UNITED BREAKS GUITAR

-By Group 2, IMC-B

CASE OVERVIEW

March08
Dave Carolls $3500
Taylor Guitar mishandled
by United Airlines
baggage handlers

Dave became a star, with his bands

CDs selling like hot cakes
United Airlines shareholders
suffered a loss of $180 million due
to dip in share prices
Ranked lowest on the American
Customer Satisfaction Index
Became defensive; called to
apologize and offer compensation on
08 July
Continued to respond to
customers tweets and emails
stating their corrective measures

March08-October08
Daves complaint passed
on from one service
department to another;
no processing!

October08
Customer service
representative rejected
the claim citing the 24
hour notification clause

07-10 July09

06 July09
A video about Daves
ordeal posted on
YouTube and promoted
through Twitter by a
team of friends

Video picked by several

mainstream media channels
You Tube reach increased to
1.6 million views and United
Breaks Guitar rated number
1 music video of all time

WHY DO YOU THINK DAVE CARROLL'S VIDEO

SPREAD SO FAST TO SO MANY PEOPLE?

AFFECTIVE ASSOCIATION
Customers with similar experiences could relate to Daves problem and used this video to
express their dissent towards the poor services of United Airlines

MULTIPLIER EFFECT
Integrating YouTube video with Twitter and blogs, increased reach to 420 blogs per day
and 860 tweets
High reach caught the attention of mainstream media, raising media mentions to 155 per day
All this lead to cumulative reach to some 100 million people

SECONDARY ASSOCIATION
Dave also gathered support from other associates such as manufacturers of music
instruments and non profit organizations working in the area of consumer satisfaction

HOW DO YOU EVALUATE THE AIRLINE'S

RESPONSE?

United airlines handled the situation in a good manner by continuously monitoring

customer responses via tweets and email
Updated their customers of the corrective actions regularly
Took a remedial action of donating money to Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz which
provides music education for kids with potential to compensate for their mistake
Took into confidence their customers by promising to use this video for internal
training purposes and hence providing improved customer experience with the
airline in future
Tried to bring into Daves notice various challenges faced by employees in customer
facing jobs

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE

DIFFERENT IN THIS POSITION?

Rather than being on defensive foot, we would take situation progressively

Start a blog asking customers to post their suggestions for improving the services of
airline to show that customers opinion is valued

Notifying customers about the service representatives being trained on applying

discretion in the service policies

Launch an ad campaign after the situation mellows down showing the scale of the
airlines operations, testimonials from their loyal customers and emphasizing on the
value of customers to them

THANK YOU