Introduction
In this short reflective review, the focus will be on two commercial social media campaigns, one successful, the other unsuccessful.
Air New Zealand “Official airline of the middle-earth” (successful social media campaign)
Air New Zealand, a relatively small airline in the aviation industry[cm_simple_footnote id=”1″], produced one of ‘The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made’ aptly named by the airline[cm_simple_footnote id=”2″], which pays homage to the ‘The Hobbit trilogy’. The video shot in New Zealand, features characters dressed as Hobbits, in a mountainous Middle-earth like setting, encouraging passengers to use oxygen masks and buckle up.An official video banner featuring Elijah Wood and Peter Jackson in the background – Source: Marketingmag.com.au (2011)
Air NZ began in-flight safety videos with a twist in 2009[cm_simple_footnote id=”3″]. Their in-flight campaigns have amassed over 108 million views, ‘the middle-earth’ video amassed over 18 million views on Youtube[cm_simple_footnote id=”4″]. 6 million on Facebook and 1.6 million on Youku in China[cm_simple_footnote id=”5″]. Commercially, this video campaign helped the airline improve brand presence in an overtly crowded industry[cm_simple_footnote id=”6″]. This social viral video-enabled further PR with top international media outlets, BBC, CNN, New York Times, and Huffington Post[cm_simple_footnote id=”7″]. It also produced lots of views on social media outlets and further free PR[cm_simple_footnote id=”8″]. All this PR on social media and on online news outlets, also translated into more sales for the airline[cm_simple_footnote id=”9″]. These types of video social media campaigns not only improve brand awareness/sales but also correlates in improving New Zealand’s country image as a great tourist destination, which increases the volume of international visitors[cm_simple_footnote id=”10″].
Besides commercial gain, the video also adds educational value for its viewers, as it teaches about in-flight safety. This is particularly important for first-time flyers, and regular travelers wishing to brush up on the knowledge of safety in an emergency. The campaign suited social media, as it not only created brand awareness for commercial purposes but also included an educational message about in-flight safety. It not only appeals to all ages with its underlying Hobbit theme but also creates a community, conversation, and genuine connections[cm_simple_footnote id=”11″],[cm_simple_footnote id=”12″].
As social media wasn’t specifically created for commercial purposes, commercial content often fails, due to the nature of hard-selling videos and ads. They tend to interrupt a user’s social media experience. This video allows users to engage with the video, without the underlying hard sale element.
Coca Cola’s Russian Christmas Marketing Campaign (unsuccessful social media campaign)
The campaign of 2015, ruffled a few feathers across social media channels. The row erupted after Coca Cola ran a Christmas card campaign on popular Russian social media channel, VK[cm_simple_footnote id=”13″], with a snow-covered map of Russia, which didn’t include Crimea, a contested region between Russia and Ukraine. It caused outrage among Russians, Coca Cola apologized, re-posted it, only to cause offense to Ukrainians, who consider it their own territory.Coca Cola Christmas campaign on Vkontakte depicting Crimea as part of Russia (circled in blue) - Source: Euromaidanpress.com (2016)
This campaign didn’t work for several reasons. Coca Cola should have paid more attention to the intense geographical and historical situation surrounding the disputed region. Coca Cola also claimed that the map was produced by a third-party agency working with its Russian affiliate, which had made the changes to the map, without Coca Cola’s consent[cm_simple_footnote id=”14″]. They also corrected the map twice, to up-ease firstly the Russian consumers, only to alienate the Ukrainian users[cm_simple_footnote id=”15″]. While the campaign was intended for Russian speakers, Coca Cola forgot that many Ukrainians speak Russian. In fact, around 16 million Ukrainians are registered on Vkontakte[cm_simple_footnote id=”16″].
Some suggestions for the future, Coca Cola should invest more time in getting to know the local markets when there are territorial disputes. This could mean that they would consult PR & Media agencies from those regions. It is also imperative from a global brand perspective, to understand local conflicts where their products are marketed. It needs to stay away from debatable issues, which include religion, culture, language and geographical issues.
As Vkontakte has Ukrainian users, it should have created an alternative image for the postcard campaign, such as Moscow or famous Russian landmarks. Coca Cola almost alienated a combined market of 180 million people. After all, marketing and politics are usually local.