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Social Media @Virgin America: Cultivating brand equity and guest engagement. Innovation in the Skies. “A Multi-million Dollar IPOD. That Flies.” –. Needed Grassroots Support from Day One. “ U.S. GOVERNMENT SAYS VIRGIN AMERICA UN-AMERICAN” – Dec. 2006. “UNFAIRLY GROUNDED” – Dec 2006 .
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Social Media @Virgin America: Cultivating brand equity and guest engagement
Innovation in the Skies “A Multi-million Dollar IPOD. That Flies.” –
Needed Grassroots Support from Day One “U.S. GOVERNMENT SAYS VIRGIN AMERICA UN-AMERICAN” – Dec. 2006 “UNFAIRLY GROUNDED” – Dec 2006
May 2007: You ARE American “VIRGIN AMERICA CLEARED FOR AUGUST TAKE OFF”- May 2006
Geek’s Airline of Choice: Even before we launched “Like a Multimillion-Dollar IPod. That Flies…the planes have clearly been designed by people with a keen sense of design and an appreciation of technology's ability to make people feel comfortable and happy.” “Google maps takes flight in Virgin America…all the map data is cached on the plane's local network, so it'll be even faster than sitting across the street from Google HQ at a Starbucks in Mountain View.” “The new planes from Virgin America theoretically have a whole bunch of cool gadget-friendly features such as a 110V plug, USB port, and RJ-45 (Ethernet) port in every seat. What's also cool is the touchscreen feature on the back of every seat. There are music, games, and movie features, plus you can chat with people in other seats or go into a chatroom for the WHOLE PLANE.” “Last year, the folks planning the launch of Richard Branson's soon-to-lift-off Virgin America line asked us if we'd like to name one of their new planes. After much swapping of emails among BoingBoing co-editors, we finally agreed on one name that that loyal readers of this lowly blog will no doubt find meaningful: UNICORN CHASER.” “...it just so happens to have the best cabin slash in-flight features we have seen on an airline. With that in mind, you should know we are rooting for them. We too want air travel in the U.S. to be a pleasant experience.”
VX Launched at a Time When Media Landscape Changing Dramatically
Virgin America’s Social Media Presence 280k followers 2 million video views 187k likes Guest engagement very high and largely positive – highest airline positive social media sentiment. SoMe audiences are brand advocates – and also have high expectations.
Social Media: Why Is It Relevant? 53% of our guests carry laptops onboard. Up to one-third of our guests are logging on to WiFi on some long-haul flights. Over 70% of bookings come from web channels. The Apple store is next most likely purchase for our guests – and #1 store for Elevate members buying from Red Store.
We Use Social Media Channels For Informal, authentic way to connect with guests New sales channel – where our tech-forward guests live Avenue to address guest issues Reputation management: battles won/lost in space Guest Service Awareness, trial and loyalty Brand Reputation/Engagement Sales
Effective Use of Social Media • Social media is relevant to our guests: • 90% of our Elevate members are on Facebook and 35% are on Twitter • High-value guests participate in TopGuest, other geo-local social media rewards programs • 70% of bookings come from web • Up to 1/3 of our guests are on the internet during flights • They are also relevant for us: Real-time service, sales efforts, reputation management & engagement • Our social media channels have been widely recognized:
Sentiment: 2010, positive to negative ratio *The @qantasairways @Name was created in November 2010
Social Media: Building Customer Connections @ 35,000 Feet • @alexiatsotsis tweets: Dr. Carla Munevar just graduated from med school, made shirts for her flight on @virginamerica#vx406 @lkrhttp://twitpic.com/72l9s • @alexiatsotsis tweets: Go Dr. Carla!!! the people in row 11FED want to send her a drink. @virginamerica#Vx406 • @virginamericatweets:Social Media experiment; make it happen! RT: @alexiatsotsis:@lkrGo Dr. Carla!!! the people in row 11FED want to send her a drink.#Vx406 • @alexiatsotsis tweets: okay we're on the case - @lkr? #vx406 • @lkr tweets: Love it @virginamerica just tweeted about me and @alexiatsotsis! • @virginamerica tweets: RT @alexiatsotsis: @lkr SOCIAL MEDIA FTW - we got Dr.Carla champagne, in honor of her graduation #vx406http://twitpic.com/72kkl
Social Media: Sales #FlyFwdGiveBack was our 4th highest sales day
Social Media: PR + Sales 4 hour sale = 5th highest sales day of 2010
Social Media: Real-Time Guest Service Guest Complaint/Question/ Feedback/Issue on Twitter 1000-3000 Tweets and posts a Day mentioning VX – 15-20% response rate
Guest Service Involvement • Real time air-to-ground guest service. • Guests have tweeted for faster food service – and ACARs messages sent air-to-ground, so ITMs can assist. • Guests have posted worried over missing connections: BOS station alerted by SoMe team + waiting to whisk them to connection
Guest Service Direct Response
Social Media: Observations • PR is social + social is PR: this is the media world we live in • Brand reputation is an organizational priority – and social media is the front line. Just like PR crises, the organization must be able to act and adjust to social media • Timeliness is key, but tried & true PR judgement is still king • You cannot manage every story/complaint: but staying honest, authentic and ethical will win out in the end • Technology moving too fast for traditional, hierarchical organization to keep up: • Driven not only by new software/media products, but also significant increases in mobile capabilities and penetration • Given real time expectations of guests, a flat, dedicated group outside of, but aligned to, traditional customer care is key • While email + snail mail can be answered in days without negative impact, tweets must be addressed in minutes/ hours • A department separate or matrixed to customer care may seem expensive, but likely reduces the number of written complaints to traditional channels that can be much more costly to address • Customer goodwill from immediately addressing service failure and acknowledging praise for a good job is significant
