Brand Storytelling in a Crisis: Proven Lessons From Global Brands

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When brands face a crisis, whether it’s a viral PR disaster, a global outage, product failure, or a natural disaster, storytelling can be your greatest ally or your worst enemy.

I’ve spent my career navigating both ends of that spectrum, leading marketing, public relations, and crisis communications for global brands like Nokia, Dunkin’ Donuts, Sprinklr, and TripAdvisor. As the author of The Laws of Brand Storytelling and The Power of Visual Storytelling, I’ve seen firsthand how the right story, told at the right time, can protect trust, rebuild reputations, and even spark growth during the most challenging moments.

This article draws from my recent interview on the Perception Paradox podcast with host Zivile Einikyte, where we unpacked the power of brand storytelling in crisis situations. We discussed real-world examples, my frontline experiences, and practical frameworks any business can use. Below, I’ve distilled the key takeaways, plus you can watch or listen to the full conversation at the end of this post.

Why Storytelling Matters in a Crisis

In good times, storytelling builds emotional connection, inspires loyalty, and makes your brand memorable. In a crisis, those same principles apply – but with higher stakes.

When something goes wrong, your story has the power to:

  • Protect trust and credibility
  • Demonstrate your brand values in action
  • Shift perception from crisis to recovery

The worst mistake brands make? Retreating into silence or relying on cold, corporate statements that alienate customers. The best brands humanize the moment, explaining what happened, why, and how they’re making it right.

The Two Types of Brand Crises

I define crises in two categories:

  1. Crises you create – Marketing campaigns that miss the mark (Pepsi/Kendall Jenner), faulty product launches (Sonos app failure), or outages (Zipcar stranding customers on Black Friday).
  2. Crises that happen to you – Cyberattacks, natural disasters, or viral social media trends (remember the dangerous NyQuil chicken “challenge”?).

Both require a tailored approach, but the foundations are the same: speed, accuracy, empathy, and consistency.

Case Study: Zipcar’s Black Friday Outage

In November, Zipcar experienced an outage, stranding customers mid-journey. Some missed flights. Others were locked out of their cars in remote areas. Social media lit up with frustration.

Zipcar’s initial response was corporate and minimal, but later the company published a more robust statement acknowledging the outage and sharing more information on the resolution.

Zipcar’s statement: We know that our members rely on our service for a wide variety of trips, and we take issues that affect their experience very seriously. During part of Friday afternoon, we experienced a rare outage related to increased site traffic. Interest in our Black Friday promotion caused SMS delivery service constraints on the SMS/MMS network for our site and many others, unfortunately. For a small percentage of our members who were not already logged into our mobile app, this resulted in login difficulties, impacting their reservations. While this issue is resolved, we’re also working to prevent it from reoccurring. We recognize a disruption in travel plans can be very frustrating, and we’re committed to working with affected members to remedy this situation. Our responses have varied by case but include refunding reservations, providing driving credit for future trips, and refunding alternate transportation.

Lesson: In moments like this, brands should go beyond the basic apology. Tell the “fix-it” story – show customers you’ve listened, outline the steps you’ve taken, and spotlight ways you went above and beyond for those most affected.

Case Study: KFC’s ‘FCK’ Campaign

Few crises are as ironic as KFC running out of chicken. In the UK and Ireland, supply chain issues forced the closure of 750 restaurants, impacting 80% of UK adults. Customers joked it was the start of the apocalypse. Some even called the police.

KFC’s approach? Honesty, humor, and humility. They:

  • Posted real-time updates on social media.
  • Explained the cause (“teething problems” with a new supplier).
  • Thanked staff working to fix it.
  • Took out a full-page newspaper ad featuring an empty chicken bucket rebranded “FCK,” paired with a heartfelt apology.

Lesson: When the situation allows, self-deprecating humor can humanize your brand and turn outrage into loyalty. The result? KFC saw a surge in sales once restaurants reopened.

Case Study: The Boston Marathon Bombing & Dunkin’

In 2013, I was working for Dunkin’ when two bombs exploded near the Boston Marathon finish line, just blocks from our coffee sampling truck. While we were all shocked and saddened by the bombing, we had to shift into crisis mode. Our first priority was confirming our team’s safety (sampling crew, employees watching and running) and the safety and impact to our Dunkin’ restaurant on Boylston Street located in between the two bomb blasts. Then, we moved into community support mode, thinking about what we could do during such a difficult time.

We:

  • Paused all scheduled marketing and social media posts, including ads.
  • Issued a heartfelt message of solidarity.
  • Provided free food and beverages at vigils.
  • Donated $100,000 to the victims’ fund and facilitated in-store donations – raising more than $465,000 for The One Fund Boston.
  • Actively corrected misinformation on social media (e.g., rumors that our stores were open during the Boston lockdown).

Lesson: In tragedies, empathy comes first. Pause marketing, support the community, and ensure your brand voice reflects the gravity of the moment.

My Crisis Communication Framework

  1. Investigate before reacting – Gather the facts to avoid missteps.
  2. Assemble a cross-functional team – PR, legal, operations, customer care, product, leadership are examples of who to include but may vary by business and situation.
  3. Develop holding statements – Acknowledge awareness, outline steps being taken, and offer updates when more information is available.
  4. Align messaging across channels – Customers, media, investors should hear a consistent story.
  5. Decide on proactive vs. reactive communications – Public statements can raise awareness of an issue people may not yet know about; choose wisely if it needs to be a broadly distributed message versus 1:1 responses which have less visibility.

Preparing Before the Crisis Hits

Smart brands prepare in advance:

  • Map out potential crisis scenarios.
  • Run simulation exercises.
  • Create a “red/yellow/green” severity scale to guide response.
  • Keep a short list of external crisis consultants who can jump in at a moment’s notice.

The #1 Mistake Brands Make

Reacting too quickly without full information. Speed matters, but so does accuracy. A hasty, tone-deaf message can escalate the crisis, damage trust, and create viral backlash.

🎙 Listen to the Full Conversation on Perception Paradox

I recently joined Zivile Einikyte on her Perception Paradox podcast to go even deeper into these stories and strategies, from the Zipcar outage and KFC’s famous “FCK” moment to my own experiences managing communications during the Boston Marathon bombing.

We covered:

  • How to respond without reacting too soon
  • Mistakes brands make in crisis messaging
  • Why preparation (and cross-functional alignment) is everything
  • The surprising upside of handling a crisis with transparency and empathy

Watch or listen to the full interview:

Recommended Resources

Final Thought

Nobody likes to think about crises, but the reality is, they will happen. The brands that emerge stronger are the ones that prepare in advance, respond with empathy, and tell the stories that matter.

If your company wants to be ready for anything or turn a crisis into an opportunity to deepen trust, I deliver keynote talks and workshops for teams around the world. Let’s make sure you’re telling the right story, even during challenging situations.

Jessica Gioglio is the co-author of The Laws of Brand Storytelling and The Power of Visual Storytelling. Professionally, Jessica has led innovative marketing and public relations programs for Dunkin’, TripAdvisor, Sprinklr, and more. Today, Jessica is a keynote speaker (book her here) and founder of With Savvy Media & Marketing, a strategic branding, storytelling, and content strategy consultancy.

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