SimpliFlying || Aviation :: Branding :: Technology || Airline marketing, airline brand management, social media, Web 2.0 » Brand Xternalities

The day airlines’ Twitter accounts were hacked, and three steps to reverse the brand damage

Shashank Nigam — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:10:05 +0000

Today, a number of airline accounts were hacked. First, NYC Aviation pointed out that United Airlines was sending out malicious tweets. Later, I received a Direct Message from Brussels Airlines, with exactly the same message, with the URL taking users to a sexual enhancement website.

Staying true to the real-time nature of social media, within minutes, the news of hacking was doing rounds all over the internet. Of course, it’s only to be expected, when United Airlines sends an abnormal Tweet to it’s 56,000 followers. Though United later removed the specific Tweet, the damage was done.

Reversing the brand damage to the airlines, in 3 steps

This is a situation that any airline jumping on the social media bandwagon can face. So, what’s the best way to deal with it? Here are three simple steps.

Be quick. Delete the malicious tweets from your updates (obvious!), but do it quickly. United Airlines took 1 hr 6 mins before their public tweet was deleted. It could have been quicker.
Be candid. Send out a public Tweet apologizing and clarifying the matter. Brussels Airlines sent out a Tweet (below) but United has not reacted that way yet [Update, 9am EST: United just sent out a clarifying tweet]. It’s important not to resort to traditional means like a press release. They are too formal, take too long to get to the public, and target the wrong audience. Most importantly, Twitter is personal. So, be candid, like Brussels Airlines.
Be thankful. Identify the person who alerted you and thank him publicly. He’s likely to re-tweet it and tell all his friends how nice you’ve been to him or her. And you have instantly cultivated a brand advocate! Cathay Pacific did this very well today (even they weren’t hacked)

So, what do you think about the way these airlines reacted? How can they deal with such incidents better? Let’s hear it in the comments, and over on Twitter (@simpliflying).

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Australia’s Qantas Airways – the world’s most agile airline brand?

Shashank Nigam — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:36:48 +0000

This article was first published on the CNBC blog
———-

Qantas announced today a net profit after tax of A$58 million for the first half of the financial year, down from $210 million a year earlier, although the airline did recover from a loss in the second-half of last financial year. This 72% dip in profits resulted in the shares falling by up to 7.2% in early morning trades. However, Alan Joyce, the CEO, says the carrier has done better than most of its rivals. And it has, indeed, thanks to its agility.

Agility through smart cost-cutting

Although revenues dipped by 13.4%, costs were slashed by 16.2%, which shows Qantas’ diligence and discipline in reducing expenditure in the past year. The cutting of frequencies to unpopular routes and grounding of older aircrafts was key to these cost savings.

Load-factors have been the highest in five years – at 82.4%, on flights that carried a lesser number of total passengers as compared to the past year.

This simply means that flights were more full than in the past, despite the recession. Of course, the downside was that this was achieved by offering very low fares on certain routes, which are unsustainable in the long run. Alan Joyce eluded to this fact as well, by indicating that the industry’s survival depends on higher fares.

Agility in re-configuring the cabin

Qantas was one of the first airlines to add a Premium Economy cabin to their flights. Now, they’re standing by their decision by overhauling their cabins. Qantas will be removing First Class on most of its long-haul routes, with the exception of London and Los Angeles, and adding Premium Economy to their widebody jets.

This not just reflects the growing sentiment that Premium demand will change in the coming years, but also the fact that there are more First Class seats in the market than required. For example, from Sydney to London, a passenger has the choice to fly on First Class Suites on board Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and Qantas. Certainly a case of over-capacity.

Qantas is one of the first airlines in the world to remove the First Class in a systematic fashion, and change their long-haul plane configuration to Business, Premium Economy and Economy classes. This effectively increases the number of seats and hence reduces the cost per seat even further. Such agility will pay off for Qantas in the long term.

Leveraging on Jetstar

It’s a known fact that the two brand strategy, growing Jetstar aggressively, gives Qantas Group a very valuable option that few others can match. Jetstar’s profits tripled in the past year and continue to provide Qantas a very valuable asset to leverage on low-yielding routes. The two-brand strategy has also ensured that the Qantas Group doesn’t lag behind LCC competition from Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways.

