Crisis Communication Agency
When the unexpected happens, every moment matters. At Red Shoes, we help organizations prepare, respond, and recover with confidence through tailored crisis communication services. From proactive planning and real-time response to ongoing retainers with 24/7 monitoring, we give you the tools, strategies, and support to protect your people, your reputation, and your future.
Experiencing a crisis right now? Call our 24/7 crisis hotline: 920-358-3188
Why Preparation Is the Whole Game
A crisis is no longer a question of if, but when, and how ready you are when it hits. The environment has made speed and preparation non-negotiable. Research compiled for 2026 found that roughly 96 percent of brand crises now spread internationally within 24 hours, which means a problem that once stayed local can reach a global audience before your team finishes its first internal call.
The organizations that come through intact are the ones that did the work early. Studies show that brands that invested in crisis management capabilities recovered from reputational damage significantly faster than those that did not, and that responding within the first couple of hours of a crisis measurably improves how quickly trust rebuilds. Yet fewer than half of businesses have a documented crisis communication plan, and many that do have never assigned anyone to own it.
That gap is the opportunity. A plan does not prevent a crisis. It prevents the confusion that turns a manageable situation into a prolonged one. It is also why crisis communication sits at the center of protecting your brand, alongside your broader public relations and online reputation management work.
What We Do
We work with you across the full lifecycle of a crisis, before, during, and after, so you are never improvising under pressure.
Crisis Planning
Crisis planning is more than preparing for the worst-case scenario. It is a comprehensive strategy to protect your people, assets, and reputation. It begins with a thorough risk assessment to identify vulnerabilities, then moves to response and communication plans that may include scenario drills, media coaching, and stakeholder engagement exercises so your team knows exactly how to act.
Effective planning is proactive. It gives you the tools and the confidence to move swiftly, limit damage, and hold onto trust when it matters most.
Crisis Response
Crisis response is a structured process for managing communication, reducing risk, and restoring confidence when events threaten your organization. It starts by quickly assessing the situation, gathering accurate facts, and developing clear messages, then communicating transparently with employees, stakeholders, the media, and the public.
At its heart, response is about staying ahead of misinformation, taking control of the narrative, and demonstrating transparency and accountability. In a fractured media landscape, that increasingly means protecting how your story appears in search results and AI-generated answers too, not just in the press.
Crisis Retainers
A crisis retainer is your lifeline when the unexpected happens. By partnering with Red Shoes on a retainer, your organization secures immediate access to experienced crisis communication professionals who already know your business, understand your risks, and are ready to act the moment you need them, no ramp-up, no scrambling.
Issues Management
Not every challenge is a crisis, but left unaddressed, issues can quickly become one. Issues management is about identifying risks early, monitoring them closely, and acting before they cause reputational harm.
The difference between an issue and a crisis often comes down to timing. Issues give you the chance to act proactively, while crises demand an immediate, large-scale response. We help you take control of that critical window.
How We Work
When you bring us in, whether to plan ahead or to manage a live situation, we move through a clear sequence: assess the situation and the risk, align on facts and messaging, identify and prioritize the audiences who need to hear from you, communicate quickly and transparently, and keep communicating as things evolve. Because recovery is rarely tied to a single statement, we stay with you past the headlines, when consistent follow-through is what actually rebuilds trust.
Why Organisations Trust Red Shoes in a Crisis
Crises do not keep business hours, and neither do we. Our team is on call around the clock, and with a crisis retainer we already know your business before anything goes wrong, so there is no lost time getting us up to speed. We pair that readiness with a newsroom perspective, real relationships with journalists, and the discipline to manage the full picture, from press and stakeholders to search results and online sentiment. As an Appleton-based agency, we also understand the Wisconsin landscape while regularly guiding organizations through high-stakes moments well beyond it.
Growing and protecting brands.®
Frequently Asked Questions
Crisis communication is the strategic process of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from events that threaten your organization’s reputation, operations, or stakeholder trust. It covers who speaks, what they say, how fast the message goes out, and across which channels, all aimed at protecting trust when the stakes are highest.
Crisis planning is the proactive work you do before anything happens: risk assessment, response plans, message templates, and drills. Crisis response is the real-time management of communication once a crisis hits. Planning is what makes response fast and calm instead of chaotic, which is why the two work best together.
As fast as accuracy allows. Because most crises spread within hours, an early acknowledgment, even before every fact is confirmed, signals control and transparency, while silence invites speculation. Responding within the first couple of hours measurably improves how quickly trust recovers, which is exactly why pre-built plans and defined roles matter so much.
Yes, and that is the ideal time to build one. Fewer than half of organizations have a documented plan, and the ones that recover fastest prepared long before they needed to. A plan built in calm conditions is far stronger than one improvised under public scrutiny.
A crisis retainer gives you immediate, priority access to a crisis team that already knows your business and risks, so there is no delay getting help when a situation breaks. It is ideal for organizations that want 24/7 monitoring and the assurance that experienced professionals can act the moment they are needed.
Growing and protecting brands ®
