United PR Disaster
Public relations is a very important and significant part of any company's strategic outlook. The larger the company, and the more exposed to the public the more that these practices will impact on achieving a competitive advantage within any given industry The airlines industry is a special case all in its own, making United Airlines' problem with Dave Carroll a worthwhile investigation into the subject.
Mr. Carroll, a passenger on a United Flight, realized that during his flight his expensive guitar was broken en route. Mr. Carroll, a professional musician, eventually followed protocol to receive compensation for his loss. When United did not honor Carroll's request he took it upon himself to right the situation.
Using his talents as a songwriter he penned a targeted song entilteld "United Breaks Guitars" is an interesting demonstration of how public relations (PR) can help or hurt a company. This story focuses around a passengers' negative experience with United Airlines. Carroll's expensive guitar was broken by United Airlines and when an unsatisfactory result came about, he decided to take matters into his own hands against the huge airline company and wrote a song demonizing the customer service of the company.
Carroll, a professional and touring musician, wrote and performed a song entitled "United Breaks Guitars" to exact revenge on the company for not answering his demands. He also released a video on YouTube to help promote the song and humiliate the company. The song's main theme documented the seemingly inhuman treatment that he received dealing with the company. Carroll's song soon became a hit and many followers took to his anthem as a giant public relations disaster began to brew for United.
When all the dust settled, United Airlines suffered great public relations losses, however, many valuable lessons can be taken away from this case study. Most importantly, the power of the individual consumer in this age of rapid consumerism must be taken into more serious consideration. Large and powerful companies must be aware that their impact on the public is greater than they would perceived and that this relationship with the public must be kept in balance. What is obvious is the dependence upon leadership and strategic outlooks which may provide the correct and ample guidance in an effective, economic and efficient organization.
Issues
The "United Breaks Guitar" public relations difficulty for United Airlines gives the rest of the business world many learning points and issues in understanding the significance of information, presentation and leadership abilities. Public relations is a very complicated and fascinating section of any public or large organization who must rely on their ability to communicate effectively with the public at large on important issues that relate to the business. Public relations is a mental process that uses psychology and technique to effectively brainwash those who consent to such attempts.
United was threatened because they failed to address a simple plea. This problem turned into a great mess due to the inability to understand the problem at the beginning of the issue. Just like in most PR cases, things will not improve until they are addressed at the core of the issue. United's first big issue was ignoring what Carroll had to say at first. This approach may work in most cases, but the one time it does not may prove to be disastrous.
At the heart of public relations is the willingness and ability in serving the customer. The ability to have a strong relationship with customers, especially in a service industry such as air travel, will prevent these mishaps. Tran (2009) suggested that "United, which has seen its share price tumble, could have spared itself this public relations humiliation if it had followed its own policy on customer service. What is most disturbing is that Carroll's pleas were continually ignored after he was willing to compromise on the situation. United would not have suffered that much if they had simply replaced the guitar or paid for its repair. Instead they agitated a customer to action that would eventually cost the company millions of dollars and hundreds of hours of time that could have been better spent on improving the company." Public relations management must be kept as a significant issue in companies and organizations such as United Airlines.
Causes
The root causes of the mess that resulted in this case can be summed up in a few different approaches. The size of United Airlines must be first addressed, as this is the most obvious and glaring component of the equation. Tens of thousands of people work for this gigantic company all with some self-interest...
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