Moreover, the recent Jetstar-AirAsia cost alliance should also help the airlines reap additional benefits in the near future through by tapping on each other’s scale and synergies.

In conclusion, even though profits have dipped, Qantas remains one of the most agile airline brands in the world and it’s this quick-thinking that will keep them ahead of most competition in the coming times. What do you think? Let’s discuss in the comments, and over on Twitter (@simpliFlying)

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Five Imperatives For Your Airline’s Social Media Policy

Rachel Levy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:51:19 +0000

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 Principles

Porter Novelli, a public relations company, has a set of guiding principles 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)

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Asian Brand in Chaos: Japan Airlines files for bankruptcy, what’s in store for Delta and Skyteam? As shared Live on CNBC

Shashank Nigam — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:32:00 +0000

So, we all know that Japan Airlines has filed for bankruptcy, is de-listing from the Nikkei Stock Exchange, will be selling all 30 Boeing 747s, shedding 30% of their staff and has hired a new CEO who used to be a monk. But what is the impact of all this? And where does a potential deal with Delta Airlines and Skyteam fit in the scheme of things? What happens to Oneworld?

I answered these questions and more during my Live interview with CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange today. I’m sharing the 5 min interview video below and would love to hear your thoughts on my take. (Click here if you cannot view the video)

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How airline brands can be shielded from TSA and airport security measures in the aftermath of Northwest flight 253 terrorist plot

Shashank Nigam — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:57:40 +0000

I bet anyone who’s got anything to do with flying is now well aware of the incident that happened on-board Northwest Flight 253 over Christmas, where a bomb was almost set off.

Reading through my airline branding lense I could tell the confusion the event was causing among travelers, especially in this peak travel season. And this went through the roof when FAA/TSA came up with knee-jerk measures to beef-up security on US-bound flights.

It’s difficult for most passengers to distinguish whether the inconvenience they’re being put through is something the airline has initiated or is it something beyond their control. These are what I called Brand eXternalities in my 6X model – where the customer has the tendency of forming an impression about the brand, even when the events are beyond the airline’s jurisdiction. At this time, the airline needs to ensure that it nullifies any adverse impact on the brand. Here’s how.

Prepare for the confusion – It will arise, even for Finnair!

I was browsing through Airliners.net the day after the incident and chanced upon an interesting comment. Take a look:

When Finnaviation shared what FAA sent to Finnair, someone else thought that it was Finnair that was coming up with these measures and condemned the airline. This sort of confusion is very common – especially since the traveler is already anxious.

Airlines should be prepared for such happenings even if they’ve not been directly related to the incident. In this case, Finnair passengers flying to the US are just as much affected as those traveling on China Southern from Singapore to Los Angeles via Shanghai. The least the airline can do is to provide clarification.

Clarify, Clarify, Clarify

Following the news of the Northwest incident, KLM’s UK Twitter account was repeatedly calming nerves and clarifying that even though the Northwest flight was code-shared with KLM, it wasn’t a KLM plane that was involved in the incident.

When Delta, KLM, AirFrance and Northwest are all somehow involved, it is bound to cause confusion. And instead of just issuing press releases, it makes a lot of sense for airlines to update the customers through a medium they use!

KLM’s Twitter account is a great example. Similarly, such updates could have been sent out as an SMS to frequent fliers on the Amsterdam-Detroit route. If the airline has a Facebook page or YouTube presence, then similar messages can be released there too. The point is the ensure that there is as little confusion as possible, and the airline brand will not suffer as dramatically.

Don’t just impose – explain measures too

Recently, my Twitter friend Oussama Salah traveled to Detriot and was picked out for a thorough search, once again. This is what Oussama shared in a recent blog post:

The TSA agent explained to that it was the airline that imposed this procedure on him, and in London, the security agent even joked about it. Similarly, the airline can also explain that some of the stringent security measures are beyond their control. And it’s not so difficult to do!

When I was once flying Singapore Airlines, I was requested not to use my headphones while landing because if there’s an emergency, I wouldn’t be able to hear the instructions. I could reason with that explanation and cooperated willingly. This is different from imposing orders on to passengers. Which brings me on to my last point.

