Did you ever know where the black box is located on a plane? Did you know what A.P.U stands for? Probably not, unless you’re a geek. Kulula Airlines of South Africa, which is known for its quirky branding, has come up with a solution – an airplane painted with facts about…the plane itself!

Now here’s one plane that’s bound the become the kids’ favorite. In fact, I bet that adults would be intrigued too. I’d let the pictures do the talking, and you be the judge.

So you’ve got a sizeable social media presence for your airline over the past year. And now, the employees are starting to participate too. But there’s a constant tug of war, between Legal, Corp. Comms and Marketing – on how employees should and shouldn’t participate in social media. The solution? An airline-wide social media policy.

What is a social media policy, you ask?  Basically, it addresses the concerns that many airlines have when getting started in social media… What if an employee says something they shouldn’t?  How do we respond to passenger complaints and compliments?  How can we possibly control what our employees are doing online?  If you’ve been up and running on social media for a few months, it’s time you formalize your thoughts in this area, and ensure everyone at the airline is on the same page.  Here are five key imperatives for your social media policy:

 

1. Explain the Scope in User-Friendly Terms

When you say “social media policy” to many of your employees, they may think “that doesn’t apply to me because I’m not in Marketing.”  So, it’s important for your policy to explain what types of activities it covers, possibly including their personal Facebook profile, their Twitter account, YouTube accounts, etc.  Giving these types of examples up front in the policy will ensure that employees understand that their online persona is a reflection of the company, even if they are not an “official spokesperson” for the company.

 

2. Authenticity and Transparency

I could write an entire blog post alone about what these two terms mean!  But, basically, employees need to be transparent; meaning that they should use their real names in anything they are writing online, and disclose that they work for your airline when appropriate.  For example, if they are commenting on a blog post related to the airline industry, they should be clear that they work for your airline. And state clearly whether or not their views are personal, or official.

Authentic and transparent also mean being human. Show who you are as a person, not just an employee.  Be real.  Be wrong.  Be personal.

 

3. Confidentiality

Being authentic and transparent don’t mean that everything that happens in the company is open for public consumption. Employees need to understand what is confidential, and exercise judgment about what to share and what to keep private. Explaining what is considered confidential and off limits for social media, is an important part of your social media policy.

 

4. Think About Who is Listening

Before anyone writes anything online, they should think about who could see it.  If your competitor saw it, would that be OK?  If your airline’s promotions agency saw it, what would they think?  These questions should be asked with every online interaction. If the employee is unsure, they shouldn’t post it.

It’s also important to remember that the Internet is permanent.  Anything written will stay on record in some way.  Nothing is ever fully deletable.

 

5. Guiding Principals

Porter Novelli, a public relations company, has a set of guiding principals in its social media policy.  This is a great way to summarize the policy into overarching guidelines, rather than rules, that are easy to remember.

• The web is not anonymous. Assume that everything you write can be traced back to the company, if not you personally.
• There is no longer a clear boundary between your personal life and your work life.
• Do not lie or withhold the truth.
• he web contains a permanent record of our mistakes. But do not try to change things retrospectively.

I can picture these as thought bubbles running through someone’s head before writing anything online.

 

While these are the 5 most important items to include in your social media policy, there are many more considerations when writing one.  Look out next week for a follow up post with more on this topic.

What do you think?  Have we missed any imperatives? Have you had success with a social media policy? What are the key elements there? Let’s discuss.

(Photo credit: Transparency, Big Ear)

AIRSHOW-Quiet Singapore Airshow ends with fewer deals

5 Feb’10 || Reuters || Aviation India || Indian Business News Update

… “It was disappointing, no commercial (aircraft) deals, everything was on MROs (maintenance, repair and overhaul). People even thought last year’s Dubai Airshow was disappointing,” said aviation analyst Shashank Nigam, who writes a blog on the industry… read more

 

S’pore Airshow 2010 sees US$10b in deals, down 23% from 2008 show

5 Feb’10 || Channel News Asia

… Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying, said: “I don’t think we should read too much into the numbers because if you drill it down, there were no new aircraft orders. Most of the deals are coming from MRO maintenance, aerospace and the biggest order was from the Indian military, for missiles… read more

 

Webbies 2009 – winners and judges comments

5 Feb’10 || FlightGlobal

… The judges said that SimpliFlying had lots of good content. “It has a good, clear focus and the author writes with authority and verve.”… read more

 

