Social Media Storms Empowering Leadership Beyond Crisis Management

"This book is a brilliant piece of work that is a must-read for this era of exponential swells and dynamic change - not just for marketing and communication executives, but also for general managers and CEOs. The key insights are so timely: social media storms need to be reframed as regenerative opportunities rather than crises, and managing them will increasingly be part of everyday normal management practice!

"...This is the most strategic probe and thoughtfully useful analysis of social media storms that I have seen. It is one of these rare books that is able to take advantage of scholarly insights, illustrative examples, thoughtful sensemaking and mindset reconceptualizations - while simultaneously giving us practical ways to act as managers and leaders. The book gives us the why, the what, the how, and the what's next of social media storms. The international team of authors brings examples and viewpoints with global implications and multiple perspectives that go beyond consumers and brands, but that also address societal issues and multiple stakeholder concerns. The treatment of reflective and resilient leadership of social media storms is invaluable, as are the sensemaking ways of managing stakeholder interactions. It is a most compelling narrative for this dynamic age."

Omar El Sawy, Stonier Chair in Business Administration, Professor of Information Systems, USC Marshall School of Business, USA

"To never let a good crisis go to waste, you need to prepare. Guided by rigorous research, insightful cases, and actionable strategies, this book serves as a powerful guide to understand, prepare for, and weather the storm."

Christian Daugaard, Nordic Social Media Lead at Boston Consulting Group

"This book is a must-read book for anyone who wants to be successful in business in the 21st century. And it comes at a critical time. Although most people think they know about social media and consumer relations, it is painfully clear that very few know enough about the rapidly changing consumer-company interaction landscape to avoid the serious pitfalls as well as benefit from the new opportunities that this aspect of business represents."

Torben Riise, MBA ExecuTeam & Kaizen Management Phoenix, Arizona, USA

"An insightful and impressive analysis of social media storms. What should brand managers do when huge quantities of messages containing negative word-of-mouth circulate in social media? Read the book to understand the phenomenon and how to respond."

Aysegül Özsomer, Professor of Marketing, Koç University, Turkey

"This is a highly useful text and resource for dealing with the contemporary issue of social media storms. There is an excellent flow of contents in the book and several outstanding cases enhance the reader's understanding of SMSs. The book is written in an engaging style and melds together scholarly research and on the ground experiences. In the new normal era of greater customer power and the added pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is an essential read for all managers of communications."

Alastair M. Morrison, Research Professor, University of Greenwich, UK

"This is an important and timely book. It addresses a major digital age phenomenon--social media storms--that has vital implications for marketing practitioners and academics. Based on strong theoretical foundations, the authors demonstrate how managers and organizations should engage with stakeholders not only to weather social media storms, but also to take advantage of them and to strengthen customer engagement. The book is full of real-life examples and useful case studies. It should be an interesting read for everyone who wants to understand what social media storms are and how they should be managed."

Josko Brakus, Professor, University of Leeds, UK