Delta x TripAnomaly | Some airlines have tried incorporate social elements into their loyalty programs. Examples include Virgin America's work with TopGuest to award Elevate points for check-ins, JetBlue’s similar deal with Facebook Go Places, and Estonian Air's AirScore which rewards its social advocates with points that can be redeemed. Delta and TripAnomaly, a travel startup, have jointly launched an initiative to award SkyMiles for location-based check-ins. In this arrangement , SkyMiles members can share their location at a Delta terminal or gate area at the airport on Facebook to receive 80 SkyMiles per check-in. The check-in takes place through TripAnomaly's own website, via which it is posted to Facebook. The back-end infrastructure to track checkins would be provided by TripAnomaly to SkyMiles for Delta to award. While loyalty points have often been seen as applicable mainly for frequent-flyers, apps and services like TripAnomaly's can be seen as the entryway for increased engagement with a greater number of travellers. Another innovative example of how social media is being used to reward active social media users is Cathay Pacific's partnership with Klout at its San Francisco lounge. Between May and July 2012, the airline welcomed influential social media users – those with Klout scores of over 40 – into its lounge, hoping this would create additional brand exposure.
JetBlue 'Think Up' | Through its variety of charitable campaigns and online and real-world marketing initiatives, JetBlue is an airline well-known for its social media presence and customer engagement. The airline's latest crowdsourcing campaign seeks to create a new tablet experience for flyers. In 'ThinkUp', the airline reached out to its 680,000 Facebook fans to submit their ideas for the design of the airline's new tablet app, scheduled for launch in 2013. JetBlue will vet customer suggestions across six categories – Educational, Fun, Ticketing, Functional, Loyalty and Other – and will hold a live public vote for the five best ideas for each category. Submitters of the highest-voted ideas will win one full year of travel on JetBlue. The contest began on November 19 and continued through December 2, with voting taking place between December 10 and 17. This campaign was launched in line with the 1 millionth JetBlue iPhone app download and the launch of its Android app. It's a great example of crowdsourcing, with a substantial incentive to draw quality submissions. Additionally, JetBlue benefits from the usage of direct customer-sourced suggestions to get a feel for what customers expect. The airline posted 'ThinkUp' as a Facebook app under its page for “Customer Inspired Innovation” and titled the app's comments section as a “Chat” forum for fans to exchange ideas.
7 | Airline Marketing Benchmark Report | December 2012
