Over the past few weeks I have been amazed by infinite power that social media possesses. There have been some really amazing examples of how social media has changed the entire reputation of major companies that have worked years to build that reputation in a matter of moments through social Media. There have been good, bad, & really ugly examples that have happened. All of these examples demonstrate the sheer power of social media.
The Bad- "We're a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization"
I am sure many of you have heard of the travesty that came about when a Real Estate Company sued a former tenant 
for $50,000 over a tweet that she made. By this company taking this sort of action, they immediately became known as a "We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization" That statement instantly placed the company in the spotlight with some of the worst media possible. This subject became a trending topic on twitter in less than 3 hours & thousands of posts were written about it.
While I am not going to get into the debate of whether it was ok or not for the tenant to make a statement like this, or if the real estate company had a right to sue, the point I am trying to convey is that the issue from the real estate company standpoint should've been handled differently.
While the lawsuit itself was a big step that would be questionable by many to take, that also isn't the part that really brought the bad press onto the Real Estate Company & changed the entire reputation of that company in a matter of minutes. The statement made by a high up representative of "We're a sue first, ask questions later kind of organization" is what changed everything at that company instantly.
A reputation that the company had worked over 25 years to establish a reputation as one of the premiere apartment leasing & property management companies was destroy in less than an hour by one executives statement.
Unfortunately for this company, it may take them another 25 years to rebuild their reputation back to where it was. Or even longer. While the Executive has issued several other statements since trying to explain their reasons for the lawsuit, most people will remember them always for that negative statement.
The Really Ugly- United, please fix my Taylor guitar!
A rather unknown band used a catchy song & lyrics with a silly video to let the world know how United Airlines took care of their instruments. This poor gentleman tried for over a year to get someone from United to help him with a claim after he watched the workers throw his guitar around on the tarmac & ended up breaking his very expensive Taylor Guitar. He talked to several members within the organization to try & get help but all he received was sorry, we won't replace, and claim denied. So, Dave Carroll took matters into his own hands decided to write the song & make a video. If you haven't watched the video, take a minute & have a good laugh. United Breaks Guitars has received over 4.6 million views in just 28 days on Youtube.
In less than a week, the video was well over 1 million views & United had also agreed to pay Dave for his broken Taylor guitar. Once again, the power of social media changed the life long reputation of a major company in less than a few days.
Barcelona wants to thank you!~ A Good Example of Responding in Social Media
A visitor to the Okinawa Churaumai Aquarium shot a beautiful video of Kuroshio Sea, (try watching it in HD & full screen, it is awesome!) which is the second largest acrylic viewing panel in the world. On the video, he overlaid a great song by a band called Barcelona. The gentleman who published the video used the song without written permission & the band was left with choices of what type of actions to take. They could have either became very angry & demanded the video be removed for using their song without permission.
However, this band took a different approach. Instead of telling you what they did, I will let you just watch the video below:
This band decided to embrace the use of social media and it has paid off in huge dividends for them. Their sales have increased tremendously & also their reputation has grown by leaps & bounds as a band that appreciates their fans. The video has since been viewed over 1.5 million times! Another example is of a super funny wedding entrance video that Claire shared on her blog. BMG records & Chris Brown could've required them to take down the video because it is within their legal rights to do so. Instead, they allowed it to stay up & the creators of the video loved the song so much that they placed a simple ad link on the video to "buy this song on iTunes" and the song sales went up incredibly.
What's Your Point to All of This?
The point to all of these examples is this. Social media is one of the most powerful forces out there for your business. You can write posts, create videos & make tweets that can shape your business from top to bottom. However the key to doing so successfully is to look at the overall picture. In my two negative examples above, if the Real Estate company had just ignored the tweet that the person shared with her 29 friends on twitter they would not have such bad press & a totally ruined reputation. While they may have the right to sue from a legal standpoint, the $50,000 suit will never come close to covering the damages done by social media to their reputation.
United Airlines had all the chances in the world to fix their situation. instead they stood firm and said no. Saying no to Dave Carroll has turned him into an instant star & also brought United some of the worst publicity a company has seen in years. All over a $3,000 guitar. While United has since agreed to fix the guitar it will never fix the damage caused by one simple video.
