http://www.onlineuniversalwork.com

As I have so far in Thailand is Bangkok Airways which has its own Facebook and handfuls of members. I don’t remember which URL to access it but you just search for Bangkok Airways Facebook. It shows in Google.

In term of ROI, I think it will be a long term result after an airline or any company having its Facebook or even other social sites like Wayn. People will talk more about you and your brand will be recognized. Well, in my opinion, ROI comes from various ways to measure. Social media is kind of marketing in the world of Web 2.0 but to get better ROI, your service will have to meet customers’ satisfaction as well, and of course, with many more factors.
- By siri yi, Internet Marketing Executive at Exotissimo Travel, Thailand

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Interesting question. I think this is something many companies across all industries are asking themselves.

On one side, it is easy to tap into an existing community such as Facebook and leverage the captive audience. It is cheaper, quicker and less risky then creating a self-branded community. Facebook members are growing at an astonishing rate, especially in Canada & the US. The idea of becoming part of something this big is almost a no brainer. So…a company should create a company profile on Facebook, a channel on YouTube and a Twitter account. The idea of extending your brand into these 3rd party communities & applications is an important piece to a healthy Social Computing strategy.

For companies who choose to launch their own community, the trick is how to build one where clients join and more importantly, become participants. Some companies offer membership to a segment of their clients in hopes of fostering a common thread among members leading to active participation. Others open the front doors and let everyone in including prospects with hopes of winning a numbers game & earning new clients. I think the the latter approach is the wrong approach.

A successful community has a host of benefits….clients who belong to a community are generally more loyal, spend more $ and visit the company website more often – all good things. However, the biggest benefit may be the content itself. The idea of members exchanging answers to questions and ideas around ways to improve the products & services will prove invaluable to an organization…lower support costs and insight into R&D.

The key to a successful community may boil down to 3 things.

1. What do your clients want? No need to build something they have no interest in using. Ask them how they engage with Social Computing today? Are they joiners, observers, participants or do they choose to stay out of game entirely?

2. Ensuring the community is properly managed – someone to promote the benefits to internal stakeholders & someone to manage to community itself. After all, the hope is the community evolves into a beast.

3. Where does the accountability of the community sit within the organization? Traditionally, it has been within Marketing. Makes sense from a product and sales standpoint but not from a client engagement/relationship building perspective. There is a trend now where Support is taking accountability for this piece of the puzzle and leaving Marketing to their expertise. Product Development is also getting into the mix to ensure R&D opportunities are captured and put to good use.

Exciting times no doubt. We will see many organizations get into the Social Computing game over the upcoming 2 years – some will succeed & many will learn valuable lessons.

- By Steven R. de Blois Consultant, Online Strategy
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Dear Shashank,

I am sure you would agree that launching such online communities will certainly have an additive and beneficial effect on the business of these Airlines. The first reason is that these communities will result in some kind of unsaid bonding. Secondly, it would also help these people know more about the activities and latest info about these Airlines.
Thus naturally, these activities will tie the community members to the Airlines in some way or other.

Amitabh Thakur, SP (Intll), Faizabad
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I’m not involved in such projects, but give my traveler’s opinion.
One cannot be in all communities.
Maybe there is room for a small number of travel communities (e.g. air, hotel, etc…).
Why not create something which could look like Flyertalk 2.0 … Can someone ask Randy ?

- By Gilles
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Chaps… Horses for Courses. If I can provide some additional comment. There is no need to be everywhere at once. Don’t set up an expectation that you cannot deliver. Or publish useless rubbish in your blog – as DL does. Social Networks take commitment and manpower to keep valuable. Don’t think that by participating that you can control because – guess what you cant!

The best form of communication with your community- be it social or a supplier type relationship – is to be straightforward and upfront. In the USA, Southwest does a great job at this. jetBlue is a close second. In Asia, Air Asia is far and away the best player here. But you can easily screw it up by invalid, inaccurate or condescending remarks. Also once you are in there you have to keep it up. Neglect is easy to do. And people do notice.

Timothy aka Professor Sabena
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Timothy,
Once again, I just expressed my personal opinion on 2.0 initiatives, not any opinion on the AF/KL Bluenity Project.

Regards, By Gilles