I teach a crisis communication class or counsel a brand facing unexpected turbulence, I’m reminded of one truth: a crisis doesn’t damage you – your response does. And in 2026, when news cycles move faster than emotion, and misinformation spreads before facts are confirmed, this truth becomes even sharper.
Reading Meltwater’s Mastering Media Relations for Crisis Comms report, I felt something very familiar but deeply urgent. The report is not simply about managing the media; it is about managing human reactions in a digital world where everyone can publish, everyone can misinterpret, and everyone can screen-record. And for teams working across Vietnam and Asia, where social media can escalate outrage within hours, understanding these dynamics is no longer optional. It’s survival.
Below are the insights that matter most for practitioners who want not just to “handle” a crisis, but to emerge from it with stronger credibility and more resilient trust.
Crises Always Start Before You Expect Them
The report opens with examples that feel painfully close to home: Starbucks’ racial discrimination incident in 2018, or Crowdstrike’s global outage in July 2024 . The point is simple: crises don’t happen to unprofessional brands; they happen to all brands, often overnight.
What I appreciate about the report is its emphasis on preparation before prediction. As practitioners, we can never forecast the exact trigger, but we can absolutely foresee the conditions that allow a crisis to explode:
- a culture unprepared for scrutiny
- slow internal approval processes
- no crisis playbook
- no spokesperson media training
- no real-time listening system
- outdated press kits and inaccessible information
From my experience supporting regional brands, the teams who suffer most during a crisis are not the ones with the worst incident. They are the ones with the worst readiness.
The report states clearly:
“The best way to respond to a crisis is to prepare before it ever happens.”
And I couldn’t agree more.
The Crisis Playbook: Your Brand’s Life Jacket
The report outlines what a crisis playbook must include: clear processes, step-by-step actions, timelines, resource links, who approves what, and how communications should be escalated and aligned internally .
But I want to stress something the report implies but doesn’t explicitly say:
A crisis playbook is not a document; it is a decision-making culture.
I have seen brands with beautifully designed playbooks that still collapse when the crisis hits because:
- no one reads the playbook
- no one rehearses it
- leadership doesn’t empower communicators
- department heads try to “protect their piece”
- teams argue instead of aligning
The report is right: uncertainty is part of the challenge, but adaptability is part of the solution. And adaptability only happens when your crisis playbook becomes a living practice, not a PDF file sitting on a shared drive.
Your Press Kit Is Not Decoration – It Is Your Crisis Defense Layer
One of the most underrated crisis tools is a complete and up-to-date press kit, easily accessible on your website. It should include mission, company facts, key leadership, product details, regulatory information, and media contacts.
From my agency experience, I can confidently say: A good press kit cuts your crisis damage in half.
When journalists scramble for details, they either:
- find your information
- or create a narrative from assumptions
In Southeast Asia, where newsrooms are understaffed and deadlines are brutal, journalists will not wait for you to prepare a statement. They will write with whatever they have. And the responsibility is on you to give them enough material to report accurately and fairly, even if the news is negative.
Media Training Isn’t a Workshop – It’s an Annual Ritual
The report also emphasizes the importance of regular media training for spokespeople, especially executives who rarely speak to the press. I have met many brilliant CEOs who can talk to investors with ease but fall apart when faced with a microphone and a heated public issue.
A good media training program teaches more than messaging. It teaches:
- calmness under pressure
- clarity during uncertainty
- empathy when emotions run high
- and non-defensive communication skills
In Vietnam, where cultural norms lean toward face-saving and hierarchical communication, crisis situations become even more delicate. Leaders often feel personally attacked, and their defensiveness leaks into their tone.
But crisis leadership isn’t about pride. It is about responsibility.
Social Listening Is Your Early Warning System, and Your Reality Check
The report dedicates multiple pages to the importance of AI-powered social listening tools. The message is simple:
If you can’t detect the fire early, you can’t put it out.
In Asia, crises often begin on social platforms long before traditional media picks them up. A hostile Facebook comment, a TikTok video “tea spill,” or a screenshot on Twitter/X can escalate within hours.
AI listening tools provide:
- real-time mentions
- unusual sentiment spikes
- key voices driving the narrative
- trending topics within your issue
- geographic spread of conversations
- misinformation alerts
This transforms crisis management from reactive to predictive.
From my experience, brands that rely solely on manual monitoring are always 48-72 hours behind the public narrative. And in crisis time, 72 hours can feel like three months.
The First Hours of a Crisis Define the Next Three Months
I want to emphasize the need to Pause – Assess – Align before rushing to speak. A panicked response is worse than a delayed one—but silence is deadly.
I’ve seen brands hurt themselves by overreacting, and others hurt themselves by hiding. The right path is disciplined transparency:
- acknowledge the issue
- communicate frequently
- correct misinformation
- avoid defensiveness
- show empathy
- and reassure stakeholders with facts
People forgive mistakes far more easily than they forgive avoidance.
After the Crisis: Your Real Work Begins
Many brands believe crisis management ends when headlines fade. In reality, that is when the long-term recovery begins. Here’s some of the importance of post-crisis actions:
- conducting a post-mortem
- tracking brand sentiment
- correcting lingering misconceptions
- fulfilling promises made during the crisis
- demonstrating improvements publicly
This is where many brands fail.
I have seen companies make big promises during a crisis – more transparency, better safety, clearer communication – and then quietly return to “business as usual.” But the public remembers, and journalists remember. Failing to follow through becomes its own crisis.
Rebuilding trust is slow, intentional work. But it is also a reputational investment that pays dividends for years.
Crisis Communication Is Reputation Leadership
To me, the biggest lesson from this report is not about media tools or press kits. It is about leadership under pressure.
Crisis communication is not about spin.
It is not about messaging tricks or PR wizardry.
It is about how a brand chooses to behave when its values are tested.
The brands that survive crises, and even strengthen through them, are the ones that choose:
- transparency over secrecy
- empathy over ego
- responsiveness over hesitation
- preparation over improvisation
- responsibility over excuses
In Vietnam and across Asia, where reputation is an invaluable form of capital, mastering media relations during a crisis is not just a technical skill. It is a cultural competency.
When the crisis hits, your press releases won’t save you.
Your preparedness, your people, and your principles will.
About the Author – Dr. Clāra Ly-Le
Dr. Clāra Ly-Le is a public relations scholar and practitioner with more than a decade of experience advising multinational brands, NGOs, and emerging companies across Vietnam and Asia. She is the Managing Director of EloQ Communications, an award-winning agency recognized for its strategic work in digital communications and crisis management. Clāra holds a PhD from Bond University, specializing in social media use in crisis communication, and continues to combine academic rigor with real-world insights. She also serves in leadership roles in higher education, developing curricula for future communication professionals. Her work bridges data, culture, and human behavior—helping organizations navigate reputation risks, stakeholder dynamics, and the fast-changing digital landscape with clarity and empathy.
The original article was published on EloQ Communications.