1. United, Some Big
Help You Are
You’re liable just admit it.
Mackenzie Davids
Jessi McKain
Alyssa Nickles
Vincenza Passalacqua

2. Companies in the age of Web 2.0
Social media has changed the way companies receive & handle bad press

3. Research
• Baggage policy
• System to handle complaints
• Post-trip baggage help pages
• Link to baggage tracing/claim form

4. What should have been done?
• Demographics of customers
• Customer satisfaction with baggage handling and complaint
resolution
• Medium choice for customer news and communication

5. Key Publics
• Customers
• Stockholders
• Employees
• Environmental Groups

6. Key Public: Customers
•Affects returning and prospective
customers
•Comments from angry customers
who have shared similar experiences
•Responding to negative customer
responses via twitter
•United is listening, and they care

7. Key Public: Stockholders
• July 22, 2009: stock dropped 10% = $180
Million
• $180M = $51K Guitars
• June - Oct. 2009: United’s stock was below S&P
Index
• 1996 - 2009: Customer Satisfaction ratings
dropped 21.1%
• United had been losing money following the
1978 deregulation
• Did “United Breaks Guitars” cause stock to
drop?

8. Key Publics: Employees
• Employee-employer
relationships are crucial
to the function of a
company
• Employees are often
stockholders
• Employees don’t want to
be blamed in a crisis
• United provides benefits
for part-time & full-time
workers

9. Key Public: Non-profits
• United donated $3,000 to the Thelonious Monk
Institute of Jazz
• Ongoing partnership
• American Red Cross and Haiti relief
• Environmental Groups

10. United’s Response
• United took responsibility for actions
• Facebook: Unofficial page & at the time
had around 9,000 fans
• YouTube: Had negative comments with
no response from United
• Traditional Media: Answered journalists’
inquires
• Twitter: Main Medium used

11. United Breaks Guitars: Song 3
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=P45E0uGVyeg
• “There’s a long line of people with a
story like mine”
• “United needs to change in a big
way”
• United claims 99.95% of luggage
doesn’t break
• “You say that you’re changing and I
hope you do cus if you don’t then
who’d fly with you?”• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=P45E0uGVyeg

12. United’s Messages vs. Values
• Messages not consistent with
values
• United damage claim
• Restrictions & Requirements for
oversized baggage
• “It occurred to me that I had been
fighting a losing battle... the system
is designed to frustrate affected
customers into giving up their claim
and United is very good at it.”

13. Communication or Cmomunictaoin
• Most of the harm was
already done once
“United Breaks Guitars”
went viral
• The initial comment of
“struck a cord” was
repeated
• Did not respond on
United’s website nor
YouTube
• Use video for training
purposes
BFF
That was a mistake that we made,
have apologized for, have fixed, and
most importantly, learned from too.

14. Recommendations
• Offered to compensate Carroll
Immediately
• Posted apology and training
videos on its website and
YouTube
• Responded in a positive,
professional manner
• Improved its microblogging
image

15. Questions?