Mae Cornes
Photo courtesy of Spynn
The gleaming conference room of a skyscraper might as well have been a war room. On a crisp May morning, Matteo Ferretti, CEO of Spynn, mapped out a multi-channel communication strategy for a client facing a reputation challenge.
“People think the secret weapon is what they say,” he remarked, tapping a complex flowchart of media touchpoints. “They fail to see it’s saying it consistently across every platform where their stakeholders gather.”
Crisis management in 2025 has become an intricate dance of coordinated messaging, a reflection of the increasingly complex information ecosystem where audiences simultaneously consume content across dozens of platforms.
The Consistency Imperative
“When facing a reputation challenge, consistency becomes your greatest asset,” Ferretti explains. “Research shows stakeholders typically need to encounter your message several times across different channels before it fully registers. Inconsistent messaging creates cognitive dissonance and erodes trust.”
This consistency principle applies across traditional media, social platforms, direct communications, and employee messaging. According to recent communication effectiveness studies, organizations that maintain message consistency across channels during crises recover faster than those with fragmented approaches.
“The human brain craves coherence,” Ferretti notes. “When your messaging varies across platforms, people instinctively question your authenticity. Consistency signals confidence and transparency.”
The Multi-Channel Reality
Even among top global PR agencies, the approach to crisis management has evolved to embrace this reality. “Today’s information ecosystem demands orchestrated communication,” Ferretti explains. “Your stakeholders are reading The Wall Street Journal and watching CNN, and they’re simultaneously checking Twitter, reading industry newsletters, and discussing your company on Reddit.”
This diversification means crisis managers must coordinate messaging across a broader spectrum of platforms. “The days when a single press release could reach all your stakeholders are behind us,” Ferretti notes. “Today, we need to simultaneously engage across traditional media, social platforms, industry forums, and direct communication channels with consistent messaging but tailored delivery.”
Learning From Coordination Failures
Recent history offers valuable lessons in the importance of message coordination. Ferretti points to the 2024 Kellogg’s controversy when CEO Gary Pilnick suggested families eat cereal for dinner to save money.
“Their challenge wasn’t just the initial statement but the uncoordinated response across different channels,” Ferretti observes. “Their corporate communications team may have crafted one message, but their regional social media accounts and executive statements followed different scripts, creating confusion.”
By contrast, companies that excel at crisis management maintain rigorous message discipline. “When Johnson & Johnson faced their Tylenol crisis decades ago, they became the gold standard, and it seemed that every spokesperson, from the CEO to store managers, delivered consistent information about their recall and safety measures.”
Strategic Media Orchestration
Spynn’s approach emphasizes strategic media orchestration to ensure message consistency. “We develop comprehensive messages while maintaining core consistency,” Ferretti explains. “The tone might shift from one publication to another, but the fundamental message remains intact.”
“Our relationships with publications allow us to strategically place stories that reinforce our clients’ core messaging,” Ferretti notes. “But those placements must align perfectly with what stakeholders hear directly from the company through other channels.”
Beyond Reactive Communication
The most effective crisis management goes beyond reactive statements. “We help clients build message resilience,” Ferretti explains. “This means creating a foundation of consistent communication before crises hit, so stakeholders already understand your values and operating principles.”
This approach recognizes that credibility is built through sustained, consistent messaging across multiple networks such as Forbes, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur. For executives hoping to get featured on Forbes after navigating a challenging situation, demonstrating this kind of message discipline becomes crucial.
“Publications value sources who can articulate clear, consistent perspectives,” Ferretti notes. “Contradicting yourself across different channels or publications is the fastest way to lose media credibility.”
The Integrated Communication Team
Modern crisis management requires breaking down traditional silos between communication functions. “The days of separate teams for media relations, internal communications, and investor relations are over,” Ferretti observes. “Our approach focuses on working closely with our clients to create unified messaging.”
This integrated approach ensures that the core message remains consistent whether an employee reads an internal memo, a customer sees a social media post, or a journalist reads a press statement. At the same time, the delivery adapts to the channel.
The Road Ahead
Our interview concludes with Ferretti noting, “The organizations that navigate crises most successfully in 2025 aren’t necessarily those with the biggest budgets or sophisticated tools. They’re the ones that maintain absolute discipline around consistent messaging.”