United Breaks Guitars
The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Songwriter Dave Carroll wasn’t the first person abused by an airline’s customer service. But he was the first to show how one person, armed with creativity, some friends, $150, and the Internet, could turn an entire industry upside down.
United Airlines had broken Dave’s guitar in checked luggage. After eight months of pestering the company for compensation, he turned to his best tool—songwriting—and vowed to create a YouTube video about the incident that he hoped would garner a million views in one year. Four days after its launching, the first million people had watched "United Breaks Guitars." United stock went down 10 percent, shedding $180 million in value; Dave appeared on outlets as diverse as CNN and The View. United relented. And throughout the business world, people began to realize that "efficient" but inhuman customer-service policies had an unseen cost—brand destruction by frustrated, creative, and socially connected customers.
"United Breaks Guitars" has become a textbook example of the new relationship between companies and their customers, and has demonstrated the power of one voice in the age of social media. It has become a benchmark in the customer-service and music industries, as well as branding and social-media circles. Today, more than 150 million people are familiar with this story.
In this book, you’ll hear about how Dave developed the "just do it" philosophy that made him the ideal man to take on a big corporation, what it felt like to be in the center of the media frenzy, and how he’s taken his talents and become a sought-after songwriter and public speaker. And businesspeople will learn how companies should change their policies and address social-media uprisings.
Since "United Breaks Guitars" emerged, nothing is the same—for consumers, for musicians, or for business. Whether you are a guitarist, a baggage handler, or a boardroom executive, this book will entertain you and remind you that we are all connected, that each of us matters, and that we all have a voice worth hearing.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 2008, Carroll, a Canadian singer-songwriter, jetted to Nebraska for a gig via a United Airlines flight from Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a layover in Chicago. Upon arrival in Omaha, he found his favorite guitar, a Taylor acoustic-electric, had been severely damaged by careless baggage handlers. After seven months of phone calls and emails with unhelpful United customer service representatives, Carroll took matters into his own hands. He wrote a triad of songs called "United Breaks Guitars," and filmed funny music videos with his friends. The first video cost only $150 to make, and just four days after being uploaded to YouTube, had gotten one million views and sparked a media frenzy. Today it has over 12 million hits, and is believed to have "dropped the market capitalization of United Airlines" by $180 million. Carroll discusses United's flawed response to his complaints and why the concept of statistical insignificance is no longer a valid customer service model in an increasingly interconnected world, wherein individuals with limited resources can effectively agitate for big change. "All of us have a powerful voice," he writes, "and our voices are worthy of being heard." Carroll is a funny and charming storyteller and readers will surely be inspired by his message of creativity and proactivity. Includes lyrics and a link to free MP3s of the "United Breaks Guitars" songs.