Handling a PR Crisis

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By Mary McKeown-Christie|2021-10-05T17:29:45-05:00April 19th, 2016|

A PR issue can snowball so quickly into a full-blown crisis; electronic media can and does magnify any sensational event or opinion, and a company can begin losing control of their brand quickly – recent examples include Chipotle and Whole Foods. PR crises strike at the heart of branding, which is the establishment of trust between a brand and its market.

We’ve all heard “get in front of the problem, prepare and plan”… but what does that mean and how do we do that? Forbes magazine published an excellent summary last year of Yago de la Cierva’s book on the subject, which is the most thorough how-to I’ve read. I sincerely hope you are never in a position to need it! Full article>>>

About the Author: Mary McKeown-Christie

Mary is a long-time tech marketer with experience driving marketing programs from the early stages of a startup all the way through IPO and acquisition. She's also well-versed with growing mid-cap and large enterprise corporations looking to drive hyper-growth. As a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, she designs integrated strategies deeply rooted in the Science of Marketing with data-driven decision-making resulting in more leads, scalability, and increased revenue.

Mary is absolutely stellar at her craft. She analyzed our needs and paired them with our goals for the company. With an updated website and new social media strategies we were able to start a new trajectory of growth. Thank you to Maven Marketing Solutions!

Pamela Thanawalla

Chief Operating Officer / Thanawalla Digital

I've been in the moving business for over 30 years and had absolutely no online marketing or PR presence. Mary changed all of that within months, and to my astonishment, grew my business 60% in the first year of working together. Her knowledge of integrated marketing, public relations, and best practices in business management has completely overhauled my business and allowed us to move into new markets successfully. I'm very grateful to her, and would highly recommend Maven Marketing Solutions to any business.

Mary Kopp

CEO / ABC Longhorn Moving

Through Mary’s marketing expertise and guidance, we were able to rebrand and reposition our small SaaS cybersecurity startup to successfully sell directly to large enterprises, as well as large consulting houses such as Deloitte. Her ability to refine messaging and create an integrated, strategic marketing program transformed our business and grew revenue by 400% in 12 months. Amazing. She was a true partner as a fractional CMO and helped us solidify our company and product as the industry leader in Salesforce cybersecurity. We’re truly grateful for her efforts and highly recommend her services to any organization looking to grow.

Matt Meyers

CEO / Adaptus, LLC

Mary is a detail oriented, high energy, incredibly positive and very insightful marketing and public relations professional. These attributes have clearly helped her to make important contributions in subsequent positions. I would immediately consider Mary for hiring in my company today.

Kerry Pope

EVP Sales and Marketing / Intuitive Surgical

I approached Maven Marketing because we needed to update our image, our web presence and marketing in order to attract new customers to my restaurant. Maven helped me by listening to my concerns and guiding us through the process. The result was that our web site and social media have become major components in our marketing and we’ve attracted many new customers and accelerated our growth and profitability. I appreciate their attention to detail and level of personal service, which goes beyond what I expected from a marketing company. Working with Maven Marketing has been a very positive experience for Las Palomas Restaurant and I would recommend them to other businesses that need help to update and improve their marketing.

MariCarmen Desentis Corona Dale

Owner, General Manager / Las Palomas Restaurant & Bar

I had the pleasure of working with Mary when she first came to Austin, and signed up to perform the Public Relations function for Cleanovation 2010. Being new in town, Mary did an outstanding job navigating her way into the relevant media principals and acquired significant coverage for our event in local, national, and international media. Kudos Mary.

Arie Brish

Conference Director / Cleanovation Cleantech Conference

Mary plus your business equals Growth. If you want potential clients to know who you are, how to find you and to convert, Mary is the right person for the job.

Shane Matt, DDS

Owner, Dentist / Authentic Smiles Dental Studio

Tracey and Mary helped us through incredible changes in the last 18-24 months. As a 90+ year old company on the third generation, we had some historical helps and hazards. I was absolutely thrilled with what The Mavens were able to do for us as we rebranded, changed names, and relocated all within a month. The Mavens created and implemented a strategic marketing and PR plan to increase the company’s reach into new markets and helped us directly with PR, marketing, messaging, even some décor consultation to insure we had a customer friendly environment. They guided me through the rebranding process and recommended a creative firm who worked patiently to create a logo that embraces our history as well as our current and future presence. The Mavens then continued with our marketing efforts that including web updates, email campaigns and newsletter, and advertising calendar and budget. What the Mavens brought... Read More

What the Mavens brought to me was priceless, and I am forever appreciative for how Tracey and Mary both helped transition, brand and grow our business. They came highly recommended to us, and I highly recommend them to you.

Luci Miller

President / Miller Imaging & Digital Solutions

I’d hire Tracey and Mary again in a heartbeat to help me with marketing and with website design. Everything about it was expertly done and it was so easy on me. And it worked – my patients loved it.

Dr. Sara G. Austin, M.D.

Neurologist / Seton

Maven Marketing Solutions came in at a critical time to help us at Saks with a major marketing event. She was sensitive to the team, brought insight and created a spot on action plan we were able to deliver. Their professionalism, experience, network, and ability to understand not only our local store but omni-channel goal was very impressive.

Ann Kasper

General Manager / Saks Fifth Avenue

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