Using social media to address a PR crisis was the focus of the September Luncheon of the Georgia Chapter of the PRSA - which I attended last Thursday, courtesy of Steve Robinson of Business Wire.

Lynnette McIntire, manager, UPS Public Relations and Debbie Curtis-Magley, manager, UPS Public Relations discussed their response to a multimillion-dollar “Brown Bailout” campaign waged in traditional and new media.  It was launched by rival Fedex who claimed  UPS was taking a “government bailout.”  It’s all part of a dispute over the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009, which contains a provision that would change the labor law covering FedEx workers. The bill was passed in the House of Representatives but the Senate has not yet voted.

Starting in June when the Brown Bailout campaign began, UPS had a crisis on it hands.

Needless to say, since that time, UPS has been busy countering charges and communicating their position.  The work has all been done in house with a very small team.  Not surprisingly, social media has been at the heart of their strategy to protect their brand and reputation – using Twitter and blogs to address questions and accusations made on blogs, Twitter and of course YouTube.

So what lessons has the UPS PR team learned so far:

- When the issue is emotionally charged, don’t get emotional – stick to facts and correct misleading ones.

- Pick your battles.

- Be nimble.

- It is helpful to have a monitoring program in place before a crisis hits when you have the luxury of time.

- Start Twitter accounts now to build a credible voice and presence  in the channel before a crisis hits.

- Know when to intervene with an “official” vs a conversational response.

- Educate internally.

- Monitoring key words can be tough – UPS the company and ups the verb yield very different results.

- Words without credibility fade.  The truth does prevail.  Errors, misleading materials, misguided conversations eventually get sorted out.

- Being young doesn’t mean you are comfortable with social media and commenting or engaging with the public.  Training is critical for everyone in an organization.

Bottom line, it’s clear crisis communications begins before a crisis.  Tools will change, but given the speed of social media, preparation is critical in containing a crisis caused by  a customer, competitor or an employee.

Let me get back to you.

PETA went undercover to shoot what it charges is the mistreatment of circus elephants.  In the four-minute video, circus trainers are seen using bullhooks to strike elephants across the head, legs and body.  
 

It’s a very different image from those that appear on the Ringling Bros website.  

An AP story quotes circus spokeswoman Amy McWethy denying PETA’s abuse claims. “Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey loves its elephants,” she said.

In a statement, Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns Ringling, said:

“Ringling Bros. is proud of its efforts to care for and increase the population of the endangered Asian elephant and we encourage people to come see for themselves that the animals are thriving in our care,” the company said.

On its website, Ringling Bros. has a section devoted to animal care where it states:

“The physical and behavioral needs of our animals are a top priority at Ringling Bros.® and we are dedicated to helping to preserve the endangered Asian Elephant through the work at our Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation®.”  – Bruce Read, Vice President of Animal Stewardship. 

Based on the 14,000 views to date, the video has yet to go viral by YouTube standards, but it nevertheless poses an obvious challenge for Ringling Brothers.  And as my posting about United Airlines revealed, companies are failing to keep up with the latest communications tools.  As far as I can tell, Ringling Brothers does not have a YouTube channel, and its Twitter page is more or less inactive.

Needless to say, the video has generated a stream of negative tweets.

Now if I were advising Ringling Bros., I would tell them:

- to announce their intention to investigate the allegations

- to distance themselves from potential bad actors (including if necessary firing them and seeking all legal action against them)

- to highlight what they are doing to protect animals rights

- to enlist third parties to validate their commitment to animal safety

- to embrace 21st century communications to engage concerned customers and critics

I would also have them make videos that show how they treat and care for animals, their commitment to the prevention of animal abuse and their support of programs dedicated to animal stewardship.  

In the age of YouTube, saying you love animals can’t compete with the power of the Internet image and the social networks that distribute and comment on them.

Let me get back to you.

By now, many of you have seen or heard about the Dave Carroll YouTube video and how United Airlines’ baggage handlers mangled his guitar.  It once again demonstrates the power of authenticity, creativity and compelling content to grab attention and send PR executives reeling. 

Before I begin, I don’t want to beat up on United Airlines, but what happened last week is a case study on why companies need to take videos and their online response very seriously.  They did speak to reporters, but as this post will show, key social media channels were neglected.  And I am not privy to all the behind the scenes efforts that went on to work with Mr. Carroll and other upset passengers. I only see what the public sees.

