What thoughts can we draw from the most noteworthy crisis public relations cases in 2017?

2017 is still a year of social media shining.

With the geometric spread of social media , any negative news about a brand will be magnified or even demonized, and consumers’ likes and dislikes are just a matter of thought.

Today, Mei Xiaohua will take you to review the most noteworthy crisis public relations cases in 2017, including Ctrip , Haidilao , United Airlines, etc. What are their methods of dealing with crises? HOW DOES IT PERFORM? What thoughts can these cases bring to us?

Case 1: With Ctrip in hand, look carefully before you go

At the beginning of last month, actress Han Xue angrily criticized Ctrip's bundling sales. She had discovered and manually cancelled the "pre-selected insurance box" hidden under the booking information many times, but was "still tricked" and her complaints were unsuccessful. At the end of this Weibo post, Han Xue asked Ctrip to face the problem honestly and apologize to the public, and advised "Ctrip is in hand, look carefully before leaving."

This Weibo post undoubtedly became the top headline on Weibo that day. Many netizens also came out to support the post and shared their own real cases. The audience's attention was surprisingly high.

As the incident continues to ferment, the onlookers are waiting for Ctrip’s official statement. Finally, Ctrip responded: The official will handle Han Xue’s complaint according to normal procedures, but will not make any further comments on the matter.

Case review:

On October 6, an article went viral on WeChat Moments , "10 billion a year? "Exposing the 'Ctrip's' Deceptive 'Traps'", the article angrily denounced Ctrip's various problems. Ctrip issued a public relations statement the next day, pointing out that the article was untrue and that the "10 billion" was pure rumor and slander without any factual basis.

Ctrip has been exposed repeatedly in the storm and faced with consumers' doubts. It can be said that there is only one way for Ctrip to deal with crisis public relations: the incident is being verified and wait patiently for official notification.

Faced with such an indifferent official statement, my friends, how do you feel?

Case 2: You can’t learn Haidilao’s crisis public relations

As we all know, Haidilao can be said to be an Internet celebrity hotpot on Weibo. With its unique service and atmosphere, it has its own world in the hotpot world.

In August this year, Haidilao was strongly exposed by the media for its hygiene issues. In Beijing Haidilao, rats crawled into the food cabinet and the hot pot colander was used to clean the sewer. As soon as this news came out, many friends who love Haidilao hotpot said that they felt sick. Would they still dare to eat there like this?

Under the strong public attention, Haidilao promptly issued a statement to apologize for the "hygiene problems such as rats", expressed its willingness to bear economic and legal responsibilities, and carried out rectification in all its stores.

Case review:

Mei Xiaohua will briefly analyze this statement. First, it did not shy away from the hygiene problems at Haidilao. Second, it promised to make rectifications in all stores. Finally, it won the recognition of consumers with a sincere attitude.

When the crisis exposed is confirmed, should the brand escape or accept it? What do you think, my fat friends?

Case 3: United Airlines treated passengers violently and had indifferent public relations

On April 9, a short video went viral on the Internet. It showed that United Airlines Flight 3411 was overbooked and randomly selected Asian passengers were "thrown off" the plane. The entire video was full of violence, blood, and brutality. In this way, United Airlines made global headlines because of its own brutality.

The violent incident attracted global attention, and a large number of messages on Chinese and American social media expressed the desire to boycott United Airlines. Some people even started a signature campaign on the White House petition website, asking the US federal government to investigate the United Airlines incident that occurred on April 10. Over the past few days, the incident has sparked a strong backlash from the public, causing United Airlines to suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, its stock price plummeting, its reputation being lost, and consumers becoming disgusted.

Amid the storm of public opinion, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said in an internal email to employees: We support the employees' actions and stand with them.

Such an internal email, filled with indifference towards the incident, instantly aroused the anger of netizens around the world, and they collectively boycotted United Airlines.

Faced with the storm of public opinion, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz issued a statement on the 11th to apologize again, saying that United Airlines "takes full responsibility" for the incident, will conduct a detailed investigation, and announce the results of the investigation before April 30. And announced three decisions: except for security defense, United Airlines will no longer allow law enforcement officers to pull people off planes; review company policies; and strengthen employee training.

Case review:

The incident of violent and forced dragging of passengers off the plane is itself a real hammer. What the company needs to do now is to find out the truth, apologize where necessary, compensate where necessary, and make rectifications where necessary. If the attitude of admitting mistakes is good, the onlookers will naturally feel at ease and satisfied. So how can there be a #boycottUnitedAirlines#?

From the above three cases, we can tell at a glance who did well and who did not. Nowadays, with the exponential spread of social media, factory closures/layoffs, employee disputes, customer complaints, casualties from safety accidents, corporate integrity, environmental accidents, and even the leak of an internal email from management can instantly cause an uproar...Crisis has not only become a brand killer, it can even become a company killer.

What is the nature of the crisis? What is the driving force behind it? When a crisis occurs, what does an apology mean? Why an apology can’t solve all problems What kind of crisis can’t warrant an apology? Can we really turn crisis into opportunity? In the age of social media, crises are everywhere. What should we do?