Why online rich media (audio/video) is killing corporations and why your startup should care

Before I discuss the topic of this post, I want to share something that I experienced about a month ago. I have been struggling with getting my mail forwarded. It's been an absolute nightmare frankly. Finally I get the number for "consumer affairs district office" and I am excited that I am going to speak to someone who can help me. Yahoo! My first call I am hung up on because "sir you appear annoyed, I don't talk to people who are annoyed" click. I call back and get a second woman who I start explaining my situation to and I hear in the background, "just hang up on that asshole" and click again. I wait about thirty minutes and call back, get a third woman, a woman who immediately made me believe she could help me. I explained my situation and told her about the previous two people who hung up on me and she said she would look into it. Will she really? I doubt it. Had I recorded the call, maybe then the Postal Service would have looked into it. Of course everyone knows (and clearly these 2 know) you can't get fired, so do whatever you want. Well ladies and gents, online rich media, that is audio and video are changing things and I for one am excited.

Why is rich media changing the world? It's stories like the one about Delta Air Lines where a passenger shows real video (embedded at the end of this post) of the unfolding events on a plane that was stuck on the ground for hours and hours. He or she demonstrates what happened, step-by-step. It's a disaster. Frankly if I was on that plane, I would probably be on rikers island by now.

Let's step away from this story for a second. Jeremiah at Web Strategist (who is clearly one of the best bloggers in the biz) writes about this event and how it has "nothing to do with Web Strategy." Sorry Jeremiah, but I completely disagree. When corporations screwed up in the past, it was easy to just forget about it because it was the customer's word vs. ours. Today, videos like the Delta one are changing that. When you or I or any strategist work with a company of any size, working on an issue management strategy and an online resolution manual are critical. Overlooking this means the company won't be able to handle the issue when it arises. And it will arise. The typical press release post is so Web 1.0 and makes the company look unhuman.

So back to Delta. First, Delta just completed a "Change" campaign. They want you to believe they have changed. But did they? Here was a great place to show the change. They screwed up. Fine, everyone does. Now, take CEO Gerald Grinstein and create a quick video without makeup and a six-figure movie theater. 2-3 minutes in length explaining what happened, what is being done to make sure this does not happen again and what's being done for the passengers stranded on that flight (and any other affected flights). Instead, Delta has a press release blaming the FAA for the issue.

So what should companies do (and this includes your startup!). Figure out a plan early on should the need arise. Perhaps have a level rating chart that allows you to rate the issue and what steps to take to ease the public's concern. Talk to the customer as soon as possible with rich media. The longer you take to answer the call, the longer the blogosphere will expand the issue. Your web strategist should be able to help with this chart.

Remember that for Delta, this is a passing issue. In a week, there will be another issue to deal with. For your startup, you screw up with issue handling once, and there might not be another chance.

If you want a perfect example of why this is needed, just look at the mess from the FM/Microsoft ads deal from last week. Had Federated Media had such a chart, crisis averted. Instead, it was another Delta example.

Delta is just one example of poor Internet crisis handling. This happens daily, often cataloged by Consumerist.

The companies who will win business from consumers in the future are those who properly handle rich media crisis' online. So yes Jeremiah, rich media crisis handling has everything to do with Web strategy.