The numbers of YouTube views and Twitter tweets are just staggering.  Like the infamous Comcast customer service rep video, Dave Carroll’s video undermines United Airlines’ reputation and hurts its brand.  

Numerous traditional media outlets covered the story (LA Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune), but it was YouTube, Twitter and blogs that fueled the flame. In Carroll’s own words, here is what happened: 

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 didnt 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. United: Song 1 is the first of those songs. United: Song 2 has been written and video production is underway. United: Song 3 is coming. I promise.

It’s a great story of how a little guy took on the indifferent corporate giant, but the numbers behind the story are just as interesting.

By the Numbers

A comparison of the numbers demonstrates the viral effect of YouTube.  Consider the following. As of this Monday:

Sons of Maxwell YouTube video:

Number of views:  2,544,668 view

Number of comments: 13,288 comments

In contrast: 

United Airlines YouTube Channel

Channel Views: 84,791

Most viewed video:  86,415 views 

Most discussed video: 122 comments

Channel Comments: 115 comments (12 in the last few days; the rest, but one, over a month ago)

And look at the negative Channel comments with no response from United Airlines: 

And now look at Twitter:  9 tweets mentioning Dave Carroll on the United Airlines Twitter page compared to the flood of tweets about Dave Carroll elsewhere. 

Here is a random sampling of the thousands (can’t verify number) of tweets about Dave Carroll (note the number of video views from Friday: 1.325 million):

And let’s look at Facebook. 13 comments were about Dave Carroll, all were negative. Now, InsideFacebook lists the United Airlines fan page as “unofficial.” A lost opportunity to engage with the more than 9,000 fans. In comparison, check out Southwest Airlines Facebook page – more than 70,000 fans strong, and it’s official.

And note, no news from the UA pressroom (though they did speak with reporters).

Beyond the Numbers

So what should we make of the numbers?  Clearly, it demonstrates the power of YouTube, turning an obscure musician into a video star and corporate headache in less than a week.

The Internet became for United Airlines an open platform for critics, and United Airlines could not or did not want to keep up with public reaction. Their traditional news channel remains silent.  Their YouTube Channel has become a platform for snarky, negative comments with no reaction from United Airlines. And the 9 posts on Twitter don’t communicate, in my opinion, an authentic, heart felt apology. Making a charitable donation is nice, but it doesn’t address the the problem that prompted Dave Carroll to make a video in the first place. And Facebook is a non factor.  

And look at the content on YouTube’s corporate channel: repurposed commercials and promotional videos.  It’s no wonder the number of views for their most popular video pales in comparison to the number of views of the Dave Carroll video.  Yes Dave Carroll’s video went viral, but United needs to do a better job serving up connect.  Consider Delta’s inflight safety video:  1,313,428 views!

And I should also add.  I have overseen crisis communications.  Sometimes legal and HR issues require a low profile.  I am not sure this is one of those instances.

Recommendations

Again, I don’t want to pick on United. I am a PR guy after all.  Social media is forcing all companies to reevaluate their PR strategies.  To be fair, companies can’t compete with satire and entertainment in the battle for public opinion. But Carroll resorted to something that works: authenticity. And he did so in a way that was meaningful and entertaining.   It recounted an experience that we all can appreciate.  And so with all the resources that it has, United Airlines was crushed by creative storytelling. (Forget news releases and investigative reporting when you have music videos.)

First of all, United Airlines followed the first rule of crisis communications by apologizing for the instance and for trying to make amends.  It’s their failure leverage and integrate their online channels that is at issue.  I would advise them to examine its YouTube Channel for content and its response policy for comments. Customer service is an issue. Therefore have more videos on what you are doing to improve service and instructional videos on what to do if your baggage is damaged or lost. Like what Comcastcares has effectively done with Twitter, use this experience as way to monitor and respond to customer service complaints and reach out to the people who tweeted.

This crisis will pass.  One entertaining video will not bring down an airline.  And the good news is that the next video will have to be amazing to get this kind of reaction.

But here is my final point. Customers need to be careful what they wish for.  YouTube gives power to the people, but this video certainly raises the stakes of what is needed to get attention and make news.  Less talented people will still need to write letters and reach out to local news action reporters.

Let me get back to you.