The Qantas social media disaster

Companies around the globe are embracing and adopting social media for many different reasons, including: customer service, marketing, internal communications, public relations, and corporate social responsibility. It is now a reality that social media is changing the way stakeholders and companies communicate daily, providing opportunities for collaboration, participation, interactivity, and engagement.

Your task is to analyse a business case study that chronicles one of the worst years for Qantas. In 2011 Qantas faced a communication strategy that spiraled out of control. According to Australia’s public relations watchdog, PRdisasters.com, Qantas not only finished 2011 with the biggest PR disaster but three of its slip-ups made the top 10 list for 2011. The top 10 list of PR disasters in Australia for 2011 can be obtained at the following website: https://prdisasters.com/2012/01/09/australias-2011-pr-disasters-awards-announced/.

This case places you directly into the role of Olivia Wirth, executive of Government and Corporate affairs at Qantas Airlines, who must devise a plan of action to respond to the company’s failed and publicly scrutinised social media contest through Twitter.

You need to apply analytical, decision-making, creativity and communication skills to create an effective strategy for Qantas management to implement. You also need to take into consideration the series of events that have compounded over the past years to negatively affect the public’s perception of Qantas. In response to the company’s failed Twitter contest and mounting public animosity, what course of action should Olivia Wirth recommend to Qantas management?

Please follow these guidelines to complete the assessment:

1. Carefully read the Ivey Business School case: ‘Qantas Airlines: Twitter Nosedive’. Note: you will need to go onto the Ivey Business School website https://www.iveycases.com/ and purchase a copy of this case (approximately A$5.00).

2. Read the case several times and answer the following questions in your analysis/ recommendation(s):
3. What future actions can Qantas take to build a positive public perception of the brand? Be prepared to provide justification for your recommended actions.

1. Identify three important factors for an organisation to consider when using social media, such as Twitter, for contest or other public relations initiatives. Use 3-5 secondary sources to support your analysis.

1. Using the Communication Plan Template in the case (see Exhibit TN-1), devise a course of action for Olivia Wirth to recommend to Qantas management.

Some important guidelines to consider when developing a recommended course of action:

• The different stages of the communication plan template must fit together, if they do not, adjustments must be made.
• The communication plan should be realistic and feasible.
• The various problems that Qantas has experienced publically over the past year must be taken into account.

                                                       SAMPLE SOLUTION

There is no denying that in recent times communication sharing and exchange has been facilitated by the exponential nature of technological developments. The result has been a world that is more connected. Indeed, the manner in which people interact and communicate has changed as can be witnessed in the case of social media platforms. From a business perspective, these platforms have made it possible for business enterprises to interact directly with their clients who can also make claims as may be informed by their experiences. Overall, technological development in general and social media in particular have created not only new opportunities for enterprises but also threats that can potentially harm business. One opportunity that enterprises enjoy is the ability to obtain information about their customers on aspects like preferences, experiences, and general buying and consuming behaviors. Using such data, they can then know which areas, products, or services need improvement to better meet customer needs and expectations. The interaction with customers through these channels can also help enterprises to establish and increase brand loyalty among customers. Additionally, social media provides firms with a variety of tools for promotions, advertisements, and the management of customer relationships. On the other hand, social media platforms present enterprises with threats that can potentially lead to irreparable damage. This is especially so since negative news related to the firms, for instance informed by bad customer experiences, can get viral and damage the firms’ image and reputation in no time. This was the scenario in the Qantas social media disaster, a case that has gained prominence because it offers crucial lessons for companies not only in the aeronautic and transport industries but also in other sectors/industries. This construction presents a communication plan that would help Qantas remain on its feet following the social media disaster.