Because They Love You: An Analysis of the @BVG_Kampagne Twitter Feed

Abstract: In this case study, I focus on Berlin’s BVG (public transport provider), who overcame asevere online firestorm in reaction to their marketing campaign centered around the slogan “Weil wir dich lieben “ (because we love you) in January 2015. Through a content analysis of the BVG’s Twitter feed in January 2015 (during the firestorm) and January 2016 (after the firestorm), I aim to determine how crisis communication strategies were employed by the BVG and what role humor played in their communication on Twitter. My approach to this topic is very much rooted in a rhetorical/ text-based theory of both crisis communication and humor, focusing exclusively on tweets authored by the BVG and analyzing each tweet’s content regardless of its context.My results indicate that humor is employed in the majority of the BVG’s tweets both duringthe crisis and after, a practice that may have helped reduce the perceived severity of the initial cause for the online firestorm. The use of humor in direct response to the crisis is more cautious than after the crisis, showing that despite its newfound jovial image, the BVG in no way underestimated the severity of the crisis situation. Furthermore, the BVG’s Twitter communication is shown to be highly interactive and conducted in a conversational tone. This indicates that the BVG uses their Twitter account to engage with their customers in a friendly and open conversation, building stronger relationships and ultimately creating a network of support, which can be useful both for marketing purposes and as a deterrent for future communication crises.This study can be seen as a small addition to crisis communication and humor research as well as research into online marketing. For future research the framework and methodology may need to be expanded to more widely assess how humor could be employed to overcome negativity online and especially face organizational crises such as online firestorms.