Reputation Management: A Timely Social Media Example Courtesy of a Major US Airline
Reputation Management, according to Wikipedia, is the process of tracking an entity’s actions and other entities’ opinions about those actions; reporting on those actions and opinions; and reacting to that report creating a feedback loop.
In other words, Reputation Management is a form of damage control and with the growth of social media; it’s become very important for businesses.
You may or may not have seen the YouTube video entitled “….. Hates Guitars”. It’s getting plenty of visibility and appears to have been a case that could have been avoided by being more responsive to a customers needs.
My role is not to take a position either way, but to show what can happen when social media goes viral in a way counter to the hopes of the business involved.
In this instance Dave Carroll, a member of the Band “Sons of Maxwell” and his band were headed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Omaha, via Chicago O’Hare’s Airport. After landing at O’Hare, one of the members of his band and another passenger looked out their windows and saw baggage handlers tossing guitars in a disrespectful way.
Carroll says he immediately complained to three flight attendants and that his complaint was met with indifference. Well, you can imagine what happened and one thing led to another, which ultimately led to the YouTube video. Within 23 hours of the video being posted, there were 461 comments logged and the airline is now involved with a huge Reputation Management/Damage Control effort.
Airlines spokeswoman, Robin Urbanski states “This has struck a chord with us, and we’ve contacted him directly to make it right.”
There are many lessons to be learned as a result of this situation and it not only points to customer service, but also to the importance of being aware of what’s being said about your organization in social media circles.
Most businesses may never have to address a situation like that, but you never know. Either way, it’s important to have a strategy in place, just in case, because things can go viral quickly and it can take a long time to repair a reputation and recoup lost sales.
This further demonstrates the power of social media. Social media can be a great help in generating sales and it can also hurt sales, when negatively aimed at your company.
My recommendation, be sure to track what’s being said about your company and then immediately act upon the Reputation Management component of your social media plan. This can be a great way to demonstrate your companies responsiveness and can turn out to be a positive, instead of a negative.
If you would like to see the video, please let me know and I’ll forward a link. It’s actually very good and the Airlines spokeswoman said that she “loved” it. The video, that is.
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