Aer Lingus Planes Twitterised – Genius or PR Stunt?
Posted on August 14, 2013
If ever you needed proof of the rise of social media and Twitter use then Aer Lingus provide it. Aer Lingus have just adorned their planes with their Twitter handle and tweeted a picture of it, with the tag line “Have you followed us yet?” and the hashtag of “#SocialJet”. However, one must wonder is it just big Twitter publicity stunt?
This to me is another sign of just how integrated social media is becoming in our lives. When you see big businesses and airlines, particularly one that is unfortunately renowned for not being overly astute, emblazoning their Twitter handle all over their planes then it’s time for the penny to drop – businesses are now embracing social media. But, it could be too late for them.
Aer Lingus Planes Twitterised – Genius or PR Stunt?
Previously I questioned if we had hit peak social media and I still think that we may have. To a degree Aer Lingus are very late to the Twitter party and the lack of activity on their Twitter account suggests that adding their Twitter handle to a plane might have been just a bit of a publicity stunt rather than a sustained effort to reap the benefits of social media promotion. Given that they have so much competition with Ryanair and the headlines that Michael O’Leary frequently generates one can understand their desire to seek a bit of publicity.
However, I think a Twitter stunt like this – if it turns out to be just that – is an ill advised one as if the Aer Lingus Twitter account doesn’t capitilise on the promo generated by this press blitz then, from a social side, a lot of it will be for nout.
With that said though, if they’ve sold more tickets on the back of this publicity then you could say they have really “used” social media – not used it to connect with people, but used it to grab a few headlines and whatever extra revenue they generated.
So what do you think? Is this an ingenious social move by Aer Lingus or just a quick publicity stunt? Leave a comment below with your thoughts!
EDIT: After posting this blog I received the following tweet from Aer Lingus “@RobertRyanDotie Hi Rob, we’re just using what we’ve got to build followers since launching in May. No genius, no stunt!” – which makes me doff my cap to them. Ultimately I think it’s a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B which ultimately is the best of both worlds.
Carolyn
August 15, 2013 (10:49 pm)
Did you ask if they needed someone to help spread the word? ;-)
Robert Ryan
August 15, 2013 (10:51 pm)
…not just yet, will take it one tweet at a time ;)