Johnson & Johnson’s response to the Tylenol tampering case more than two decades ago set the standard for crisis response and taught companies to take swift action, running to the light, rather than from it.

Following the Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco accounting scandals, Sarbanes-Oxley legislated transparency.

And this week, with the Domino’s viral video, we have arrived at yet another watershed moment. Once again, the cheese has moved and business as usual will no longer suffice. Companies can no longer wait – even 24 hours – for the stone tablets of traditional media to alert them to reputational risk. They must have their fingers on the pulse of public opinion – and that pulse beats online.

The critical lesson for corporations is not to evaluate Domino’s reaction as a bystander, but to change their own digital crisis strategy – and do it now. 

Companies know how to promote their brands online, but most are still struggling with how to protect them in the digital domain. Brand marketing managers and crisis communications professionals must work in unison, prior to any crisis, to implement strategies that integrate online brand building with digital brand protection.

Dominos’ travails this week have put Corporate America on notice – the ability to monitor and engage the digital and social media realms during crisis is no longer novelty; it is necessity. And the sooner that companies adapt to the new reality, the better.

For a more in-depth analysis of what the increasing power of social media means for companies in crisis, click here to read an op-ed I published in Directorship.

[This article originally appeared on bulletproofblog.com]