Brand Bloopers
I was putting together a branding masterclass a few weeks ago and included some examples of when brands get it very wrong. I thought I had included some of the best, however I was running a marketing course yesterday and one of the delegates brought this one to my attention. Although it has been viewed by over 8 million people on You Tube, it had passed right underneath my marketing radar. It is a video posted by a guy who was upset with United Airlines as they broke his guitar. He tried to get them to admit responsibility and replace his guitar,but he had no joy. So he wrote a song about it and put it up on You Tube, it went viral and the rest is history. It has damaged the United Airlines brand and although there is some ongoing litigation, it hasn’t done them any favours. So take note, your brand is about so much more than just your logo.
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On the one hand, brands just have to ensure their customer service is as good as it can be.
Secondly, brands, also, have to be philosophical about things like this. They’re going to happen from time-to-time. And learn how to take the blow on the chin. And how to respond to the blow in as positive a way as possible. Do something creative, something like: “we’re giving the guy a brand new guitar and tickets to a great gig etc ..” in fact they could turn it on its head where the guy benefits from the mishap, and, also, the brand by doing something creative and unexpected and big that impresses audiences.
At the end of day, everyone knows that perfection (in brands and things in general) is impossible. But everyone can respond in a positive way when things go wrong (instead of turning to litigation as the first response).
What you think?
Another great brand blooper in the making….my daughter came back from a shopping trip yesterday saying she had found the perfect scent for her boyfriend – Big Pony number 2 – one of the new masculine scents from the Ralph Lauren Big Pony range. I asked whether she really wanted her boyfriend to smell of big pony number 2? She didn’t get the joke at first. Check out the big pony range at bigponyfragrance.com – number 2 is presumably for those who prefer something a little stronger than Big Pony number 1
@Edmond
First of all Edmond apologies for taking so long to reply. For some reason your comment went into the WordPress Spam.
You are right perfection in brands is impossible, but when a brand does make a blooper, then they can, if they apply enough marketing creativity turn it into something much better. I recently called to complain about my mobile phone as the handset wasn’t working properly. I was ready for a fight, expecting customer service to tell me I hadn’t taken out insurance. However the lady I spoke to was lovely, sent out a new phone to me the same day and said there would be a package inside for me to send my broken phone back to them. So keeping your brand perception high, isn’t that difficult, you just need to listen to your customers and treat them with the respect they deserve.