Dear @UnitedAirlines,
As you are well aware, @DaveCarroll has released a well-produced music video about lousy customer service that he experienced. The video is thought-out, witty, satarical, and (most of all) it strikes a chord with the average consumer. In the rare case you missed it:
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Now you and your C-level executives may have woken up that morning and felt the entire world was against you. Not only do you have a major public relations fiasco that needs to be dealt with, but it is happening in the worse possible economy when consumers are already timid about traveling by air for their summer vacations. This is truly a headache of the worse kind for any traditional PR firm.
But, lucky for you this isn't a traditional public relations crisis. You actually have an opportunity to turn this single experience into one of the best case studies of online reputation management in internet marketing history. I'll explain how:
When Dave gave up the fight with your various claims departments, he promised that he'd write music about his experience. In his version of the story, he explains that he's over being upset and angry about the experience and that he's actually thankful that you provided the fodder for this once in a lifetime opportunity.
You should be the one thanking him!
There's some truth to the saying that "There is no such thing as bad PR". But it definitely can sting for a while, leaving behind a sour taste in consumers mouths. Trust that took forever to build will be lost...unless you act quickly. Your name is now being blasted across thousands upon thousands of tweets, facebook updates, myspace posts, blog posts, and other internet media outlets. In addition, your name is also being used in traditional media outlets where Dave has been asked to give interviews and discuss his "experience" and talk about the song. While he's getting all this exposure, so are you.
Everyone knows the event happened. You can't hide it or sweep it under the proverbial rug. And now everyone wants to know what you will do about it. How will you respond? Will you ignore this event like other big brands who think they are better than social media? Will your response be limited to a single, half-generic reply to an individual that you are "working on it"? Will you finally replace his guitar and then release a traditional press release about it?
I hope not, because if you do, you have failed.
Your opportunity lies in the ability to use the same creative outlets as Dave and respond to him directly. You'll also be giving responses to traditional media inquiries and individual customers who have sung along to Dave's tune. In addition to having an "official response" (though not "official" in the sense of traditional PR) you have the opportunity to leverage this branding opportunity far beyond the reach that you could have before Dave released his video and turn it into a success story. Below are a few ideas that I have that I offer unsolicited as ways to improve customer relations and brand reputation. I am a professional from a very incredulous industry where brands often receive an assault from not only users but also politicians and activisists. Reputation is extremely important in protecting the brands in my industry, and the anecdotes I provide below come from years of experience of "dealing with shit".
How you can turn United Breaks Guitars into your best branding opportunity ever:
- Acknowledge it happened and that you were wrong.
By taking this official stance and letting your employees, PR firms, and ad agencies know that is your stance, you are opening the doors to allow mending to begin. This goes beyond a few corporate tweets or a press release. This needs to be a letter to all your employees so they can adopt the same views and show it in their customer relations. It's true that you abided by your internal policies and this was a series of coincidental bad timing and follow-up, you still need to adopt the internal stance that you wronged a paying customer. Without this first step, nothing else matters. - Respond to Dave directly using Dave's way.
Write a song, produce a video. This doesn't need to be as thought out and well produced as Dave's video, but it should definitely be humorous and light hearted. But it should also say "We're Sorry!" loud and clear. For example, you could use the lyrics "It broke our hearts when we heard we broke your guitar". Using Youtube, post this video as a Video Response to Dave's. This video might have an opportunity to go viral too, so get some quick minds on it and get it up ASAP. - Send an email to all your consumers on your mailing list.
It would be best if this was a letter from the CEO. Inform consumers of the video, that you thought it was fun and done very well, and that you are sincerely sorry that you caused Dave so much grief but you are thankful that he was able to have some fun at your expense. Link to this video directly from your newsletter so consumers know what you are talking about, and realize you aren't trying to hide it. Next acknowledge that you are aware that Dave isn't the only one who has had misfortune regarding baggage handling. Apologize to all your customers in this email. Then explain that you're working directly with your contracted ground crews to enforce stricter baggage handling policies. - Create a campaign asking every user to create their own YouTube music.
