Citizen Journalists strike again. Or should I say Citizen Musicians? Once again the consumer is finding Web 2.0 Social Media sites of value — at least for venting their frustration.
Frustrated United Airlines passenger, Dave Carroll, used his native talents as a musician to strike back after repeatedly trying to get United to address claims for his beloved Taylor guitar which he alleges United baggage handlers damaged. What — baggage handlers damage… baggage?
Taylor Guitar
Dave has two grievances: guitar damage and indifferent customer service. Apparently it was a valuable guitar — $3,500 — and critical to the way he makes his living as a musician. United should have paid attention.
After repeatedly attempting to get United to address his claims, Dave and his band — Sons of Maxwell — struck back. Dave and the Sons composed a song about the kerfuffle and recorded a video performing it, which they then posted on — you guessed it — YouTube. And it is pretty entertaining while getting his story out there: check Dave's YouTube Revenge. It’s really worth a view, they are entertaining AND talented.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, United Airlines now has a full-blown PR problem. It looks like at least 150,000 people have viewed the video as of 7/8/09 and it is really going viral now. Dave’s story is also getting coverage in respected media sources such as the LA Times Online. THAT, in turn, is stimulating tons of online comments from the masses, war stories about other perceived and actual United misdeeds, etc. (Btw, not all of the comments support Dave & Sons.)
Whether their claim is just or not is actually not as much the issue as United’s failure to handle the situation better and forestall this kind of retaliation and the aftermath they now face. The song on their video is catchy – these guys are GOOD and LIKABLE — this can’t be good news for United.
Online reputation management is a growing problem for businesses, particularly for consumer-facing, service-oriented businesses like United Airlines. Business as usual in terms of PR management won’t work here.
Last – I was interviewed recently on the topic of online reputation management by Linda Popky, President at L2M Associates, for her Marketing Thought Leadership show. This short interview ended with some resources that you might find helpful in your own reputation management efforts. Online Reputation Management: What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You! Thanks to Linda — it’s always fun to chat about something you’re passionate about and this sure gets me jazzed!
