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The VW crisis falls into the general PR crisis category of scandals and shenanigans that entail often-shocking revelations about a company. They often implicate specific corporate executives or managers. They can involve any type of aberrant behavior including accounting mischief, safety practices, and sexual activities.

Other types of crisis include: Accidents and disasters. These cover terrorist activities, plant fires and explosions, vehicle crashes, disease outbreaks, and other man-made catastrophes or natural disasters. Corporate crises in this category can be “no fault” for the company or the organization may bear full responsibility. The BP oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico is an example. Product, service or staff snafus.  These are negative customer experiences caused by employees, usually reported on social media or captured by citizen journalists. The category also involves product defects. Antagonistic attacks. These involve online or offline actions initiated by customers, competitors, activists or regulators who have a bone to pick with your business.

While the standard PR crisis playbook can apply to most crises, the Volkswagen emissions scandal is far from typical. It involves intentional government rule breaking, rather than straightforward mistakes involved in other recalls. The wrongdoing almost certainly involves many VW engineers and decision-makers, not just a few people as in many other PR crises.

The emissions test fraud was one of the most egregious examples of corporate misconduct in recent times, perhaps exceeded only by Enron’s financial fraud in the previous decade. Unlike most other examples of corporate maleficence, the emissions test rigging impacts most everyone in the world by causing more pollution. 

The PR Crisis Management Playbook The standard PR crisis playbook calls for corporations to: Follow a previously prepared crisis management plan that defines the decision-making process, spokespersons, outlets to contact, communications channels, and which stakeholders to update. Act quickly. Quickly disseminating information and responding to media inquiries is essential in crisis communication. The first 48 hours are critical. Silence enables speculation and reflects badly on the brand, as media outlets will publish stories and the public will reach conclusions whether the company comments or not. Be open and transparent. Release all the information you have in an open dialogue with the press and the public, using both traditional and social media channels, including the organization’s website and other owned media. Apologize. Delivering an appropriate, timely and sincere apology is a vital part of responding to a crisis. PR and business executives can learn from previous corporate apologies. Quickly cut ties with company employees, employees of affiliated firms or celebrity spokespeople accused of wrongdoing. Make amends. Provide help for any victims and their families. Demonstrate that the company is taking steps to protect the public. Actions speak louder than words in these situations. Monitor the situation. Employ a media monitoring service to obtain up-to-the-minute reports, identify media mentions that call for responses and gauge the effectiveness of  corporate communications.

Made To Stick by Chip And Dan Heath. There have been countless books written on viral marketing and how brands should tell a better story. None of them hold a candle to this one. Perhaps one of the best books ever written on how a brand can (and should) tell a story (and how to do it). Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi

The New Rules Of Marketing And PR by David Meerman Scott. This book has been updated by Scott many times over. If you're looking for the ultimate primer on social media, what it means and what it can do, this is the perfect book to bring you up to speed. Ogilvy On Advertising by David Ogilvy.

Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout. This is one of the "must have" books if you're in marketing. It covers a ton of space on the topic of how to brand products and services and how to place them both in market and in the mind's eye of the consumer. This should be the first book that anyone reads when they enter a Marketing 101 course. Re-Imagine! by Tom Peters

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. A wise individual once said to me that Gladwell has a knack for writing books that business leaders feel stupid for not having on their bookshelves. Pretty poignant and true. The Tipping Point is great because it helps marketers better understand the inflection point that happens when a product is ho-hum and how it then takes off like a rocket. It's not really science so much as cultural, but it's fascinating. Waiting For Your Cat To Bark? by Bryan and Jeffrey Einsenberg. The Eisenberg brothers posses an expertise unlike any other. They are experts at understanding and explaining the power of marketing optimization.

Web Analytics 2.0 by Avinash Kaushik. If you have spent more than two minutes reading any of my content, you will know that I am an unabashed fanboy of Avinash Kaushik, the digital marketing evangelist at Google. In fact, the notion of Sex With Data from CTRL ALT Delete was heavily inspired by Kaushik's work/thinking. Most marketers eyes glaze over when they hear the word 'analytics,' but thankfully Kaushik is here to help make it fascinating and important. This book is packed with ideas about how to think better about your marketing and what it's capable of doing.

Where The Suckers Moon by Randall Rothenberg. Most people in my world know Rothenberg as the President and CEO of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau). What most people don't know is that in 1995, he authored this book. A book that is, without a doubt, one of the best books on the advertising industry.