1. We Believe in Thinking Differently
about Aviation Marketing
Crises Management 2.0
Asiana Airlines Flight OZ214 in SFO
Case study & Analysis
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2. 11:27am: Plane makes impact at SFO
11.28am: – First photo from a Google employee boarding another flight hits Twitter
(within 30 secs!)
11.30am: Emergency slides deployed
11.45am: First photo from a passenger posted on Path, Facebook and Twitter
11.56am: Norwegian journalists asks for permission to use photo from first posters.
Tons of other requests follow
1.20pm: Boeing issues statement via Twitter
2.04pm: SFO Fire Department speaks to the press
3.00pm: NTSB holds press conference, and keeps updating Twitter with photos
3.39pm: Asiana Airlines statement released
3.40pm: White House releases statement
8.43pm: First Asiana Press release (6.43am Korea time)
Timeline of Events – 6 July 2013

3. Source: AFP, @JohnSaeki, http://twitpic.com/d1hh8e

4. We Believe in Thinking Differently
about Aviation Marketing
Asiana Flight 214 Crash:
Social Media bursts with Live updates
from passengers and others at SFO
Learn more about our in-house
Crises Management MasterClass

5. Read full account: http://bloggerchica.com/how-social-
media-broke-the-story-of-the-sfo-plane-crash/
The first tweet, posted within
30 seconds of impact
Krista Seiden, a Google employee, was
boarding another flight when the Asiana
aircraft hit the runway.
She had her mobile phone in her hand,
and her first instinct was to snap a
photo and tweet it out. All within
seconds of impact.

6. Journalists scamper to interview Krista over Twitter

7. Within 24hrs, Krista and her photo were quoted in over
4,450 news articles (Source: Google News)

8. First photo from a
passenger hits
Twitter, via Path
David Eun, a
Samsung executive
was the first
passenger to post a
photo of the burning
wreckage, 18 mins
after the crash.
https://path.com/p/1lwrZb

9. Given the large number of
passengers from mainland
China, it was inevitable that
there would be posts made on
leading networks there, like
Weibo, QQ and Xiaonei.
One of the passengers
constantly updated his status.
First Photos posted on
Weibo by a Chinese
passenger
http://www.weibo.com/stephenzyj

10. Ironically, he was
the one who was
seen running with
his carry-on bag, in
the first photo
taken by David.
He says he did not
want to lose his
passport.
He justifies his decision to run with his carry-on bag
http://www.weibo.com/stephenzyj

11. A number of passengers at
and around the airport start
connecting over Twitter
hashtags and conversations
ensue.
Here is a very interesting
thread:
https://twitter.com/DanielleLWells/status/
353663158826713088
Other passengers
at SFO start
interactions

12. https://www.facebook.com/sheryl/posts/101
52997724435177
Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg made a post that went viral

13. We Believe in Thinking Differently
about Aviation Marketing
Asiana Flight 214 Crash:
Journalists, NTSB, SFO and other
airlines provide Constant Updates
Learn more about our in-house
Crises Management MasterClass

14. https://www.facebook.com/sheryl/posts/101
52997724435177
Influential journalists provided constant updates on
Twitter and Facebook

15. Boeing updates its website front page and Twitter

16. Airlines that fly to SFO update their Twitter status

17. The NTSB Provides regular
updates via Twitter
One organisation that did a good
job with updates was the National
Transport Safety Board in the US.
They constantly updated their
Twitter account, even on a Sunday,
as soon as more information was
obtained by those on the scene,
culminating in a press conference.

18. Constant stream of photos
from the NTSB
Click here to view more photos from NTSB
The NTSB also were the first to
become the official source of close-
up photos from the tarmac, which
were all released through Twitter.

19. San Francisco Airport
switches to crises mode
SFO starts updating Twitter and
Facebook constantly with the latest
on the situation.
The airport makes good use of
hashtags, and tries to reply to
individual passengers as much as
possible.