Don’t lose the human in you

As opposed to being professional and aloof, the airline staff can also be trained to deal with passengers with warmth. What that means is to have a conversation, and treat the customer humanly, both in-person and through the media. For example, online, it is not just about just broadcast a message and issuing a press release. It is important to listen to customers’ concerns, and then respond.

After the Northwest incident, there were lots of myths flying around the media – security in Europe is lax, why was the person allowed on-board, why couldn’t the security system detect the explosive, and many others. And it wasn’t an airline, but a good friend of mine, Steve Frishling who came up with an article that aimed to distinguish the myths from the facts. This is an article that should be placed prominently on the websites of Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines and KLM-AirFrance, since they all had an active flight number relating to the incident. And it addresses the concerns of a lot of their passengers.

These are just some of the steps airlines can take to ensure that externalities like heightened security measures do not deteriorate the brand itself. What else do you think an airline can do in times like these to calm nerves? Have you had an experience where an airline dealt with this brilliantly? Please do share with us in the comments and on Twitter.

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68 love marks from Southwest Airlines’ Paula Berg that can help British Airways prevent a future strike by Unite

Shashank Nigam — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:32:12 +0000

A special day in aviation

Two important events took place in aviation today – both of which conjored mixed feelings in me.

1. The British High Court declared illegal the potential X-mas strike by British Airways‘ Unite union. The good news is that this promises hassle-free travel for almost a million BA travelers over the holiday period. The downside is that the union is keen on re-grouping to go on strike early next year.

2. It was the last day at work for Paula Berg, the force behind the successful new media brand strategy of Southwest Airlines for the past decade. She’s leaving to move back with the true love of her life – the mountains. So again, a bitter-sweet news. (Watch Paula’s video interview on SWA’s media strategy here)

What’s the link between Southwest Airlines and British Airways?

“So, what’s the connection”, you may wonder?

Paula had emailed me about her move last week and in her note included 68 reasons why she loved working at Southwest over the last ten year. Can you imagine an employee putting in so much affection and effort while she’s leaving? This only happens when the company has treated her like family.

This is not just something Paula expressed, but also what Southwest’s outgoing President Colleen Barrett confirmed over a year ago in her final interview – that the airline’s prime customers are its employees. And keeping them happy keeps the end-customer happy too.

Now, Southwest Airlines has some of the largest number of employees who’re in a union. But they seldom have employee trouble. Probably because they feel loved and give love back. Whereas at British Airways (and many other airlines), there often seems to be employee trouble. I think two things need to happen here:

1. The airline needs to think more about the employees like family, rather than numbers. If they’ve been promised something, they should be granted it on time

2. The union and employees shouldn’t just think of the airline as a golden goose they can hold hostage on a whim. Think of the long term too. If the Unite strike had gone through during the holiday period, it would have probably brought British Airways to its knees!

And even now, when customers fly British Airways over the holidays, do you think they’d feel the love? Probably not. And this would reflect in their lower service delivery standards too, which already isn’t the best in the world.

Hence, I’d like to share with the world, and especially anyone who works at British Airways, a classic from Southwest Airlines’ Paula Berg , which I’ve sought permission for re-publishing from her email. I hope this warms some hearts and melts some hot-heads and make life better for everyone this holiday season.

