Southwest Airlines vs. Delta Reputa6on Risk and Crisis

Transcription

1 Southwest Airlines vs. Delta Reputa6on Risk and Crisis 1

2 Crises versus Issues Crises 1. Immediate 2. Short-lived 3. Human mistakes 4. Facts are clear 5. No moral disagreements 6. Cleaning up the mess 7. Under-informed public 8. Societal vacuum Issues 1. Evolving 2. Lengthy affairs 3. Disputed decisions 4. Factual disagreements 5. Moral disputes 6. Coali6on-building 7. Public is well-informed 8. Ins6tu6onal matrix

3 Crisis Analysis Tenets 1. Crisis Severity? 2. Exis6ng Reputa6on Buffer? 3. Link to Core Business and Brand/Brand Purpose? 4. Crisis Length? 5. How was the Crisis Handled?

4 Crisis Analysis updated: Southwest Crisis Severity: High Link to Core: High Crisis Length: Short Crisis Buffer: Strong - and held up during crisis. Why? Strong Reputa8on: Consistently strong (70+) reputa6on since 2012 Strong Dimension Scores: Consistently high scores across all product and corporate dimensions, including CSR. Strong Brand Strength: Perceived as authen6c, genuine, honest, customer oriented, open and frequent communicator. Highest Support in Industry: Strongest suppor6ve behavior among all airlines, including trust, benefit of the doubt, willingness to say posi6ve things. How Handled: Extremely well Rapid response, transparent, open, apologe6c Result: Southwest s strong reputa8on buffer and above average crisis management resulted in a slight reputa8on increase from March-August 4

5 Updated through Sept 1: Southwest retains strong reputa6on through incident 80 General Popula6on: RepTrak Over Time RepTrak Pulse Score Mar-16 August 5

6 Updated through September 1: Southwest Airlines RepTrak Pulse Score General Popula6on: RepTrak Over Time 73.1 Southwest has not seen a nega6ve reputa6onal impact from the incident. In fact, its reputa6on has improved from the last measurement in March 2016 Support and dimension scores will be updated by Sept Mar-16 August 6

7 Reputa6on over 6me: Southwest Airlines and U.S. carriers 80 General Popula6on: RepTrak over 6me RepTrak Pulse Score Sig. Difference >3.7 7

8 2016 suppor6ve behaviors: Southwest Airlines and U.S. carriers 56% 50% 47% 51% 41% 43% 41% 33% 33% 32% 35% 35% 36% 29% 31% 33% 33% 31% 35% 32% 30% 34% 35% 26% 24% 30% 31% 29% I would buy company's products/services I would recommend company I would say something I would trust company to posi6ve about company do the right thing I would work for company I would invest in company I would give the benefit of doubt Southwest Jetblue United AA 8

9 2016 Brand expressiveness akributes: Southwest Airlines and U.S. carriers Meets the needs of customers Delivers a consistent experience Appears genuine Delivers on its promise Communicates oien Stands out from the crowd Provides sufficient informa6on about its ac6vi6es Welcomes open discussion 53% 39% 39% 43% 57% 49% 38% 43% 35% 57% 50% 42% 40% 28% 54% 50% 28% 32% 33% 51% 42% 28% 34% 27% 44% 51% 37% 29% 31% 44% 45% 31% 32% 25% 38% 46% 36% 25% 28% 61% Southwest Virgin JetBlue United American Airlines 9

10 Crisis Analysis: Delta Crisis Severity: High Link to Core: High Crisis Length: TBD, likely short Reputa8on Buffer: Low, especially vs. Southwest, did not hold up during crisis. Why? Weak Reputa8on: Poor to low average reputa6on since 2008, 2016 first strong year (71) Weak Dimension Scores: Consistently low scores since 2008 across all product and corporate dimensions, especially CSR. Weak Brand Strength: Consistently low scores in core brand akributes, including openness, genuineness, trust and concern. Weak Historic Support for Delta: Poor suppor6ve behavior across the board, especially trust, benefit of the doubt, willingness to say posi6ve things. How Handled: Below Average Slower response, poor service, offers w/con6ngencies Result: Delta s weak reputa8on buffer and below average crisis management resulted in a significant reputa8on decrease from March-August 10

11 Delta Airlines experienced significant reputa6onal damage from the August incident 80 General Popula6on: RepTrak Over Time RepTrak Pulse Score Mar-16 August Sig. Difference >3.7 11

12 Reputa6on change March August 2016: Delta Airlines Reputa6on Buffer: Weak RepTrak Pulse Score Mar-16 General Popula6on: RepTrak Over Time 65.8 August Crisis Response: Below Average Decent replacement offers, but with con6ngencies: No change fee, $200 voucher, but limited 6me to change, only for named traveler, not received well Limited Execu6ve Response: CEO video apology 4 hours aier outage Poor Customer Service, limited reputa6on buffer: Delta ac6ve on social media, but customer experience comments skewed very nega6ve Sig. Difference >3.7 12