Use those videos as part of a advertising campaign (online and ofline) to show that United Airlines now offers better baggage service. "No one cares about your stuff like you do, except for us." or something along those lines would make for a great message. The prize: 5 new Taylor Guitars or free airfare for a band (any 4 people). - Hire Dave Carroll to produce a commercial.
Yes, I said that. Hire him. This would go way beyond anthing you could do by paying to replace a relatively unknown band's music equipment. By hiring him you are giving him, his band, and their creative abilities massive exposure. You are also ultimately owning up to your mistake and making the best of this situation in the most transparent way possible. The commercial doesn't need to about baggage handling, but it does need to show Dave's face and be a catchy jingle. - The association between United and guitars has been made, so leverage it.
Do something crazy like offer every member of the studio audience of Ellen a free guitar (cheap $100 Gibson acoustics from Costco) and free tickets for two. If anyone reports a broken guitar upon arrival at their destination, they get a million Mileage plus miles. It doesn't have to be to this extent of crazye (or maybe you should), but the idea is to get people thinking that you are serious about protecting their luggage, even if it is a guitar. - Finally, and this should be a no brainer, feature Dave's band Sons of Maxwell in your in-flight entertainment.
Write a cover story for your in-flight magazine, play their entire catalog in your in-flight music, and maybe even do a documentary for your in-flight TV.
These are just a few of the many, many ways you can capitilize on this moment of misfortune, and turn a negative into a positive. I'm sure that the community where this letter is posted will also have additional insight in their commentary to this letter, since I know they are some of the brightest minds on the entire Internet.
Dave's story isn't finished. He promised that he would write three songs. Song 1 is produced. Song 2 is written. And with the attention he's getting, you can bet he's going to write Song #3 soon. If you and your agencies play your cards right, the third song will be like a happy ending to a story. It will be about how you finally listened and you helped out. Ultimately, the goal here should be that when Dave writes his third song, the title should be something about "United bought me a brand new guitar!"
I truly hope that the appropriate people find and read these words. This is truly the opportunity of a lifetime for United Airlines to turn a horrible PR disaster into a marketing story of the decade. All you need is to care a little, and hustle a lot!
I'm very excited to see if and how you handle this, regardless if you ever read this letter. I have a passion for how corporate america responds to individual consumers and love to learn the lessons that are publicly available on such a wide scale from these interactions.
Best of luck captilizing on the unfolded events!
Jason Murphy (aka @MurphyJason)
Great post on reputation management Jason. The ball is on United’s court now and it will definitely be interesting if they actually decide to participate and be active on this opportunity. Their options were well explained on this post so really all we have to do is wait and see. Though I have a feeling video 2 will come out before United even acts (if they even decide to).
Thanks Johanna!
United isn't the only ones with options. Virgin, JetBlue, Southwest, etc all have opportunity to cash in on this too by acting before United does. Imagine if Virgin Atlantic produced a Youtube Video response called "We don't break guitars" and featured a songwriter playing in the cabin (as one of their ads depicts). THEN this would be a total nightmare for United.
First responders always have the best chance at winning.
That is a great idea! :) Awesome post. It will be interesting to see how United handles it!
I have to agree with you here. The first company to cash in on this has the chance to win big!
Great post. This is funny but sad and yet (as you point out) because of Dave's "shot across the bow" it is also a tremendous opportunity.
If United doesn't hire him he could be scooped up by a competitor. This could get interesting.
I could write a song about how my Verizon service sucks. "Can't Hear Me Now!" Maybe have a large group of people standing behind me holding their phones, looking for bars....
Maybe I could get a gig.
Yikes! Sly, I don't see you having a great singing voice but if you do make a video, I want to be in it! You won't even have to pay me!
lol - agreed. Perhaps at the next SMX or Pubcon, we get together and create a song about whatever search engine or social network is causing us grief at the moment.
Or sing about Apple's exclusive deal with AT&T. That still gets me.
I will sing to that. I hate that Apple is has that deal with AT&T. Great article by the way.