Quoted from Paula’s personal email…

68 REASONS WHY I’VE LOVED WORKING AT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

This puddle.
The response you receive when you tell someone that you work for Southwest Airlines.
Free flights.
The People – There are times when I pass folks in the halls that I don’t even know and am overwhelmed with the feeling that any one of these people would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it.
Bags Fly Free – It just feels good to work for a Company that tries to do right by its Customers.
The Freedom to move about the Company – I love that several of our VP’s began their careers on the frontline – loading bags, working the ticket counter, and servicing aircraft.
On business trips with colleagues, I can look around the dinner table and think, “There’s no one else I’d rather be with right now.”
Halloween – how many people can say they’ve seen their CEO in platform boots and a cod piece?
Having a team of Schedule Planners on hand to “optimize” our Halloween performance schedule.
The view from the deck.
Having a personal weather man to let you know when to head home or hunker down to avoid bad weather.
Lunch in the cafeteria always feels like a high school reunion.
The Button Man (sometimes known also as The Magnet Man) – because every Southwest event needs a souvenir.
Hearing the Southwest Choir practice in the atrium behind my office.
Casual Dress.
Hand-written notes from Colleen Barrett.
Kisses from Herb Kelleher.
That Warrior Spirit.
Parties in the hanger.
Rapping, singing, flipping, and beat-boxing Flight Attendants.
Aviation bloggers and enthusiasts.
Employee lanes at the airport.
Eight percent 401k match.
Best corporate blog three years running according to PR News (…and if I do say so myself).
The Culture Committee.
There is no shortage of peanuts or peanut references.
There is never a dull moment.
The Spirit Jr. Costume.
This photo.
Texas – From the hospitality to the maverick spirit, and all the folks that call you honey, sugar, and darling.
Southwest swag – like the Southwest Airlines lint roller, the Cargo koozie with the crab arms (“we ship your catch”), the flip-flops that leave the Southwest logo imprinted in the sand, and the Southwest bike (one of these days, I’m gonna get my hands on one of those bikes).
Fred Taylor and Proactive Customer Service.
Employees first, Customers next, Shareholder’s last.
36 years of profitability.
Profit sharing.
Free parking in the Employee lot at the airport. With the upcoming renovation of Dallas Love Field, this option in no longer available. And, technically, being that I wasn’t actually an airport Employee, I was never really supposed to park back there anyway. But, oh the good ole days! (NOTE: To the owners of the red Camero and the black Porsche that are still parked over there, you better move your cars ASAP or you’re gonna get towed!)
Crazy email strings – Like the one a co-worker accidently sent to hundreds of people that revealed highly confidential information about a new city. Doh! Or the one that someone intended for a few friends, but accidently sent to the entire company, asking what they wanted her to pick up for a Bar-B-Que. Everyone responded. Not everyone thought it was funny. I think you know where I stand on this one. It still makes me giggle.
Weekly emails from Carla looking for her missing mail cart (…I love you, girl!).
Daily emails announcing that there is queso, Bar-B-Que, or birthday cake in the breakroom.
Parking next to a Boeing 737.
That new plane smell.
Driving into work with the planes taking off on the runway along Denton Drive. Sometimes I want to race them, but the potholes and my less than favorable standing with the police always stop me.
Stuart Thomas’s abstract Halloween costume illustrating RASM and CASM.
Countless “Wanna Get Away” moments – like the time I took a fly ball to the chin at the Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards softball game and had to come to work for a week with a black and blue goatee. Or the time that I split my pants from seam to seam and walked around all day in chaps. Or the time I walked into a plate glass window escorting Jim Wimberly to a photo shoot.
The joy of looking up someone’s phone number in the online Company Directory and discovering a ridiculous employee photo.
The “no drinking before 5pm” rule.
The Freedom to be yourself – In 2002, while working in the Customer Relations Department, I went nearly three months without washing my hair, just for fun. In the third month, my supervisor called me in to his office and gently suggested that I may want to “keep our Customers in mind.” I love that it took that long.
Secret project codewords like Sockeye, Wyatt ERP and Tipper.
The crossword puzzle in Spirit Magazine.
Brainstorming sessions in the Magic Factory.
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride from Headquarters to Dallas Love Field on the Southwest shuttle bus.
On any given day you might see a live Texas longhorn, NBA Legend Bill Walton, the Stanley Cup, or a margarita machine on campus.
The Southwest cans of water. I mean really…how cute are these things!
Doug Lawson – our resident “Viv Engineer” who, among other things, studies the movements and behavioral patters of animals (like ants, bees, and herds) and applies that knowledge to algorithms that make our airport operations more intuitive and efficient.
Linda Rutherford – without Linda, there would be no blog and no Emerging Media Team.
License plate frames that say “my other car is a Southwest 737.”
Bob Jordan’s Mustache.
Sitting on a plane and listening to the folks around you talk about how much they love Southwest Airlines.
Amazing people like Bill Owen, Anne Hancock, Brian Lusk, and Carole Adams, who, for me, will always epitomize the Spirit of Southwest.
Dallas Love Field – just 15 minutes from my apartment to the gate.
Lunch at the PR table.
The view from the window seat.
Getting a thumbs’ up from Gary.
Chetto Drafts in the Landing.
James Tibbons and this video.
The Southwest Communications Department – I’ve spent nearly every work day for the past six years with the same group of people. They know me as well or better than anyone, and they have loved me, nonetheless.
My very good friends, who have taken care of me when I was sick, had me at their homes for holidays, allowed me to loaf on their couches when I didn’t have a television or a home, and were on call to bail me out of jail if I were ever arrested.
Bloody Marys on a plane – they’re just better up there.

