Social media platforms have become the go-to source for consumers seeking information about a crisis. Companies and organizations that fail to account for social media in their crisis communication plans run the risk of making their crisis worseworstreating a new one.(Photo by Anna Barclay/Getty Images)Getty ImagesA seemingly minor issue can quickly escalate on social media into a national story in a matter of minutes—or even seconds. That means companies and organizations do not have the luxury of spending hours debating how to respond to a developing crisis or controversy while others fill the void with their opinions, disinformation, and misinformation.Kraft’s ranch dressing campaignKraft Ranch Dressing & Dip (Photo by Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesKraft’s “TSA-compliant ranch” campaign “showed how brands can capitalize on viral moments without feeling opportunistic,” Nancy Li, CEO and founder of Sevenfold, a strategic marketing agency, commented in an email interview with me.After international tourists who attended this year’s World Cup games in the U.S. flooded social media with posts about how they were prevented by TSA agents from packing bottles of Kraft’s ranch dressing in carry-on luggage, the company “quickly joined the conversation with a humorous solution: travel-friendly ranch packets. It was timely, culturally relevant, and gave people something fun to share instead of simply reacting to the trend— so much so that even the official TSA X account chimed in,” Li commented.While this was more of a controversy than a crisis, it demonstrated how closely monitoring online conversations can help brands respond quickly to emerging narratives before they become larger reputational issues.Effective crisis management is not only about identifying threats. It also requires organizations to recognize emerging conversations and controversies that could affect perceptions of their brands.