About the Company – AirAsia 
The whole world is going digital and so why not marketing. Today, there are many social media channels by which you can promote your product. Facebook is the most popular medium for online marketing. Herein the online marketing launch of the Australian leg of flights of AirAsia. They chose Facebook to market this launch and it became so popular that it is better known as “AirAsia’s Friendsy Social Marketing Campaign”.
AirAsia is a low cost carrier based out of Malaysia. Their slogan is that “Now everyone can fly”. Their achievement is that their prices are the most competitive and catering to over 100 destinations. They have made it so much easier for people with small budgets to fly to destinations all across Asia and the world.
Business Objectives – To increase brand awareness
In April 2012, AirAsia was starting flights from Sydney and they wanted to grab everyone’s attention. But they had a very small marketing budget and this was posing to be a serious hurdle in their long term plans for expansion. On top of that, AirAsia was an unknown brand in Australia. AirAsia wanted to start with daily flights from Sydney with the target of doubling the flights within a span of 2 years but they had a meagre advertising budget of $80,000. They hired Publicis Mojo to accomplish this daunting task and they came up with a novel idea of showcasing AirAsia.
Business Strategy Adopted by AirAsia
Publicis Mojo decided to launch a Facebook contest which would give away AirAsia’s most coveted asset, their Airbus 330. The contest winner-obviously a Facebook user would be provided the opportunity to fly on the Airbus 330 with 302 of his Facebook friends. The plane would be theirs for the entire flight which would be departing from Sydney and landing in Kuala Lumpur. The fairy tale does not end here and AirAsia would then go on to fund a 3 day vacation for all of them in Kuala Lumpur along with the return to Sydney in their private jet.
Publicis Mojo then developed a Facebook app that would showcase all the amenities that would come along with the plane which included the in-flight provisions. The app allowed the users to explore in detail all the features of the plane and the perks that go along with it. But, the best part of it was when the users realized that they could choose seats for all of their friends who would travel with them to Kuala Lumpur. The app had to be registered by one Facebook user who then could tag all those facebook friends whom he wanted onboard. All this was saved as a snap and then passed on to others to enter.
Results achieved by AirAsia
This whole campaign went viral on Facebook and the brand awareness reached an all time high. Publicis Mojo then mobilised themselves via Facebook by putting in Facebook Ads daily requesting everyone to join in and make most of the offer. They created a Facebook page with a video ad and other similar posts to encourage mass engagement. Soon the news spread like wildfire and even CNN was reporting it on their newshour. The PR value generated out of this campaign was estimated to be about $1,700,000. That is a whopping amount when you consider the tiny investment.
The complete campaign increased the Facebook fan base of AirAsia by 30%. The contest got 12,500 registrations and provided an engagement with around 2,300,000 people on Facebook. This number was then evaluated to be 20% of Australians using Facebook. Therefore, the results were unforeseen for AirAsia. They launched their newest route amongst frenzy and excitement and were on their way to achieving their target of doubling daily flights within a year.
Learning
It is unimaginable to even calculate the success of the campaign because it is not quantifiable. AirAsia created fans across Australia and gripped the imagination of the whole world with their contest. It not only won hearts but the campaign was also appreciated by the best in the business for its creativity. It finally won the Facebook studio award.
Publicis Mojo proved to the entire world that creativity does not come with a price tag. Social media is a virulent channel to spread a concept. This was used effectively to promote a brand which was hitherto an unknown entity in Australia. The engagement that the campaign garnered for AirAsia was priceless and a resounding success.
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Photo Credit: AirAsia
