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Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

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Oscars Real-Time Marketing: Which Brands Got It Right & Which Did Not

In Social Media on 02/24/2013 at 9:55 pm

Oscars-2013

We are an hour into the 85th Academy Awards and already, at least six brands are hard at work attempting to recreate what Oreo and Tide did during the Super Bowl blackout. With 273,000 tweets in before the Oscars have actually begun, it is no surprise that brands want to take advantage of this social media-driven night.

Let’s take a look at which brands are participating in the Oscars conversations and what kind of real-time content they are creating.  I also took a look at the impact of these activations on brand engagement and have assigned a letter grade to each brand for their efforts.

JC Penney:  The retailer giant is advertising during the Oscars tonight. They also changed their Twitter Handle biography to accommodate the Oscars and have created real-time content about red carpet moments. Instead of simply pushing out promotional messages about their store, they are delivering content that’s relevant to the Oscars and is of entertainment value.  The tweet that has received the highest engagement rate also happens to be their Promoted Tweet, which is how I discovered it.  The rest of their tweets are not supported with any paid media—these are also not getting as nearly as many “retweets” and “favorites.”  Because the activations have little relevancy to the brand and are only garnering attention with the support of paid media, I give JC Penney an A-.

Pantene North America – This P&G brand has been posting during E’s Red Carpet LIVE event both on Facebook and on Twitter.  The brand is only posting about their nominated spokespeople—Naomi Watts and Bradley Cooper.  On Twitter, the brand hijacked the organic #bestdressed trend, supporting it with a Promoted Tweet campaign.  Their Promoted Tweet is one of a behind-the-scenes photo of Naomi Watts.  Pantene is using hashtag #WantThatHair for tonight’s tweets.  I love the fact that Pantene is integrating their spokespeople into the Oscar conversation, giving the brand credibility to associate with tonight’s event. I also love that they’ve hijacked an organic trending hashtag. However, the posts are a bit too promotional and they’re not actually creating any new and fun creative that is based on real-time conversations.  For this reason, I give Pantene North America a B.

Colgate Optic White – This brand is live tweeting about the Oscars together with influencer, Jeannie Mai who is a makeup artist, an actress, and a TV personality.  All of the tweets are related to the actors’ beautiful, bright smiles.  They are using hashtag #brilliantsmile. The brand is also repurposing a Twitter giveaway (rules originally written for an August 2012 promotion), asking users to tweet a photo of their own red carpet smile and which actor/actress has the most #brilliantsmile. Ten lucky participants will get an Optic White kit. What I love about this campaign is that the brand is actually engaging viewers with an interactive, user-generated giveaway. However, the brand is only partially wave branding because they are only using pre-planned activations, but are not integrated any real-time content.  However, because the Optic White Twitter account did pop on my Topsy Pro list as one of tonight’s most influential users, I will give it some extra points.  I give this brand a grade of B+.

Skinnygirl Cocktails – Earlier today, Skinnygirl Cocktails launched their first TV spot during E’s Red Carpet LIVE show, featuring Bethenny Frankel.  They also tweeted throughout the day, posting photos of Oscar cocktail recipes using their product. Tonight, the brand is hosting an Oscars Twitter Party with a number of different beauty and fashion influencers.  The icing on the cake is their $2,500 donation to charity, Dress for Success, for each red dress worn at the Oscars tonight.  The brand is donating at least $7,500 to charity—Sally Field, Kerry Washington and Paul, the monkey who makes Oscar predictions have all worn red. This brand deserves the best grade for their wave branding efforts—the launch of a TV ad during the Red Carpet show provided the brand with credibility to own the night.  Their tweets were not only relevant to the Oscars, but they were relevant to the brand without being pushy or overselling.  Congrats Skinnygirl Cocktails, you get an A.