If you guys are coming out to the SEOmoz advanced (plug) I'll bring the camera. ;)
"I can't act. But I can do action!" - Bill Murray The Man Who Knew Too Little.
I was going to do a video with Danny Dover, called "nofollow" We could hold up card board signs that say "Follow Us On Twitter" or "Be My Fan On FaceBook."
Could be fun.
You may want to hire the IM Spring Break Bacon Explosion Band:
Webmaster Radio Recording of SEO Band
GREAT article, Jason. Aside from United Airlines' response, we can all takeaway some great best practices from this!
This is DEFINITELY how to look outside of the box. It takes creativity to think it up, but definitely guts to pull it off. I'm certain this post will be referenced more than once by the time the year's over.
:) Thank you. I hope that others contribute too!
If United could survive being front and center for 9/11, it can survive a country singer's protest song. As a former employee of Larrivee guitars (watch my Larrivee shop tour videos on YouTube), handling all repair and warranty issues, I can say most broken headstock repairs were due to improper packing of the guitar prior to traveling. The headstock is heavy due to the machineheads, and that part of the neck is the weakest point. It can snap by simply knocking the case over. I'm not saying United employees were not tossing the guitar around, but so long as it wasn't crushed and it's the headstock that snapped, it happened because the guitar was not packed properly by placing support material under and over the headstock. Professional luthiers such as Nicole Alosinac of https://www.nicolealosinacluthiery.com can attest to the necessity of packing a guitar properly prior to travel. Ultimately, this man's video is nothing more than a cute protest that will amount to nothing, as people generally believe all airlines treat baggage like garbage anyway. All PR is not good, just ask Tylenol how much they welcomed the poison pills of the 80's, but, fortunately, people's memories are short. One thing will remain true: more people will pay attention to the individual's protest than to the company's solution.
Brain, thank you for the comment! After reading Dave's written version of the story, it doesn't sound like it was the headstock that broke. But playing a guitar with a broken headstock was extremely effective in the video.
And yes, this is a cute protest. But one that has been seen over a million times. And many of those viewers have had horrible baggage handling experiences as well. This is a familiar story put to song. It was effective. And since it was brought to public attention so heavily, United should respond with the same amount of visibility as much as it is able.
Brand management is a fickle thing. And all airlines in general do not need this type of attention right now, their industry is still struggling in this economy.
I remain of the opinion that there is nothing here for United to respond to. Bad baggage handling is an industry issue. Of the million+ views, it only amounts to 4 minutes of the viewer's life, maybe 8 minutes, as I'm sure some watched it twice. Had they been throwing around someone's pet in its carrying case, there would be need for Brand Management, but bad baggage handling is expected to occur by all air travellers. The industry as a whole must change that "bad baggage handling"perspective across the board, as none are guilt-free, and to stand up and say "We don't break guitars" as an ad-counter to United's temporary PR plight would sit in most people as a direct lie, and that would be worse than breaking a piece of property. If nothing else, this little protest song should serve as an industry PSA. Regardless, there is nothing for United to respond to publicly, as this is an issue between them and the man who has the broken property.
Isn't that exactly why United should address it? If bad baggage handling is universal to the industry (and I don't deny that at all), and United is getting called out on it, isn't this a unique opportunity for them to show how they're different and create a competitive advantage? Unfortunately, I think you're right, in a sense - we've become so used to lousy service in the airline industry that it doesn't stand out anymore. As soon as someone finds a way to change that perception, though, they'll make a fortune, and the other airlines will regret they didn't change first.
It's cool Brain. It's a common and often used PR move. And it will probably blow over in due time. No response IS a response. A big one.
My opinion is that they COULD do a whole lot more. Not that they HAVE to. This is an opportunity. They can really reach out and increase their brand in the eyes of millions of travelers without spending millions of dollars.
But if they want to leverage this opportunity, they do HAVE to respond to it in a big way.
