KLM Surprise: Doing Social Media Right

Dutch airline KLM used social media to show that one-on-one engagement with its customers can pay off not only in real-life LOLS and smilies, but can also make those passengers tell their friends.

KLM’s social media team (or whoever manages their social media) scoured Foursquare and Twitter to find passengers flying out of Schipol on a KLM flight. They’d then cyber-stalk the passengers’ tweets to find out more about them, and have a gate agent surprise them in the departure lounge with a small gift.

This is more labor-intensive than running an ad, but also much more awesome. They also end up with a video that people are happy to share. We know it’s a marketing strategy, but we don’t care, because it’s so cool.

Also, I love how “Twitter” is pronounced “Tfitter” in Dutch, a language with which I have lots of pronunciation trouble but enjoy having a go at.

Extra points for the KLM staffers who sprinted across Schipol: that can be daunting task.