Delta-Northwest Create the Press Release of the Future
Don’t believe everything you read at newglobalairline.com. (I’m certainly not sold, for example, that the proposed merger between Delta and Northwest Airlines benefits tourism.) Nevertheless, study the site. This, friends, is the future of the press release:
This is a screen grab of the website Delta and Northwest created in advance of its merger announcement (and perhaps in anticipation of anti-merger sites--more on this later). Think of it as a mini-site, or temporary site, almost like a booth at a trade show. It's a combination of marketing, investor relations, and customer service. The content here is meant to answer all of the questions from any of the merger's stakeholders.
The legalese on the site calls it a press release, a phrase that evokes something texty, a single page with a headline, contact information and some canned executive quotes. No more. The new press release, for major events anyway, is a full-blown communications center.
This one is professional, well designed, and neatly organized by stakeholders—employees, customers and communities (read: local governments that control airports).
The amount of information available is impressive. Employees worried about layoffs get a detailed FAQ, a merger time line and more. Customers can choose their home state to see how the proposed merger affects their service. Investors and municipalities get a 17-slide presentation with statistical information and maps of the combined network of routes.
This mixture of text, visual, interactive tool and video is becoming a magic formula on the Web for reference information, and for good reason. When executed well, the format is simply better at solving tell-me-now kinds of problems than older methods like press releases. It's more accessible. The airlines make a stronger case for merger with this site than they ever could with an investor conference call, traditional press release and a 30-second TV spot combined.
The fact that this site was ready to go when the companies were ready to go public is key to the effort. The message is clear. No fumbling over tough questions. No “we will address that soon” evasions. Even relatively obscure questions about the proposed merger’s effect on rural communities have been pre-empted.
Technology helps, too. According to WHOIS data, Delta registered the domain just 79 days ago. And the site was last changed on March 20th, meaning it was built in less than 60 days. Not that long ago, building a professional site with rich content in that time would have been impossible or cost-prohibitive.
It’s an impressive feat of corporate communications. Expect more of these information oases to be created, seemingly overnight. If you’re coming up to a major event in your organization, you’ll want to study some of the sites that have done this. I’ve seen only a few, usually created by activists. The Democrats created a dossier on a former presidential candidate. The retailer TJX, after losing 50 million credit card numbers, should have built one, but did not.
Still, a slick communications site guarantees nothing. The companies have a long way to go to make this deal happen. They face anti-trust hurdles. Investors want more “cost cutting” (read: layoffs). Pilots want seniority conflicts sorted out. And customers want a promise that fares won’t go up. Alas, independent experts and transportation bloggers are already suggesting that higher fares are likely. The companies’ stocks are down.
So why build such a site, why go to the effort, if it’s going to be treated as skeptically as a press release? Was newglobalairline.com worth it?
I would argue that the Delta and Northwest had no choice. After all, boycottnewglobalairline.com is still available for $9.95. If the airlines don’t put out a compelling message, others may. Who? It could be any group or anyone: The pilots’ union. A blogger who calls himself the cranky flier. Ralph Nader!
People who want to know what this merger means to them will go directly to the web to find out. It’s not that Delta and Northwest would lose control of the message without a website. They wouldn’t have a message at all.
For more on the airlines see:
The Airline Industry Whistleblowers
Assessing American's Apology
British Airways' Terminal 5 Disaster
American Airlines Needs a Newsroom
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I think this website is brilliant. It’s the information age and the more information the better.
A few years back, I was an employee in a subsidiary of a public company. The parent company was selling my subsidiary to a private company. The public company would not tell us anything that was happening because “we are a publicly traded company and it’s inside information”. The private company that was buying us talked about it all the time. It’s uncomfortable as an employee when you own employer won’t give you information but you can get it e-mailed to you from some one else.
With this website Delta/Northwest has an advantage in disseminating and sharing information that supports their merger plans. For any intelligent decision on this merger process people need all the information available.
- Posted by Robert
April 22, 2008 22:28
What a great example of, essentially, a multimedia news release. It's so simple thesedays to build a microsite with enhanced multimedia content. The concept of a dedicated space for specific issues is nothing new - organisations have been integrating such spaces on their websites for years. What really makes this one stand out though is the sheer professionalism with which it has been done and the attention to detail. The fact that it has its own separate url seems neither here nor there to me.
- Posted by Tracy Playle
April 29, 2008 17:58
As a web developer, I was disappointed by some of the technical glitches in the site's launch. Nevertheless, you are correct that Delta did itself a service by having this ready. In checking the domain name registration date, I find that Delta and Northwest knew that they were doing this as far back as December of 2007, if not earlier. At that time, they answered "no" to media inquiries about a potential merger.
I understand that it's necessary to keep trade secrets confidential as long as possible but this unique use of the Internet for a merger provides a rare insight into the world of commercial air travel and merger activity.
- Posted by Mr. Sustainable
April 30, 2008 14:04