July 8th 2015 saw the first workers’ strike on the London Underground for over a decade. From 6:30pm 20,000 staff left their posts across the historic Underground network, causing chaos for thousands of commuters across the capital.
tube strike london
Very British Problems
Transport for London (TfL) organised replacement bus services but anyone who’s been on the Underground during rush hour knew that wouldn’t cover demand. Bus stops became swamped with very British queues – irate but orderly. Photos emerged of these queues, sometimes with a horrified bus-driver coming around the corner manning an empty bus.
Throughout the city, the Barclays Bike service was bolstered by extra bikes in key areas around Soho, the Strand, Liverpool St, Victoria and Westminster. These were used extensively, indeed docking stations were swarmed as people completed their journey.
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Extra boat services were added to the Thames River services which were inundated with customers which lead to delays. However, TfL River provided updates on Twitter, allowing commuters to make informed decisions on which route to take next. While not shared or retweeted in the normal way, users will have still found this information useful and make the brand more trustworthy in their eyes.
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As the affected travellers took to buses, boats, bikes and bipedal transport (walking), Social Media was the perfect place for users to share their views. We used Microsoft Social Engagement to gain a vivid and slightly surprising insight into how people were reacting to the events around them.
50 Shades of Train
While it would be easy to imagine every affected commuter being angry at the situation, listening to Social Media shows attitudes weren’t so black and white. Opinions on the striking workforce was decidedly split, as expected, but many posters found comedy and even enjoyed the change of pace.
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Marketing to a Trapped Audience
Brands throughout London offered a helping hand. Innocent Smoothies provided this post which went down well with users.
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However, some companies received an extreme backlash. Uber, a popular taxi app received an overly negative reaction from users of their app across the City. The price to book a taxi trebled, leaving users extremely angry over what seemed like a deliberate money-making scheme. The prices may have been out of Uber’s hands, and relying solely on what the taxis were charging, but Uber’s lack of response on social media allowed the perception of under-handed tactics to grow and negatively
impact the brand. Indeed, sentiment dropped to -10, which is the lowest score we track. Had Uber responded on their Facebook page or Twitter feed, things could have been very different. Now they have a PR nightmare on their hands.
Break It Down
Throughout the 9th July, commuters made 33,233 tweets relating to TfL or the #tubestrike. Sentiment was surprisingly split, 32.75% were Negative, which is to be expected. 23.89% were Positive, with the remaining 43.36% registering as Neutral. It would be easy to imagine a 100% Negative response from effected customers, but these numbers show matter-of-fact statements around the strike (service updates, or discussions around the strike itself) in the Neutral area, and humour and support with the Positive band.
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Talking Points
Social Media is an incredibly powerful tool for engaging passionate users. However, reacting to customer sentiment is critical. Shouting about how great your service is while your customers shout back, clearly and publicly, about issues with your product or service makes you seem disconnected or worse, disinterested in customer satisfaction. Try using social media as an interactive communication tool, instead of a simple public announcement system, and the customers will come to you.
If you’d like to hear how Microsoft Social Engagement can help you meet the challenges of social, click here.
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