“I’ve heard of it too but I’m not really sure of what it is and, please, don’t tell me that we need yet another social network!”

We’re pretty sure that something similar must have gone through the minds of many airline and airport marketers over the past few weeks. According to some sources, Pinterest, the newest kid on the social block, is driving more traffic to company pages than “big” social networks like Linkedin or Google+ and people are spending more time on this addictive social network than just about any other platform except Facebook and Twitter.

But, what does it all mean ?

It could have simply been just another social network, or just another link sharing site that happened to be good at generating traffic while being visually appealing.  But luckily for us, it isn’t just that!

From a technical point of view Pinterest is a social-bookmarking website or, in other words, a website that allows people to highlight and share content that they find interesting. However, unlike other similar websites, it does so by asking users to share content through images while organizing it in themed groups known as Pinboards. Each Pinboard can have multiple pins all related to the theme of that Pinboard.

What is it actually like?

Each individual image represents a link that, if clicked, will lead the to the page where it was pinned from, thus generating traffic, but most importantly each image carries emotional content and a visual appeal that distinguishes this website from its competitors. What’s interesting iss that even though the image shows a certain number of users following SimpliFlying’s profile on Pinterest, users can choose to follow specific Pinboards as well; this has led to an interesting anomaly where many of our boards have got about 50+ followers in the first 7 days since we launched our profile.

Images are effective

Unlike text, images are processed very quickly by the brain and often carry an emotional component that is immediately transmitted to the viewer. When we add this to the fact that content on Pinterest is shared and organized according to each user’s personal interests, we get a social network that is heavily focussed on sharing emotions, desires, interests (and links) through images. Or, in other words, a marketer’s dream.

If used correctly Pinterest has an enormous potential to allow brands to get closer to their target markets, by allowing them to create content aggregates (Pinboards) that appeal to different types of users who are willing to share them because they feel an emotional attachment to them.

On Pinterest users mostly share the future, not the past

Furthermore, unlike other social networks, the nature of Pinterest means that users do not always share things that happened to them in the past but often things that they like and would want to have (or do) in their future, thus adding a great potential for Pinterest to be used as a destination and aspirational marketing tool.

For airlines and airports this could mean adding a whole new emotional dimension to their marketing efforts, by allowing them to connect their brands to the experience of travel, the beauty of the destination or just about any other concept they wish, or are able to, represent with images.

A growing trend

Although there are still only a handful of airlines and airports on Pinterest, there seems to be a growing trend towards the adoption of this new platform and its usage seems to be focused on communicating brand values and associating the travel experience with the destinations that it leads to.

At SimpliFlying we strongly believe that this platform has great branding potential and, if used correctly, could prove invaluable to both small and large businesses. For this reason we have created two specialized Pinboards to showcase the best examples of Airlines and Airport pins, and have already readied our consultants and trainers to provide expert advice on how to use this platform.

If you wish to learn more about how SimpliFlying can help your airline or airport harness the powers of the social web (or even only Pinterest) and engage travelers profitably , we offer Strategy Consulting and MasterClasses that can be customized to your needs. You can get in touch with us directly at shubhodeep@simpliflying.com.

Find SimpliFlying on Pinterest here.

• How BMI SimpliEngaged Customers with a Pinterest Visual Lottery
• Airlines rush to get brand pages on Google+, but why? 7 questions to ask before you join a new social media platform
• How BmiBaby Used Instagram to Visually Engage Travelers and Locals
• Airports That Twitter & Why It Is An Effective Tool (for the airport brand)
• [Infographic] The first-ever insights into how airlines are using Google Plus

As always, I’m happy to share the slides here on SimpliFlying for my readers. And I’d love to have your feedback. You can view my previous conference presentations and keynotes here.

• Airline branding: Keynote video from Abu Dhabi, and CNBC Arabia
• Ancillary revenues and airline branding webinar slides (with video!)
• Presentation on airlines and social media from FTMA & Freddies 2009, now available
• Keynote from IATA Commercial Symposium 2009 – Driving revenue for airlines from real-time customer insights on social media
• Airlines 2.0: Using technology for branding through the recession – webinar slides

And that’s only natural, since most monolithic organizations have more naysayers than doers. And the doers seldom have more clout than the naysayers. So, how to overcome this challenge?

Look within – start from the inside

My suggestion to these executives was to look at the upcoming marketing plans/campaigns. Something that’s already been budgeted for, and would be rolled out in the next three months. Then, work with the marketing team to “social media-fy” that plan. Basically, you’d want to add wings to the campaign through social media. And make sure there’s a way to measure the results (even if qualitative) so that you can measure the before-and-after effect of social media on the initiatives.

This allows you to achieve a few things:

1. You prove that social media adds value
2. There’s no need for substantial additional budget to run the SM activities
3. Working from an already-planned initiative is much easier than proposing brand new (=risky) social media campaign
4. You can then duplicate this for a couple of other marketing initiatives and then branch out social media gradually
5. You prove your worth, and get started on the road to becoming a social media rockstar

Once you’ve done this, you can easily embark on the 11 steps I’ve suggested earlier, to quick-start the social media branding strategy at your airline, airport or hotel.

Does that help? Legacy airlines, are you listening?

If you have questions about the process, or would like to seek personal help in making this work, feel free to reach out to me by email: shashank[at]simpliflying[dot]com. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts on your efforts in social media in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Do you work for an airline? This five minute video on social media can change the way you do marketing
• Reality Check: Three reasons why legacy airline brands are dead (and who to look out for)
• The Big Flight: How Malaysia Airlines is using social media to launch their new A380
• Airline brands to look out for, and those that can rest in peace beyond 2009
• How airlines can drive and measure ROI from social media (Plus: Free passes for webinar)

This presentation shares insights on how airlines can really use social media tools like Facebook, blogs and Twitter to drive revenue. This was originally presented as a keynote in Al Ain, UAE on October 13, 2009, at the Low Cost World Middle East Conference.

• Airline branding: Keynote video from Abu Dhabi, and CNBC Arabia
• Keynote on airline branding at Aviation Outlook Middle East
• SimpliFlying in the Media: FOX 7, Today, Air Transport News
• 3 speaking engagements on Airlines and social media in October
• Six ways social media can drive brand loyalty: Bollywood-style keynote presentation from World Brand Congress, Mumbai

Heard of Morgan Johnston? On Google, “Morgan Johnston Jetblue” produces over 37,000 results, as compared to “Dave Barger jetblue”, which returns 26,800 results. Dave Barger is the CEO of the airline, and Morgan Johnston leads JetBlue’s social media branding strategy. Morgan was into video production, before he joined JetBlue’s Corporate Communications department in early 2007.

Heard of Christi Day? She was voted the Employee of the Quarter earlier this year at Southwest Airlines, because of her tremendous efforts in leading the airline’s brand on various social networks. It’s not very often that a personin the PR dept. of an airline gets such a prestigious award.

Heard of Elliott Pesut? He was featured as the Geek of the Week, in one of Seattle’s leading daily this summer. Why? Because he is the “Head Twit” for Alaska Airlines. Elliot is a trained pilot, who was earlier at Flight Operations in Alaska Airlines. He volunteered for this new role, when the opportunity arose.

Why should YOU lead social media branding for your airline?

See a common thread in the stories above? All these people have no background in IT or new web technologies, yet have created an in-formidable stature for themselves in their respective companies. They’re crucial to each airline’s success in engaging their customers, and are most likely to keep their jobs, even in these difficult times.

In June, when Elliot was taking me around Alsaka Airlines’ HQ in Seattle (watch his video interview), I was pleasantly surprised to note that almost everyone knew him (even in different buildings!), people were asking him questions about Twitter and Facebook and what they could do to help him, and congratulating him for his Geek award in the newspaper. I personally have not seen such rockstar-status for anyone under thirty in an airline before.

Morgan, Christi and Elliot have positioned themselves as an asset to their airlines; by leading an effort that airlines want to get into, but are often reluctant due to a lack of proven models, and just the “newness” of the practices. So, how can you help your airline (and become a rockstar in the process)?

Eleven steps to becoming a rockstar by bringing your airline brand on social media

1. Familiarize yourself of what businesses (not just airlines) are doing on social media. A good place to start is Chris Brogan’s article on 50 ideas on Twitter for Business, and the 360i social media playbook.
2. Learn how airlines around the world are using social media to engage their customers. My recent keynote presentation on the topic at the Aviation Outlook Summit in Sydney features over 25 airline examples. You can view it online here.
3. Gather a couple of your colleagues in the airline, who’re interested in doing something in this area. Generally, these people would either be young, forward thinking or open to exploring new ideas. Tell them it’s just a personal effort, with no official backing as yet. They may even not be from your department, and may be people who’re already active on social networks personally.
4. Listen. Get onto a few key social networks and start listening what’s being said about your airline. For a start, use Twitter search, Google blog search and search YouTube. Do this for at least a week.
5. Plan to Engage. Together with your colleague, come up with a mini-plan to engage these people talking about your airline brand online, and list the benefits and risks of doing so. Also include what will engaging them help the airline do.
6. Email the bosses. Depending on how open the communication channels are in your airline, write an email to the highest-ranking executive you feel comfortable writing to, and CC it to the Marketing and Corp. Communications Heads. In the email, seek an appointment with them, and tell them that you’d to share your findings listening to conversations about your airline online, and propose a plan to engage these people.
7. In the presentation tell them you’d like to lead the effort by allocating just an hour a day to this activity, which can be increased over time. Remember to outline the risks + mitigation of this initiative, and key milestones. Make this plan reviewable every 30 days.
8. Establish a presence. Start with the medium where most of your customers are talking about you. If it’s Twitter, start a Twitter account. If it’s on Facebook, start a Fan page for your airline, or start participating on the official one.
9. Get Cracking on the plan. Start engaging the people who’re talking about your brand, by responding to their queries and talking personally about the airline.
10. Announce and track. Work with Corp. Communications to figure out what can you announce first to your online fan-base, before announcing to the traditional media. Make this announcement, and track who re-tweets or forwards your message to their friends. Then, pamper these people with more love in your subsequent conversations.
11. Review the plan every 30 days, see what are the lessons learnt and discuss with the management where to take this next, ultimately as a full-fledged marketing strategy.

There you go! Those are the steps to becoming one of the most valued assets for your airline, and have fun while at it. Airlines like people who take initiative, and take part of the risk the company doesn’t want to take on its own. And this is where you can help. This list is especially useful if your airline is not yet on social media, or doesn’t have a very strong presence.

If you have questions about the process, or would like to seek personal help in making this work, feel free to reach out to me by email: shashank[at]simpliflying[dot]com. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts on your efforts in social media in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

P.S: Morgan, Elliot, Christy are teaming up at South by Southwest festival early next year, for a panel discussing their stories about being on social media. And I’m moderating! We need your vote: http://bit.ly/OqF9g

• Alaska Airlines’ brand strategy on Twitter, revealed by Elliot Pesut in exclusive interview
• How does JetBlue build a strong digital airline brand?
• For leading JetBlue to social media stardom, Morgan Johnston is the SimpliFlying Hero of April 2012
• “Chris Brogan: If I was an airline CEO.” Exclusive video interview with the social media mogul
• Five Steps to Succeeding as an Airline Customer Service Social Media team

Yesterday, in Sydney, at the Australia Pacific Aviation Summit, I gave my keynote on airline branding and social media a different touch. I emphasized on the fact that airlines and airports need start moving from broadcasting messages to their customers, to having conversations about their brands with their “cult”.

Featuring case studies of over 25 airlines on social media, this was the presentation that I used for my keynote on 6 Aug 2009. It was very well received by an audience of experienced senior aviation executives. And I’d love to have your feedback on it. What do you like most? What’s the biggest challenge?

Keep Flying, SimpliFlying,
Shashank

• Presentation on airlines and social media from FTMA & Freddies 2009, now available
• Six ways social media can drive brand loyalty: Bollywood-style keynote presentation from World Brand Congress, Mumbai
• Airline branding: Keynote video from Abu Dhabi, and CNBC Arabia
• Keynote on airline branding at Aviation Outlook Middle East
• LCC 2.0: How low cost airlines can use social media to engage their customers

As mentioned in my review of the website earlier this week, the site not only features informal bios written in first person, but also formal and informal shots of everyone from flight attendants to baggage handlers. It’s good for getting acquainted with the faces behind the scenes at one of the world’s best airlines. But as I browsed through the profiles, I felt I wanted to do more…I felt like literally getting in touch with some of these people, with whom I could relate to. So here are three proposed next steps for the Cathay Pacific people micro-site.

1. Allow active interactions among visitors: One of the key enablers of engagement in social media is that anyone can share his or her thoughts about anything, in public, and garner responses. On the People site, visitors can currently share the URL on Facebook, Twitter and other leading social media sites. But that’s about it.

   How about allowing people to comment on the photos? And allowing the featured staff to reply to these comments. Of course, all of these can be moderated. But the interaction among visitors and between staff can make the site much more engaging and interactive

2. Get these people on Twitter: If the purpose of the campaign is to reveal the faces behind the brand, then the micro-site is a good first step. The next step should be to allow “fans” to talk with some of the more popular staff on Twitter. The staff need not be on Twitter all the time, but having a profile like Heather Poole or Captain Ron can certainly be helpful in getting interactions going.
3. Meet the people session: Engagement is fruitful when not just done online, but offline too. Cathay Pacific can hold a competition where winners can get to meet some of the staff featured on this micro-site. Connections formed with the brand (and the people) at such events can be long-lasting.Another way to get the staff featured online acquainted with the “fans” is to publish when they’ll be on duty next, like at the airport check-in counter, or in-flight. And “fans” can meet the people on duty, by booking a flight that’s coinciding with the person’s duty timing. This might even help boost sales for Cathay Pacific!

What are your thoughts about where this campaign can go next? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Cathay Pacific reveals the faces behind the brand, in an interactive way
• Coming soon: SimpliFlying Buzz, the first airline marketing and branding portal on the web
• Virgin America’s online community – bull’s eye, or a flop?
• Cathay Pacific wants you to create a dessert on Facebook, and serve it in-flight to you!
• Boston to New York for $7? Can someone explain why?

That’s partly because airlines have acted like faceless organizations all this while. You seldom get to interact with the people behind the brand. And that’s exactly what Cathay Pacific has tried to overcome, with their micro-site showcasing its people.

Meet the people – in a different light

On the people site, you can get to know better not only Cathay’s customer-facing staff like the Pursers or the Customer Service officer at the airport, you can learn just as much about the cargo handlers and the aircraft dispatchers. The flash-based interactive website literally has people “flying around” and once you click on them, you encounter two photos and a bio. The photos include one taken in black-and-white, in non-Cathay attire, and the bio is written in 1st person. All this adds a personal touch to the site.

The bios written in a way most people can relate to those featured. Anecdotes like “I was a Primary school tutor before I joined Cathay Pacific – may be that’s where I learnt to be patient,” only help to strengthen the connection.

The effort has become very popular internally as well, since an insider told me that now there’s a long list of staff with diverse backgrounds who want to be featured on it.

How un-legacy of Cathay…

Legacy airlines are generally not agile and like to play it safe. Especially with new media and technologies that are unproven. For example, Singapore Airlines till date doesn’t have an iPhone app, and is not on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media platform. But Cathay has chosen a different path.

About exactly one year ago, Cathay gave us the virtual cabin tour where you could experience their planes without even stepping on-board the aircraft. And now, they have come up with this brilliant initiative around its own people.

The aim of this initiative is to showcase the diversity of its staff, and give a glimpse into the lives of the people who serve the Cathay customers every day. And I think Cathay has achieved this aim elegantly. Although it’s difficult to tie such efforts directly to revenue, I’m sure Cathay has won the hearts of many with the site.

What’s next?

