Case Analysis

When the Twitterverse Turns on

You

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 Submitted to
Prof. Abha Chatterjee

Date
15th November 2019

Submitted by
Atul Yadav (2019PGP478)

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Letter of transmittal

15th November 2019

To,

Prof. Abha Chatterjee,

IIM Indore,
Prabandh Shikhar,
Rau-Pithampur Road,
Indore 453336

Dear Prof. Abha Chatterjee,

As planned, I am submitting hereby my case analysis entitled “When the Twitterverse turns on
You” as a partial fulfilment of Written Analysis and Communication (WAC) course requirement.

This report is based on the dilemma that Canadian Jet is faces to cancel the contest after its
#CanJetLuxury hashtag campaign, which it started to restore its image as a preferred carrier, results
in bashtag. Negative reviews by the twiterratis in the campaign had bogged them down. The report
analyses the case and evaluates the available alternatives in which the Canadian Jet can respond
to the backfiring of its Twitter contest and save itself from another PR problem.

Please find the report enclosed. I hope that you find this report satisfactory.

Thanks and Regards,

Atul Yadav
(2019PGP478)
Section A

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Executive summary:

The report analyses the case study, “When the Twitterverse Turns on You”. Events and news in the
recent past had tarnished the image of Canadian Jet airlines. In a step to restores its image as a
preferred carrier, the company launched its first Twitter hashtag contest resulting in a “bashtag”.
Thus, it is in a catch twenty-two situation to continue the contest or to stop it. The report evaluates
the alternatives of changing the hashtag of the campaign or ending the contest and recommends
continuing with the contest and issuing apology to dissented customers and expressing remorse
for their concerns.

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 Table of contents

Serial No. Description Page No.

1 Situation analysis 6

2 Problem statement 6

3 Alternative solutions 6

4 Evaluation criteria 6

5 Evaluation of alternatives 7

6 Recommendation 8

7 Implementation plan 8

8 Contingency plan 9

9 References 9

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Situation analysis:

Some recent negative press about Canadian Jet airlines approach to labour relations and six
months back, grounding of a third fleet of the airlines causing a slew cancellations and delays had
brought disrepute to the company. In an attempt to restore its brand image, the company started
its first Twitter #CanJetLuxury hashtag contest to award round trip to any of the company’s
destination to the customer with the most creative tweet. However, a day after the start of the
hashtag contest, it was backfiring as it was bashed and trolled by some of its customers and the
hashtag was trending.

This had left Jerry Schneider (CEO, Canadian Jet) and Charlene Thompson (PR Head, Canadian Jet)
puzzled. They held a discussion with Tim Powell (Social Media Director, Canadian Jet) and Andrea
Kemp (Account Manager, Wrigley & Walters) discussing the situation in hand and pondering
whether to continue the contest or to stop it.

Problem Statement:
What should Charlene do as Canadian Jet’s response to the hashtag backlash of their Twitter
contest?

Alternatives:
1. Changing the contest hashtag to divert attention from the current one
2. End the contest immediately to save from further loss of reputation
3. Continue the contest as planned announcing the winner and express remorse for the concerns
of dissented customers

Evaluation Criteria
1. Company’s reputation and brand
2. Customer satisfaction
3. Loss of business

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Evaluation of Alternatives:

1. Changing the contest hashtag to divert attention from the current one

a) Company’s reputation and brand:

Changing the hashtag would divert the customers' attention temporarily, but it would not
stop them from backlashing again and get the new hashtag trending. The media would
also question the company about the change in its marketing campaign. This would only
fuel the agitation of the customers as this will disturb the spirit of the campaign affecting
the brand image of the company more adversely.

b) Customer satisfaction:
Customers wanting to send genuine entries would get confused while others may start
taking a fresh jibe at the company for changing the hashtag for the contest. Not
acknowledging the complaints of the customers and starting a new hashtag would make
them feel dejected, adding more to customer dissatisfaction.

c) Loss of business:
Change in hashtag would aggravate the current situation and give in more reasons for
brand-damaging tweets which would lead to loss of potential business; affecting the
exchequer of the company.

2. End the contest immediately to save from further loss of reputation

a) Company’s reputation and brand:

Immediate ending of the contest would prove to bite the dust in the company’s
endeavours of restoring its brand. It would risk company of allegations of running fake
campaigns as media has already caught wind of the happenings.

b) Customer satisfaction:
Genuine customers would feel betrayed and demotivated. Abruptly ending campaign will
also incite the already discontented customers to backlash at the company on other social
media platforms.

c) Loss of business:
Customers with positive experience would be dissatisfied, and there would be growing
disaffection with customers wanting to give genuine entries. The company would lose its
patrons impacting its future business.

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 3. Continue the contest as planned announcing the winner and express remorse for the concerns
of dissented customers

a) Company’s reputation and brand:

Continuing the contest and announcing the winner would help the company keep its
promise which will lead to an increase in brand loyalty by customers. Acknowledging and
expressing remorse for the concerns of dissented customers on twitter will uplift the
company's reputation in the eyes of the world.

b) Customer satisfaction:
Not only the genuine participants would be happy but also expressing remorse for
dissatisfied customers would make them feel important, leading to an increase in overall
customer satisfaction.

c) Loss of business:
Continuing with the contest and rewarding the genuine entry and also acknowledging and
expressing remorse for the concerns of customers would increase the number of
company patrons and turn them into the biggest assets contributing to the coffers of the
company.

Recommendation:
Based on the above evaluation, it is recommended that Charlene should continue with the contest
and reward the winner with the best tweet and also issue apology to dissented customers and
express remorse for their concerns.

Implementation plan:
Canadian Jet should continue with the contest by not only focusing on the positive tweets but also
acknowledging the negative ones. It is almost impossible to acknowledge and express remorse for
the concerns of all dissatisfied customers. However, Charlene should ask her team to identify
tweets with maximum impressions, likes and retweets and speak to them on twitter, promoting
them to give recommendations as well. This would leave a positive footprint with the ideology of
the brand caring for its customers. In this way, the company would be able to pacify the impact of
negative tweets and instead help in positive branding. Needless to say, that Canadian Jet should
announce and reward the winner with the best tweet and keep itself engaged with its customers
through such contest.

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Contingency Plan:
In case, the negative tweets continue to persist impacting the brand image, and the company
should promote the positive tweets extensively and give promotional offers to dissatisfied
customers, encouraging them to come with recommendations. The company should recognise and
award the most innovative and feasible recommendation.

References:

Jana Seijts (2014), When the Twitterverse Turns on You, ID #: R1403X. MA: Harvard Business School
Publishing.

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