A good portion of my social media workshops focus on the idea of starting or participating in conversations with the market.
The subject of conversation that a company starts should engage potential clients’ interest and garner important feedback for the company.
Quantas airlines launched a twitter campaign shortly after an industrial dispute during which the company closed down all its flights and inconvenienced thousands of its passengers.
What was the subject of the twitter campaign? If you assume it was part of an excercise to mend relations with passengers you would be sadly mistaken.
Was it a twitter campaign directing passengers to a blog where the company’s position and action during the dispute was explained in detail? No.
Was it a twitter campaign straight out apologising for the inconvenience caused to passengers? No.
Was it a twitter campaign asking for serious feedback on how future disputes might be handled? No.
The twitter campaign that Quantas rolled out in the wake of one of its worst public relations disasters began
@Quantasairways
“Ever wanted to experience Quantas first class luxury?”
Respondees were promised the opportunity to win a luxury in flight pack if they answered the following question…
@Quantasairways To enter tell us ‘What is your dream luxury inflight experience?’ Be creative. Answer must include #Quantasluxury
It should have come as no surprise to switched on marketing department that the seething mass of seething passengers grasped the opportunity to vent their anger at being stranded in airports across the globe. #Qantasluxury was soon the preferred tag for hundreds of ‘creative’ passengers putting their best sarcasm to test.
Here’s a couple I took from one article here
@GrogsGamut tweeted: “#QantasLuxury- when the passengers arrive before the couriers delivering the lockout notices do”.
ABC radio’s PM presenter Mark Colvin, @Colvinius said: “Getting from A to B without the plane being grounded or an engine catching fire. #qantasluxury”.
And @the-aaron-smith said: “#qantasluxury is chartering a Greyhound bus and arriving at your destination days before your grounded Qantas flight”.
