The Power of PR...

The situation that happened in relation to the song “United Breaks Guitars” is a great example of both poorly conducted and positively conducted PR. A little over a year ago as musician Dave Carroll was traveling on United Airlines from Halifax to Chicago, his $3,500 Taylor guitar was damaged and broken during the flight process. When Carroll approched United about replacing the guitar, his wishes were denied. Carroll vowed to write three songs about the poor customer service and two days after his first release the company was down $180 million.

The first mistake with the public relations on United’s end was that the company did nothing to apologize or explain why they could not replace the guitar. When a client has a problem with your company, it is the priority of the PR employees to make sure the customer leaves the situation happy and on good terms with the organization. No matter if the customer is in the wrong or not, it should have been the role of United to make sure Carroll left feeling satisfied. Without caring about your customers and listening to their concerns, there is no way for a company to be successful and United should have known this.

The second mistake on United’s end was ignoring Carroll’s threats at writing three songs. Considering that Carroll is a musician and could potentially have a lot of influence, United should have taken what Carroll said much more seriously. As public relation specialists, the employees at United should have known that the reputation of the company was in danger. First and foremost, I believe that United should have provided some sort of compensation for the guitar. Ata minimum United should have already had a statement prepared in defense against Carroll and his music. This way United could have quickly had a reaction statement and the losses could have potentially been avoided.

Looking at the actions of Dave Carroll, I believe that he did absolutely nothing wrong and handled the situation very professionally. Carroll tried to first handle his issues with the company. When nothing was done to assist him, Carroll forewarned United about the songs and gave them ample time to either defend themselves or help buy a replacement guitar.

Carroll’s songs and the enormous impact they had on people and United, are a great example of just how strong of an impact public relations can have. Neither Carroll nor United could have suspected that a simple song could change people’s views so strongly. With the social media of today, people see and hear things at a much quicker pace. Youtube and the Internet are so popular that millions of people can view content in a matter of days. As time continues and technology progresses, organizations and people are going to have to maintain an even stronger watch on their image and the reputation they have with the public.

Although the increase in technology and media resources can damage a company quickly, it can also change an image for the positive overnight. Dave Carroll is an excellent example of how in a matter of days he went from being hardly known to a social sensation. Today, PR can be used to the advantage or disadvantage depending on how resources are used and situations are handled. The overall message and key is to recognize the power of PR and use this power for good.