As was stated, United DID apologize the day after the video was initially released, but no one knows or paid attention to that. Why? Because this video protest is entertaining and people like to be entertained, plus people like to side with individuals instead of businesses, even though there are far more people willing to rip off a busines than there are businesses willing to rip off an individual. However, that said, regardless of what the actual damage to the guitar was, the questions begs to be asked: Why didn't the guitar owner take the guitar onboard, as is allowed? As a travelling musician, he would probably have known he was allowed to bring his guitar on as carry-on luggage, instead of leaving it to the baggage handlers to turn into carrion luggage. Could the guitar have already been damaged before it was packed away for the flight? Yes, it could very well have been.
While I haven't forgotten that United already issued a response, it was quit underwhelming. Did you read Dave's story at all? He spent over a year dealing with customer service reps. They had every opportunity for damage control on a 1-to-1 level. To think that someone would break a guitar before boarding a flight and deal with claims agents for many months just so he could write a song and get fame is pretty imaginitive. I guess it's possible.
I haven't forgotten about United's efforts to right the wrong now that this was a public affair. I linked to one of their responses in my original post.
But, I think there is definitely a happy ending to this story. United finally posted a tweet about how they are honoring Dave's request to donate $3000 to a children's music education fund! https://twitter.com/UnitedAirlines/status/2575032413 Not as grandiose as some of the ideas I had, but definitely a nice play by both parties!
I wasn't suggesting he may have planted a broken guitar so he could write a song and get famous, I suggested he may have planted a broken guitar so he could get United to pay for the repairs he possibly couldn't have afforded to pay for himself. I dealt with people and their broken guitars for over 10 years, and it did happen more than once where a claim against an airline or bus company was made for the cost of damages that couldn't have possibly been done by the air or bus lines. I am not saying that is the case here. However, I am saying United does not owe any of us an apology and any dealings between United and the guitar's owner, no matter how dragged out they became, do not ilicit United owing a public apology. BTW, no, I did not read Dave's story, as I feel it incredibly insignificant in light of world issues that actually need people's opinions for influence, such as the protests in Iran. Simple little battles like standing up beside a man and his broken guitar are nice and safe, and mean nothing to anyone's life whatsoever. But it is fun to write, so I'm just here tossing out my unnecessary opinion, purely because of my background as a fomer customer service repair representative for an acoustic guitar manufacturer, and because you had a well written article.
Brain, I appreciate where you're coming from. I'm sure there are people who've thought of even more ways to get something for nothing.
And yes there are more important things going on in the world than one man vs. one company. But for the same reason why people follow Jon & Kate or the reading of Michael Jackson's will, there are people following this story. It hits home. It's something they can relate too. Especially if they've been treated unfairly in a similar way.
This post is awesome. Every C-level exec should read this.
I think it should be promoted to the main blog.
Thanks D! If ever the question comes up in the board room "Why should we pay attention to YouTube and Twitter?"... the UA case study should be given to them (whether the outcome is good or bad).
I would love to see United do a song in response! I would love to see that so so much!
Oh me too. In fact I'd love for them to do anything above and beyond what people are expecting them to do.
What irks me is that it is so easy to see that they have a HUGE opportunity here, yet they won't leverage it. Other companies would pay millions for similar types of potential exposure.
Looks like they didn't take your advice after all:
https://consumerist.com/5311943/dave-carroll-says-no-to-guitar-hush-money-from-united?skyline=true&s=x
So United offered to pay for the damage - which was what Dave wanted in the first place. Looks to me that now the offer of compensation has waned somewhat in favour of the exposure his video is getting him, which is doubtless worth far more than the cost of repairing the damge to a guitar.
I doubt 10 new guitars would stop more videos showing up now.
True. Here's a link to Dave's video statement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay7hFIYQFnw
However, all isn't lost. Here's an official reply from United:
The ideas I thought about above all kept in mind that Dave would probably turn down hush money.
Not just for United Airlines, but in general this is a great list of suggestions for companies wishing to deal well and gracefully with bad internet publicity! Thanks for all the great suggestions.
I totally agree. That's why United has such a huge opportunity to become THE example of how to properly handle online rep. They also have the chance to blow it big time.