Cathay is certainly heading in the right direction. For next steps, instead of speculating, I’ll bring to you, SimpliFliers, an exclusive video interview with one of the key people behind this initiative in a couple of days, right here. And I’ll let you be the judge yourself.

For now, I’d love to hear what you think about this initiative and how it can be improved further. Why aren’t other airlines doing something like this? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Three ways the Cathay Pacific brand can come alive by infusing social media into the People site
• Cathay Pacific wants you to create a dessert on Facebook, and serve it in-flight to you!
• Cathay Pacific unveils new Business Class seats and staff uniforms!
• Experience Cathay Pacific without stepping on the plane
• Is Cathay Pacific Business Class the best way to get from New York to Hong Kong?

As most of you are aware, a couple of weeks back, I delivered an expert address in Miami, Florida at the Low Cost Carriers Americas Summit, at the intersections of three topics – airline branding + social media + budget airlines. My ideas were very well received by the audience of key executives from LCCs in North America and South America. And I thought I’d share a video recording of my speech with all of you as well.

I’m keen to hear your feedback on my ideas, whether you find them feasible and how we can help airlines adopt these well. You may go through just the slides here.

Regards,
Shashank

• 5 insights on social media, which airlines must tap on – presentation from IATA Wings of Change at FIDAE
• LCC 2.0: How low cost airlines can use social media to engage their customers
• Ancillary revenues and airline branding webinar slides (with video!)
• Keynote presentation from Sydney: How airlines can have conversations with customers on social media
• Airlines 2.0: Using technology for branding through the recession – webinar slides

In this exclusive interview with SimpliFlying.com, Elliot details the airline’s Twitter strategy, and talks about the unique challenges of his job, as well as Alaska Airlines’ forays into social media and how it’s all about connections, online and offline.

Volcanic rise of @alaskaair on Twitter

Alaska Airlines’ social media efforts got a real boost after a volcanic eruption a couple of months ago, near Ancourage, one of their hubs. The eruption caused unpredictable delays to flights and the airline needed to inform its customers about changes in real-time, as well as sooth nerves. And they turned to Twitter, calming nerves online while updating passengers of their flight status. Don’t you think that is so much better than receiving an insensitive SMS telling you that your flight is cancelled?

Today, Elliot updates followers of which planes each day are wi-fi equipped and seeks their feedback on everything from new destinations to service levels on Alaska Airlines.

The importance of making real-life connections

In June, Elliot helped organize @alaskaair’s first tweet-up, a meeting of the airline’s Twitter followers. The incentive for the attndees was a chance to be part of the aviation geek night, where they would get to experience the airline’s flight simulator. A large variety of people attended, including me, all the way from Singapore. Though, it was the ability to connect with the locals in Seattle-area and Elliot and his team relished the most. Many discussioned turned into informal, impromptu “focus groups” where ideas about the airline were shared openly. In fact, there was even a large sheet of paper we could pen ideas for Alaska Airlines’ future efforts on Twitter.

Personally, I feel that meeting the “faces behind the mask” is as important as conversing with them online. And having regular real-world meetups is crucial to building strong bonds between customers and airlines.

Social media works when it’s a team effort

It’s difficult to imagine just Elliot managing over 9,000 followers Alaska Airlines has on Twitter. Moreover, he may not have the answers to all the questions he gets on Twitter. Hence, he is constantly supported by others in the Corporate Communications dept. and often reaches out to others from customer service and even IT when the need arises. And this support from subject matter experts is what I believe is the backbone of @alaskaair’s success on Twitter.

For these insights and more, I’d like to invite you to watch Elliot’s 10 min interview with SimpliFlying, Enjoy!

• Is Alaska Airlines’ Social Media Execution heading South of Expected?
• Karlis Smiltens – the man behind airBaltic’s rise in social media is the SimpliFlying Hero for August 2010
• Exclusive Interview: How Eurocontrol battled the ashcloud crisis through social media
• What makes Alaska Airlines a lovable airline brand? In conversation with Greg Latimer
• Simpliflying Hero, May 2010: Aurelie Valtat from Eurocontrol