Last Wedn
esday, in Toronto, Twitter was all abuzz – more so than normal. Amongst all the World Cup, EarthQuake and G20 tweets Virgin America launched one of the biggest influencer programs I’ve yet to see.
For anyone who travels via air the ongoing monopoly of YYZ airlines has been a source of contention. With the ever rising seat prices and continual surcharges (no meals, no headphones, 25$ per checked bag) finding a stellar air travel experience has brought a grey cloud on travel and in most times, I would rather stay home than go on the gruesome treck through an airport.
With Virgin Airlines making their much anticipated Toronto debut, they teamed up with Klout – a new social media influencer ranking system, that provides twitter-ers with an in-depth analysis of their reach, their influencer potential. A few key influencers started tagging their free flights with #VXToronto and the Toronto scene went nuts trying to find out if their countless hours of being addicted to TweetDeck actually amounted to anything.
And then the email came in.
“You have so much Klout that Virgin America has asked us to give you a free roundtrip flight to San Francisco or LA. They’re flying from YYZ (Toronto Pearson) to SFO and LAX. Virgin would like to offer you a free roundtrip flight*, free in-flight Wifi (because they know how you rock the internet), and a special invitation to their star-studded inaugural party on the evening of June 29th (which you’re welcome to go to even if you don’t go on the flight).”
So now here I am, holding what I can only compare to winning the Golden Ticket and I’m off to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory in San Francisco.
Few reasons why this program works.
1. Creating a Society of Cool. After signing into Klout, I was told “You are awesome for just being you.” No skill testing question, no one-entry-per-person – here is a program that seeks out measurable online talent and rewards every day people for their day-to-day interactions online. Influencers had measurable online success, and were rewarded with a flight and an invitation to an exclusive launch party.
2. Zero Expectations, Social Media Responsibility. Within the winning email, we were told that the Virgin America offer was not a way for them to buy our tweets. We were directed to their ethics site that clearly explained that as a Klout Influencer, this was just a perk. I did not have to take it, blog about it, tweet about it – unless we wanted to. Read more here.
3. Creating Conversation, Awarding Engagement. One of the biggest things you will hear social media marketers talk about is the rule of engagement. In a pay-it-forward kind of way, Virigin America and Klout focused on creating and generating a conversation amongst the people who engage in the most conversation.
For me, this is a great example of the power of conversation and the importance that solid metrics can play in executing a well-designed program. All these elements are based on good practice and I will definitely be taking elements from this program to inspire creative thinking for our clients.
Would love to know your thoughts on this, or any other great social media awards program that you have heard of.
© 2009 Simon Pure Marketing Inc. All rights reserved.
I have Klout. And now I’m off to San Fran.
Last Wedn
esday, in Toronto, Twitter was all abuzz – more so than normal. Amongst all the World Cup, EarthQuake and G20 tweets Virgin America launched one of the biggest influencer programs I’ve yet to see.
For anyone who travels via air the ongoing monopoly of YYZ airlines has been a source of contention. With the ever rising seat prices and continual surcharges (no meals, no headphones, 25$ per checked bag) finding a stellar air travel experience has brought a grey cloud on travel and in most times, I would rather stay home than go on the gruesome treck through an airport.
With Virgin Airlines making their much anticipated Toronto debut, they teamed up with Klout – a new social media influencer ranking system, that provides twitter-ers with an in-depth analysis of their reach, their influencer potential. A few key influencers started tagging their free flights with #VXToronto and the Toronto scene went nuts trying to find out if their countless hours of being addicted to TweetDeck actually amounted to anything.
And then the email came in.
“You have so much Klout that Virgin America has asked us to give you a free roundtrip flight to San Francisco or LA. They’re flying from YYZ (Toronto Pearson) to SFO and LAX. Virgin would like to offer you a free roundtrip flight*, free in-flight Wifi (because they know how you rock the internet), and a special invitation to their star-studded inaugural party on the evening of June 29th (which you’re welcome to go to even if you don’t go on the flight).”
So now here I am, holding what I can only compare to winning the Golden Ticket and I’m off to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory in San Francisco.
Few reasons why this program works.
1. Creating a Society of Cool. After signing into Klout, I was told “You are awesome for just being you.” No skill testing question, no one-entry-per-person – here is a program that seeks out measurable online talent and rewards every day people for their day-to-day interactions online. Influencers had measurable online success, and were rewarded with a flight and an invitation to an exclusive launch party.
2. Zero Expectations, Social Media Responsibility. Within the winning email, we were told that the Virgin America offer was not a way for them to buy our tweets. We were directed to their ethics site that clearly explained that as a Klout Influencer, this was just a perk. I did not have to take it, blog about it, tweet about it – unless we wanted to. Read more here.
3. Creating Conversation, Awarding Engagement. One of the biggest things you will hear social media marketers talk about is the rule of engagement. In a pay-it-forward kind of way, Virigin America and Klout focused on creating and generating a conversation amongst the people who engage in the most conversation.
For me, this is a great example of the power of conversation and the importance that solid metrics can play in executing a well-designed program. All these elements are based on good practice and I will definitely be taking elements from this program to inspire creative thinking for our clients.
Would love to know your thoughts on this, or any other great social media awards program that you have heard of.