Whether or not you are in finance industry, you are probably aware of the recent Lehman Brothers and AIG incident; it’s been a turbulent week for them. Yesterday in Singapore, hundreds of anxious policyholders lined up in the hot sun outside the AIG Singapore offices. Hundreds more were already inside the offices of AIG and its wholly-owned subsidiary AIA.
AIA took out full-page ads in local newspapers yesterday, reassuring its clients it has enough capital and reserves to meet all policyholder obligations. Apparently, AIA’s PR campaign is trying to win back confidence. Has it made it? Not yet. Internet is often a place you can resolve a PR crisis more quickly and effectively, among which “search” is a channel you must use to lock down the people who are interested to find out more.
Google Search Trends on "Lehman Brothers, AIG, AIA"
The above chart shows the Google search trend in Singapore on three keywords: Lehman Brothers, AIG, AIA. The huge jump in search volumn on the above search terms tells you that many people are looking for related information. That’s when you should show your “PR message”. The bad news is, AIA is not.
I’m not saying that mass media is no better than digital media; mass media is a good channel to response to incidents like AIA crisis. But, search engine is where you send more targeted message more effectively.
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