Service Marketing Assignment

United Breaks Guitar

Case Study Questions

1. Why did Carrol's videos garner so much attention?

2. What options did United have once the videos had been launched? What were the
advantages and disadvantages of each option? How well did United handle the situation?
3. Could United have anticipated this situation, and if so, what could it have done to minimize
the damage to its brand?
4. What suggestions do you have for brands in a world in which customers may communicate
about their brands? Are there opportunities for brands in this situation?
Case Study Answers

1. According to me, Carrol’s videos garner so much attention because -

a. Carrol was already popular with people as he was musician and toured a lot so
people were already intrigued. The viewer might be a fan of Carrol, if not a victim to
such an issue.
b. The video was presented humorously and in a fun way to catch people’s attention
and enjoy to it as well. It increased the retaining and recognition power of the
viewers.
c. The content of the video was highly relatable with the people as it was an issue that
many people face but are not made public.
d. The context that United Airlines had already hurt customers and hadn’t resolved
their issues backed Carrol and his video.
2. The United Airlines had the following options -
a. They should have talked and asked Carrol to take down the video. The advantage
was to reduce the ripple effect it had created and to stop the backlash they were
getting. The disadvantage would be that their reputation might go bad.
b. They should have apologised and reopened Carrol’s case to resolve this issue. The
advantage was easy negotiation and disadvantage would be to take a chance that
Carrol might be wrong.
c. They should have issued an official apology and released a statement to the press as
this issue required immediate attention to protect their public image. The advantage
was gaining goodwill and disadvantage to admit their mistakes and lose some trust.
d. Their social media presence should have done a much better management control
instead of waiting and replying to just the critical queries. The advantage was to
diffuse the situation before it happened and disadvantage that it might be costly and
time-consuming.
I don’t think the United Airlines handled the situation very well. They kept transferring
Corral from one person to another without any positive results. After, the release of the
video, they still didn’t make any contact until it reached mainstream media. They didn’t
compensate or helped Corral in any way. They also refused any sort of communication
when asked and didn’t acknowledge the same.
3. According to me the situation was to to be anticipated by the United Airlines as in reply to
their email, Carrol had mentioned that he would launch 3 songs regarding this issue and
make it public but they didn’t think of it as important. United Airlines didn’t listen to his
complaint and didn’t focus when Carrol was continuously trying to communicate with them
 and they denied his request. They could have heard him out and investigated the matter and
taken the necessary action for it.
4. When the customer is trying to communicate, they should hear them put and resolve the
issue after proper analysis and investigation of the problem. The customers should be
responded to immediately. The brands should focus on whether the communication is
happening positively or negatively. After this, they can decide on the next plan of action.
They should be present on all the relevant social media handles and track their brands
regularly. If a complaint, an issue or even appreciation is published online by a person, it
should be immediately acknowledged and given a proper response, especially the
complaints.