|
|
Beyond The Pale: Web Genius Or Chicanery?
The potential of using social media for customer service in responding to customers' comments and complaints has been established. It is important for companies to monitor what is being said about them online.
It can help a company to quickly turn a complaint into positive Public Relation exercise by showing other users that they deal with customer complaints fairly, effectively and quickly. If the response is done well and in public it can be a big win for a company in terms of positive Public Relation.
There are a couple of well-documented complaints that have had profound impact accelerated by the new digital technologies. If it weren't for the Internet, these events would not be such a global hit within such a short time. I would like to highlight two recent high profile incidents.
A complainant contacted Sir Richard, the chief executive of the airline, after a flight from Mumbai to Heathrow on December 7 2008, to convey his disappointment with the food served on board the airline. In January 2009 a complaint letter was sent to Sir Richard Branson. The letter was emailed globally and is considered by many to be the world's funniest passenger complaint letter. In his letter, the passenger said that opening the lid of the main meal was like being given a "dead hamster for Christmas".
I quote a rib-cracking part of the letter;"Imagine being a 12-year-old boy Richard," he wrote. "Now imagine it's Christmas morning and you're sat there with your final present to open. It's a big one, and you know what it is. It's that Goodmans stereo you picked out of the catalogue and wrote to Santa about. Only you open the present and it's not in there. It's your hamster, Richard. It's your hamster in the box and it's not breathing. That's how I felt when I peeled back the foil."
Paul Charles, Virgin's Director of Corporate Communications, confirmed to the media houses that Sir Richard Branson had telephoned the author of the letter and had thanked him for his "constructive if tongue-in-cheek" email. Mr. Charles said that Virgin was sorry the passenger had not liked the in-flight meals, which he said was "award-winning food which is very popular on our Indian routes."
The passenger, author of this amusing Virgin Atlantic complaint letter, was offered chance to act as the airline's food tester by Sir Richard Branson. He was asked to select the food and wines for future Virgin flights. That is a surprise gift. One wonders whether a traditional letter sent through the post would have elicited this kind of reaction.
Still in the airline industry, we all know that when airlines damage or lose their passenger's luggage, they normally don't pay easily or if they do, they pay a pittance. A case in point is that was reported in July 2009 of a passenger, called Dave Carroll, whose 3,500 dollars-customised guitar was broken while flying with the United Airline.
He went through a year of trying to gain compensation from the airline before being flatly told "NO" by an employee only known as Ms Irlweg. He even emailed this lady and told her he intends to compose a song about the saga. The Airline buried its head in the s and ignored the email. So he took revenge.
He composed a viral piece of music and video and, to his astonishment; this Youtube video has soared to fame. The catchy tune "United Breaks Guitars" is about his guitar, which cost about 1,200 dollars to repair. It has become an instant a viral hit.
Carroll found himself appearing on U.S. breakfast shows, with his group Sons of Maxwell's album flying off the shelves for the first time ever. And as shares of United plummeted, horrified executives quickly offered Carroll money for the repair costs and flight vouchers. He told the airline to donate the sum to charity instead. United Airlines has made a $3,000 donation to a music-education program, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which provides music education for kids.
Here is what Carroll told the BBC, 'I asked myself: "if Michael Moore was a singer-songwriter, what would he do?" and I gathered my tools together and said I would write three songs about the airline, make videos about the airline and share them with the world.''
Carroll says he has composed another two songs about the incident, and the next one about his dealings with customer relations personnel, Ms Irlweg in particular, will be online soon. United must be bracing itself for the onslaught, though Carroll has promised that the song will 'not be unkind' to the unfortunate Ms Irlweg.
Taylor Guitars, the manufacturer of the guitar in question has offered him a new guitar to use in upcoming music videos. United Airlines said they would like to the video use for training purposes to ensure all customers receive better service from the company in future. And in a twist of fate, the company has lost 10 per cent of their share valued at a massive 180 million dollar. It is not known whether this is a direct consequence of bad publicity from this incident or it is just but a bad coincidence.
He said he was amazed to get so many hits.The video has received 4.2 million viewers and attracted 20,000 comments already. He had hoped to receive a million over the course of the year.
His song has helped him financially though, it is currently the 20th best-selling track on the Itunes music sale website in Canada.
These stories confirm that the Internet has changed our world. It has changed how we interact with each other. The speed and the numbers, that can be manipulated at a whim, are enormous and cannot be ignored.The travel industry is a bit little jaded at the moment but can benefit from some marginally clever PR strategy stunts and viral ad campaigns.
|
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: 5.0 stars by 1 user) |
| Views: | 32 | |
|
| More Articles from Viral Marketing | | |
| Top Articles in Viral Marketing | | |
|
