Meet a Member: Beth More

JUST THE FACTS:

• Name: Beth More
• Title: Senior Marketing Director
• Years of Experience: 20+
• College Name & Degree(s): Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and Journalism from Kent State University
• Firm Name: Grassi
• Firm City & State: New York, New York
• Firm Size: 500+
• Email Address: [email protected]
• Professional Memberships:
  • Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM)
• Community Involvement: I am a Board Member for AAM and sit and contribute to several AAM committees, including Professional Development and Summit. I spend the rest of my free time raising two teenagers and caring for a dog and two cats.
• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethmore/
• Bio:

Beth More is the Senior Director of Marketing for Grassi. Beth is an award-winning marketer with over 20 years of professional service experience developing and executing engaging communications, campaigns, and digital strategies that inc

rease brand awareness, exemplify thought leadership, and accelerate growth.

Beth has extensive experience in media and public relations and has managed many high-profile crisis communications matters, many of which have been extensively reported by leading journalists and news outlets. Beth has crafted and refined an approach that protects a firm’s reputation and brand, ensures client confidentiality, and adheres to all professional and ethical obligations, all while building trust and relationships with journalists and internal stakeholders.

Before Grassi, Beth spent 10 years at Mazars in the U.S., overseeing all communications, brand, digital channels, and campaigns. Prior to Mazars, Beth was a marketing manager at Sidley Austin LLP, a $2.8 billion global law firm, and she worked for several public relations agencies supporting clients on communications strategies.

 

GETTING TO KNOW YOU:

Describe your role as Senior Marketing Director of your firm. Please specifically describe any responsibilities your role entails related to PR and crisis management.

Part of my role includes leading external communications, including agency oversight, messaging strategy, press releases, media outreach, crisis communications, press inquiries, and executive positioning. I also oversee marketing campaigns, thought leadership, content, awards, and rankings. Overseeing all messaging ensures alignment across our most important channels and often results in placements in top local, trade, and national publications.

At Summit this year, you presented a session called “Embracing the Unpredictable: Are You Ready for When Crisis Strikes?” Can you please provide a brief overview of the high-level points of your 

presentation, for those who may have missed it?

I recommend that anyone who attended Summit but couldn’t attend the presentation go back and listen to it. I covered a lot of ground and provided a lot of supplemental resources and templates. But for those unable to attend, I covered:

• The most common crises accounting and professional services organizations face
• Building and updating your crisis plan
• Defining your crisis levels
• Roles and responsibilities of your crisis response team
• Messaging to different audiences and stakeholders during a crisis
• Identifying when and if you need a PR or crisis agency
• How and when to interact and engage with the media during a crisis
• Selecting crisis monitoring tools and how to monitor coverage during a crisis effectively
• Reporting dos and don’ts
• And a handful of tips I have picked up along the way.

The top three takeaways from the presentation are:

1. Plan: The presentation stressed the importance of having an approved crisis plan and framework that’s regularly updated, providing practical advice for your organization’s preparedness.
2. Communicate: During and after a crisis, communicate consistently and transparently with all stakeholders. Ensure the right message reaches the right people using the right platform.
3. Monitor, Track and Report: Don’t wait to monitor and track. Keep a spreadsheet of coverage and requests (from media, employees, and clients); this data will be extremely valuable.

 

What advice would you give to an accounting marketer who is creating a crisis management plan from scratch?

Every firm, no matter the size, needs a crisis plan. Generally, the essential elements of a crisis plan are defining your crisis levels, building your response team, identifying the roles and responsibilities of those on the response team and the crisis phases (within one crisis, there can be many different phases depending on how severe the crisis is), developing your process, procedures and response, and messaging.

How detailed you get is up to you and your firm, but I strongly recommend having the most thorough plan possible and getting approval on the plan from leadership.

 

What are the main phases of a crisis that should be considered when crafting a crisis management plan?