20. San Francisco Airport
switches to crises mode
The airport’s Twitter account also
regularly re-tweets other
authorities, like the NTSB, and
airlines updating passengers about
the situation.
This allows them to address the
concerns of a large number of
travellers, who often had similar
questions about flight operations
and delays.

21. We Believe in Thinking Differently
about Aviation Marketing
Asiana Flight 214 Crash:
Asiana finally responds…
Learn more about our in-house
Crises Management MasterClass

22. Press Release posted
on Twitter and G+
Asiana Airlines finally updates
Facebook and Twitter, with an
initial statement that thanks
people for their concern and
support.
A press release is posted 8
hours after the crash.

23. No status updates prior
to the statement
Unfortunately, for six hours
prior to the airline making a
statement, most of their
messages online seem
incongruent.
And this gets noticed by the
press and others too…

24. Silence speaks louder than words

25. Meanwhile,
Facebook fan
numbers for the
airline shoot up
dramatically
Certainly, concerned
family members,
travellers and the public
flocked to Asiana’s
Facebook page to look
for information, but were
disappointed for the first
six hours.

26. The first update from
Asiana on Facebook about
the crash was its second
most shared post this year.
Ironically, it was also their
most “liked” post till date
as well.
Source: Unmetric
The airline’s first
Facebook update
was a big hit

27. Twitter followers
grow dramatically
as well
Most journalists and
news editors, along with
others interested in the
news were expecting
more regular updates
from Asiana Airlines

28. Not replying?
It seems that Asiana
didn't capitalize on
Twitter's reach and
didn't tweet any more
than usual over the
weekend to keep
people updated of the
situation.
Moreover, they did not
reply at all to tweets
during the period of
crises. Not at all.

29. Asiana’s stock price dips 6.2% in a day
The crash, followed
by a delayed
response, and then
preliminary
investigations
pointing to potential
pilot error culminated
in a dramatic slide in
the airline’s stock
price.

30. We Believe in Thinking Differently
about Aviation Marketing
Asiana Flight 214 Crash:
Lessons in Crises Communications
Learn more about our in-house
Crises Management MasterClass

31. What’s your 20
second PR strategy?
In the age of the connected traveller,
airlines do not have 20 minutes, but
rather 20 seconds to respond to a
crisis situation.
Asiana Airlines clearly was not
ready for this situation that ensued
online. But each airline and airport
needs to build social media into its
standard operating procedures for
crises management.

32. The accidental
spokesperson may not
always be right
While Krista Seiden happened to be at
the right place at he right time, not all
her information was accurate. For
example, the flight did not arrive from
Taipei.
Soon after, some journalists mis-
interpreted that 60 un-accounted for
passengers were actually fatalities.
If Asiana was participating online, it
could have corrected these facts.

33. Where do your customers talk about you?
If most of the passengers on the plane were Chinese and Korean, it was a
matter of time before the news was posted on mainstream social channels in
their home countries, like Weibo and WeChat.
A professional crises communications team must speak to customer
where they “reside online, and address their concerns using the same
media.

34. It appears from the incidence that Asiana Airlines
has not invested in any kind of social media
crises or customer support strategy.
They have banned people from posting on their
Facebook wall. On Twitter, they reply to a
handful of very positive tweets, but don't answer
any client questions.
And all this backfires when there is a crisis
situation. Had they planned ahead, engaged
passengers and journalists online and set the
facts right, the damage to the brand could have
been reduced. But now, it cannot be undone.
Don’t start digging the
well, when you’re thirsty
Learn more about our in-house
Crises Management MasterClass

35. We Believe in Thinking Differently
about Aviation Marketing
Asiana Flight 214 Crash:
Crises Management 2.0 – How to
prepare for the next crises?
Learn more about our in-house
Crises Management MasterClass

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39. http://www.SimpliFlying.com
SimpliFlying has worked with over 35 airlines and airports globally on
customer engagement strategy. If you’re keen to ensure that your
crises management strategy remains relevant, get in touch to learn
more about our consulting and training services.