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Crisis Management through Social Media. Lessons learned from the ash cloud crisis Sus Nygaard Scandinavian Airlines. Vulcano Ash Cloud:Crisis Situation. April 16th, all flights in Northern Europe are cancelled Disruption response organsiation, ”DRO” is established
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Crisis Management through Social Media Lessons learned from the ash cloud crisis Sus Nygaard Scandinavian Airlines
Vulcano Ash Cloud:Crisis Situation • April 16th, all flights in Northern Europe are cancelled • Disruption response organsiation, ”DRO” is established • Chairman: Chief Commercial Officer & representatives from all parts of SAS e.g. Operations, Customer Relations & Communication. • DRO meetings several times a day regarding the traffical and commercial situation. • Daily reports & prognoses from Eurocontrol, Metoffice & other authorities. • Flight information & status regarding the ash cloud changes by the hour.
The Team • Established in a few days • 15-20 staffs from • Corporate Communications • eCommerce • Marketing • EuroBonus FFP • Human Resources • Customer Relations • Focus on helping the customer • Channels: • FB, Twitter, flysas.com, SMS
The right tools • Instant messaging • Smart phones • Access to updated info • Access to the right people
Questions, questions, questions • What’s going on? Are all flights cancelled? • When are you back in the air? • How do I get home? Are there buses? • Will SAS pay for my hotel? • Which flights are operating now? • When’s my flight leaving? • How do I get on a flight? • Are you organizing extra flights? • My flight was cancelled, how do I get my money back? • Who do I contact about getting my expenses covered? • Where’s my money?
Consistency in communication • Facebook and Twitter • SAS websites • Customer e-mails • SMS broadcast messages • Press-releases • Traditional media CONSITENT MESSAGE
facebook.com/SAS stats • More than 17.000 new fans in one week • More than 5.000 questions posted • 99% answered within 5 minutes • SAS message displayed more than 1 million times • Two pregnant women brought home safely • Used off-line channels as well as online to contact pax • 20 editors online 05:00 – 02:00 every day!
“SAS – you rock!” • Two pregnant women stuck in Spain were contacted via FB by SAS sales in Spain and were put on the fist flight home • Miriam was returning to the USA • Flight operated from Oslo – bus from Stockholm. • Miriam wrote on FB that she wouldn’t reach the bus on time • SAS FB team called the bus and held it back for her • On FB she wrote: “SAS – you rock”
How we communicate • Consistent communication • Folksy & charming • Try some humor • Drop no hooks – bite no hooks • Reply to all posts • positive & negative • Write only what you are sure of • “I don’t know” is ok! • Be personal & caring
What to look for in your team • A wide knowledge-base • A can-do attitude • Enthusiasm • Commercial thinking • And common sense
Where we needed improvement • Social Media was not part of the Crisis Plan • No direct channel of contact (off-Facebook) • No plan for using the channel post-crisis • Keeping the channel alive
Success? • Huge increase in followers • From 10.000 pre-ash to 27.000 in one week! • Tons of positive media-coverage • SAS went from an index 40 to 90 measuring “caring” in online conversations • Internal enthusiasm despite the crisis • A new understanding in top-management of SM • A proven formula for dealing with new disruptions • Swedish pilot-strike • Norwegian security-controllers’ strike
Facebook monitoring today Day-to-day replies Status updates & news Functional experts
Why Facebook? • The No.1 Social Media site in Scandinavia • Norway: • 4,5 million inhabitants • 2,3 million Facebook-profiles
Head of Social Media at SAS New position Christian Kamhaug • “really looking forward to actually spend my whole day on Facebook and get paid for it” • run and develop SAS’ presence in social media