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At the beginning of November, news that an engine had blown on a Qantas Airbus A380 flight from Singapore just minutes after take-off triggered a dismal month for the engine maker, Rolls Royce. In the past few weeks, we monitored over 5,000 mentions of the social discussion around Rolls Royce, its failed Trent 900 engine and the damage to its reputation.
We also picked up an interesting secondary discussion on the way Qantas managed the crisis in the first few hours of the disaster. Passengers on the Qantas flight immediately tweeted news of the emergency landing. So, for the airline, what was the role of social media in communicationg what had actually happened?
Figure 1: Sentiment expressed towards Rolls Royce in the discussion around engine failure – 25/10 to 23/11
Looking at the Rolls Royce discussion, there were three, unsurprising stand-out peaks in negative sentiment. The first spike on 5 November was driven by speculation on Twitter that an engine design flaw by Rolls Royce caused the Qantas plane to make an emergency landing.
The second peak on 8 November was driven by confirmation from the Australian airline that it had found anomalies on three additional engines across its fleet – heaping more woes on Rolls Royce.
The biggest spike was on 12 November when the company confirmed that it had identified the component that caused the engine blowout and also said that the issue could hit profit growth.
The engine makers’ reputation was damaged. But, throughout the period, Rolls Royce was assertive in communicating the action it was taking on engine safety as momentum around the crisis grew on all channels.
What about Qantas? On 4 November, Crisisblogger posted: ‘Oh boy, this is what we in crisis communication in the age of citizen journalists and instant social media have been talking about’.
The blogger acknowledged the airline got many things right when news broke but was critical of the fact it did not make a response on Twitter where it could have responded to early rumours and reports – ‘for the news media tuning in to Twitter for the latest updates, Qantas should have been there’. Nor did it use other channels such as Facebook or communicate through their website ‘at least they would have been part of the stream’. But, none of this would not damage its reputation.
A reply to the post by J.D. pointed out Quantas may not have had ‘verifiable information to share at the same pace that the passengers were tweeting/posting’ and the number one priority was the safety of its passengers.
This was supported by another comment: ‘JD – I agree. While Twitter is critical; there are so many moving parts in a crisis that need to be considered that pulling a trigger too soon can have dangerous or unintended consequences’.
What are your thoughts on how companies should use social media to communicate or respond to a major news story?
There’s been a lively discussion lately about how companies can no longer shy away from social media. Brands need a sustained, targeted, social media strategy to listen and engage with their customers. The banking industry should be no exception.
However, recent research from MyPrivateBanking Research found that global banking representation in social media was poor and most did not have a strategic social programme. The consulting company’s Wealth Management and Social Media report surveyed the world’s top 30 wealth managers. Around 20 leading banks either had an ad-hoc approach or no strategy at all. Deutsche Bank, Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse were the exception. Deutsche took pole position.
Research director Steffen Binder explained: “Despite the startling growth of social media usage around the globe, the majority of leading banks and wealth managers have failed to discover the potential of social media and act on it.”
There are no hard and fast rules in engagement, but for the banking industry, with millions of clients, one thing is certain, social media is vital for managing relationships and reputations. Your customers are ready – are you?
In the past week, Vodafone has found itself at the sharp end of a Facebook and Twitter campaign. Protestors across the country blockaded stores claiming the mobile operator had not paid a £6bn tax bill. Campaigners on Wednesday closed Vodafone’s flagship London store and people followed the protest via the #UKuncut hashtag, which turned into a website, and sparked a national protest against Vodafone. Satirical magazine Private Eye originated the tax expose.
Johann Hari, the journalist at The Independent, was one of thousands that tweeted news of the campaign. Hari tweets in a personal capacity.
Sentiment in social media has, on balance, been negative in the past week (53.5%). Sample negative mentions have included:
‘RT @chris_coltrane Vodafone protest is still in full swing. We’ve closed down their store because they avoided £6bn tax. #UKUncut …’ (Facebook post 28/10)
‘If Vodafone ever tell you to pay your bill tell them to pay there 6Billion tax bil. If they pay it, over 50% of the governments cuts would not be need…’(Facebook post 29/10)
‘Why is Vodafone dodging tax, tax dodging is immoral and makes you responsible for job losses and service cuts in the UK. Pay the Tax now’. (Facebook post 30/10)
Figure1: Sentiment expressed in the discussion of Vodafone and alleged non-payment of taxes – 27/10 – 3/11
Vodafone has refuted the claim and asserted: “We pay our taxes in the UK and all of the other countries in which we operate.” A spokesperson from HMRC has also described the £6bn figure as an “urban myth”, which generated also some positive mentions.