While these two companies ended up in the negative, the other two examples show how picking the "best" solution instead of the "right" have paid off in great dividends of higher sales & also some of the most positive story lines of Social Media. So, before you make that response in business you may want to stop & consider this: Is being right always right? You be the judge.
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I am the Co-Founder of 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors. I have traveled the country as a social media speaker. If you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in this blog, please contact me directly. We specialize in social media training, online consulting, and the creation of your own custom WordPress site.
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This is crazy - I must be under a rock because I hadn't heard about the United guitar thing. Socail Media has the power alright!
I don't live under a rock ... Only thing I was NOT familiar with is the last bit with Barcelona and the aquarium video.... beautiful video, beautiful music.
HI Jeremy,
In my opinion, if this company would have responded to this tweet with a solution, it would have been awesome for their business. They had negative publicity that they could have turned positive. If they would have just contacted the tenant, and asked how they could fix the problem through Twitter. That right there would have showed what a cool company they were, instead they went the other route, and used conventional publicity, which is dead. It just goes to show, ignorance of new technology can ruin your business.
-Lisa
My comment to the twit heard round the world was: if it's true, how can they sue? Was there mold?
Our culture is changing and failure to understand the online dynamic will come back to haunt many. I can also say that there is a lot of real defamation online that needs to be addressed by individuals. I have seen some horrible things written, that might not be true. One of my fears for companies is that they start getting threats from consumers about "I will post something negative about you online." The internet is a powerful medim.
One of the things social media does is level the playing field. Small bands, artists, companies can go viral with a good idea, song, whatever and introduce themselves to a wide new audience. I have rented many movies, and purchased music because of a link on twitter or facebook.
I hadn't seen the aquarium video, but absolutely will be checking these guys out on itunes. I like that the link is right there on youtube, and I think that is a respectable solution. I understand copyright issues are in play here, but it was a beautiful and tasteful video.
Great points Jeremy! The right approach can make all the difference in the world for a company's or an individuals reputation. Think long and hard how you respond in any social media, including AR. Think before you click!
In NE Ohio we saw an example from Nike when they pulled the videos of the kid dunking on LeBron. We love LeBron here in NE Ohio and he would never care about something like that, we know him, he loves to have fun. But Nike made it an internet sensation when the cell video became public, on YouTube no less. Bad PR.
It is amazing what power people have if they would just learn to harness it into positive action and reaction. Things like the sue remark show the dark side of people and how they choose to react inappropriately and yet others respond to things as a platform to market and grow. AWESOME! This is a great post and I am sitting here thinking about the positive ways I can use social media to promote my business and community!
There are a lot of lessons to be learned here. You can definitely attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. At the same time the example of the guy with the guitar could incite copycats to blackmail companies into doing things they don't want to do even if they did nothing wrong - once it is on the internet it is on there forever.
Ouch. This reminds me of a flip side of the coin and it makes me sick to my stomach. There is a discruntled buyer (I won't say whether they are right or not as I don't know the facts) but the buyer is determined to take down the agent and the company - and it's nasty. The buyer is using social media to blast terrible stuff about the company by blogging and it's ranking on page one sometime right along the company and abetter than the agents. It's really sad, it's going through a messe law suit. So if the company and agent are not at fault - which may happen, they were still dragged through this and now if anybody googles it the nasty stuff pops up. ~Rita
An additional lesson to be learned is that you have an on-line brand, whether you work at it or not. I don't think it's as much of an issue for those of us on sites like Active Rain as we've realized the power of the Internet or we wouldn't be here. For people who don't pay attention, they may realize too late, that things are said about them for which they have no control.
Point made! Always good to take a deep breath before reacting to something... There's more than one way to handle any situation.
There is no greater flattery than to have your song go viral because a super funny wedding video. That one and the Evian Roller Babies are my favorites. Margaret I agree with you! There are always multiple ways to handle any situation.
Jeremy - What a great post! It took me about 20 minutes to get through it because I kept getting lost visiting the links you provided and watching the videos. That aquarium looks amazing (and I love the band's response). Great points in your post, thank you for sharing!!
I loved this post!! I went through all the videos and they were perfect examples for the power of social media. By the comment above, I realize that I did not watch the aquarium video - will do that next. I am going to tweet this - deserves the most attention it can get - and some for Activerain as well I hope.
Jeremy...
