by Ann Pruitt

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When singer/songwriter Dave Carroll saw United Airline baggage handlers throwing, and breaking, his beloved Taylor guitar last year, he didn’t just complain to the deaf ears at United. He fought back. United gave him an initial “no” to his requests for compensation, so he promised to write 3 songs and publish them on YouTube. He writes on his blog, “This stopped being about compensation when the airline flatly refused to consider the matter.”  This week his revenge was complete.

The long-awaited United Breaks Guitars Song 3 is out.  The launch of the video, in true social media style, included a live webcast and launch party on March 1.

The entire saga is a great example of how social media can be used to get results when nobody in customer service seems to be listening.

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Results of the YouTube Trilogy

Here are just some of the results from Dave Carroll’s clever YouTube trilogy:

• The first video has over 8 million views; the second has over 916 thousand, and the final one, released on March 1, 2010, already has over 30,000.
• Traditional media picked up the story:  For example, CNN covered the story, and Dave was invited to appear on The View.
• United Breaks Guitars is nominated as the 2010 East Coast Music Association video of the year.
• Dave did eventually get two new Taylor guitars from United.
• United also donated money to a charity in his name.
• Taylor guitar responded with its own YouTube video with information on traveling with guitars.
• Dave Carroll’s career and band, Sons of Maxwell , has taken off.
• United is using the videos as part of training for its employees
• Need a “United Breaks Guitars” hat or T-shirt? But one here.
• Dave is doing public speaking about customer service.

From his website: “ Consider hiring Dave to share his personal “Customer Experience” story and what it means for each of us as consumers and employees in today’s social media world. Dave has many first-hand insights on the power of one person and how leading companies must compete through exceptional customer experiences.”

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Elements of Success

What elements have contributed to make Dave Carroll’s social media campaign so successful?

1. His YouTube videos have been direct, yet clever and professional. There isn’t any vicious malice or immature ranting. The professional manner in which the videos are done allows for, yes, even Mrs. Irwig to be able to see the humor in the entire situation.

2. Dave appeals to all of us. We’ve all had trouble with customer no-service (as consumer advocate Clark Howard calls it). We’ve all wished we could do something about it.

3. Dave had a distinct goal. “My goal in committing to this project was to place the videos on YouTube and attain 1 million hits in one year with the 3 videos combined,” he writes. The goal wasn’t just to stand in front of a camera and rant on about his problem.

4. There’s a story, told with the talent he has. With the three music videos, we get a beginning, middle, and end, and now we are left feeling like we can move on, strengthened by the knowledge that we can fight back, using the talents we have.

5. Customer Service can’t ignore the masses. When you’ve got millions of viewers watching a social media presentation of how bad you are . . . well, you’ve got to respond.

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The Real Victory

As Dave writes in his blog, “The UBG was really ‘everyone’s victory’ for the small guy against huge impersonal corporations . . . . I had hoped that creating these videos might make a big corporation rethink how they think of each and every customer but could never have imagined the potential hidden inside a music video and a few social media tools. Corporations of all kinds around the world now feel compelled, in part because of United Breaks Guitars, to build in a better model for customer care into their businesses.”

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010, 10:55 am   |   Internet, Social Media, Viral Video  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback