Iconic #FAIL: Carnival Cruise Lines’ Costa Concordia tragedy sends waves through social media crisis

comms world.

The Costa Concordia, a cruise ship in the Carnival Corp. family, hit the Isola del Giglio. 32 people were declared dead or missing and a massive cleanup is still ongoing as Italy braces for its worst environmental disasters.

Social Relevance: This is the deadliest, most costly tragedy of its kind in the holiday cruise business, costing parent company, Carnival Cruise Lines, a $139 million loss in Q1. And, the 90-metre long ship sticks out in the sea like a tombstone. This image, snapped by a Romebound airline passenger, was trending on Reddit for weeks after international press had quit on the story.

Jan 2012

Nice start: Carnival follows sound strategy – in a crisis say what you mean, mean what you say!

How did Carnival, a savvy digital marketer, handle the crisis?

In social media, what’s the appropriate amount of time to remain quiet?

Carnival even decides to go quiet on Twitter out of “respect”, a hiatus it breaks hours later with “Big #FollowFriday” fun!

Then the social web erupts when it learns…

Was anybody at Carnival listening before it made this tin-eared “make-good?”

Don’t let a crisis put your reputation on the rocks

The take-away: Don’t ignore social in a crisis. Create a “social media-enabled” Crisis Management Team that oversees all PR, marketing and emergency response communications during a time of crisis.

Learn from the digital pioneers, brands like Coca-Cola, Carnival Cruises, Whole Foods, and scores of others. Their social media blunders – in the areas of crap customer service, plain dumb marketing or simply being caught short in a crisis – provide valuable lessons from which to shape future corporate comms policy. It all can be found in our new e-book, #FAIL: The 50 Greatest Social Media Screw-Ups and How to Avoid Being the Next One. http://lc.tl/fail.