And, what’s the latest word on the social street. Key topics have included calls for wider protests against Vodafone, comment on the spending cuts and tax evasion by rich entities. Some consumers have said they will leave Vodafone and also urged non-payment of phone bills over the issue. Celebrities such as comedians Marcus Brigstock and Robin Ince have also joined the fray.
It seems Vodafone has not yet doused the firestorm.
Research from Experian Hitwise found that SMEs were more creative with social media than larger brands. Comparatively, they also generated more online traffic. Almost 15% of traffic for smaller enterprises came from social networks, driven by engagement in entertainment and lifestyle.
Looking at the bigger social picture, networking sites last month accounted for 11.6% of all UK web visits and Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounted for 75% of activity. Facebook took 55% in market share. Only Google drove more traffic to websites than the networking giant. The most prolific social media users were in the North East, and also Wales.
Experian Hitwise research director Robin Goad also explained that retail brands were starting to utilise the power of social media to generate online traffic and sales as social uptake grew. The study concluded that: “Social media is not a fad, it is not a passing online trend and, whether we like it or not, social media is not going to go away.”
Is your brand ready?
Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer unveiled Windows Phone 7 on 11 October – a new smartphone in an already crowded market. So, what’s the response been like in social media? In the past month, we monitored over 150,000 mentions of the Windows Phone 7 discussion, in real-time to gauge the mood around the new smartphone on the block.
Figure 1: Sentiment expressed towards Windows Phone 7 – 24/9 to 24/10
21.6% of mentions were scored as positive
2.4% of mentions were scored as negative
75.9% of mentions were scored as neutral
The great thing about our system is we’re not limited to single word phrasing in topic clouds which enabled us to pick up one of the stand-out positive conversations – ‘Windows 7 phone synch software’.
‘I am crying with joy. RT @daring fireball Microsoft Announces Windows Phone 7 Sync Software for Macs’ (Tweeted by Stephan Seidt 13/10)
There was also a buzz around handset innovation. Word from Stephen Fry on new technology is very influential and he gave big thumbs up to the new phone: “Now, they get it: that all human beings are human beings first. You don’t judge the machines you use, or the houses you live in by listing their functions. The first thing you do is say how you feel about your office; when you buy a house, you do it essentially on the feeling.”
Other positive comment included:
‘Seven Ways Windows Phone 7 is Cooler than the iPhone by @MattRosoff http://read.bi/aVLK3S’ (Tweet by alleyinsider 16/10)
‘I just got my Windows Phone 7 yesterday (I live in France) and it’s a revolutionary device’. (Forum post on Kindle Community 21/10)
Mashable’s initial response at the launch was the phone ‘didn’t suck the air out of the room like the iPhone did back in 2007, but it is a formidable adversary’.
On the flipside, criticism that Microsoft used developer Robio’s Angry Birds logo without permission was one of the key negative discussion points, especially on Twitter.
‘RT @RovioMobile: We have NOT committed to doing a Windows Phone 7 version. Microsoft put the Angry Birds icon on their site without our permission’.
Other negative issues included its advertising strategy and the usability of smartphones.
‘So, what the Windows Phone 7 ad really is saying is “If you buy a WP7 phone, you won’t bother using it”’ (Tweet by Olav Haugen 14/10)
Microsoft pegged its post firmly in Google and Apple territory with Windows Phone 7, which was lauded for its design and innovation but there were also comments on the gaps in mobile OS that Microsoft needed to fill to. Greg Kumparak on TechCrunch suggested third party app multitasking, copy and paste, and tethering: ‘If Microsoft can quickly crack away at these gaps whilst managing to not slip behind in other ways, I could quite easily see myself toting a Windows Phone in the future …’
