Unless you’ve been in some isolated area without access to the news or social media, you’re familiar with how United Airlines mistreated one of its passengers, Dr. David Dao.
On April 9, Dr. Dao was drug off a United Airlines flight in Chicago. This happened because United needed to get four members of a flight crew to Louisville, KY. There were no open seats on the plane. Dr. Dao’s seat was the last one they needed. Dr. Dao was bloodied and ended up in a hospital from his injuries.
A True Public Relations Nightmare for United Airlines
United’s Public Relations department has done a poor job handling this incident.
The day after it happened, Oscar Munoz, United’s CEO, described Dr. Dao as disruptive and belligerent.
The passengers seated around Do Dao disputed this. They said he was not disruptive nor belligerent. The following day Oscar Munoz said “No one should ever be mistreated this way.”
Mr. Munoz has since apologized profusely for the way Dr. Dao was treated. However, the damage had been done. Over and over again the video clip of Dr. Dao being dragged off the plane has been shown.
To add to United’s problem, passengers on other flights have come forward telling how the airline mistreated them.
Trust in the Airline has been lost. It may take years to rebuild.
The Lessons for Content Marketers
What lessons can Content Marketers learn from this?
First – At times like this, they need to come alongside their Public Relations people. The marketers need to make sure the Company makes a very sincere apology to the person hurt, to anyone who witnessed what happened and to the public.
Second – They need to let prospects and customers know this is an isolated incident. This is not the way the company operates. How? They need to get information showing their company cares deeply about the people and companies they serve to customers, prospects and the public. They can do this through testimonials from satisfied customers, case studies and compliments they have received from the public in general.
Third – They have to deliberately look for instances where they or their employees have gone far beyond what was expected by a customer, a prospect or the public, in general. There are many examples of this.
There is the story of the Federal Express driver many years ago who made sure to get a wedding dress to a prospective bride in the midst of a major snow storm.
There are the stories of Nordstrom employees who have gone out of their way to help customers who shop at Nordstrom.
They can make these stories known in articles or video clips and even on their blog.
Fourth – They need to make the public aware of any time an association, the news media or anyone else recognizes their company for the service and the care they provide for their customers and prospects.
All of these steps will go a long way to rebuild any trust which may have been lost because of an unfortunate instance.
The Goal of Content Marketers and the Public Relations Department is the Same – to Restore Trust
Public Relations is charged with creating the immediate response to any situation that sheds bad light on a company. The Marketing Department and its Content Marketers are responsible for restoring trust in the company over the long haul.
It’s unfortunate. We have not seen United Airlines start to do any of this. The longer it takes them the more difficult it will be to restore trust with air travelers and the American Public.
