CEOs and Crises: KPMG, WiseTech and Sydney Swans' crisis responses under the microscope in new Medianet report
Medianet
- Medianet's report 'CEOs and Crises: Reputation. Response. Recovery.' analyses the crisis responses of KPMG, WiseTech and the Sydney Swans, scoring each against four factors: timing, authenticity, media access and empathy.
- The Sydney Swans achieved the best outcome, acknowledging a breach of standards on day one, sanctioning players within two days, and making senior figures available to media in person within a week.
- KPMG performed worst on media access, staying largely silent for over seven weeks before admitting fault, after which negative coverage surged by 230%.
- WiseTech demonstrated that speed alone is insufficient — its CEO stepped down within three days but remained as a consultant before returning as executive chair, resulting in 64% unfavourable coverage over the following 12 months.
- The report concludes with four lessons for leaders: balance speed with substance, match words with consequences, give media direct access, and lead with empathy rather than process.
Acting quickly in a crisis only helps if the action is real, according to a new Medianet report that scores the responses of KPMG, WiseTech and the Sydney Swans.
“Speed gets a leader a hearing, but the actions behind it decide whether anyone believes them,” said Amrita Sidhu, Managing Director of Medianet. “WiseTech moved within days and still lost the room.”
'CEOs and Crises: Reputation. Response. Recovery.' is the second report in Medianet’s CEO series. Medianet's analysis arm, Medianet Insights analysed print, online, broadcast and select social media coverage of three Australian cases, then scored each response against four factors: timing, authenticity, access to the media and empathy.
The Sydney Swans response scored best. The club acknowledged a breach of standards on the first day, sanctioned the players within two days, and put its CEO, Chair, coach and co-captain in front of the media in person within a week. Medianet rated the outcome as stabilised. The matter remains under police investigation.
KPMG scored worst on access. The firm said little publicly for more than seven weeks after a senator aired a whistleblower’s claims in March. Once it admitted fault and executives resigned, coverage rose 133% and negative coverage rose 230%. Medianet’s verdict: the response flatlined.
“The scorecard shows leaders being measured against their own words,” said Jacquie Hanna, Head of Insights at Medianet Insights. “Where actions matched statements, credibility followed. Where they didn’t, the contradiction became the story.”
WiseTech shows that speed without substance fails. Its CEO stepped down within three days of the first allegations, but he stayed on as a consultant, then returned as executive chair. Over the past 12 months, he drew 2,929 media mentions against 1,047 for his successor, and 64% of the company’s coverage was unfavourable. White denies the allegations made against him. In October, ASIC closed its share-trading investigation into him with no enforcement action.
The report ends with four lessons for leaders and boards:
- Balance speed with substance
- Match words with consequences
- Give the media direct access
- Lead with empathy rather than process
The full report can be accessed here.
About us:
Medianet, a division of Mediality, is a leading PR platform and media intelligence business servicing both the media and public relations industries with press release distribution, media contacts, media monitoring and media analysis. Medianet is an accredited member of global industry peak bodies including International Association of Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) and FIBEP World Media Intelligence Congress.
About Medianet Insights
Medianet Insights is Medianet’s media analysis and insights unit delivering human-led media analysis to a range of organisations including government, higher education, ASX100 and not-for-profit organisations.
Contact details:
Jacquie Hanna, Head of Insights and Strategy - Medianet Insights
Mercedes Carrin, Head of Marketing - Medianet
