MSC Makes the Leap into Social Media

Delivered in November 2014, MSC Oscar has a nominal capacity of 19,224 TEUs. Photo courtesy DNV GL

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Group, a Geneva-based and family-owned company which has historically shied away from communicating with the public about their operations, while maintaining a rather uninteresting website, has changed tack this year.

In January, the company relaunched their global website MSC.com, and yesterday, officially announced a new partnership with Orca Social – a company co-founded by Jonathan Wichmann who won numerous awards while leading Maersk Line’s enormously successful social media efforts between 2011 and 2013.

“This new partnership will in no way be about replicating what I did previously,” says Wichmann.

“MSC is a very different company from their competitor, and the social media landscape has changed a great deal since 2011. Today, it’s not just about volume. It’s about connecting more with the people who really matter to your business. If you look at MSC’s history and the company’s DNA you realise it’s really what they’ve always been doing.”

“Historically, we have communicated with our customers on a one-to-one, offline basis,” explains Joe Cook, MSC’s Global Marketing Manager. “New technology allows people and companies to communicate in new and exciting ways.”

“The key to MSC’s success has always been building quality relationships with our customers; this strategy isn’t about to change. Our ambition for MSC’s social media strategy is to talk with customers in a way that’s right for them. This might be over a coffee, or on the phone and soon, it could be online too. Social media and other technologies present us with an exciting opportunity to improve our overall service to customers” says Joe Cook.

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