As I sat on an Air Canada flight this week, listening to the message that warned passengers to power down their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices, I thought: “But what if somebody doesn’t power down and and there’s a fire – a crisis – mid-flight?”
So I sat there and I thought about the simple message the flight attendant had just given, in both English and French. They basically said “please power down and do not plug into the aircraft.” That was it. No semblance of an explanation, which means no real reason for people to actually understand the importance of this message and to take it seriously enough to close their phones if they do in fact have a Galaxy Note 7.
So, of course, I opened my iPhone and recorded this week’s episode of the #crisisready video series where I discuss the concept of giving people more context when releasing an important message in your crisis prevention and crisis management. Take a look:
How descriptive do you think one’s crisis management message should be?
Comment below or use the hashtag #crisisready on Twitter and let’s continue this conversation!
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
Hi Melissa,
interesting point. I m already happy to hear there’s any announcement whatsoever on the Galaxy 7. Have not heard anything on board yet during my recent travels.
To my understanding some airlines don’t even have a policy yet. I imagine there’s a big margin for improvement over the whole line.
Aside from that, I believe airlines and their crew already have a very hard time to make passengers obey the more known safety rules, as powering down laptops, phones etc…
Question merely is, how to make passengers obey those? Elaborate more? I have the strong impression passengers generally think to know better or think it can’t be that important, so they go ahead and do whatever.
Hi Nele,
I agree with you. Most passengers simply ignore the safety messages, which is why providing passengers with a little more context for an important, unique message, such as the Galaxy Note 7 warning, is so crucial.
As for the typical messages that, you’re right, probably get ignored for the most part, there’s not much that airlines can do about this other than changing it up and making the messages more engaging or entertaining. I’ve seen some great examples of this and even got to experience one such example first hand. It made all the difference in terms of gaining and keeping people’s attention.
With passengers span of attention being divided, an important message should:
1. Get everyone’s attention
2. Be brief, but provide adequate context
3. Convey the airline’s course of action or policy
“This is an important announcement. We would like your attention.
Due to the risk of unexpected fires related to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, we ask passengers carrying this item to power it down and not charge it during flight as this may pose a grave risk to the safety of the flight.”
Hi Mark,
Great sample messaging. The only thing I would suggest is the slight modification of the last line: “as this may pose a grave risk to the safety of the flight”. Personally, I’d frame it to have more of a positive light, rather than a frightful one – something along the lines of: “so as to ensure a safe and incident-free flight for us all”.
Hi Melissa, great post and I love the spontaneity of recording your video directly from the plane (first class I did notice! or is this one of those green screens backgrounds and I am just naïve?)
Either way, I reflected on your post and how I would have approached it in my company (large pharma) … I could hear in my mind our lawyers preventing us for making an allegation about the risk of increased fires with this product, for fear of lawsuits from Samsung. I would also be concerned about frightening passengers as you mentioned…
On Air Transat yesterday, the announcement did not give more context but also required passengers to keep their Note 7 with them at all times i.e. not leave them in the overhead bins…
As a passenger, I heard the warning and paid attention because it was new. in 3 flights I will not listen anymore… just like I tune out when they still refer to a non smoking environment…
An important part of the message retention is freshness and context. The context part was missed but I can see why and the freshness will disappear quickly. Hopefully by then, Samsung has fixed thee Note 7…
Haha! You’re not naive, Sandra!
I’m glad to hear that it caught your attention. I can’t assume that you’re alone in this, so that’s good news. I have heard contrary from others, but it’s always hard to speak to – and be heard by – everyone. I’m also glad to hear that Air Transat was a little more thorough in their warning than Air Canada was.
As for the litigation piece, there’s always some form of litigation concern from Legal when it comes to crisis comms. It’s an aspect of my job that certainly keeps me on my toes! However, there’s usually a way around this, with the right wording. And we also have to remember that fact is fact, and it’s factual – and confirmed by Samsung – that the Galaxy Note 7’s have been combusting into flames to a point of concern. They actually put out a statement acknowledging the warning given by airlines around the world.
Very thoughtful and appreciated feedback, Sandra. Thanks for taking the time!
Hi Melissa. I really enjoyed reading your article and viewing your Youtube video. I like how you are recording your video from the plane haha. I think you bring up a very important point. I think the flight attendant needs to explain the seriousness/the reasoning of why everyone needs to power down their Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Additionally, I think it is a concern that Samsung phones are catching on fire. I wish Samsung would have tested out the phones and caught this mistake before selling the phones to the public. I think this issue is very important and I am interested to see what both sides (flight attendants and Samsung) will do.
I agree, Brandon. It’s certainly a unique case and it will be interesting to see what comes of all of this.
I think you make a great point. I took 2 flights (same airline) this month and on the first one, while we were on our seats, the flight attendant said that people shouldn’t power down and plug the phone into the aircraft, no additional explanation. But I didn’t see anyone checking if people followed instructions. I didn’t thought about it then, but OMG, what if something have happened? On the second flight, while we were on the waiting room, a flight attendant said that those phones where not allowed on the aircraft, but again, I didn’t see anyone checking if people followed instructions. In both cases, a good explanation wasn’t given.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Margarita!