Media Emerging

Dear United Airlines: Welcome to the club.

This week, United Airlines joined a growing list of companies that has been flamed for royally pissing off customers. The airline joins Motrin, Domino’s Pizza and other brands on the consumer Sh*t List.

In each case, the offending company experienced what I’ve termed the Social Media Double Whammy: The brand is criticized first for a bad decision, then again for a lack of responsiveness.

Motrin’s biggest mistake wasn’t an insensitive ad, it was ignoring the groundswell after the ad debuted.

Domino’s big mistake wasn’t a disgusting video, it was failing to respond to the video quickly enough.

Now, United Airlines discovers what happens when you’re unresponsive to customers.

United Airlines Pays the Piper for Broken Guitar

To recap, musician Dave Carroll was on tour with his band, flying United Airlines, when he noticed baggage handlers throwing his $3500 guitar. After trying for nine months to get United to take responsibility for his broken guitar, Carroll vowed to write a song about United’s dismissive posture. This video is the first of three from Carroll.

As in the Motrin and Domino’s cases, United is experiencing a social media backlash for what amounts to ignorance and poor service.

Had someone at the airline stepped forward to be accountable for the broken guitar, Carroll likely wouldn’t have written a song that would go viral. And it’s not like they had no warning — he tried for nine months to get the problem resolved.

No Whammies? Simple: Ackowledge Your Customers

Jeremiah Owyang has a pretty thorough list of brands that have been “punk’d” by social media. It’s a reminder of the perils of corporate social media — and of ignoring social media.

Remember that old saw about the squeaky wheel getting the grease? Ten years ago, companies could erect roadblocks in front of disgruntled customers. But thanks to simple self-publishing tools, any customer — no matter how small — can become a squeaky wheel.

Are there whiners and miscreants out there? Sure. But if your default posture is to treat every customer as a miscreant, you’re destined for trouble. It’s better to apologize quickly for mistakes and take your lumps than to stick your fingers in your ears. The Social Media Double Whammy could be twice as damaging.

(Note: To read about my experience with United Airlines, see my Tweets here and here).

I bought the new Flip Mino a few weeks ago, and after dabbling, I’m ready to give the Mino a strong endorsement.

Priced at $179, this handy pocket-sized video camera is a great buy for anyone who wants to play with video without breaking the bank. The main benefits (aside from the price) are the Mino’s convenience and ease of use. At just 3.3 oz., the Mino is lighter than many cell phones, and about 30% lighter than its precursors, the Flip Video and Flip Ultra. And with measurements of 3.94″ x 1.97″ x 0.63″, it’s small enough to go anywhere.

Video quality is pretty good. I had far better results with outdoor light than indoor light, but then again, my home is poorly lit. The picture can get a little grainy in low-light settings, but not enough to detract from the experience. For home videos and basic video blogging, the picture quality is just right — better than most video phones, and more affordable than high-end cameras.

As I mentioned, convenience is a big deal with the Mino. A built-in USB flips out with the push of a button, letting you plug directly into your computer. I’m a big fan of ditching cables.

Once you’ve plugged in, you’ll have to run a Wizard to configure the built-in software. The video-editing software from Muvee lets you set start and stop points for clips. You can choose from six movie styles to create a custom movie mix, including classic B&W, nostalgiac, and others. Each movie style has default music associated with it, or you can choose your own music, or go without.

The video editing tools are rudimentary. I would have preferred a little more versatility. There doesn’t appear to be an easy way to arrange clips (I came up with a Mickey Mouse fix, but it’s complicated). More movie styles would have been nice, too. Still, I liked that Flip made an amateur (and novice) videographer like me give my movies some personality.

Sound quality is so-so, but that’s to be expected without a directional mic. The music in my custom movie mixes overrides much of the recorded audio, which has worked out okay so far, but may not work for everyone. It’s easy enough to turn off the music, though.

Finally, the easy upload of movies from the Flip Mino to YouTube or MySpace makes sharing easy. It’s a nice touch. I bought the Mino to share videos of my son, Riley, with his grandparents in New York. The simple upload to YouTube is a welcome feature. It should also come in handy for video blogging — my next project.

All-in-all, the Flip Mino is an excellent value. It leaves a little on the table, but for the price, it’s a definite winner. Put it on your holiday wish list — you’ll be glad you did.

Riley’s First Movie

Old Timey Halloween