‘Sorry can be the most powerful move’: what brands can learn from the ongoing United Airlines PR crisis
United Airlines has suffered a number of blows to its brand in recent months, with the airline struggling to get ahead of negative social media coverage. Mumbrella’s Abigail Dawson asks crisis experts how brands can maintain its reputation when facing an on-going crisis.
United Airline’s reputation first entered crisis phase in March this year when two teenagers were banned from a flight for wearing leggings, with the crisis entering a new phase just last month when passenger Dr. Dao was dragged off an over-booked flight.
For the airline, its problems have not improved with the airline accused of forcing a Kansas City woman to pee in a cup on board a United Airlines flight, while another accusation has surfaced claiming the airline canceled a passengers’ flight once he began filming a dispute on his mobile phone.
The reputational damage incurred by United Airline’s has been immense, with the public taking to social media to criticise the airline for mishandling its response to the video of Dr. Dao being dragged off one of its flights.
Ongoing crisis?! Yeah, nah, maybe. Reckon if you take a look you’ll see that the United share price is flying pretty high right now – in fact closed at a 12 month high overnight and has made up all the losses it incurred during the “crisis” and quite a bit more. Sure they handled it really badly, sure they should have said sorry sooner but existential social media storm it was. Fundamental business changing crisis it was not. I think the United Airlines CEO is probably sipping his Coopers quietly right now while booking his uber ride home . . . .
I wrote this last year “What do you do when your Brand is badly damaged?”
http://www.melbournebranding.c.....y-damaged/
The only way United will fully recover is by becoming know as the airline that offers the best customer service. By owning the problem, as Mary Barra at GM did, and being seen to be consistently acting on it.
Thanks Lee, read your article – so insightful with lines like ‘actions speak louder than words’ – such a revelation. Watch out Kerwin Rae…