What a terrific post this is. I love it. BB and I have never initiated any kind of lawsuit against anyone. I've always believed that a court of law is not the place for our good name. We've turned the other cheek so many times I've lost count :)
On the social media side of things, this post is just one more reason to re-think our actions before hitting that submit button :)
TLW...ROAR!
I've had a few times over the last year where I've counted to 99 before I've responded! and glad I did. Some situations where it seems the other side is being underhanded, still require that I take the high road. What goes around, comes around. Thanks for the post!
Sometimes being right is not the best solution especially between people and arguments...I think you have to evaluate the situation especially in business..the who's whats and whys are extremely important. Take a step back and then make a decision..I imagine these companies will suffer years down the road!
Jeremy - and the best thing about social media? It's FREE! I really like this post as it demonstrates the power that we have to promote ourselves without spending thousands on billboards, flyers and magazine or newspaper ads. Brilliant!
Jeremy -- what great examples here of the power of Social Media. These stories just show us how far we've come in making the world a much smaller place.
The Aquarium video and song by Barcelona is absoutely mermerising -- just awesome...so peaceful!
Jeremy - these are some great examples of the power of the Internet adn being careful of what you san adn do on-line. Unfortunately someone can always come along and try to damage a person or company's repurtation, but regardless of what the outcome is, folks who thrive on social media will be sure to spread the word virally no matter what. I suspect many folks have no idea how potent this medium has become.
Jeff
Jeremy, wow suing over a Tweet. Sometimes it pays to remain incognito. There are others that are just sue happy too.
Jeremy: Absolutely fantastic post! What's the old saying ... "a picture is worth a hundred words?" Well ... can only imagine what a video is worth ...
The Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
AND
Thumpers rule - If you can't say somethin' nice don't say anythin' at all.
This was certainly an eye-opener. But as Margaret said, Point made! It is always important to consider all of the ramifications of an action before pursuing it.
Hi Jeremy:
THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU for a fabulous post! Wonderful example of how problems are solved!
We love it,
For some things though like intellectual property people have a right to protect their rights to their property.
The lesson I learned long ago and is reinforced everyday, Don't antagonize angry customers. Schmooze angry customers. You can't just avoid bad reviews, you must reach out to the bad reviewer and solve their problem. Also, giving them some free stuff helps too :).
Social media can put you in a box because once its posted people can just go off on it.
great juxtopositon of how people respond to the new and ever changing world of online communication. now I just need to head on over to check out barcelona on facebook! thanks brett
Love that United video...only problem is when you hear the song it gets stuck in your head!!
Great post. It is good to get another perspective on certain issues. Being right can kill your ability to sell, but sometimes I just correct people when they are off the mark.
now we could all learn a lesson from Barcelona couldn't we? (PS I cried when I saw the wedding video the first time, it was just such an expression of unreserved fun and joy) thanks for reminding us to "get a life" (and what publicity does teh mold peopel think they have now?)
I totally agree with you Jeremy! This post was SUPER well written! And the United Breaks Guitars was just icing on the cake!
Dan- I have walked around all day singing the line "or gone by car, cuz United Breaks Guitars."
Love the post Jeremy. Today more then ever we must always be aware of the fact that social media exposes us in ways we never dreamed of. Although no matter how much we try, we are at one point or another going to have a client that just doesn't have a good experience with us. Some may be valid reasons, and some may just be conflicting personalities. Either way, we need to be prepared to handle negativity when it comes to social media. As the examples Jeremy pointed out, we can either compound the effect, or take advantage of it.
LOL Jeremy...
It's stuck in my head too :)
TLW...ROAR!
Until the Horizon story broke (and by the way, I got the scoop from Kevin Cottrell), I thought the Iran election fiasco was the clearest example of the power of social media. It still might be, but the outcry over this fiasco has been amazing. I eagerly await every stumble by the villified company, and I know I will know about it as soon as someone tweets!
Jeremy,
Most companies haven't caught on to the power of social media. They still pitch stories through press releases and don't monitor the net to check their reputation -- the single most important thing they have. Warren Buffet has famously said "It takes 20 years to build your reputation, and 5 minutes to destroy it." That was before Twitter. Now it takes 20 seconds.
It's not just the big companies. In the real estate profession everything is about your reputation. You have to protect it and monitor it or your business could dry up and blow away.
Thanks for sharing this!
