Klm Surprise

Businesses using social media in an inspiring way

The unique digital marketing campaign took place In November 2010. As selected passengers checked in at Schiphol Airport, flight attendants greeted them by name and gave them a personalised gift. These gifts were specifically tailored to the passenger; for example one woman travelling to Rome to go hiking received a sports watch that tracks walking distance and speed. Another woman traveling alone was upgraded to first class seating and a man traveling to Mexico to do voluntary work was given a therapy package of ointments and bandages.

KLM was able to select appropriate gifts for these passengers by doing research on social media. Different social media platforms were searched for those mentioning flying with KLM. Intelligence gleaned on social media was also used to decide on an appropriate gift for the individual. The individuals were then tracked down on KLM’s customer database so that the gift could be presented to them on their arrival at Schiphol.

Around 40 customers in total received the KLM Surprise but the effects were significantly more far-reaching. News of these surprises spread like wildfire across a whole range of social media. During November, the KLM Twitter feed was viewed more than one million times! KLM created a website and Twitter feed dedicated to the KLM Surprise campaign and posted a video about the campaign on their YouTube channel and the KLM Facebook Fan page. This increased the impact of their creative marketing campaign even further as it enabled them to interact with customers on these platforms, and to get a greater understanding of their customers.

The social marketing was so effective that KLM Surprise was repeated the following summer and we would not be surprised to see it resurface at some future stage!

At Xcite Digital we are very much known as an ideas agency and would love to help you come up with something completely different. Who knows; maybe it will be your business and your creative marketing campaign that causes the next social media storm and will be blogged about for years to come!

*Image courtesy of KLM

From time to time our blogs feature examples of a business using social media in an inspiring way as part of their digital marketing strategy. Today we want to look at a creative marketing campaign by KLM the international airline. The aim of the campaign was to surprise its customers. The results were surprising in themselves! The unique digital marketing campaign took place In November 2010. As selected passengers checked in at Schiphol Airport, flight attendants greeted them by name and gave them a personalised gift. These gifts were specifically tailored to the passenger; for example one woman travelling to Rome to go hiking received a sports watch that tracks walking distance and speed. Another woman traveling alone was upgraded to first class seating and a man traveling to Mexico to do voluntary work was given a therapy package of ointments and bandages. KLM was able to select appropriate gifts for these passengers by doing research on social media. Different social media platforms were searched for those mentioning flying with KLM. Intelligence gleaned on social media was also used to decide on an appropriate gift for the individual. The individuals were then tracked down on KLM’s customer database so that the gift could be presented to them on their arrival at Schiphol. Around 40 customers in total received the KLM Surprise but the effects were significantly more far-reaching. News of these surprises spread like wildfire across a whole range of social media. During November, the KLM Twitter feed was viewed more than one million times! KLM created a website and Twitter feed dedicated to the KLM Surprise campaign and posted a video about the campaign on their YouTube channel and the KLM Facebook Fan page. This increased the impact of their creative marketing campaign even further as it enabled them to interact with customers on these platforms, and to get a greater understanding of their customers. The social marketing was so effective that KLM Surprise was repeated the following summer and we would not be surprised to see it resurface at some future stage! At Xcite Digital we are very much known as an ideas agency and would love to help you come up with something completely different. Who knows; maybe it will be your business and your creative marketing campaign that causes the next social media storm and will be blogged about for years to come! *Image courtesy of KLM