American Express – This credit card brand is also live tweeting tonight, but very sporadically. They are weaving in promotions for the synced Amex Card, small business (stylists and designers), and products that consumers can purchase via Twitter. Two weeks ago, AMEX announced their partnership with Twitter—now consumers can purchase products simply by tweeting. Today, the brand is leveraging the Oscars to heavily promote a wide variety of products that can be purchased via Twitter. They are also leveraging the organic #bestdressed hashtag.  However, since Pantene has bid more dollars on the same hashtag, the AMEX tweets are not appearing at the top of the Twitter timeline. Although I deeply respect AMEX for their innovating social media marketing efforts, I am just as disappointed about their Oscars activations tonight.  I give them a C+; at least they tried, right?

Samsung Mobile – This brand was one of the sponsors of the E’s Red Carpet LIVE show. They also have a Promoted Trend running on Twitter, which means they spent at least $200,000 to part take in today’s Oscar conversation.  The Promoted Trend is used to promote Galaxy Note 10.1 although the brand is rotating a wide variety of tweets. The way Samsung is aligning Galaxy to the Oscars event is by showing off the product’s sketch features.  The brand is showing Twitter users sketches of actresses’ dresses, creating truly real-time content.  I love the way the brand is using the product to create interesting, real-time Oscars content without being too promotional.  I give Samsung an A-.

Which brand do you think did a superb job riding the Oscars wave?

Leave a comment or share this blog and your selection with hashtag #oscarsRTM.  The social media industry is keeping a close eye on which brands use real-time marketing during the Oscars with this hashtag.

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A Day In the Life Of An Advertising Newsroom

In Career, Culture Marketing, Social Media on 02/23/2013 at 10:11 pm

sparks & honey advertising newsroom

During this year’s Super Bowl, brands like Oreo and Tide didn’t just stick to their traditional pre-planned paid advertising routine—they tried something new.  Along with six others, they flexed their social media muscles and jumped on the unexpected blackout bandwagon, creating new content in real-time as half of the Superdome went dark.  Brands that took advantage of the blackout made front page news for their quick thinking.

Unsurprisingly, buzz around Oreo’s “Dunk in the Dark” execution and Pepsi’s take on the Harlem Shake has been high during New York’s Social Media Week. The recent shift towards creating culturally relevant content in real-time has publications such as the Harvard Business Review opining that advertisers will operate more like newsrooms by the year 2020. But at sparks & honey, Madison Avenue and the newsroom came together back in March of 2012.

I’ve been working as a senior community manager at sparks & honey almost since the agency’s launch.  My role is part-social media, part-editorial and newsroom reporter.  It is not your typical 9 to 5 job.  We eat culture for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We are equipped to monitor live events while engaging social media users in real-time and co-creating content with them, which makes for more memorable and shareable content.  With the data-driven newsroom model and 24/7 social media reporters, we put culture and consumer behaviors at the forefront of the content we develop.

So what does a typical day in the life of sparks & honey’s advertising newsroom look like?  It’s a little challenging to describe, because there really isn’t one.  Not only is each day different due to the very nature of culture and news, but also because we continuously work with different clients and create a wide variety of content ranging from editorial and graphics to videos and offline events.

As culture breaks during the day – whether an emerging news item, a new meme, a viral video or some other fast culture touch point – we swarm newsroom-style to address the item and make decisions in real-time as to how it may impact the brands with which we work.

We like to refer to the environment in our newsroom as “controlled chaos.”  We have very specific routines, mechanics and planning processes that allow us to monitor huge quantities of cultural information and activate on it quickly.  We brief a minimum of three times a day, with early morning and late day briefings by email, and a mid-morning cultural briefing that allows for a melding of minds between our cultural strategists, behavioral scientists, account teams and creatives.

We stay tapped in all day via our Bridge – a series of giant screens erected around the sparks & honey offices that stream emerging trends and breaking news as they happen. Throughout the day, we monitor and analyze these trends using our proprietary platform and data mining algorithms that help us track the energy and determine the likely longevity of a particular cultural burst. Our philosophy is to identify emerging trends early in their “wave” cycle and then help brands participate in the conversations by creating relevant content in real-time.  We call this process “Wave Branding.”

