Be careful what you tweet for...

Twitter is all about sharing news and opinions.  Therefore, it’s understandable that many of us turn to the real-time online network to vent our frustrations when services, products or providers let us down.

Even I’ve done it – as a sporadic tweeter – when left stranded in my car with poltergeist windscreen wipers that were determined to either burn a hole in the glass or drain my car battery.  It didn’t get me anywhere though; the tweet went unnoticed, or ignored, by my ironically termed ‘roadside rescue’ service. And so I was left, un-rescued, to juggle with the car handbook, fuse box and torch to end the squeaky misery.

For post grad law student Mark Leiser his complaint on Twitter this week certainly prompted a reaction.  Waiting for a delayed easyJet flight and feeling sorry for an armed forces passenger, Mr Leiser turned to Twitter: “Flight delayed 90min. Soldier going to miss last connection & @easyjet refusing to help pay for him to get to Portsmouth. Get right into em!”

The 113 character tweet resulted in airport staff approaching Mr Leiser, as he waited to board the plane, and telling him he couldn’t fly.  The staff claimed it was because of that tweet – did they deem it as disruptive behaviour or was the ‘get right into em’ threatening?  Eventually, Mr Leiser was allowed to board, but only after pointing out his right to free speech and referring to his status as a law student.

easyJet’s response to the incident certainly begs questions, particularly around staff protocol on social media.  Companies and their staff need to brace themselves for criticism and be on hand to respond quickly and appropriately.   

But here is a lesson also for Mr Leiser and other tweeters out there – be careful what you tweet for, the written word can all too often be misinterpreted.

Sam Kandiyali

Director

It's a dog eat dog world

HMV 1908 – 2013, read it and weep.

But first, let’s rewind some 105 years to the birth of a brand that went on to establish more than 400 stores worldwide and provided a hub for music enthusiasts to unite through their love of lyrics.

The origins of the brand name ‘HMV’ were founded upon the title of a painting ‘His Master’s Voice’ which pictured a dog listening to a wind-up gramophone; it was this image that later became synonymous with the brand among loyal customers who devoted their hard-earned money to purchasing CDs at their local high street store.

Fast forward to the year 2000 and, ironically, it was those customers who became savvy to the cost-cutting ways of online downloads, fuelling a digital music revolution and leading to the demise of the master and his dog.

But why was this allowed to happen? Why didn’t someone take a long hard look at the business model and realise that buyer behaviour was evolving in the same way man has done since time began? With the advent of the internet HMV’s alarm bells should have been ringing as the battle for survival of the fittest had begun.

The downfall could have been prevented with a strong stakeholder management strategy supporting the organisation’s overarching mission to sell music, while creating positive relationships both internally and externally. Unfortunately for HMV, 80% of the public pipped them to the post as customers’ attitudes towards online downloads had made the transition from latent, to aware and then active. The public evolved, while HMV sat and watched.

Just as we highlighted in last week’s Starbucks blog post: the golden rule of reputation management is to always listen to your publics and tailor your message accordingly – the same can be said for any business model.

From telegrams to texts, books to ebooks and blogs to vlogs; the world has evolved and it’s time for brands to listen and adapt or get left out in the cold.

Let’s hope that future business models hit all the right notes.

Zainab Rahman
Account Executive