Leave it to Taylor Guitars to be the first to cash in on this situation. They responded with a video responses and did a great plug for their products and website.
Taylor Guitars Responds to "United Breaks Guitars"
Excellent, very good job on their part.
Nice vid, excellent video by Taylor Guitars, not only did they address the issue by providing some useful travel tips on the video, they managed to plug in their website tactifully and their services as well.
Would be good to know what sort of traffic increase they receieved as a result of this video.
( 44,000 views on the video so far since July 10, 2009 )
Great post - I particularly like the idea of giving a load of people free guitars and flights - awesome. United could also learn a thing or two about turning a viral complaint into a success story from Mr Branson.
I have to say though that I think that the people United should really be apologising too is the rest of the world for being the creative muse for such a truly horrible song. Is there any way that we could get Dave and his band back on a United flight and this time they break all of the rest of their equipment?
ciaran, say it ain't so! How can you not like homespun country?!
LMAO - classic Ciaran wit.
Sir Branson is truly a visionary when it comes to public relations. Everything he's done, he's had a camera on and a Virgin logo in the background. He's had a few flubs, but always knows how to reel back from them.
And don't you know that a broken guitar/truck/dog/heart is the iconic subject of almost every country song? There's no way this couldn't be a country song. ;)
Only a day after the video was released (at 50k youtube views), United formally apologized, paid for his guitar, and said they were glad this was brought to their attention and would use the video in internal trainings to improve customer service. (I saw this on CNN).
Sounds like United issued some of the right messages -- but here's the deal: the video at 1.5 million views right now and the internet is still abuzz; people don't know about the apology.
Seems to me like United failed to actually leverage the internet and YouTube like Roadies suggested (which I think were great ideas!) Instead, they followed the old school way: issuing a formal apology view press release and making sure it got on CNN.
The lesson? The vehicle for your message is just as important as the message itself!
Exactly. This is now the David vs. Goliath story of the people. One which CAN have a happy ending if United chooses to do so.
I just think at the least its excellent fodder for discussion on how to deal with a PR issue.
I agree with all the possible solutions you've come up with, although sadly, I doubt United will bother with any of them... not really knowing what I'm talking about, I'd guess that there'd be too much red tape to muddle through before anyone would be allowed to try any cute replies and capitalisations on Carroll's video.
I just have one question, however, that no one is likely to be able to answer: did Carroll ask the check in desk to put a fragile sticker on the instruments? That's how I roll when I have precious cargo in my luggage. It's worked twice (linked-to Australian merchandise and, most recently, a bottle of Malibu, lovingly carted home from Barcelona as if we don't have that here). This page also suggests, although you'll have to search for the word 'fragile' that the airline won't admit fragile items to its hold. Guitars might not come under this guideline, but I'd have thought that slapping a FRAGILE sticker on the cases would have at least avoided the playing-rugby-with-them problem
Yeah, I doubt anyone at United even reads this page. But it's made for fantastic discussion. United will probably get by without doing much, really.
Good question about the Fragile sticker. If it worked for Malibu, it should work for music equipment (really Malibu? That's ok, I know someone who brought back a jug of Baileys under similar circumstance). Having a Fragile sticker is another thing Dave could have done right, along with carrying-on the guitar and getting insurance, but he didn't.
Brilliant Post Roadies.
Some really great ideas here.
Thanks
Thanks Andrew! Welcome to SEOmoz!
I agree - really great ideas here. They should hire Dave as well as the original poster of this entry!
Thanks nick, I appreciate the comments! I'm pretty happy with where I'm at though, this is truly unsolicited advice (and I'm sure others have come up with similiar ideas). But I totally agree that Dave's band should be hired for a gig/jingle!
Awesome post, I really enjoyed reading this first thing in the morning. Got the old brain ticking. :)
Thanks John! Sometimes an idea is as good as coffee. ;)
Well, not really. I love my coffee.
This should be the "Remember the Alamo" cry for the RMP's (reputation management professionals)amongst us...(you listening Lisa B.?)