As we uncover developing trends that relate to a client’s target market, business objective and brand essence, a multidisciplinary team gathers to quickly decide on the approach we should take and type of content we should curate, adapt from our pre-planned reserve library, or create from scratch.  Our newsroom-style creative process differs from the traditional advertising model of briefs, brainstorms and a seemingly infinite number of revisions. We prefer to find order in chaos, strategize in real-time, execute with urgency and inject our brands into culture with authenticity.

* Please note that I’ve originally authored this for sparks & honey and it has first appeared on Big Think.

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Catchafire Honors Top 10 Social Good Mavens

In Social Good, Social Media on 11/18/2012 at 3:51 am

Yesterday Catchafire.org, the nation’s leading online pro bono network that connects talent and purpose, announced the Catchafire/Fast Company Most Generous Person Series, which recognizes game changing careers and inspiring acts of generosity beyond deep-pocketed philanthropy.  The series launched November 16 recognizing the Top 10 Social Media Mavens who use social media to do social good.  The series will continue through the winter honoring the most generous designers, tech founders, wall streeters, marketing gurus and filmmakers.

“The Generosity Series celebrates the potential we all have to become change agents in a really big way,” says Catchafire Founder & CEO Rachael Chong. “We’re all about making volunteering super effective by connecting talent to organizations that need that specific skill set. We believe that a great volunteer experience has the power to transform a person into someone who is more aware, more compassionate and actually activated by feelings of wanting to do good.”

Top Ten Social Media Mavens & Their Inspirational Quotes:

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, PRESIDENT AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, HUFFINGTON POST

“People are hungry for meaning and a life lived as something more than just consumers. They want to play a role in the life of their communities and their country and make a difference in the lives of others”

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, COLUMNIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES; CO-AUTHOR, HALF THE SKY

“One of the paradoxes of the modern world is that it’s really hard to be completely altruistic, because altruism brings with it such selfish pleasures. So altruism isn’t a sacrifice, but a selfish pleasure.”

EDWARD NORTON, COFOUNDER, CROWDRISE; ACTOR

“We’re seeing the sphere of social networking mature in a way that’s very exciting. This is how people interact with each other and get things done. They share their personal and professional lives online. It should be no different when it comes to their philanthropic lives.”

SHAUN KING, FOUNDER, HOPE MOB

“People think and argue and debate about systemic change way too much and fight for it way too little. If all of the people that wanted a systemic change fought for it, they’d happen way more often. Sometimes, it just takes being the person that takes the first step.”

MARK HORVATH, CHIEF EVANGELISTIC OFFICER, INVISIBLE PEOPLE TV

“Twitter allows people to travel vicariously with me under a bridge or into a tent city in real time. But just like in the videos, the way that I stand out most is by sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly about homelessness.”

 CLAIRE DIAZ-ORTIZ, LEADER OF SOCIAL INNOVATION, TWITTER

“One of my greatest desires for the social good space on Twitter is that we will continue to see more and more content coming from the affected populations at hand – rather, from the folks who are often the recipients of aid and charity intervention.”

DANIELLE BRIGIDA, MANAGER OF SOCIAL MEDIA, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION

“If you wouldn’t share your ask with your family or friends, don’t share it with your social media contacts. I think the biggest mistake I see is people thinking of social media as simply a marketing channel – it can be so much more than that if you let it.”

CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS, FOUNDER, EVERY MOTHER COUNTS; DIRECTOR/PRODUCER, NO WOMAN, NO CRY; SUPERMODEL

“ I think people respond to authenticity and consistency. Listen to others in your space and support those working on yours or related issues. Allow your audience to inform you too.”

JENNIFER JAMES, MOM BLOGGER FOR SOCIAL GOOD

“No one can make positive change in a vacuum and no one can make real positive change without consistency. Furthermore, a writer cannot make positive change if she isn’t truly immersed in the issue. In the case of writing for social change, knowledge is power.”

