Nick Birch 
Celebrity crisis management strategies [PDF ebook] 
Dealing with the spotlight when you are already in it

Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Sociology – Media, Art, Music, grade: 1.1, Central Queensland University, course: Media Relations in Arts Administration, language: English, abstract: It can be quite difficult to source examples of effective crisis strategies in creative enterprise. Companies may be small, they may not have product that if defective could bring harm to the masses, inciting a recall, or even if a crisis occurred, would necessarily lead to financial ruin or impact enough jobs as to be considered newsworthy. Essentially, being portrayed negatively in the media is what is considered a ‘crisis’ rather than whatever was at fault in the first instance. This is undoubtedly due to the unpredictability of what character-revealing hue the media may taint their brush with when presented the opportunity to paint a picture of whatever business has managed the misfortune of unintentionally wandering into the spotlight. Even though being in the spotlight can be very good for business, a crisis is when a business finds itself in there for the wrong reasons.
The biggest business there is in creative enterprise is of course actors. Their sheer bankability provides millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs for each movie they secure, so much can be at stake if their reputation goes down and at the wrong time. When analysing public image and crisis management strategies, the business of being one person follows the same principles of those strategies being employed by companies and corporations because they are in themselves a brand. If a celebrity does not behave accordingly when a crisis occurs, especially when it is usually their behaviour that has caused the crisis, devastating consequences can ensue. They employ publicists just as companies procure PR personnel – for the management of crises and to nudge their image in the right direction, or at times, drag it kicking and screaming. Many act on their own volition, which can be very precarious if they were a big company. But celebrities are probably the easiest for the public to forgive, as after all it is their job to entertain and a public discretion is hardly akin to a situation such as a large toy manufacturer producing their latest line of product which has just caused several child fatalities due to toxic parts. The methods they employ during scandals can be measured by textbook crisis management procedures on a smaller scale humanly while generally on a much larger scale publically.

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