While it's not my forte, if it were I'd be all over United like, in the immortal words of Jim Carey as the Grinch, a fleagle fly on a flugal something or other, trying to get their business.
I love how he plays "the nice guy" in the video and keeps his cool about getting his guitar broken.
It's all part of the charm. It worked too! Approaching 2.5 million views now and its not even a week old.
I love (4) and (5) - I think those are brilliant ideas, and I'm willing to bet good money United will never do either of them.
I don't know when corporate America became afraid of apologizing. Is it ego or is it fear of being sued? Even when someone does apologize for something, it always comes with conditions or is worded passive-aggressively. We all screw up - why can't we just admit it?
It's interesting to see some of the new research coming out in the medical field regarding apologies. There have been some studies showing that, when doctors/hospitals admit mistakes right away and work with patients and their families, they actually get sued less often than when they cover things up. It's not that people are bloodthirsty lawsuit-mongers (although some are, admittedly) - it's that, when you wrong someone and then give them no outlet for that, they look for ways to lash out. Most of us don't want money, we just want a simple admission that we were wronged.
I hate to say it but you are probably right. I have a few bets going on whether United will do anything more than pay for the guitar and issue a press release. (And employee training, really? That's all they got?) I think they're going crash and burn instead of rise and shine (pun intended).
They aren't a total dinosaur. I will give them props for having a Twitter account in the first place. It's a baby step. Now they just need to learn what to do with it. Other airlines have.
I also hate to say this: I bet they already have their lawyers involved directing the play-by-play, and not the CMO or PR Firm. They seem to be in a reactive, protective state. Like they've been backed in a corner.
The ability for a customer to voice their displeasure on such a broad scale will most certainly change how companies must interact with the public.
What would have been even better would be for Taylor Guitars replace his guitar and put out a song about it, They could title it, "We're sorry United smashed your guitar". :-)
Great ideas!! It's unfortunate a few have totally missed the content. The idea here is to think outside the box! Any complaint should be viewed as an opportunity for Great PR regardless if it's just one individual who knows about the issue or 2.3 million.
A superb post and yet another example of how negative customer feedback spreads and the impact it has on the perception of a brand. More importantly it highlights the need for PR to evolve and really understand how people are using the web.
That's the real challenge. Gone are the days when you could ignore a negative story or hope to call a few journalists and get some positive spin in print. Consumers can (and do) bypass these channels posting rants on product review sites, blogs, Twitter, etc. Brands not only need to monitor what is being said on these forums but to actively participate in the conversations.
I wouldn't bet on United getting it right or following some of the ideas above but I'd stick a few quid on Virgin having a go!
Where's a two thumbs up button when you need it? ;) This is exactly the reason why I set out in writing this post in the first place.And sadly, I don't think United will do anything either. I doubt they'll read this, but that's not really the reason I wrote it either. This is perfect and current event for our industry to discuss the matter of reputation management.
Very nice post, roadies.
Many of these suggestions smack of the advice given by Andy Beal's Radically Transparent. In the book, he encourages companies to admit they were wrong and publicly make things right online. I thought your ideas for United were fun and clever. Maybe they should hire Dave Carroll AND you.
I'm a long time fan of Andy's blog, but I have yet to read his book (sadly). It's been on my wishlist for sometime now, think I'm going to finally get it and dive into it. There's always things to learn in this everchanging industry.
Bad luggage handling is a big industry problem and I think no PR idea could be effective without solving it. Maybe United could launch an industry initiative to make aware all the other carriers of the problem. As project leader, United could benefit of a concrete change in the airlines luggage handling.
Not a bad idea, but wow what a massive charge that would be. It's not a well known fact, but some airlines and airports contract their ground crews. That means that it is entirely possible that the same guys handling United baggage is also handling Delta, Contintental, etc. I think I recall hearing JetBlue hires their own ground crews (if they do, thumbs up!) but other than that, general contractors don't represent the airline directly.
I'm glad you wrote this post since I thought the exact same thing when I saw the video. Awesome and clever way to voice a complaint.
Agreed. Youtube/Twitter is the new "angry blog post".