SCOTT HARRISON, CHARITY: WATER

“Many people think that our only form of giving is sacrificing big jobs and paychecks in the corporate world to work at a nonprofit. But I’m a big believer in eating your own dog food – not asking someone to do something that you’re not willing to do yourself. My favorite kind of generosity is “surprising.” The kind that can bring two people to tears because it comes at such a cost, and it’s so meaningful.”

Follow the conversation on Twitter with #GenerositySeries and learn more about Catchafire.org:

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Internet Memes Inspire This Year’s Trendiest Halloween Costumes

In Social Media on 10/31/2012 at 11:14 pm

BizJournal.com reports the top five popular Halloween costumes this year are:

  • Witch – Remains the most popular custom for adults and the fourth most popular custom for children
  • Vampire – Always a Halloween favorite, vampire is the No. 2 choice for adults this year
  • Pirate – Worn by 2.8 million adults, it is the third most popular costume
  • Batman – The summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight Rises” helped boost Batman’s popularity to the No. 4 choice for adults this Halloween
  • Zombie – Made popular by recent surge of Zombie movies, books, AMC TV series, “The Walking Dead,” and videos games such as “Zombie’s Swipeout,” it is this year’s fifth most-worn custom

Aside from traditional store-bought customs such as the ones listed above, we are increasingly seeing more costumes inspired by pop culture and politics.

Last year we’ve seen costumes inspired by Charlie Sheen, Angry Birds, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Captain America, and the Royal Couple.

This year some of the trendiest costumes such as South Korean K-Pop rapper Psy, McKayla Maroney (& her smirk), TLC’s Honey Boo Boo, Binders Full of Women, and Big Bird incorporate a little creativity based on current events and a do-it-yourself spirit.

What 2012 pop culture icon are you dressing up as?

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Hurricane Sandy is the Second-Highest Search Query on Someecards

In Social Media on 10/30/2012 at 2:46 pm

Hurricane Sandy is no laughing matter. With over 5 million Easter Coasters without power, dozens of homes burned to the ground, and seven deaths tied to the storm, the mammoth and merciless storm is a devastating disaster. Nonetheless, some Internet users (those who still have power) are trying to stay as optimistic as possible.

Someecards, the site for free and funny e-cards, features dozens of Hurricane Sandy someecards, and new ones are going up every hour. The word “Hurricane” is the second-highest search query on the site and the word, “Sandy” is number 7.

 

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How to Track Hurricane Sandy Through Social Media

In Culture, Digital Media, Social Media on 10/28/2012 at 7:50 pm

Every major broadcast network has hour-by-hour hurricane updates, but social media is still the best source of information for communicating and receiving information in real-time. With 4,749 Twitter mentions/hour of hashtag #Sandy, the social network provides an abundant amount of information quickly and efficiently. And even more importantly, you can get these alerts on the go, no matter where you are!

Here are the most-influential sites to visit:

The Weather Channel Social

The site pulls in all weather-related tweets based on one’s geographic location. Site visitors customize the Twitter dashboard by filling in their zip code after which they receive relevant tweets. The site also shows users which state has generated the greatest amount of tweets and allows users to click on each state to see the specific tweets within that location. The site also has updates on flight statuses within specific locations.

The New York Times Interactive Map

This interactive site allows visitors to look up the Hurricane Sandy forecast with their zip codes and track the storm’s current & projected paths. The site projects three different views of the hurricane: map, satellite and radar.

NASA Satellites

NASA demonstrates animated satellite imagery over the last two days, tracking Hurricane Sandy’s move from the Bahamas into the U.S. eastern seaboard. NASA satellites provide forecasters at the National Hurricane Center with infrared, visible, cloud height, temperature and rainfall data as Sandy continues to affect the U.S. East Coast.

