By now you’ve probably heard the story. In July 2009, a major airline’s stock price plummeted by 10 percent almost overnight. The incident cost shareholders more than $180 million and was among the worst stock hits in the airline’s history, according to The Los Angeles Times.
What caused the airline’s stock to drop so rapidly? Was it jet fuel costs, grounded aircraft, or sudden safety concerns? No.
A year earlier, the airline broke a passenger’s guitar.
As musician Dave Carroll and his fellow band members were waiting to deplane, a passenger behind them shouted, “They’re throwing guitars out there!” Carroll’s friend saw the baggage handlers throw their guitars onto the tarmac, and Carroll later discovered that his Taylor guitar was broken. After months of frustration with the airline’s policies, Carroll crafted a 4-minute and 37-second satirical song describing his ordeal. He posted it on YouTube, and the song soon became his most famous work.
More than 10 million people around the globe watched Carroll’s video. Its popularity led to talk-show appearances and news articles, proving that a seemingly minor incident by yesterday’s standards can quickly become a corporate crisis by today’s standards. How? A surge in the newest channels of communication, or social media, can cause any issue, no matter how small, to capture public attention worldwide.
As discussed in this ISG white paper, your company could face its own broken-guitar incident someday. Social media has immense power in today’s world, and that power belongs to those who use it. To take advantage of this power, while preventing others from using it against you, you must find and engage the people who are talking about your brand – and also those who are listening.