S’pore Airshow garners US$10b in deals as trade show ends

5 Feb’10 || Channel News Asia

… Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying, said: “By the end of the year, AirAsia will have a larger fleet than Singapore Airlines. And by 2012, maybe double. So there’s going to be a renewed focus on low cost carriers and how manufacturers can sell to these players rather than just the legacy airlines.”… read more

 

Singapore Airshow is Hot, And it’s Not Just the Weather

4 Feb’10 || CNBC

By: Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying.com It’s searing hot at the Singapore Airshow – combine 34 degree celsius temperatures with 85% humidity and you can start to imagine why my shoe soles started to melt on the tarmac… read more

 

CNBC Live Interview: Airlines Look to Cargo Business

3 Feb’10 || CNBC

As more airlines turn to the cargo business, Shashank Nigam, founder and CEO of SimpliFlying, highlights the importance of ancillary revenue for the sector, with CNBC’s Martin Soong… read more

 

CNBC Live Interview: Rebuilding Garuda’s Brand

3 Feb’10 || CNBC

Garuda Indonesia plans to raise up to $300 million in an IPO this year. The carrier’s CEO, Emirsyah Satar, tells guest host, Shashank Nigam of SimpliFlying & CNBC’s Martin Soong when this is likely to take place and what it plans to do with the funds raised… read more

 

CNBC Live Interview: Flying Green

3 Feb’10 || CNBC

Environment doesn’t become a priority for aviation until it relates to profit, says Shashank Nigam, founder and CEO of SimpliFlying. He tells CNBC’s Sri Jegarajah, Martin Soong and Amanda Drury that being green means either reducing costs or driving revenue… read more

 

Indy Transponder 3-FEB-10

3 Feb’10 || Indy Transponder

… What have the first two days of the Singapore Airshow been about? A tag-cloud says it all from SimpliFlying… read more

 

CNBC Asia- CEO Call

3 Feb’10 || StreetIQ.com

Environment doesn’t become a priority for aviation until it relates to profit, says Shashank Nigam, founder and CEO of SimpliFlying. He tells CNBC’s Sri Jegarajah, Martin Soong and Amanda Drury that being green means either reducing costs or driving revenue… read more

 

Airshow Notes: No Big New Orders, But Lots of Buzz

3 Feb’10 || CNBC

By: Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying.com Much has gone as expected at the Singapore Airshow – no big new orders. Regardless, there were certainly a lot of announcements coming from all corners of the globe… read more

 

Boeing expects new orders for passenger aircraft to fall short of deliveries

2 Feb’10 || Channel News Asia

… Shashank Nigam, CEO & Aviation Analyst, Simpliflying Pte Ltd, said: “They own an all-Airbus fleet and Airbus can literally milk them if they take care of these clients. ”So maybe Boeing can do something like that, maybe Ryan Air or other low-cost airlines which are growing fast… it might be an Indian airline, for example, SpiceJet flies all Boeing or it might be Korean or some other budget airline”… read more

 

Webbies 09 – The Winners

2 Feb’10 || Flightglobal

… Best Blog: Judged by Reed Business Information’s head of Blogging, Adam Tinworth and Vice President Cabin Design Office at Airbus, Jonathan Norris 1. Things In The Sky 2. SimpliFlying 3. AirPigz… read more

 

4 Wild Things to Expect at Singapore Airshow 2010

2 Feb’10 || CNBC

By: Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying.com What a start to the year has it been from airlines. AirAsia and Jetstar announced world’s first low cost alliance. Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy and hopes to come out as a different airline, with a different alliance altogether (It even hired a monk as a CEO.)… read more

 

A ‘timely’ new agreement

29 Jan’10 || TODAY

… Airline branding firm SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam also said that Jetstar has shown strong business agility through its partnerships with Changi Airport and AirAsia. ”The new routes are low-yielding and have a high load factor. SIA will see its lower end of the economy class suffer,” Mr Nigam added. Mr Ngiam also said that Changi Airport’s move to keep Jetstar here is timely as it will help secure its hub position against Kuala Lumpur… read more

 

SpiceJet wins International award for Best Website

1 Feb’10 || afaqs!

… Sharing his experience on the award, Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying and one of the judges said, “SpiceJet was in tough competition with the other nominees for the best website award and the judges had a tough time deciding. In the end, the friendly user-interface, the custom content for local travelers and ease of use played a much bigger role in securing the award, rather than just the website functionality”… read more

 

AirBaltic (by simpliflying.com)

28 Jan’10 || SafeRiga.com

Flying from Berlin to Riga with AirBaltic. Video by simpliflying.com… read more

 

