MENG
Word of Mouth: The Greatest Influencer
Want proof? On July 6th, Dave Carroll uploaded a self-made video to YouTube complaining about the poor treatment his luggage received on a United Airlines flight a year ago and the ensuing customer service runaround he has received. Big deal, right? Happens to many travelers according to various industry reports on domestic airline customer service complaints.
The difference is his video United Breaks Guitars was a well-produced music video with support from his band illustrating the storyline behind baggage handlers “playing catch” with his guitar on the tarmac in plain view of everyone on board the flight, and the personification of the “I don’t care” attitude he encountered afterward. Virally the news spread and within days his video had registered well over 3 million views and copycat complaints were making their way onto YouTube. United Airlines had their PR hands full. Word of Mouth. It can help you, or in this case it can hurt you.
Are you a Twitter Quitter?
The social media world is all aTweet with millions flocking to Twitter, the micro-blogging site limited to short headline-type messages within 140 characters. The content of these messages ranges widely from the mundane “I’m now eating an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen” to the topic-specific “The Aquada: a new amphibious automobile. (Check it out now for breaking news and commentary—no surprise: Swine flu has been the hottest topic this week.)
