Social Media Round 1: Harry vs. Boeing

So today’s blog is about how 9 year-old Harry mailed his drawing of an airplane to Boeing corporation and they gave him back a cold response. The plot thickens because Harry's dad happens to be an ad agency CEO. Harry's dad decides to discuss this on his blog and twitter and gets the attention of the online world. I personally believe that Boeing should have handled the situation much better than telling Harry that they don't accept unsolicited ideas. After the word gets out the Boeing Corporation decided to be a little bit more polite with its response and actually started to show they care.

 I believe this was due to the online world and an example of how the online world can put a big corporation in check. In an update to this rejection letter Harry's dad talks about how tens of thousands of people have read his post and hundreds have retweeted it. http://www.johnwinsor.com/my_weblog/2010/05/harry-and-boeing-the-update.html. After all that commotion Boeing got many people involved and tried to fix their image. The future of flight institution invited Harry to host the “Harry Winsor design your own airplane show" and the Museum of flight offered Harry a free tour.

I don't believe that Harry's dad used this as an opportunity to get free publicity but his CEO status did help him succeed. His ability to crowd sourcing to so many people is what made Boeing realize they made a mistake. I personally wouldn't hold anything against Boeing because I believe it was an honest mistake. They are so use to having that corporate mindset that they didn't know any better. Boeing did learn from their mistakes and used this as a learning experience. They did all they could to make the situation better and now know how to interact with people much better. I also don't believe that the airlines will boycott Boeing because it was an honest mistake and no one was really hurt. Harry’s dreams were not crushed; they were only turned into reality. If my kid wanted to mail a drawing into Boeing I would defiantly send it in with the confidence that they will respond in an appropriate manner.

E Marketing With Sean Brooks

This blog is designed to discuss research, discoveries and thoughts about all areas of E- Marketing. My focus is going to be on new advances in marketing technology and how these advances help us grow as a society. Make sure you come back weekly to hear the news!