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Beware companies, netizens are watching you
The trend has presented challenges for businesses and public relations strategists, but there are also opportunities to be found in instant netizens responses.
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A screen capture from a YouTube video uploaded by Rius Vernandes depicting a handwritten menu on a business class on a Garuda Indonesia flight from Sydney, Australia to Denpasar, Indonesia. (Tribunnews.com/-)
O
ne day an airline passenger bound for Denpasar from Sydney posted on Instagram an experience that caught him by surprise. Sitting in the business class of a premium airline, the flight attendants circulated a handwritten menu instead of a printed one as usual.
The man turned out to be a famous video blogger, with almost 500,000 YouTube subscribers. Instantly his post went viral, becoming one of the most discussed topics on social media.
Rius Vernandes was the man behind the gadget and was unfortunate enough to be sued by a labor union member of the airline, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, for that one act of sharing an Instagram story. Garuda Indonesia, whose first reaction was to deny there had been a handwritten menu only to be proven wrong once Rius’ extended video footage was released, also circulated a letter discouraging passengers from taking videos or photos on board the aircraft following the fiasco.
The airline’s reaction led to public outcry and concerns over freedom of expression, but the one key takeaway from the case is that businesses are increasingly exposed to new reputational risks stemming from netizens, who now have a new and hassle-free “customer care” center — social media — according to communication experts.
The trend has presented challenges for businesses and public relations strategists, but there are also opportunities to be found in instant netizens responses.
“Companies have to be able to adapt to the openness and fast pace of the today’s world by opening up customer service [channels] through social media. That way we can react to and serve the customers accordingly,” said Arto Soebiantoro, a marketing and brand expert.
Contrary to the Garuda Indonesia case, Kompas, one of Indonesia’s oldest newspapers, turned an editorial mistake into a business opportunity.