Truly incredible post, Jeremy! The Taylor guitaur video was hilarious and an effective way to get United's attention. I am very impressed with Barcelona's reaction and the way they handled their issue.
Great reminder that social media is not a game.
Once again, the power of social media changed the life long reputation of a major company in less than a few days.
Hi Jeremy,
By giving such powerful examples outside of ActiveRain I believe you've opened some eyes to a much larger perspective. Very cool. Thanks!
I've read about some of these. We are really in a big fishbowl now. Everything you do can be blogged and written about.
It is amazing how cautiously and calculatedly you have to walk-the-line in social media. It is part of what I teach corporations in handling customer service online, part of our curriculum. You MUST create a "voice" and stick to it, committ to a "mission statement" and live by it. And make sure that your representatives all agree to it. The worst part is that if one person is having a bad day, or chooses the wrong work, or is misinterpreted it can snowball out of control so quickly. Which is WHY those corporations need to be on Twitter, and the like, to quickly monitor and address any concerns.
I think Barcelona took the right position, if you consider how much positive publicity they got and the same for the United Guitar situation.
Every action in Social Media has an immediate and reverberating reaction, and every word must be thoughtfully selected and carefully posted.
Amazing that I teach this, and believe this, especially if you follow me on Twitter!!
Great post Jeremy, really makes someone think twice before you hit that send or post button.... be careful people, it is FOREVER if you don't delete it in the first 90 seconds, or maybe it is 9 seconds?
Hey Jeremy! Great post. It really reinforces why I try to do the the right thing everyday reguardless of what it takes. Keep up the good work!
Social media has the power to do MANY things, many of which can be good if the power is harnessed right. Hey, I think we should always live "out in the open" as if someone is always looking and watching (b/c in reality Someone is).
Maya- Unfortunately somethings get picked up instantly that even if you delete immediately after hitting submit, it will still show up somewhere. It is just a matter of digging hard enough to find it!
We had a saying back in the 80's: Sometimes the cost of being right is, you get to be right.
Often that turned out to be at a high expense! Great post Jeremy, awesome lessons for our time. Thx.
I have warned my agents for years that they need to be careful putting anythig in writing that they would not want a judge to read.
Jeremy...
Ahhh.. This makes me laugh so hard! How serious people take themsleves. Right or wrong there will always be criticism, hey? Funny about wedding clip, they weren't re-distributing for money,.. so what the heck.. Gave the artist ALOT of free advertising, and it didnt cost him a dime!
I agree wtih Maya, corporations should be involved in social media and the ones that "get it" are,.. what a great tool for analyzing what works and doesn't work. They spend thousands watching what people say about their products and services,.. as smart ones should.
Great post... I can only repeat my favorite saying,.. "Say what you mean,.. and mean what you say!" ; )
Debbie
Fascinating post Jeremy -- I had not heard this and it's mind blowing to see the impact.
Companies that use User Generated Content as a means to learn or further their brand will do well. Those that think they can control the discussion with a strong arm will lose...
Great post! Once upon a time, unhappy customers amounted to little more than a beaten up customer service department for many companies and organizations. Social media is changing that by giving the customer a much greater voice which can no longer be ignored. I hope that it will make companies think twice about how they manage customer feedback. If we really want to dream big - maybe common sense can make a come back? Upon reading more about Horizon, last week, they probably had a good legal argument. However, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
With that said, I would be lying if I said that I'm not concerned about malicious use of social media. Unfortunately, there are some vendictive and destructive people out there who will use these platforms to smear/slander innocent companies and individuals. When those situations are discovered, I truly hope those responsible will get the harshest penalty possible.
Companies or brands who choose to trivialize the impact of social media will certainly risk similar PR mishaps when their time comes. Get with the program, or get left behind.
But, then again... this social media thing is another phase, just like the internet and computers... :-)
Jeremy... this is very interesting.. I had not heard about this one.
Jeremy, you rock! I don't think I've enjoyed a post EVER before as much as this one...Of course, I grew up in Okinawa and the song was gorgeous and I got emotional, but your message is clear...I'm glad I stayed up late surfing on AR!
Jeremy this is an awesome post. I worry about this because we are such a litigious society but the right response is to live and let live. Some people have to be right above everything and these are the people who will pursue frivolous things. Defending your rights is important but it is important to take things from where they came and decide what response is appropriate based on infraction.
I have watched the United Breaks Guitars video and he ranks well. United also has surly employees in San Francisco. Oops don't tell anybody I might get sued!
There is always a way to do a Video Response on youTube. That IMO would have been more effective. I just saw a video response to the wedding video on divorce. It was funny too.
Time for the big guys to step up and go where the consumers are.
Jeremy, I almost didn't read this because I was in a hurry to get to a walk-through, but I'm so glad I took the time. Great insights and something to think about. (And I'll come back to see the Aquriaum video when I get back!!) Thanks for writing this.
Great, great post. A a strong reminder for all of us to not simply 'react' to situations, instead to think them thru & use good judgement. We sometimes lose sight of just how far reaching social media has become & how a stupid or even an innocent comment can go global very quickly.
Very interesting perspective. I love the response Barcelona had the the other video. Just goes to show you what a difference staying positive can make.
There have always been examples of Good and Bad ways to handle things. The Internet and social media have just sped up the process and opened up the audience. It has shortened the distance from foot to mouth for the fools and given if those of limited means a soap box.
We have to be responsible readers and not buy into every agreived persons claims. They will come out of the wood work if they think they can bully honest companies into something through the use of social media.
Thank-you for sharing! I loved BOTH videos! What a catchy tune - united breaks guitars........ and please don't go - reminded me of "Lullaby" by Creed (I think!)
Bruce, it is over 1,000 now
Jeremy - excellent point, reputation management has completely changed with the onslaught of social media. Everything is out there for the world to see, whether you're there or not.
Hi Jeremy,
This is one of my favorite active rain posts of all time. Great points and delivery. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? The Buddhists call it "emptiness". Everything depends on how you view it. We all have the choice!
Most companies have still not grasped at a C level the magnitude of citizen journalism (blogging, tweeting, any form of social networking where an individual can report on their experiences) and consider the web a kid's tool and brush it off. The biggest problem with social media is that it is still, on a massive scale, highly misunderstood (which is the root of fear which is the root of defensiveness which is the root of inaction or poor actions).
Great examples of service levels, Jeremy!
Jeremy - Great insight here. It really is amazing the power of social media and its ever growing influence. You are right, sometimes when you are right, you are wrong ! This is a great example.
Thanks Jeremy, if it wasn't for you and activerain I would not heard or known anything about this..... I from Chicago (45 years ago).... by the way did United fix the guitare or will they sue?
There are far fewer facts, and far more opinions! There is little truth, there is mostly versions!. . . And like Dr. Phil asks, "Would you rather be right, or would you rather be happy?"
Blanton,
Since your topic is so engaging -- and packs an intellectual "punch" that we often miss in the blogging medium -- it is quite easy to gloss over how much effort you took to craft your message.
You present lively, polished writing with an intense subject: not easy to do and a pleasure to read. Well done. I too enjoyed the aquarium video and the song.
Lenza
Andrew- Thank you my friend for stopping by & commenting. The network has just not been the same since you left. Your words mean so much. Thank you.
Great post. Take advantage of FREE publicity and turn it to your advantage.
While I agree to a degree with the moral of this particular story, I do think we place a little too much credit on the prolonged disgruntlement of today's short attention-span audience. The company is likely damaged in the here and now, but let's not kid ourselves. This story has already been replaced by the next round of outrage reserved for the trending topic of the hour. 25 years to rebuild brand reputation? No one will remember this bit of ill-advised PR in 25 days. Aside from a few stubborn green Twitter avatars, the American public has already forgotten about the Iran election.
Not that it diminishes the import of minding your reputation as to how you comport yourself in business (a professional strives to do right, even in the absence of perceived consequence), but this comment is already so five minutes ago by today's information-on-demand society. Bad form on this company's part, indeed, but this isn't a Hindenburg incident. Most people view brokers as a necessary evil to begin with, and will merely take such a story of confirmation of that belief. Stupid? Yes. Short term disruption to their business? Yes. An irreversible blow to future earning potential? Hell, even Michael Vick is interviewing for a job these days. Too much access to too much information for anything short of scandal on par with Teapot Domian proportions to linger much past the point of initial righteous fury.
There is a market for everything anymore. Even "sue first, ask questions later" types of organizations. Believe it.
Great point Jeremy. We need to protect our online reputation. It can cost us lots of business