Yesterday’s ‘disastrous’ encounter between British prime minister Gordon Brown and forthright voter Gillian Duffy may prove to be a decisive moment in the General Election campaign. Certainly, the PM will have to work hard to repair his reputation. However, thanks to the public’s general weariness with spin, both in politics and business, a public failure or embarrassment can sometimes work to your advantage. (more…)

Tiger Woods recently gave a master class in how not to handle a media crisis. What was previously a towering, vastly profitable brand was taken to the point of implosion by a series of misjudgements. While Woods’ circumstances were pretty unusual, the episode has lessons for any organisation, as, by definition, a media crisis often comes about unexpectedly. (more…)