What a great blog. You should go to work for United sometime soon :-) They need you. I love the ideas.
Thanks sdiggles! LOL, this wasn't at all what the goal of the post was though. I'm gainfully employed in a pretty challenging career.
However, the goal I did have for this post is totally being reached: to bring spread the idea of reputation management in general, and provide fodder for people to learn and discuss. I also was hoping more people would add how they'd manage this PR disaster, and that's starting to happen too. Overall, I'm very satisified with the response of the community. :D
Maybe an aditional point United should be focussing on: do not only solve the problems for people who are featured in the media, actually use this as an opportunity to solve problems for all pending and just denied claims.
This will have the effect of an avalanche of good and positive experiences with a much larger user base who can react on any of the current blogs, tweets and reactions in social media.
They have publicly stated that they will use this video as employee training material. Which is a start.
I doubt they'll do anything for anyone else though. But if I had a claim pending, I'd be sure to mention "I'm a friend of Dave's..." to see where that got me. ;)
Excellent post. I hope United takes that advice! Or at least part of it.
And by the way - to say WE are SORRY and WE SWREWED IT UP is the only response. EVER!
Orrrrrr.... maybe this whole thing was planned from the beginning by United. Song 1) fake break guitar video goes viral and creates buzz, Song 2) United and Dave make peace, Song 3) United is the best.
Great post, this reminds me of the 50 cent kid getting to come to new york and make a vid with him. I thought that was brilliant. Hopefully UA does something along the same lines..
Although this post is a few years old, I'm glad I came across it as your advice applies even more today than it did in 2009. If only United Airlines had listened to you, right? Sadly, with 889 reviews and 299 ratings, UA only rates a 1-star rating on the Consumer Affairs website. This rating speaks a lot to the lessons the company failed to learn -- especially the one it should have learned from Dave Carroll's music videos and publicity. These days, many people immediately turn to the Internet and social media to complain about bad experiences. Any company that fails to provide great customer service risks becoming known as a bad business worldwide within minutes after an event. The trending news feature on social networks can make any issue, no matter how small, the "top news" at any given moment. The only advice that I don't entirely agree with is the advice you give for #7. Using an angry customer's experience, likeness and name for promotional purposes can quickly backfire.
Looks like United is diggig it self even deeper.
https://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/07/22/not-so-friendly-skies-united-gives-to-itself-not-musician-whos/
The band is planning on making 2 more songs about this issue and now according to the article he's got a lot more people to help.
Great post, i just dont think some large companies are ready for the concept of listening to their consumers. Last thing is that marketing needs to hear is that their company or product sux, when they have spent all their corporate life just focusing on the good points of the company.
No company is perfect so more corporations should be looking at ensuring they have the channels in place to capture when things go bad.
The Virgin brand in Australia is often the first one to sink the boot in, when something like this happens, so it might just be a matter of time.
These kind of corporate failures drive a lot of interest and continue even after the issue has been resolved. With the rise of social media issues can be quickly spread and cause more issues than if they had of sorted out the issue in the first place.
Ive written a number of posts recently Amazon Fail, YouTube Grossout, GM Fails Online Marketing, Skittles Fail....
Often it is the same poor level of corporate response, except for my recent post about how GM fails, they seem to becoming very proactive since they have exited Chapter 11.
Surely, surely, SURELY after the multiple times this kind of disaster has happened to major corporations from pizzas to banks, someone within reach of the "big office" in every company must have a "Break This Glass In Case Of A PR Emergency"-type plan to respond in a calm, professional and relevant manner...but alas no...perhaps someone will send all the fortune 500 CEO's a link to this great post...well done!
Think I ll leave my ovation at Home
Thanks mozzers for posting this!
I hope that others will add their own ideas on how United can turn this into positive thing. I'm really interested in what others would suggest to do for damage control and reputation management.
There is absolutely no indication of how accurate Taylor claims are or are not. This could be a PR stunt by a competitor. If I were United, I would go old school and go totally on the offensive. I would start with, "how big of a moron do you have to be to fly economy and luggage check a $6000 guitar in a case that is essentially pressed cardboard"? And you did not have travel insurance on it? And it is your main line of work? Whoa...
