Many people have been complaining about how Eurostar failed to respond to the blogging backlash during their recent trapped trains’ crisis.
This is a prime example of the real time impact of social networking and its effects on both business and mainstream media. However, the problem isn’t just about their failure to use social media in the crisis; it’s a complete communications failure on their behalf. There were roughly around 2,000 people stuck on trains, but how many of them actually use Twitter? I’m not saying Twitter or other social media platforms are irrelevant to their crisis communications strategy, but their failures stretched to far more than this.
One of the main failures was their lack of communication to passengers trapped onboard, they wanted passengers to remain calm but how were they meant to be calm when they were left in the dark about what was happening? Their website wasn’t even updated with any news or arrival and departure information, let alone any cancellation news.
All this has severely affected their reputation. One simple step they could have taken to avoid all this is easy; better communication. Good communication is essential for any crisis management plan to work effectively. The only good I can think of to come out of this situation is that businesses will learn from Eurostars mistakes, or will they?
One of the main failures was their lack of communication to passengers trapped onboard, they wanted passengers to remain calm but how were they meant to be calm when they were left in the dark about what was happening? Their website wasn’t even updated with any news or arrival and departure information, let alone any cancellation news.
All this has severely affected their reputation. One simple step they could have taken to avoid all this is easy; better communication. Good communication is essential for any crisis management plan to work effectively. The only good I can think of to come out of this situation is that businesses will learn from Eurostars mistakes, or will they?
