Business owners are often taken off-guard by online reputation issues. Many don’t even realize they need to be concerned about their reputation online. A common question that everyone comes across is: “Why are people saying bad things about us on the Internet, and what can we do about it?” Executives spend long years developing a strong brand. It can be beyond unsettling to wake up one day and see defamatory remarks appearing online, particularly when the items move beyond constructive criticism to include outrageous accusations and even slanderous or libelous remarks. Even worse, the negative reviews are often on websites that rank high in search engines, so anyone doing a search on the company name will probably see them. Whether the comments are true or not, these negative search results jeopardize the company’s online reputation. This Case Study, shows how Dave Carroll, a musician from Halifax, used the Internet to reach billions of people on the internet, to share his bad experience with one of the well known Brands in the Aviation Industry.

1. UNITED BREAKS
GUITARS
Case Study
- 5th July, 2014
Presented By – Ronak Mehta

2. The Incident
• Time - March 2008
• Who - Dave Carroll, a musician from Halifax, NS and his
band, the Sons of Maxwell , traveled from Halifax to
Nebraska via O’Hare airport in Chicago.
• What happened on the journey?
Carroll claimed that his guitar was severely damaged by
United Airlines baggage handlers at O’Hare.

3. In Carroll’s own words, what happened
was as follows
“In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to
Nebraska for a one week tour and my Taylor guitar was
witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in
Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely
damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for
nine months the various people I communicated with put the
responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other
than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to
compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to
finally say ‘no’ to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write
and produce three songs about my experience with United
Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by
anyone in the world.”

4. And then, “United Breaks Guitars…”
• Video 1 (July, 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
• Video 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg
• Video 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P45E0uGVyeg

5. And it went viral…

8. After Effects….
• The song hit number one on the iTunes Music Store in the week following its release. Its instant
success and United’s embarrassment were widely reported in the media.
• A company spokesman called the video “excellent” and Rob Bradford, United's Managing Director of
Customer Solutions, telephoned Carroll to apologize and to ask if the carrier could use the video
internally for training: the company claimed that it hoped to learn from the incident and change it
customer service policy. United offered Carroll $1,200 in flight vouchers, which he declined,
suggesting that the airline give the money to charity. Ultimately, United donated $3,000 to the
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz as a “gesture of goodwill”.
• The UK Daily(Mail claimed that United lost 10% of its share value, or $180 million, as a result of the
adxi. The causality of this loss was hotly disputed on the web.
• Taylor Guitars issued a video response to the story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n12WFZq2__0.
• Bob Taylor, owner of Taylor Guitars, immediately offered Carroll two guitars and other props for his
second video.
• In December 2009, Time magazine named United Breaks Guitars #7 on their list of the Top 10 Viral
Videos of 2009. Following the incident, Carroll was in great demand as a musician and a speaker on
customer service. His website (http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/) offered for sale a “Dave Carroll
Travellers Edition” hardshell guitar case by Calton.

9. • So a song cost United Airlines about $180 million. Which,
incidentally, would have bought Carroll more than 51,000
replacement guitars.

10. Questions that arise..
1. Why did Carroll’s videos garner so much attention?
2. What options did United have once the videos had been
launched? What were the advantages and disadvantages of
each option? How well did United handle the situation?
3. Could United have anticipated this situation, and if so,
what could it have done to minimize the damage to its
brand?
4. What suggestions do you have for brands in a world in
which customers may communicate about their brands? Are
there opportunities for brands in this situation?

11. Their Mistake & What should they have
done..
• Back in 2009, all posts were removed and their wall was
wiped clean despite it being an unofficial page of United
Airlines. The unofficial page in Facebook had around
9000 fans on it.
• If only had United Airlines taken 5 minutes to build an FB
page, they could have interacted with their fans and
reduced the impact of this crisis.
• This failure to interact with viewers, fans and flyers only
aggravated the situation. Also note the online United
Airlines press room was silent on the issue, thus losing
another opportunity to appease the growing online anger.

12. Lets examine what these brands could
have done to reduce the amount of flak
they were exposed to.
• DO: A brand’s first step when faced with an online crisis should
always be an immediate response. Diffusing the situation early can
keep it from getting out of control and into mainstream media. Within
nine months, United could have responded to Dave and addressed
his complaint amicably.
• DO: After responding to the problem directly, the brand should have
addressed it through all available channels.
• Do Not: Don’t assume that because the situation is happening due to
an action on one network, that it isn’t being discussed elsewhere on
the web. Negative content is prone to Virality.
• User generated content is going to be powerful. So, keep an eye on
it. The consumer no longer thrives on press releases for information
about brands.
• At least 88% of consumers rely on WOM, and marketers and
agencies are not the only ones who can develop and execute
effective messaging, as the example shown in this study.

13. What is this Case Study About?

14. So how do we tackle this online beast?
• Somebody out there must be talking about your brand at
any given point of time..
• The point is - are they talking good or bad?
• Today, with the proliferation of networking sites, forums,
blogs, chat rooms etc, opinions are easily shared the buzz
builds and spreads rapidly.

15. • In such a scenario, where your brand is known to people
who do not even use your products, and do not even
belong to your Target Group, you need to ensure that your
brand is well projected in terms of its reputation.
• So how can you actually protect your brand? Amidst all
the noise online, how can you even know what people are
saying about your brand?

16. What is ORM?
• Managing your reputation online helps you position your
brand, which means ORM today is needed more than
ever.

17. Benefits of ORM

19. Tools for ORM !

20. Tools for Monitoring..

22. Moral of the Story…

24. References…
• http://www.bigbreaksolutions.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/05/United-Breaks-Guitars-Case-
Jan-11-10-21.pdf
• Manipal Global – Digital Marketing Certification Course –
ORM Module.