A PR Practitioner's Guide to Activist Groups: When and How to Respond

Activist campaigns occur so far outside the normal course of business that few executives have given any thought to how to handle such a challenge. Activist groups exploit this individual and institutional naivety with strategies and tactics that have been validated over the last 50 years. A company’s response to activist demands is foremost a business decision, and then a communications undertaking. The public relations department becomes the focus for clever activists and battle-weary executives who all come calling for answers. With examples pulled from today’s headlines, Keva Silversmith offers corporate leaders, business executives and above all public relations professionals a philosophical and practical approach to engaging with activist groups.

Keva Silversmith is an accomplished public relations professional with deep, hands-on experience in corporate positioning and reputation, crisis situations, issues management, executive positioning, and financial communications. He has worked as a lead communicator in the private sector, government, and the non-profit world. Educated as an attorney, Silversmith brings strategic insight to reputation management and crisis communications.