AIR ASIA AND THE SOCIAL MEDIA

There is no such thing as pure technology. To understand technology, one must first understand social relationships. Understanding social relationships requires a grasp of communication. Everything about the adoption and uses of media is social (Eisenberg, 1996). Basically, individuals use media within the framework of their lives in order to accomplish their personal goals while on the other hand, technology shapes individual’s goals and actions.

            AirAsia charts another milestone in its efforts on the social media front when its Facebook Fan Page exceeded the 200,000 fans. AirAsia even claims that now they are at the positions as the leader in social media marketing. According to Kathleen Tan, the Regional Head of Commercial, the Facebook Fan Page has enabled the airline to turn away from the usual limitations of conventional marketing “which consumers are no longer reacting to” (Yeoh, 2010).

            AirAsia has started to build and invest in social media marketing since two years ago. Today, we can see that it has its own blog, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr as well as Youtube channel. Using new media or social media really needs a lot of commitment and resources to manage 24/7.

            However, there are many advantages of using new media or social media which the first one is through the Facebook Fan Page, the organization can be more relevant in providing content, based on feedback or requests from our guests instead of just sending out one way marketing push or product updates.

            Next, through Facebook Fan Page also AirAsia can optimize their engagement and interaction with their guests apart from creating a fun and creative platform among the social media community. This would help the organization to sustain good relationship with their customers.

            Lastly, the Facebook fan Page also enables guests to share their travel experiences, create travel networks as well as receive real-time information updates on its flight operations and local airport conditions such as the snowstorm in London.

            The world is different today. Consumers have become greatly empowered and the size of impact of social media will only grow as the numbers explode. The use of new media or social media is very important in order to enhance the image of organization.

References

Eisenberg, E.M. (1996). Communication Networks and  New ‘Media in Organizations. Retrieved October 5, 2012 from http://nosh.northwestern.edu/bookchapters/Eisenberg-1990.pdf

Yeoh, S.H. (2010). Air Asia Claims Social Media Victory, Admits Huge Resources Needed to Manage. Retrieved October 5, 2012 from http://www.tnooz.com/2010/04/07/news/air-asia-claims-social-media-victory-admits-huge-resources-needed-to-manage/