A reputation management expert said Wednesday the social media outcry over federal lawsuits filed by MGM Resorts International dealing with the Oct. 1 shooting massacre will quickly die down and a suggested boycott won’t pan out.
Justin Shank, a social gaming and marketing expert with Raving Consulting, which represents tribal and commercial casinos across the country, spoke on reputation management and what players are saying about casinos and their response at the Casino Marketing & Technology Conference at Caesars Palace.
MGM’s image took a reputation hit this week after the company filed federal lawsuits against more than 1,000 victims of the mass shooting to protect the casino operator from liability. MGM is being sued by people who claim the company’s Mandalay Bay resort was negligent for not preventing the shooting.
Gunman Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and wounded more than 500 at the Route 91 Harvest festival, firing automatic weapons at the festival grounds across the Strip from his 32nd floor room at Mandalay Bay.
After news of MGM lawsuits surfaced, people responded on Twitter and through other social media avenues, saying they would not stay at MGM properties in Las Vegas or elsewhere across the country. Many called for a boycott using the hashtag #BoycottMGM.
“I think (MGM) can do some things about it, which is clarifying things to address it, but in my opinion with this situation, this too will pass,” Shank said in an interview. “There was the same situation when Trump was elected with Trump Tower, but they’re still staying there.”
Justin Shank, Raving Consulting
Shank said it won’t do any good to respond to people’s social media complaints individually as casinos normally would when it comes to a customer experience at their properties. The best strategy would have been proactive instead of reactive before the media learned of the legal action.
“If they knew this was going to be out in the press, they could have gotten ahead of it and say this is where we are at and what we have to do,” Shank said. “If they had gotten ahead of it, it may not have turned out to be such a crazy (situation).”
MGM Resorts is seeking a favorable court ruling through a 2002 anti-terrorism act that would absolve the company of blame. MGM is not seeking money from the victims.
Shank said it appears a legal decision was made by the company and not enough time was spent with the public relation’s department for crafting a strategy to mitigate any public backlash. A lot of times this is done at the top where stakeholders are making decisions without including PR people. If the stakeholders are not on board with the PR people, there’s a disconnect.”
As for his prediction on how the public will respond, Shank said MGM “could see a small dip but I’m sure it will pass. People are so fickle online right now. Something is really important, and a couple of weeks later and nobody remembers it happens. There is so much stuff going on right now with the news cycle that something else is going to happen that will probably divert from that.”
During his educational session, Shank said 97 percent of consumers in 2017 searched online for information about local businesses. Some 12 percent look online every day. Some 32 percent of consumers read reviews on mobile apps, a 14 percent increase, Shank said.
Reviews on Yelp and other crowd-sourced review forums need to be monitored because 85 percent of people trust reviews if they are positive or negative and as much as personal recommendations, even if they are bogus, Shank said.
Positive reviews make 73 percent of consumers trust a business even more, Shank said.
“They are saying I’m going to go there and have a great dining experience, stay in the hotel, visit the spa and go to their events,” Shank said.
In many cases, it takes a rating of four stars out of five to make them want to try business, he said. That’s why it’s important for casinos who have customer say at checkout that they had a great experience at their property to say so online in reviews on Facebook, Yelp, Trip Advisor, Expedia, Twitter, Yahoo, and others, he said.
By the same token, people believe negative reviews even if they aren’t true, he said.
“There are things we can do when managing brand reputation,” Shank said. “We can do a little research and see how this person was reviewing other businesses. I took a look at profile and looked at other businesses they reviewed. They gave our steakhouse got one star and McDonalds was a five-star review. The price point at the steakhouse was a little beyond what they wanted to pay. That allowed me to craft a response appropriate to the reviewer that maybe you would like to eat in our buffet. We hope to see you again.”
Yelp and Facebook are consumers’ most trusted review sites followed by Google and the Better Business Bureau, Shank said.
Last weekend Shank monitored social media of one property that hosted a VIP event in which one of the guests gave a dining experience two stars, only to raise it to five stars and a glowing review after he was approached by a host about satisfying his needs.
“That doesn’t always happen, but it’s a good example of how working together as a team approach a guest, address an issue and issue a response and change their behavior,” Shank said.
Google is leveraging itself as a place to go to for who is reviewing a business and what they are saying and that’s important to track, Shank said. It’s important to check out information on every amenity on the property as well, he said.
If someone sends an email about a negative experience, Shank said it’s important to address it before they post a negative review.
“This is a customer service opportunity,” Shank said. “People are asking questions on social media platforms all the time and other uses are typically responding. If you can respond to those questions, you can control the narrative. Take an active approach to reputation management.”
