angus.todd

Founded in March of 2006, Twitter was originally intended to act as an SMS service to communicate with a small group of people. While it is impressive to think that for some people (Justin Bieber) that ‘small group of people’ has grown to be up to 36+ million followers, whats more impressive is to try to understand the effect that Twitter has had on some companies and their marketing campaigns. Take Air Canada’s corporate Twitter account for example, which replies to anyone and everyone who tweets at them regardless of the nature of their message. Whether a complaint, compliment or just a regular statement that includes @AirCanada, you can expect a response. This PR has been a huge help in working to maintain a positive public image.

 

Despite the fact that they are able to carry hundreds of people over thousands of kilometres in a matter of hours, people absolutely hate airlines. Uncomfortably confined seats, delays, layovers, overbooked flights, and baggage fees. These things all upset customers and Air Canada is no exception to this sentiment. By responding to customer tweets, Air Canada attempts to add an element of personableness to an otherwise faceless multibillion dollar corporation that’s seen as trying to maximize profits by taking advantage of customers. When someone complains about their flight and the complaint is dealt with in a matter of minutes, suddenly this customer feels a whole lot more important.

Having said all that, people who have just had their flight delayed for  hours might not be as taken by this Twitter account as I am. Unfortunate realities of the airline business are that flights get delayed, baggage gets misplaced, and customers become unhappy. While Air Canada is by no means able to solve every customer’s complaint, it is able to quickly explain its side of the problem and take ownership for any mistakes that may have been made by the employees.

Air Canada has used Twitter as a platform to speed up and personalize the management of complaints they receive. Previously, customers would receive the same answers they now receive via twitter, only after waiting on the hold for hours on end. The problems in customer service that face all airlines might be near impossible to fix, however the PR that Air Canada does on Twitter is successful in mitigating public disgruntlement.