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United Breaks Guitar

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United Breaks Guitars
Even though this case seems to be a big crisis for United, I personally think that the United’s response was not bad, speaking from the marketing perspective. How United responded to this situation had a lot to do United’s positioning at the time. Cutting costs and experiencing bankruptcy made United price-sensitive. It is impossible to satisfy everyone. The response determined how United was going to be seen in consumers’ eyes.
First of all, it was good that United responded with integrity. They did apologize and say that they were trying to make it right. However, I don’t think that any company has to drop to its knees to make up to its customers. United showed consumers that the first thing they did was to contact Carroll to confirm the situation. And it was also mentioned that United had received some fraudulent claims along the years. If United were to blindly state that they would compensate Carroll for his loss without any investigation, it would set a precedent for others who might not be as honest and want to benefit from false claims. United had also stand firmly by its policies, by saying, “no excuse, we are sorry”.
Secondly, what happened in the past is sunk cost. The critical thing in the response should be letting customers know how they plan to change in the future. United showed customers that they’ve learned from this experience and were planning to improve, as they asked Carroll if they could use the video internally.
Thirdly, United was wise to try to defuse the situation. This situation should not become the source of tension between United and its consumers. After all, United still has to care about all the other customers not directly involved in this situation. Therefore, treating the video as a fun thing to share after resolving situation with Carroll may even become a free marketing stunt to attract more eyeballs.

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