Smart Social Media Branding: Virgin America launches Toronto on Twitter, at 50% discount [couponcode, still valid]

Virgin America created a splash today, by launching its first international destination, Toronto, on Twitter! They did not spend a cent on traditional advertising for this launch, and I personally think this is one of the smarter uses of social media I’ve seen by an airline in recent times.

The sweetener is that the first 500 people to book tickets using their Twitter ID would be able to redeem a 50% discount (still valid as of 2pm EDT, 20 Feb). If they’re not “following” the airline on Twitter, they will auto-follow. Even the official press release re-directed recipients to the Twitter URL.

“The first 500 Twitter followers who receive the airline’s expansion Tweet can score a 50 percent discount on flights to Toronto for travel June 23-November 17, 2010.*  Virgin America is the only airline based in Silicon Valley, and its inventive use of technology, social media and design has made it a favorite among tech-forward flyers.  For more: www.twitter.com/virginamerica”.

The press release was followed by a single Tweet. And that’s it. That’s a very simple route-launch for you.

What so smart about Virgin America’s use of social media?

I’ve highlighted previously that Virgin America very cleverly uses social media by embedding sharing elements in their email newsletters. Now, they’ve taken the use of the medium to another level. Here’s why.

  1. There is completely no support from traditional advertising: I bet the airline has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, by not buying media space in Toronto. I remember when Emirates launched Toronto flights – they had tall buildings in Dundas Square draped in red (see below).
  2. Huge boost for social media team: I met with Bowen Payson last month, who leads the social media execution at Virgin America and sensed a lot of passion in him for what he and his team are trying to accomplish. Having no traditional advertising also represents a huge confidence in Bowen’s team by the senior management. It also speaks volumes about how visionary the senior executive team is, being led by Porter Gale and Dimitrios Papadogonas.
  3. Fighting the battle on their own turf: Before redeeming voucher, you need to be a followed of Virgin America on Twitter. And not only do they request you, but they automatically verify and get you to follow if you’re not already doing so. They can do this because you’ve entered your Twitter id and password on their website! Now, imagine all the tracking Virgin America can do with this tool as well – identifying which Twitter user logged in, but didn’t buy, and even mapping Twitter-Ids to frequent flier numbers. This is also something I’ve not seen airlines do, but surely reflects the future of social CRM.

All in all, a terrific job by Virgin America. What do you think about their efforts? Do you have examples to share where airlines have done similar things, well? Let’s hear it in the comments, and over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

P.S: Thanks to Dan from Things in the Sky blog for this tip-off.

P.P.S: Here’s how Emirates launched their Toronto flights.


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