Much LUV, my friends.

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Will the Dubai crises lead to a mega Emirates + Etihad airline brand?

Shashank Nigam — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:03:58 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Every single time I’ve been to Dubai, I’ve heard that Emirates is bankrupt and the state of Abu Dhabi has bought the airline. But I always dismissed them as baseless rumors. Then, the Dubai World crises happened around Thanksgiving/Eid. And that made me think again. That the Abu Dhabi government could ask for Emirates, the airline, as collateral in bailing out Dubai, the state.

So, let’s imagine that if this does happen, that Abu Dhabi takes over Emirates and by default it merges with Etihad. What will that mean for the airline brands?

Emirates and Etihad merge to form a mega-airline with over 250 planes connecting almost any major city in the world with any other – one-stop.
Emirates and Etihad move operations to the Jebel Ali Airport – DWC from their respctive hubs to centralize operations
Ultimately, effectively managing the scale of the new airline’s operations can determine its chances of success

However, I feel that this is unlikely to happen, because:

Emirates is much larger than Etihad, and much more profitable too (Etihad is yet to turn a profit)
Emirates is a much better known brand than Etihad
They have very different fleet compositions – Emirates all-widebodies, Etihad a mix
Chances of integrating two hubs that close to each other (Dubai-Abu Dhabi is a 2hr drive) is not practical
Abu Dhabi Airport has already invested huge amounts in developing the airport as a future hub and Jebel Ali airport is far from being completed – so a hub merger is not on the cards
Especially because a Jebel Ali airport which is 1.5 hours from either Dubai or Abu Dhabi, connected by trains, is impractical

Hence, the my conclusion is that no, the crises will not lead to an Emirates and Etihad merger. What may very well happen is this:

Etihad takes a large stake in Emirates, just like Lufthansa has a stake in Austrian or Swiss
Both brands should be kept intact
Etihad and Emirates optimize their route networks such that they complement each other and don’t bleed each other on major route. For example, instead of offering flight from Sydney to London 20 mins apart from each other, they can be more even spread out throughout the day. And I don’t think an Aussie is concerned whether he would transit in Abu Dhabi or Dubai on his way to London
Both Emirates and Etihad should optimize capacity on certain routes. For example, an Etihad A320 can be sent to Cochin or Peshawar, instead of an Emirates B777.
They save money through join procurement and technology implementation

And I think we’ll have a strong pair of airlines, just like AirFrance-KLM, which have the might to take on any other major carriers.

So, what do you think about the prospects of Emirates after the Dubai crises? Is mine a fair analysis? I’d love to hear your thoughts here and on Twitter.

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Five lessons in crises handling from the Facebook war between Ryanair and SAS Scandinavian Airlines

Shashank Nigam — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:57:13 +0000

I often get asked by senior airline executives and readers of this blog, “How can we deal with real-world PR crises using social media?” Well, the recent war of words Facebook and Twitter posts between RyanAir and SAS Scandinavian Airlines offers a number of lessons in the matter.

For the unaware, here’s a a gist of what happened. Just a few weeks ago, Ryanair said it would offer SAS executives and board members “free tickets on any of Ryanair’s 100 Nordic routes”, then surprisingly rescinded the offer. Nevertheless, SAS’ Director of Communication and EVP, Claus Sonberg, made his first flight with Ryanair from Oslo to London, which could be followed via both Facebook and Twitter.

What was meant to be just an update about the flight experience turned out to be an online “shouting match” with Claus pointing out how RyanAir was more expensive and a “Fletcher Reede” constantly brought out RyanAir’s perspectives. So now, what are some lessons airlines can take away from this?