I typically follow a three-stage approach to planning. 1. Crisis Planning (before the crisis), 2. Crisis Response (during the crisis), and 3. Post Crisis (after the crisis). However, within each of those three phases there can be many steps, depending on how severe the crisis is.

 

Should a crisis management plan include different levels of response for different levels of crisis? If so, how can a marketer determine what level their crisis would be categorized as?

Yes. A crisis is any significant event that creates uncertainty and could have a short—or long-term negative impact on your reputation, brand, and/or mission. If issues aren’t handled appropriately, they may dramatically impact your ability to operate. Defining crises by level will help ensure swift action and an appropriate response.

• Level 4 is the lowest crisis risk—for example, a bad review on Glassdoor, a less-than-desirable Google review, or something else relatively minor.
• A Level 3 crisis will not pose a long-term or immediate risk to your firm, but you should align with our crisis response team and make sure the response is agreed upon. Examples of a Level 3 crisis are a rumor on Reddit about the company’s culture or a leadership change.
• A Level 2 crisis could pose a risk and be an issue for your firm. You will need to mobilize and leverage your crisis plan. For example, a large merger/acquisition, layoffs, or any other situation that could seriously impact the public’s perception of your firm.
• A Level 1 crisis is the most serious. It is an all-hands-on-deck situation; execute the plan with precision. A cyber breach or severe misconduct would fall into that category.

Properly identifying the level of crisis is important and will dictate how the firm responds.

 

In your opinion, how is artificial intelligence (AI) going to impact PR and crisis management planning moving forward?

Artificial intelligence can significantly empower professionals in PR and crisis management planning in several ways (described below). However, it’s important to note that AI is not designed to, and should not, replace human judgment and expertise in PR and crisis management. The nuanced understanding of context, emotions, judgement, and ethical considerations that experienced professionals bring will remain crucial. In PR and Crisis Management, AI should be looked at as a complimentary tool, not a replacement for professionals.

• Enhanced monitoring and early detection: AI tools can continuously scan social media, news outlets, and other online sources to identify potential issues or emerging crises much faster than human monitoring. This allows organizations to potentially get ahead of problems before they escalate.
• Improved sentiment analysis: AI can analyze large volumes of text data to gauge public sentiment around an organization or issue in real-time. This provides valuable insights for shaping messaging and response strategies.
• Automated response generation: AI systems may be able to draft initial responses or talking points for common types of PR issues or crises, allowing human professionals to refine and customize them more quickly.
• Personalized messaging: AI can help tailor crisis communications to different audience segments based on demographics, preferences, and past interactions.
• Predictive modeling: Machine learning algorithms could predict how different crisis response strategies play out, helping PR teams choose optimal approaches.
• Chatbots for stakeholder engagement: AI chatbots can handle initial inquiries during a crisis, freeing up human staff for more complex communications.
• Data-driven strategy development: AI analysis of past crises and outcomes can inform more effective PR and crisis management planning.
• Real-time adjustment: AI tools can continuously analyze the effectiveness of crisis messaging and suggest real-time adjustments to improve impact.

As AI evolves, organizations must carefully consider integrating these technologies into their PR and crisis management processes while maintaining authenticity, ethical standards, and the human touch that is often critical in sensitive communications.

 

Are there any must-have digital PR tools or news outlets (blogs, podcasts etc.) that you would recommend, for crisis management or otherwise?

A good media monitoring service that tracks print, digital, social and broadcast is essential for monitoring and reporting. This website, which I am not affiliated with, has what I think is the most comprehensive list of options: https://www.g2.com/categories/media-monitoring.

Equipping your team with collaboration software is a non-negotiable to ensure seamless coordination and swift response during crises.

Having a press release distribution service for disseminating news and updates to journalists and news outlets is helpful.

I like and read several websites and resources fairly regularly: PR Daily and the Institute for Public Relations.

Finally, reading and staying current on the news is critical for anyone in PR or communications. This includes top-tier media (e.g., the Wall Street Journal) and accounting trade publications (e.g., Accounting Today).