Comments on: Virgin America’s online community – bull’s eye, or a flop?

By: Dhrubo Mukherjee

Dhrubo Mukherjee — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:44:29 +0000

Shashank, it has to work just like an FFP, but virtual. Any online community offering value to the consumer will work. The traveller has to see benefits in joining the community.

By: Shashank Nigam

Shashank Nigam — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:21:05 +0000

@ Matthew, I’d agree with you that it’s never too late. Moreover, it may indeed make sense to integrate with leading community portals like Facebook. In fact, sister airline, Virgin Atlantic does a pretty good job at this too.

@Laura: As you mentioned in your interview with me, Richard Branson’s bravado can pull off great things. And Virgin America being one of his babies as well… you never know what might be in store =)

By: Matthew Healey

Matthew Healey — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:20:27 +0000

It’s never too late, Laura! Web 2.0 is about engaging, rather than simply communicating. I agree with you that this effort may be too little, but they have to start somewhere. My hunch is VA will soon realize that they’re getting too few visitors to achieve any kind of significant return, and perhaps the next step will be to integrate their “community” into a larger environment such as the new Facebook Connect project.

By: Laura Reis

Laura Reis — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:18:57 +0000

A Virgin Atlantic online community launched 4 years ago with Richard Branson’s bravado would be one thing, but this looks like a dud. Too little, too late for a brand barely off the ground.

By: Shashank Nigam

Shashank Nigam — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:00:20 +0000

@ Dhrubo: You’re “dead-on” in your assessment. Cultivating community influencers can indeed be the secret mojo for airlines looking to increase customer loyalty. In fact, Virgin America is doing exactly this by having the competition to elect the first passenger “president” of the community. What better way to have an “accidental spokesperson”?

Tough, I’d like to hear your thoughts on how likely are surfers likely to join yet another online community. If other airlines come up with similar strategies (which they are), how should they capture the mind of the potential customer without turning him or her off?

By: Dhrubo Mukherjee

Dhrubo Mukherjee — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:37:07 +0000

Advocacy is the strongest form of advertising. Similarly, uderstanding and improving the satisfaction of customers is one of the most effective ways to build and sustain a successful business. Some of the effective ways to execute this is a community website and or a social networking website. This provides a secure identity to the customer, makes the customer a elite member of a select group and such a group eventually grows to become an influencer in the buying process for targetted prospects. It is a fact, that today, a large section of prospective buyers actually seek for such for such influencer groups on-line. For the organization, such initiatives provides for analytics to use in customer loyalty plans and most importantly direct, actionable feedback. Most important, all of these at hardly any cost. If seriously pursued, Virgin has hit a jackpot!