Social Media and the Airline Industry

27 Jan’10 || Columbia Business School

Shashank Nigam, founder of SimpliFlying, a blog on aviation, branding and technology, discusses the impact of social media on the airline industry and why customers relate better to brands that show a human face with David Rogers, executive director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership, during the 2009 World Brand Congress in Mumbai… read more

 

Digital natives and airlines

27 Jan’10 || Ole Kassow, Inc

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by one of the most passionate and well-informed airline observers, The AirObserver’s Blog, last week. It’s now online here. I talk about the challenges faced by traditional carriers and low cost carriers alike when dealing with digital natives (Generation Y and Generation Z). I would personally like airlines to put a lot more effort into understanding digital natives and coming up with more great initiatives like Southwest, Cathay and Virgin. Another couple of inspired guys are Chris Brogan and Shashank Nigam… read more

 

Six Brand Leadership Lessons from Air New Zealand, and the flatbed seat in Economy Class

27 Jan’10 || AirMarketeer© Aviation Event Marketing

from SimpliFlying || Aviation :: Branding :: Technology || Airline marketing, airline brand management, social media, Web 2.0 byShashank Nigam. At the edge of the world, a small airline is pushing the envelope when it comes to doing the right things. This is a hallmark of a brand that is going places, even in times of adversity. If you haven’t already heard, Air New Zealand yesterday revealed a revolutionary flat-bed seat in Economy Class that will re-define the way we travel (Check out Crankyflier’s firsthand coverage here). This prompted a lot of commentary around the world, and I really liked one from Arun Rajagopal (in addition to Cranky’s) with his focus on branding… read more

 

EyeforTravel Social Media Strategies for Travel 2010

26 Jan’10|| UpTake Travel Industry

… Facebook - “Best Practices to get the Highest ROI on Your Social Media Initiatives” – Many travel companies have a token presence on Facebook, but if you want a meaningful presence with a significant ROI and understand how customers prefer to use Faceboook and engage with them, then don’t miss this one. Speakers for this panel include:- A Representative from Facebook; Fiona Ashley, Director of Marketing, Travelmuse; Shashank Nigam, Founder & CEO, Simpliflying; and Brandie Feuer, Director of Interactive Marketing, Planet Hollywood… read more

 

Digital Natives: The New Travellers, AO Interview Of Ole Kassow

26 Jan’10 || AirObserver’s Blog

… Anyway, back to your question, the most authentic, open and dialogue-based airline companies are probably Southwest Airlines and Virgin. What they have in common is a great company culture. Check the interview with Paula Berg, the force behind the new media strategy at Southwest… read more

 

 

If you are a member of the press and wish to quote SimpliFlying, please email tomedia@simpliflying.com

For more quotations on aviation/ branding/ travel media, check out Media Mentions archive.

For those who don’t follow aviation closely, the world’s third biggest airshow is taking place in Singapore right now. And there’re a number of things different about it. For one, there are no big plane orders expected, which is normally the most common at airshows. Also, unexpectedly, there’s a ton of social media infused into the happenings, which makes the airshow really hot. Here’s why. Journalism on steroids, powered by Social Media Generally at airshows, you get “daily digests” – thick printed booklets with a summary of all the happenings of the previous days at the airshow. This time FlightGlobal’s …

This is an awesome week for SimpliFlying: The Airshow social media campaign has been going very well and I’ve been featured on CNBC, Channel NewsAsia and a host of other media outlets, as far as Latvia! Amidst all the airshow excitement, SimpliFlying was announced as the world’s second best aviation blog by Reed Business Information’s head of Blogging, Adam Tinworth and Vice President Cabin Design Office at Airbus, Jonathan Norris in The Webbies 2009 – Flightglobal Aviation Web Awards. …

Day 1Day 2

It’s official. We are proud to bring you the world’s first tweetup on an aircraft thanks to the kind folks at Bombardier. And not just any aircraft. It’s the Bombardier Q400, painted in airBaltic colours, we are talking about! Not only that, we are throwing in free beer and munchies generously sponsored by the Bombardier team. Can it get any better? Probably not. Even though this tweetup is by invitation only, if you are heading down to the Airshow this Friday from 3.30 – 5.00pm (which means you have an Airshow …

This article was written live from the Media Center at the Singapore Airshow, and was first published on the CNBC blog.——– What a start to the year has it been for airlines. AirAsia and Jetstar announced world’s first low cost alliance. Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy and hopes to come out as a different airline, with a different alliance altogether (It even hired a monk as a CEO.) The airlines in the west announced mostly shrinking losses, but Allegiant and AirTran stunned everyone with their record profits. Then last night, at the Air Transport World …

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