Crisis comms: why developing a crisis strategy before you need it can save your company

In this guest post Tony Jaques highlights the importance of a proper crisis and reputation management plan as he looks at how the Gold Bus Lines of Ballarat company handled a bus accident. 

A bus crash in suburban South Melbourne proved a major blow to the operator’s reputation and a harsh lesson in how not to manage a crisis.

Just over a week ago a luxury coach operated by Gold Bus Lines of Ballarat crashed into a low bridge, peeling back part of the roof and injuring 11 of the 15 passengers. Amazingly, no-one was seriously hurt and it might have been just another unfortunate accident, until the bus company’s actions turned it into a reputation disaster.