Free Crisis Case Studies
Social media and the online world play an undeniable role in organizational crises and issues these days. In fact, it seems that each week brings new real-time examples of best and worst (and yes, even stupid!) practices. This page is dedicated to pulling lessons out of those practices.
Whether you’re doing research for a project or a presentation, or are simply looking to learn by example in order to strengthen your organization’s crisis management plan – you’ve come to the right place!
All of the crisis case studies within this page feed from Agnes + Day’s Crisis Intelligence Blog, which means that this page is kept current with the latest scandals and crisis management lessons. This page is also organized by category, so simply choose the one that appeals to you and enjoy the read!
Choose the category of crisis case studies you’re looking for:
Success Stories
- AppFirst: A Crisis Management Success Story
- Buffer Was Severely Hacked and Now They Have Even More Loyal Customers!
- JC Penney and their Hitler Teapot Debacle
- DKNY: The Perfect Example of How to Avoid a Social Media Crisis
- KitchenAid: An Excellent Example in Social Media Crisis Communications
- GoDaddy Crisis Reviewed: A Pass in Social Media Crisis Communications
- Boingo: The Makings of a Great Social Media Crisis Plan
Ha! Laughable mistakes
Online reputation management
Government, politics, municipalities
- Snowstorm Results in Total Meltdown in Atlanta Area
- Google Helps Locate Missing People in Wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan
- The City of Ottawa’s Response to the OC Transpo & Via Rail Crash
- Lac-Mégantic Crisis: A Look at Rail World Inc.’s Crisis Communications #Fail
- The Mayor of Toronto’s Crack Cocaine Crisis
- Calgary Floods: Analysis of Crisis Leadership and Use of Social Media
- Quebec’s Societal Crisis: Premier Pauline Marois’s Charter of Values
- The Australian Army: A Beautiful Example of Crisis Communications
- The Mayor of Huntingdon Likes to Run Over Cats
- Working With Your Community in a Crisis: How Officials of The Boston Marathon Bombing Did It Right
- Social Media and Online Reputation Crisis in the London Olympics: Lessons Learned
- Twitter Rotation Curation – Too Risky or Just Risky Enough?
- Politicians and Social Media: Francois Legault’s Sexist Twitter-Storm
- Jay Townsend’s Non-Apology Dissected
Non-profits
Educational institutes
- How Can Schools Protect Themselves From Student Defamers?
- California School District Prevents Crises by Monitoring Students’ Social Media Posts
- An Excellent Example of Twitter Use in Atlanta School Shooting
- Social Media Monitoring and Restrictions: A Former Student-Athlete’s Perspective
- 5 Lessons from Penn State’s Social Media Crisis Communications Fail
- Now Illegal: Schools and Employers Can No Longer Request Access To Your Social Media Accounts
The food industry
- Pizza Hut is the Most Recent in “Fast Food Disgusts”, But Is It a Crisis?
- Taco Bell’s Social Media Issues Communications Fail
- Should The Applebee’s Waitress Have Been Fired?
- KFC, Stop Your Marketing Messages in a Crisis!
- Chick-Fil-A and Oreo Controversies: Where Do They Differ and What Can You Learn?
- Could Chick-Fil-A Be Headed For Yet Another Social Media Crisis?
- 5 Lessons To Learn From Chick-Fil-A’s Social Media Crisis
- Starbucks’s Lesson: A Social Media Attack Can Arise When Least Expected
- Can McDonald’s New Truth Campaign Launch Them Into a Social Media Attack?
- Fontaine Santé: The Makings of a Great Social Media Crisis Plan
- Domino’s Pizza: A Look At the Timelessness of A Social Media Crisis Plan
Airlines
Crises and social communities
Social trends to keep your eyes on
The long-term repercussions of crises
Lessons worth learning
- When You Screw Up, Own It and Grow From It
- Bad Suppliers can Result in Viral Attention
- The Power of the Lingering Risk
- Don’t Fear Social Media Issues. Embrace Them!
- Calgary’s Phenomenal Crisis Management during the 2013 Floods
- A Beautiful Example of Crisis Communications by the Australian Army
- Lessons to Learn from Paula Deen’s Three Crappy Apologies
- The Use of Hashtags in Your Crisis Communications
- Rona’s HUGE Customer Care Fail and Lessons for Smarter Brands
- It’s No April Fool’s Joke, The Case of the Disappearing Facebook Account
- What You Can Learn From Carnival Cruise’s Crisis Communications on Social Media
- Don’t Get Caught With Your Pants Down Like “Just Jeans”!
- Crisis Prevention Lesson from American Apparel
- Information Leakage: How To Deal With It
- Stop Attempting to Withhold and Control on Social Media!
- What Can You Learn From Linkedin’s Social Media Crisis?
Legal issues and social media compliance
Interviews
More interesting reads
- Apple’s Huge Security Breach and Lack of Proper Crisis Communications
- Apple Fixes its Security Breach But Does Not Mention It
- Will Paula Deen’s Comeback be Successful, Or Did Last Year’s Crisis Bury Her Too Deep?
- iPhone Fire: Apple Lacks Issues and Crisis Management
- Is Twitter On Its Way To Experiencing Its Own Social Media Crisis?
- Sexism is Alive and Well – and a Major Risk Issue
- Irving Oil’s Facebook Statement in a Crisis – What Do You Think?
- When Does a Social Media Issue Campaign Go Too Far?
- Bic For Her: The Latest in Social Media Attacks
- How To Protect Yourself When Social Media Channels Become The Bully
- Passing The Blame is Not An Acceptable Crisis Response
- One Brand’s Social Media Crisis is Another Brand’s Social Media Salvation
This page was last updated on May 31, 2014
* This page gets updated often so be sure to check back!
* There are no duplicates within the drop downs or selections
