I was working with an Aidan Taylor client last Friday, a multi-billion dollar publicly-held company that is just beginning to embrace social media. The person I work with exposed me to an amazing social media impact story that began a few weeks ago (July 6th, 2009). It is the tale of a musician, Dave Carroll, who was traveling with his band, Sons of Maxwell, via United. What ends up happening is gross negligence in the baggage handling department. If you're a guitar player, a Taylor acoustic guitar with a snapped neck can bring a tear to your eye! If you're not, the fact that these instruments cost in excess of $5,000 will at least help you appreciate the loss. So, rather than me blabber on - watch this video (while it by itself is interesting, the aftermath is amazing - stay tuned):



This video has a 5-Star rating and has been viewed 4,136,582 times. It's rumored to be receiving air play at a few radio stations now. And, you can also buy the song on iTunes (on July 23rd, "United Breaks Guitars" became the #1 Country Song on UK iTunes). Dave Carroll posted his first Tweet on Twitter on July 8th - he has made 26 updates since and now has over 3,000 Followers. "United Breaks Guitars" is now a Facebook Group with 79 members. He has done interviews on the Today Show, Rolling Stone, NBC Today, Fox TV, CNN Español, CNN and Jimmy Kimmel! What's clear is that "the people" get that social media gives them power. A creative complaint can gather momentum and cause pain (requiring dollars to be spent on damage control).

The immediate success of the video prompted the author to release an update - as United has now offered to take care of the matter! He does so with a high degree of class, but let's you know that Song #2 will be released soon! So, his initial complaint is now becoming a marketing campaign for his career! Here's his update:




There are three opportunities to learn from this scenario. First, with social media, everyone has a lever that can be used to obtain fair treatment from others. Second, what is the strategy for corporations to keep from getting a "Grass Roots Arse Whooping" (United claims that they are using the video internally to prevent future similar issues). What I find most interesting is the third, how can we take advantage of the "Customer Service" mishaps of others for our commercial advantage.

For a master's course on seizing the marketing opportunity - you have to see how Tom Taylor, CEO of Taylor Guitars, responded:



Does your company have a plan for handling complaints that surface via Social Media? Are you aware when these complaints happen? This type of customer behavior is likely to increase.  Here are my thoughts for a Social Media Defense Plan:

1. Monitor Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for your company name and industry terms (sure there are thousands of other social media sites, but if the plan is to cause you pain - the complaint will surface on one of these for sure). You might try downloading an application like TweetDeck to create custom alerts for your business.
2. The quicker you can identify a problem and work to establish communication - the better. Once Dave Carroll's creative mind wrote the first line of the song - it was too late, he was inspired and nothing United could have done would have stopped him!  You might assign yourself or another to have TweetDeck running and perform daily, routine keyword searches on YouTube and Facebook.
3. Make an honest attempt to resolve the issue. Keep in mind, when you are addressing an individual via social media, you are doing it on stage! It is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate that your company is current, participative in the community, fair in its business practices, etc. If the person is unreasonable in accepting your fair resolution to their issue - the community will shift to your side (i.e. you win either way).

Now if you've got your Defense Against the Dark Arts of Social Media plan in place. You can start looking for opportunity to capitalize on the folly of others (primarily competitors). How can your company come to the rescue? By being aware of critical industry terms, you'll begin to see opportunity. Now it is time to go on the offensive. Reach out - be magnanimous! On the way, you'll be building a strong social media presence and galvanizing your company from a "United Breaks Guitars" fiasco. You might try our Social Media Health Exam to evaluate your company's social media status.