@btabke
I get what you're saying here. Over the years as a business owner selling a product, I have had some pretty outrageous claims from people either attempting to get something for nothing or extort money from my insurance company. And like you suggest we even have competitors posing as disgruntled customers online just trying to hurt the company reputation.
But that doesn't mean that Roadies article is not thought provoking. In a world where millions of people entertain themselves by watching "reality TV" (no writers needed in case there is another strike) and the internet is such a powerful publicity mechanism, we owe it to our customers to at least consider this.
Is there a way to constructively address it? Should you even bother? Can it be turned into a positive?
I think for the discussion alone this post is awesome.
btabke (brett?),
Totally a valid point. There is absolutely no validity as to the extent of damage done by Dave, but there is a confirmation from United that "it happened". A year's struggly with customer service would be a tough slaughter campaign for a competitor execute this flawlessly.
And there are definitely times when being on the offensive is the proper response for a PR issue. I don't think this is the time. This is now a David vs Goliath story, and the majority usually always want David to win. They rally for the underdog. Regardless if it is fair, or if all the pieces of the story have been accurately represented. What people are seeing is the masterfully crafted video presented by Dave and his band. What they aren't seeing is the response from United. It's there, they just aren't seeing it.
Also, lately with all the airlines (including United) recently charging for extra checked luggage, it's made for tight fittings in the overhead bins because everyone is taking carry-on luggage. Although not indicated at all, it's feasible that Dave tried to carry-on his guitar but was asked to check at the gate. Who knows why he checked it. I know I wouldn't. But he did, and it broke.
As for the travel insurance, point well made. Why didn't he get insurance?
Regardless of the circumstances, he's getting reach and exposure as being underhanded by a large corporation. United should respond accordingly or they could see some long term damage from this.
Great post.
My brother paid ~$25k for one of his guitars....
You can bet he carries it on when he flies.
Good post.
Sky news reported this as well lol, and victim says the airline company was trying to get hold of him already.
I am really excited to see how thing is going on.
I think your ideas here are brilliant! I can see them totally capitalizing on this but that would require some creative brains.
By the way (and I admit that I am OCD) periods and commas always go inside the quote!
What a bunch of crap! You have even time to spare on these stories?
What I do not like the most is there's some guy (with a lot of experience, sure) who writes to a big company what they need to do.
Sure, they will drop all their work immediately and act on your advice just because it is so damn invaluable and comes from the real-deal expert. Sure, they lack the specialists in the company that can come up with the necessary strategy to solve "the problem".
Next, as the reader (Brain Trepaning suggested) this is so small a story to draw public's attention. This is just ridiculous how you guys jump of this sort of crap and spicing it with some comments publish it to the community presenting it as something really important.
Kids are dying every day because they have NOTHING to eat, and you are discussing here your pet peeves about how airlines toss around your baggage and how you are suffering all this because you are used to this service.
Are you completely out of your mind there in US?
The underlying tone of this post should sound like this: "Technology (social media in this case) is cool. I know how to use it. You listen to me and I tell you how to use it. Let's all see and enjoy how we all benefit from technology and the best ways of using it".
But in reality it sounds like: "I, I, I... and I don't give a s... about anything or anybody else" because if this video didn't get all these clicks, you wouldn't be writing about it.
If you don't care, then why are you replying? If that's your opinion go do something to better the world and stop wasting breath telling the world how much of a hater you are.
Sadly, you missed the entire point of this post. I know that United won't read it. And I truly know they won't do anything radical as a response to Dave.
This post was made as a way to discuss reputation management. I chose the letter format as a writing style because I felt it would get the best response from reputation management pros and it did. I don't expect any large corporation to take my "advice". These were just ideas I'm sharing and I've asked for others to share their ideas too. That is why I posted it here instead of mailing to United directly and solicit a job. I've been a member of this forum for 4 years now and I'm just contributing.
(edited because my original reply smarts too much)