How did Virgin stop a brand advocate becoming a brand terrorist?

Some of you may have recently seen (on the web) a letter of complaint from a Virgin passenger to Sir Richard Branson about the food served on a flight from Mumbai to Heathrow. In the letter, the complainant says he was a Virgin fan. Whether he remains a Virgin advocate or becomes a brand terrorist will depend on how Virgin treats his complaint.

In this case, Sir Richard called him and thanked him for his 'constructive if tongue in cheek' email. Virgin apologised and invited him to their catering house to select the next range of meals and wines on board. See Telegraph article.  

If you want to maximise customer lifetime value and avoid brand advocates becoming brand terrorists then a look at my article, 'Are you getting enough customer complaints?' 

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.