In the past, I’ve written about taking advantage of free viral marketing by posting videos of your institution on social networks like YouTube and DailyMotion. In this posting, I’d like to address the dark side of that equation.

Dave Carroll is a Canadian singer and songwriter who, with his brother, Don, heads up a music group called SonsOfMaxwell. A year ago, they were flying on United Airlines to Nebraska for a week-long tour. Enroute, the airlines broke Dave’s guitar. When he complained to them about the breakage, they refused to replace the instrument. To get even, Dave made a video about the experience and posted it on several social websites:

United Airlines breaks guitars

I have no idea how many people have seen the video, but it has been viewed on YouTube alone nearly 5 million times. And worse for United, the story was picked up by several news organizations. Can you imagine how much positive publicity it will take for United to overcome this figurative finger in the eye?

Lest you think that only expensively made videos can garner this kind of attention, check out a video by a young lady who calls herself NutCheese, who shares her bizarre journey on another United Airlines flight. She obviously made the video herself, using a hand held camera:

United Airlines Sucks

So why am I pointing these out? Because the world of public relations is, indeed, flat. When I started in this business more than three decades ago, it was much easier to protect one’s brand. The Internet didn’t exist and the number of channels on our television sets could be counted on one hand. That world, of course, is gone forever. Today, a disgruntled student can sully your college’s reputation in a heartbeat and for little to no cost.

What to do? First, have a detailed plan for dealing with customer complaints and make sure everyone at your institution is aware of that plan, from the president to the secretaries and maintenance staff. Remember that Dave Carroll initially approached United Airlines and tried to resolve the broken guitar issue before producing the video. Secondly, make sure that responding to negative publicity is addressed in your media relations crisis plan. We usually plan for the big disasters like fires, murders, etc. But dealing with the smaller stories is just as important. That way, you prevent them from growing into big stories.