1. Integrate new media and old media

Something I feel SAS did quite well in this matter was to make good use of both old and new media. There were press releases, interviews in newspapers, even as the action took place on Twitter and Facebook. No segment of the audience was left out.

Many of the times, organizations get too excited about new mediums like Twitter and Facebook, and end up isolating the traditional mediums – which might have a greater in some market segments. The best way is to learn from example – like how Ford’s Scott Monty does Social Media Press Releases.

2. Don’t just talk. Listen, then respond

Crises handling changes drastically in social media, as compared to traditional media. For the simple reason that people an airlines is communicating with can actually respond, in real-time too. Which means that they will ignore anything that’s not relevant to their concerns, at that very moment. So then, how can an airline conquer this situation?

Monitoring Twitter, Facebook and even blog mentions, in addition to press releases is a must. Such monitoring would bring up the current issues people are talking about. Then the airline should try to address these in their responses. So for example in SAS’ case, none of the posts on Twitter were “@” replies addressing people’s concerns. They were merely 140char versions of press-releases: one-way announcements. Not something that can sustain interest.

3. Add insight from analytics for targeted responses

You must be thinking that it’s not possible to respond to every single person who replies on Twitter or leaves a comment on Facebook. That’s absolutely right. This is when the airline needs to use basic analytic tools for observing trends and addressing concerns shared by a number of people.

For example, on Twitter, there are a number of valuable analytic tools that help bring out trends. One such tool is the Twitter StreamGraph, which shows you the latest things people are talking about a particular brand, SAS in this case. And as you see in the screenshot below, lots of people have been confusing SAS’ tweets as promotion of RyanAir’s in-flight product. That’s certainly something that needed addressing.

4. Give power to the listener

The one obvious-yet-often-ignored rule of interactions on social media is that brands must involve the people they’re talking to in the conversations. In SAS’ interactions on Facebook and Twitter, that wasn’t the case very often.

Posts on social media by the brands should aim to instigate discussion among the fans or followers. The brand should act as a facilitator of discussion, as opposed to initiating every discussion. Brands need to listen more than talk. Once the people feel they’re being heard, their affinity increases towards a brand. Mind you, concrete action is seldom needed, but listening is key.

5. Don’t just let the traditional PR team handle it

This is probably the toughest to achieve in these five steps. Traditional PR and corporate communications teams are good with old media, but not necessarily new media. If a crises is being handled on social media, then it’s essential that the team is complemented with someone who’s a practitioner of social media. The key word there is practitioner – because if the person(s) hasn’t personally been active on social media, it might actually be detrimental to the brand.

The best option for airline that do not yet have a social media department is to let the Corp. Comms. team lead crises handling, but complement it with at least one or two people who know social media deep within. IF there are none, then hire a consultant. But I’d advise against doing it in-house, and without much prior experience.

Coming back to SAS, I think they did a decent job at managing the process on social media. However, there’s certainly scope for improvement.

What do you think? Did SAS do a good job? If you were in their shoes, how would you have done it differently? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

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Jet Airways’ pilots mass sick-leave make the once glorious Indian airline brand look confused

Shashank Nigam — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:52:26 +0000

If you’re in the airline industry, you must have heard about the misery of Jet Airways in the last few days. Half their pilots went on a “mass sick-leave”, causing almost 200 flights to be canceled per day, inconveniencing over 20,000 passengers resulting in absolute mayhem at the major airports, most of which tend to be chaotic on a good day.

Not very long ago, everyone was swooning over the re-birth of the romance of travel and airlines in India leading the pack. Business week had good words to say about Jet Airways, and even here on SimpliFlying, I did interviews with senior Jet executives.

Unfortunately, after two years of heavy losses, the brand was already tattering. A few months back, there was the employee sacking saga, and now, the mass sick-leave by the pilots is ruining the brand image built by the founder with great care over time. Sad but true.

And nowhere was this paradox more evident than on the front page of a leading Indian daily’s website. See it for yourself.

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Airline brands to look out for, and those that can rest in peace beyond 2009

Shashank Nigam — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:02:29 +0000

Inspired from my earlier article about legacy airlines being dead, I’ve come up with this graphic to represent which legacy airlines we can look out for, and those which need to work very hard to survive the next decade. What do you think?

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