Sesame Street Hurricane Kit

For those of you who have kids at home, Sesame Street has compiled a series of videos, tips and activities that can help young children learn more about hurricanes and natural disasters, help them feel safe, and cope with emotions.

Google Crisis Map

Google just launched an interactive crisis map that shows NYC residents evacuation zones, Red Cross emergency shelters, public alerts, traffic conditions, and links to other authoritative storm resources.

Top Twitter accounts to follow:

  • @fema: The official Twitter feed of Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • @MTAInsider: The official Twitter feed of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York
  • @NYGovCuomo – Official Twitter account for the Governor of New York State
  • @redcrossny – Official twitter stream of the American Red Cross Greater NY Region; serving NYC, LI, Lower Hudson Valley & Greenwich, Ct.
  • @twc_hurricane: The Weather Channel’s all-hurricane tweets
  • @NASA: Lovely satellite photos and animations of not-so-lovely storm
  • @breakingstorm: Real-time severe weather updates

For a complete list of accounts to follow, subscribe to the #Sandy Twitter List: https://twitter.com/femaregion2/new-york-state-sandy/members

Top Twitter Hashtags to follow:- s

  • #Sandy
  • #HurricaneSandy
  • #Hurricane
  • #Frankenstorm
  • #Sandypets
  • #Evacuation
  • #NYC

Must-have mobile apps:

  • Hurricane by American Red Cross (available via iTunes or Google Play): Includes real-time storm monitoring, locations of open Red Cross shelter, simple steps and checklists people can use to create a family emergency plan, preloaded content that gives users instant access to critical action steps even without mobile connectivity, toolkit with flashlight, strobe light and audible alarm, and badges users can earn through interactive quizzes and share on social networks
  • FEMA (available via iTunes, Blackberry App World or Google Play): This app contains preparedness information for different types of disasters, an interactive checklist for emergency kits, a section to play emergency meeting locations, etc.

Stay safe everyone!

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The Horses and Bayonets Meme Spreads Like Wildfire

In Culture, Social Media on 10/23/2012 at 2:59 am

“Horses and Bayonets” is just the latest meme emerging out of the election, following popular memes including Clint Eastwood’s chair, the 47 percent, Big Bird, Laughing Joe Biden and Binders Full of Women.  So prevalent have memes become this election season that savvy social media audiences are watching real-time events with an eye and an ear for what might make a meme.

It should be no surprise that the first “Horses and Bayonets” meme was published on Twitter just 6:37 after President Obama made that statement during tonight’s debate.  Within 3 minutes, the first Facebook Page went up and the site, http://www.horsesandbayonets.com was purchased by Don Hennick, employed at a non-profit organization whose global mission is to develop, promote and share positive tools for carbon negative living.

And, according to @GooglePolitics Twitter account, “horses and bayonets” was the top  rising search term tonight. On Twitter, @gov Twitter handle estimated 105,767 tweets per minute referencing the phrase, “Fewer horses and bayonets,” which was made at 9:45 p.m. tonight.

When discussing military spending at the third presidential debate, Governor Mitt Romney spoke about how the U.S. Navy needs more spending and that the amount of ships they had was higher before 1920. Obama came back with a quick zinger, told with such sarcasm that it is no surprise the “horses and bayonets” statement went viral.

Discover how memes start and spread in my interview with Ben Lashes, the world’s premier meme agent to meme stars like Scumbag Steve and Nyan Cat, for sparks & honey: http://bit.ly/BenLashesInterview.

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Spirit Brands Drinking The Social Video “Kool-Aid”

In Social Media on 02/04/2012 at 5:35 pm

Consumers are bombarded with messages every day. To cut through the clutter, marketers need to shift online engagement from interruption to engagement—in the digital world it‘s about entering the conversation. With the shift in control from marketers to consumers, choice-based video (also known as social video) becomes even more important—consumers no longer want to be forced to watch a commercial, they want to decide how, when, and what they want to watch.

