benchmark report
airline marketing
social
hidden #FeesDontFly day
social
kringle vision VIRGIN AMERICA For a little “gamified” social media fun this Holiday Season, Virgin America ran a campaign called Kringle Vision . Open to consumers in the United States, the Kringle Vision campaign was announced on December 8th with a shor t video on the Virgin America’s Facebook page and a funny animated GIF posted to Twitter. The 15-second video and par tner GIF depicted various well-known figures (i.e. Abraham Lincoln, Mona Lisa, the Queen of England Airline’s own celebrity founder Sir Richard Branson) wearing ‘Kringle Vision’ glasses. The initial and subsequent posts (which include Instagram) encouraged people to visit the campaign microsite , where they could order their own set of special glasses, enabling them to unear th secret images hidden within Holiday-themed pictures.
JAN 2016 ISSUE
SOUTHWEST X VISA Every day from December 17th until December 25th, Virgin America uploaded a new coded image across its social media channels. To the naked eye, the red-tinted images look like simple festive pictures of things like a nutcracker, Santa Claus riding a white horse , and a reindeer in the snow. For people with Kringle Vision glasses though, other images (like Virgin planes taking off, and a lady on water skis with a bag Christmas gifts) appeared. Gamification is an increasingly popular tactic being used in marketing campaigns across a variety of industries. Gamification techniques work by leveraging our natural desire to socialize, compete, learn, achieve status and express ourselves. In a previous gamification effor t (2013) Virgin America ran the “Go Big” Bingo promotion, encouraging those in the Elevate frequent flyer program to play bingo over in-flight Wi-Fi.
Southwest Airlines added an extra layer of goodness to its current ‘Transfarency’ campaign by reimbursing the fees paid by some flyers who complained about other carriers on social media. During its #FeesDontFly Day this December—just in time for Christmas— Southwest gave some travellers Visa gift cards in the amount of fees they paid to other carriers, along with roundtrip tickets to fly on Southwest. “As other carriers tack on outlandish surcharges for what should be considered a normal par t of traveling, we reminded folks there’s a better, friendlier option,” said Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Southwest Airlines. Southwest replied to complainer’s messages with animated GIFs , and some of the GIFs were directly addressed to the individual, listing their social tag .
The airline also surprised a handful of travellers at the baggage claim at Dallas Love Field airpor t with Visa cards covering the baggage fees they paid to other carriers on the flight in. Southwest released a video of the event on YouTube. “Thoroughly impressed by Southwest Airlines—gift card, flight voucher— customer service holiday win!!” said one flyer on Twitter who received a Southwest “ouch pouch” with a Visa card for her fees and a round-trip ticket on Southwest. While the fee reimbursements and free tickets por tion of the #FeesDontFly campaign lasted one day, the hashtag created a stir on social media and continues to generate conversation.
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
