Airline use of social media

LET'S TALK: AIRLINES' USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Kristian Hvass Center For Tourism and Culture Management Copenhagen Business School Copenhagen, Denmark [email_address] Air Transport Research Society Porto, Portugal July 2010

LET'S TALK: AIRLINES' USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Mapping of social media use
Recent development
Expanding to firms
Exploration of airline utilization of social media
Achieved by categorizing airline social media posts

Internet is a marketing tool... Marketing 2-way level communication Social process Continuous Marketing is a social process through which individuals fulfill their needs by creating and exchanging value with others Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J., Wong, V. 1996, Principles of Marketing

...allowing users to generate content... Social Media Podcasts Messaging Wiki Apps Blogs Social media is that part of the Internet that enables users to contribute to developing, rating, collaborating, and distributing Internet content. Vickery, G., Wunsch-Vincent, S. 2007, Participative Web and User-Created Content

...leading to shift in structure User Generated Content Information sharing Social software Enhances collaboration Command and control Engagement and empowerment

Categorization of sample set...
Airline social media posts categorized according to promotional marketing mix (PMM)
3 elements removed from original PMM (exhibitions, merchandising, and packaging)
1 element added to adapted PMM (social activity)

...using the Promotional Marketing Mix... UGC PMM Definition Advertising Product description or explanation, either airline’s initiative or as a response to a question Selling Link to purchase a product or service Sales promotion Description and/or link to promotions/partner companies affiliated with frequent flyer program Public relations Airline general response to a question not worded as an advertisement; providing general information; soliciting for contributions from customers; a challenge/game for customers Sponsorship Information about a sponsored event or initiative Direct mail Real-time or pertinent information to travelers Word-of-mouth Promoting content uploaded by other users Social activity Initiating a dialog without specific information about the company (e.g. wishing happy holidays)
3 categories deleted from original PMM
1 category (social activity) added

UGC PMM Example Advertising Just in case you hadn't heard already, we are having a massive global sale to a large range of destinations - Auckland, Fiji, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mumbai, London, Los Angeles, New York, London, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires and more. Limited availability. Happy Travels! (Qantas on Facebook) Selling So they say it's your birthday? Well it's our birthday too, yeah! Hurry - our birthday sale ends tonight @ 11:59pm PST! Click the link below to book: (Southwest Airlines on Facebook) Sales promotion Qantas Wallabies fans: Frequent Flyers can enter to win exclusive access to the Qantas Frequent Flyer Pre-Match Lounges at the Qantas Wallabies Bledisloe Cup Test home matches! (Qantas on Facebook) Public relations [Question of the day] - If my infant is at his 20th months now and I am considering to buy a flight in advance which is 6 months later. Can I book an Infant seat for him? Or should i buy an Adult seat? What do you think? (Air Asia on Facebook) Sponsorship Who's going to the #SFPride Parade? We're proud to be Official Airline of SF Pride! Come check out our float or watch for Sunday TwitPics. (Virgin America on Twitter) Direct mail SFO is experiencing high winds which are causing some long delays. Thx for your patience everyone. (Virgin America on Twitter) Word-of-mouth RT @MrReasonable Got to marvel at the skills of the pilots of @flyairnz getting those planes down in this weather (Air New Zealand on Twitter) Social activity @ AliciaWag you pooor thing .. how did you get the poison ivy? (Air New Zealand on Twitter)

…with data from social media platforms
Facebook allows airlines to establish groups of which one can become a fan
33 airlines present
November 2007 earliest post
41,369 average # of fans
10 posts average per 1000 fans (first post to Jan 2010)
Twitter allows airlines to establish account which one can follow
35 airlines present
May 2007 earliest tweet
86,232 average # of followers
65 tweets average per 1000 followers (first tweet to Jan 2010)

Choosing of airlines...
Choosing of airlines
Airlines ranked in ATW 2008 according to business model
Joined/followed airlines
Aggregated number of airline posts from August 2009 to January 2010
Airlines with lowest, average, most posts per business model per social media platform analyzed
3 rd lowest FSC Twitter poster used

...led to a diverse sample Facebook (FB) # FB posts 1 # FB fans* Twitter (TW) # TW posts 1 # TW followers* FSC Low Air Canada 9 12,251 SAS 30 1,490 Average Qantas 56 13,462 British Airways 299 21,644 High American Airlines 178 47,015 Air New Zealand 1252 11,987 LCC Low Air Berlin 15 5,550 Air Berlin 30 465 Average Frontier 122 5,379 Virgin America 384 1,966 High AirAsia 482 160,775 Southwest 1015 1,031,898 1 August 2009 – January 2010 * As of 25-2-2010

Overall characteristics... Formal Informal TONE Our cabin crew got a champagne shower on d podium by top 3 winners of Moto2. Hope d wind isnt blowin 2 strong or theyd be freezing #AAMotoGP - Air Asia on Twitter

Overall characteristics... Command & Control Interactivity AUTHORITY Nice pic, good luck in Vegas! RT @ JenCook : Landed in Vegas! Love me some @ southwestair ! Look- the grand canyon! http://yfrog.com/4c9uzj - Southwest Airlines on Twitter

Overall characteristics... Opaque Transparent ANONYMITY

...describe airline social media use... Internal External RECIPIENT Thanks to all VX teammates for helping raise funds for Haiti- we're matching you - Virgin America on Twitter

...and show a failure to capitalize on potential of social media
Content primarily
Formal
Official
Authoritative
Social activity posts more informal
Not capitalizing on relationship-building capabilities of platforms
Many airlines regard social media as Web 1.0

Lack of interconnectivity
Strong advertising focus with static content
Selling is not complementary function
Limited cross-platform use
Relationship-building content seen more on Twitter than Facebook
Time-sensitive information disseminated via both platforms

Facebook is for advertising...
Little difference between FSC and LCC
Poor link between advertising and selling
Little use of platform for social activity
Direct mail content used by most active posting airlines

...while Twitter is for relationships
Disparity between FSC and LCC use
Strong focus on public relations and social activity
Content more informal in nature
Retweeting of others' tweets allows airlines to reinforce unbiased content or content not appropriate for airline to post themselves

To summarize...
Increased airline use of social media
Prevalent formal and authoritative tone
Strong focus on advertising but not selling via Facebook
Lack of capitalization of platform capabilities
Social and relational activity prevalent via Twitter
Dynamic media

...before the next step
Consider alternative theoretical foundations
Increase sample size to allow generalizations
Integration of fans & followers posts
Expansion of platforms (e.g. blogs, YouTube, etc.)
Analyses of airline content on third-party platforms (e.g. TripAdvisor)

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Airline use of social media

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Airline use of social media — Presentation Transcript