According to YouTube, 70% of viewers would abandon a video if it were to carry pre-roll, as opposed to a social video campaign in which viewers are encouraged by trusted sources to watch. In the past year, spirit brands like Heineken and Calsberg have recognized the importance of choice-based video and are investing more and more heavily in this fast-growing space. So how much is social video growing? Well, in 2010, users shared the top 20 video ads 5.3 million times. In 2011, the figure spiked to 24.5 million.

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Unruly media reports that the average social video ad spend for US spirit brand media buys has been between $100K and $500K over the course of 30-60 days. Currently, Heineken is dominating the choice-based video space, increasing its choice-based video ad spend by 25% in less than a year (between Q4 2010 and Q3 2011). According to Unruly Media, one of Heineken‘s primary social video distribution partners, Heineken tests their creative online and applies learnings from their social video campaigns to create the TV spot.

Spirit brands in general are seeing improved performance of online video when it is based on choice vs. forced, and generates earned media impressions and shares that translate into additional free views. Choice-based social video ads typically see 300%to 450% brand lift to pre-roll ads. In addition, on average, the brand trust increases by 30% because of increased sharing and organic spread, greatly increasing brand engagement by 50%.

How is social video different than pre-roll video? 

  • Qualified views from your target audience: click-to-play, users are choosing to watch and engage with your content as opposed to a forced view
  • Contextually relevant environments: Social video is usually in-page or within editorials due to its relevancy among the site‘s audience where pre-roll is not seen as content
  • Sharing capabilities: Social video offers sharing in a variety of ways to all social platforms, where pre-roll offers none
  • Insights: Social Video offers transparency and reporting on earned/organic activity in addition to paid media
  • Viral uplift: Social seeding is used to build brand awareness and increase web traffic, engagement and, ultimately, sales where pre-roll is strictly awareness

With the Super Bowl and presidential election coming up, social video is inevitably going to grow even more. According to Unruly Media, the potential market opportunity for social videos could reach $100 billion in 10 years.

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2012 Social Media Marketing Predictions

In Social Media on 12/17/2011 at 2:02 pm

Data is the new black. Today, brands have access to vast amounts of consumer insight that would have seemed inconceivable as recently as a year ago.  Yet, brands have barely scratched the surface in terms of how they harness this data and effectively reach consumers over social media.  2012 will be the year of the social enlightenment, and we’ve identified a small list of emerging trends in the social media marketing space:

More Social and Local Mobile Marketing – “SoLoMo” is a new term being coined to describe the future of mobile marketing, which will be intertwined with social and location-based marketing.  SoLoMo will prevail in existing geo-social apps like Foursquare, Shopkick and Yelp.  Social buying (e.g., Groupon and LivingSocial) will become more app-focused and provide real-time alerts on local deals.  Brands will move beyond virtual badges and begin offering real-life rewards.  Messaging will become more relevant by exploiting location-based targeting and embedding social content/shareability.  With Facebook’s recent announcement that it will be testing mobile ads in spring of 2012 and the social giant’s acquisition of location-based social network, Gowalla, the likelihood of “SoLoMo” rings truer.    

Social Intelligence Becomes More Critical – Social media is now mainstream and brands finally no longer see it as an experiment—it is now an accepted and effective business strategy.  According to a report by Useful Social Media, 12% of the companies surveyed claimed that social media was under the direct control of the CEO.  With that said, there is certainly increased pressure on corporate social media practitioners to deliver on investment: There’s an ever more pressing need to demonstrate ROI, along with progress against other crucial KPIs.  In 2012, we will see more and more brands deploying social intelligence to inform their overall brand strategy, media planning, and ad creative across both online and offline projects. Insights will make a tremendous and lasting impact on marketing budget allocation throughout the year and into 2013.

