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KLM continues to surprise users on Twitter

April 7, 2011 by Aaron 33 Comments

KLM is making other airlines look bad!! In the mean time they are making their airline look COOL.  Without failing, the Royal Dutch Airlines continues to surprise me. After watching how they used Twitter alone to get 1,000,000 impressions by giving personalized gifts to people at their airport, they did it once again.  This time, they have listened to their customers, responded with a challenge and made their customer’s dream come true, as well as making two new records. How did it all start? Simple….

It started with a tweet!

KLM was supposed to start their first Amsterdam to Miami flight on the 27th of March. However a tweet from fans Sied Van Riel, a DJ, and producer Wilco Jung changed all that. They sent a tweet to KLM asking if they could reschedule their flight that was supposed to be launched on the 27th of March to a week earlier. KLM then responded with a challenge to them.

The Challenge

If Sied and Wilco could find enough Dutch music fans to sign up, KLM would agree to their request and reschedule the flight from the 27th of March to the 21st of March.

Results

Within hours, Sied and Wilco filled the plane.

Records

KLM today made history, by being the first airline to reschedule a flight following a request from a user on Twitter as well as entering the Guinness Book of Records for having the highest altitude dance party.

What we can learn from KLM

Listen, listen, listen.  However, listening is only the first part of social media. Responding to it  is much more important. You can listen and make a report of what people are saying about you on Twitter or on other social media sites…but if you aren’t taking any actions, there won’t be any outcomes. Your customers want to be heard and they want a respond from you. KLM took action and showed us how it can be done.  Will this build brand loyalty from their customers? Definitely! Will this attract more customers? Possible! I’m considering using their airlines in the future. That is IF I get go anywhere LOL!

Enjoy the video.

Filed Under: Case Study Tagged With: airlines case study, klm, royal dutch airlines, Twitter

About Aaron

Aaron is the owner of this social media blog and founder/writer of ShortofHeight.com, a men's fashion blog that shares style & fashion tips for short men. When he is not writing, he's finding the perfect cup of coffee. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. calebgalaraga says

    April 7, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    Classic example of providing totally outrageous customer service to your customers! Thanks for sharing this, Aaron.

  2. Aaron Lee says

    April 7, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    Hi Caleb, thanks! what they did was amazing indeed 😉

  3. Christopher Decker says

    April 7, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    This is VERY cool!

  4. Ivana Urošević says

    April 7, 2011 at 4:24 pm

    What a great example. Man I just love Twitter 🙂

  5. Aaron Lee says

    April 7, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    Indeed it is 🙂

  6. Aaron Lee says

    April 7, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    Me too 🙂

  7. Anonymous says

    April 7, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    Wow! What an amazing example of listening to the customer, taking action, AND having some fun. I mean come on. . . who wouldn’t have wanted to be on a plane hosting the world record highest altitude dance party?

  8. Marianne Worley says

    April 7, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    Such a cool story and video. I flew KLM from LA to Amsterdam a few years ago, so I’ve experienced their great service. Still, I wouldn’t have expected this. Twitter rocks!

  9. @keithprivette says

    April 7, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    See the Social Team at KLM understand the people inside their business, their business, customers, and making things work with Surprise factor. Ecosystem solution to a request! Believe it takes a lot to reschedule things like this!

  10. Debra Askanase says

    April 8, 2011 at 2:42 am

    So often, companies have an “automatic no” response. KLM checked itself and thought “why not?” That is the thinking of a company open to real innovation. Thanks for bringing this one to light – I’m sharing it now!

  11. Aaron Lee says

    April 8, 2011 at 3:48 am

    Hi Debra, thanks for sharing the article.

  12. Aaron Lee says

    April 8, 2011 at 3:49 am

    I agree, and KLM did it amazingly! and i’m sure they build an amazing brand loyalty later on

  13. Aaron Lee says

    April 8, 2011 at 3:49 am

    Indeed! hopefully i am able to use KLM one day 🙂

  14. Aaron Lee says

    April 8, 2011 at 3:49 am

    HAHA! i know I would! we should tweet KLM in the future! 🙂

  15. Jan Wong says

    April 8, 2011 at 4:53 am

    Wow, it takes a lot of guts for an airline to pull off something like that. I wanna experience KLM too!

  16. Aaron Lee says

    April 8, 2011 at 6:20 am

    Yes! KLM did it amazingly 🙂

  17. MichielGaas says

    April 8, 2011 at 10:15 am

    Nice write up Aaron.
    KLM has a history of building brand loyalty.
    They used to give their biz class clients a little porcelain house filled with ‘jenever’ (a Dutch distelled drink).
    http://www.klm-huisjes.nl/
    They stopped doing that a while back.
    Some of these little houses became collectors items.
    People pay up to 1.000 euros for them.

    I think the big challenge for airlines is mostly in crisis communications.
    Delays, missing luggage or worse…

    Now that KLM is so actively using the bright side of social media, I wonder how they will do when they get challenged!