Social TV Convergence – Today, television viewers are flocking to the digital water cooler to discuss their favorite shows and reality TV stars—and they are engaging in these conversations across multiple second screen devices.  In 2012, these social activities across smart phones, tablets, laptops, and gaming devices will converge and become integrated with our TV sets.  The future of interactive entertainment has three key attributes: It will be personal, connected, and social.  This convergence will lead to a more personal TV experience, providing viewers with recommendations on new content that they will love.  With companies like Samsung and LG developing new products featuring built-in Google TV, viewers’ experiences will also become more connected, as they’ll be able to enjoy TV shows anywhere, no matter where they are or what device or screen is in front of them.  Finally, the TV experience will become more social as an influx of TVs will have social design ‘baked in,’ giving consumers access to programming based on what their friends are watching, what their interest graphs indicate that they will find appealing, and even what mood they tend to be in at certain times of the day.  This will be an incredibly powerful capability for the media industry. 

Brand APIs  – In 2012, at least one brand will release an open API that will allow consumers to develop branded applications and games at scale with minimal investment.  With the growing application developer talent, the possibilities for brands will become limitless, and some of the smartest brands will start taking advantage and push for the creation of the most fascinating applications beyond our imagination.  This brand will create value in the form of content and utility and distribute it via platforms that extend in reach beyond proprietary channels.  For instance, a company like Safeway could use that API to create its own app tied to its grocery delivery service. Customers could have all of the ingredients in a selected recipe delivered to their front door.

Brands will continue to forge new ground in 2012, and the ones who will integrate social media into their media mix will rise to the top. 

 

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The Sky Is the Limit for Innovation

In Social Media on 11/19/2011 at 11:36 pm

Major airlines have increasingly adopted social media to keep up with younger, higher-income, and more tech-savvy consumers, who are the most frequent users of sites such as YouTube and Facebook, and the earliest adopters of new mobile location–based concepts.  Some of the most cutting-edge innovations in social media marketing have emerged from the smaller carriers that struggle most to be noticed.

Here are some of the most-innovative social media marketing campaigns in the airline industry:

Virgin Atlantic keeps its Facebook page fun and entertaining.  Last week, Virgin partnered with Facebook to launch its very first global social media marathon involving Virgin groups in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, engaging with millions of fans worldwide.  As part of the marathon initiative, Virgin launched a Facebook app called ‘First Times,’ which highlights Facebook “firsts” with friends, such as one’s first post, first tagged photo, first event, among many others.  The friend a user selected for their “firsts” will then be notified and a collage of information created via the app will be dropped in to the creator’s “Virgin First Times” photo album and the friend’s Facebook wall.  Virgin offered various prizes to fans through Facebook on every hour of the social marathon, ranging from flights and getaways to various Virgin merchandise.

Southwest’s strategy is to use social media to listen to its customers and then interact in a way that’s personal. Southwest instructs team members who post on Facebook to sign their names, effectively putting a real face on the brand. The airline encourages localization, with 20 different Facebook pages covering specific Southwest airport operations groups. Southwest also reaches out specifically to opinion leaders, including travel bloggers, brand fanatics, and avid travelers. To involve its own employees in the social media experience, Southwest sponsors an internal social media club. It also organized a social media conference in January 2011 that offered training on content creation for contributors throughout the organization.

In January 2011, Airlinetrends.com highlighted the creative use of social media by Air New Zealand, which allows users to upload their own videos to the airline’s YouTube channel, and then shows selected videos on flights. The company also leverages social location service FourSquare, offering passes to its elite lounge to users who become the “mayor” to certain airports and terminals.

The approach of larger major airlines toward social media has been more conventional, which is in line with what major corporations in other industries have done (eg, Facebook fan pages). However, in 2010, Delta became the first airline to allow travelers to book tickets entirely through Facebook. Without ever leaving the Facebook site, users can simply select “Book a trip” from a menu of options on Delta’s Facebook fan page.  From there, they are redirected to Delta’s Facebook application, creating a seamless experience for users who consider Facebook a home base for web surfing.

The sky is the limit for innovation in the airline industry.  Most recently, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport announced that they will now allow passenger check in via Skype video call.  It is exciting to see how far the airline brands will fly in the social media space.

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