    All the best,
    Michiel – Amsterdam

  18. A Smith-chaigneau says

    April 8, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    NEW BOOK LAUNCHED – KLM Mentioned – Please Step Aside, I AM A FREQUENT FLYER available on AMAZON:

    http://www.amazon.com/Please-Step-Aside-FREQUENT-Tribulations/dp/1460911318/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302264281&sr=1-2

  19. Xpress Media Outlet says

    April 8, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    As more companies truly understand the overall demographic is shifting from being told what to buy and instead wishes to influence the brands they wear, buy, drive, fly etc. they will be able to truly capture a solid section of their target market.

    Athletes, singers, models etc have made themselves bigger than they could have ever thought utilizing twitter and other social medias. With huge marketing budgets and “expert” marketing teams there is no reason that brands shouldn’t be dominating the same social media marketing industry

  20. Thomas says

    April 10, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Hi Aaron
    Great post. Nice to see a big company not just using Social Media, but also doing it great. I think way too many old fashion companies are afraid of Social Media and bad publicity.

  21. Aaron Lee says

    April 10, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    Very true Thomas, most of them are afraid to jump on board, KLM showed them how it should be done in an Amazing way too.

  22. Huynh Tho says

    April 11, 2011 at 3:46 am

    One of the greatest Social Media Campaign that I’ve ever seen. How creative these people are.

  23. Anthony Smith-Chaigneau says

    April 11, 2011 at 5:13 am

    Unfortunately it doesn’t improve the flying with KLM…

  24. Anthony Smith-Chaigneau says

    April 11, 2011 at 5:13 am

    Unfortunately it doesn’t improve the flying with KLM…

  25. Claudia says

    April 12, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    Hey Aaron 🙂
    …Wow, talk about customer service! Wouldn’t have thought that an airline would be so progressive and creative…thanks for sharing that!

  26. Aaron Lee says

    April 13, 2011 at 3:46 am

    Pleasure is mine! thanks for the comment 🙂
    Glad you’ve got something out of it

  27. Aaron Lee says

    April 13, 2011 at 3:47 am

    Cheers, glad you got something out of it 🙂

  28. Aaron Lee says

    April 13, 2011 at 3:47 am

    Not sure about that, I don’t fly with KLM since i don’t go anywhere

  29. Ro Moguel says

    April 18, 2011 at 4:57 am

    Amazing example Aaron! I´ll share it now with my boss and coworkers! We´ve got to learn to use Twitter in such a creative . Thanks!

  30. Aaron Lee says

    April 18, 2011 at 6:03 am

    Thanks, Glad you were able to pick up something from it 🙂

  31. Timo Kiander says

    April 21, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    Aaron,

    I wish other companies would use Twitter the same way as KLM.

    Thanks for sharing this!

  32. Erik F says

    January 9, 2012 at 11:29 pm

    Twitter has turned out to be really powerful… I was “paid forward” tickets to see Collective Soul when they saw a tweet about me being out of work and annoyed at the time. I think that it’s great for KLM and others to utilize Social Media like this because it really will build brand loyalty in the end. We all know how powerful word of mouth is!

    ; )

  33. Kim says

    July 25, 2013 at 11:41 am

    It’s great that KLM is addressing passenger concerns through social media. It’s quick, convenient and makes the whole process seem less daunting. However, I’ve been observing their Facebook page the past few days and I’ve seen the social media team delete negative posts.

    Their rationale for deleting said posts is so that no single issue or concern dominates the page. That seems fair–it gives everyone a chance to voice out their thoughts and opinion. The posts being censured are those that talk negatively about the airline, at the same time allowing repetitive positive feedback from customers. That doesn’t sound fair, does it? It gives the impression that their customers’ negative feedback at all.

Trackbacks

  1. Aquesta setmana hem llegit…sobre addicció als mitjans, figuretes de CEOs i un vol organitzat per Twitter | Betes i Clicks – desenredant la xarxa says:
    April 15, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    […] ens ha semblat interessant aquesta història: KLM estrenava un vol Amsterdam-Miami. En anunciar-ho, un DJ holandès els va demanar si podien adela… La resta és història i inclou la primera “Dance Party” a milers de km […]

  2. KLM: A Company That 'Gets' Social Media - Forbes says:
    February 28, 2012 at 4:14 am

    […] year they, as told by Aaron Lee, they actually “made history, by being the first airline to reschedule a flight following a […]

  3. Singapore AirLine : Gamification et histoire | La magie des marques says:
    June 29, 2012 at 10:14 pm

    […] ce domaine Singapore AIrline se démarque (bien que KLM se fasse remarquer de plus en plus par ses initiatives « flyées »)! Qualité du service, finesse des hôtesses, sécurité des avions… c’est sans […]

  4. Mango offers free tweets from the sky - Mzansi Girl : Mzansi Girl says:
    August 1, 2012 at 7:57 am

    […] international airlines have been very successful with social media, most especially with Twitter (KLM provides a great case study). However, it seems like South African airlines have lagged behind in […]

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