Airport World Magazine, Jun/ Jul 2014 - David McMullen, VP, SimpliFlying speaks with Ivan Tan, senior vice president for corporate and marketing communications, Changi Airport Group, on going beyond meeting travellers’ expectations on social media.

1. MARKETING
B
eyond meeting travellers’ expectations on social media,
success is derived from a sophisticated ecosystem that can
create an airport experience that travellers find worthwhile
talking about on their networks.
In this executive exchange, David McMullen, VP, SimpliFlying
speaks with Ivan Tan, senior vice president for corporate and
marketing communications, Changi Airport Group.
Get the brand right first, with airport partnerships
McMullen: Passengers often consider airports to be a hassle.
Aggravations of queues at check-in and security procedures tend to
create negative reactions. How does Changi generate the positive
and enthusing aspect of travel?
Tan: Passenger or customer experience applies across the
business spectrum, not just aviation. You need a good product –
something that works, is of a good standard and that customers
enjoy. Thereafter, word of mouth follows and a strong brand
becomes stronger.
Conversely, people will talk if things don’t work. Mistakes
can be amplified on social media. So it’s a tricky balance.
We work closely with security agents to strike a good balance
between ensuring safety while not at the total expense of
passengers’ convenience.
McMullen: Indeed, it is extremely important to have the bases
covered and show that efforts are being made. While some airports
recognise they have a strong brand and big budget to harness
social media to their advantage, there are also many others that
entered social media half-heartedly and struggle to see the value.
Tan: It is difficult, especially for airports, to have a successful social
media programme on your own. Partnerships are absolutely crucial.
A lot of our business we cannot do on our own. Without
good airline partners, a strong concessions and retail mix,
passengers won’t want to spend time or money at the airport.
For example, with carriers launching flights to Singapore, we
help promote them on our social networks, and vice versa. The
relationship is a symbiotic one.
Building an airport community of connected travellers
McMullen: Since a few years ago, travellers have become more
connected as they work and socialise on mobile devices while on
the move. Changi Airport was one of the first few airports in the
world to establish a social media presence.
Tan: I’m sometimes asked why is Changi on social media? The
honest truth is if we are not on it, someone will be on it for us.
It is far better for us to be on social media to engage and manage
these conversations.
It has been quite amazing. We have discovered very strong
advocates for Changi and we’ve built very good relationships
with them.
McMullen: And what do you pay attention to when you reach out to
these connected travellers?
Tan: People in general like the personal touch. To help extend a
personal touch on social media, we have our staff sign off any tweet
or post with their initials. We avoid template answers.
McMullen: Changi has certainly done an exceptional job building
a community that shares common values. When you manage
to build trust with the audience over time, they are far more
likely to respond as and when you introduce a new idea or
retail offer.
When planning content, airports need to relate it back to
their business objectives and values. If you are Ryanair, it’s fine
to be putting up promotions. But if you are not, don’t bombard
with messages that are not representative of your brand values
or objectives.
Social media challenges of a 24/7 airport
McMullen: What implications do social media and the connected
traveller have for Changi Airport?
Tan: We see passengers becoming a lot closer to us even though
the level of their expectations has gone up a lot as well. In this part
AIRPORT WORLD/JUNE-JULY 201446
AIRPORT MARKETING EXCHANGE
In this age of increased connectivity and mobility, how exactly can airports tap into the
connected travellers’ market?
CHANGI’SSUCCESSWITH
CONNECTEDTRAVELLERS
DavidMcMullen. IvanTan.

2. MARKETING
of the world, Twitter is not as commonly used as compared
to in Europe and America. Even then, we easily get 10- 20
tweets that require attention each day. This certainly puts
pressure on us to meet expectations.
McMullen: Social media has definitely got many airports
thinking whether or not their services need to be 24/7.
Tan: In the case of Changi, we are a 24/7 airport. If an
urgent tweet comes at 3am, it can’t be the case that we only
respond at 10am. This has been one of the challenges we
have to manage.
McMullen: Given Changi is a 24/7 airport, how does Changi
allocate resources for social media?
Tan: The communications and responses on all our social
media channels are managed in-house. These channels
are monitored actively during waking hours. Due to the
dynamic nature of Twitter, the Changi Contact Centre
provides assistance to handle queries and complaints
round-the-clock.
Social media shows insights into airport
service quality, retail and operations
McMullen: Sentiments within the travelling public can have
an impact on ASQ. Do you feel social media has a significant
input to how you improve the overall services at Changi?
Tan: It certainly keeps us on our toes. We easily get 100,000
pieces of feedback a month from various channels. It’s a
good gauge of how we are faring. We pay attention to trends
and see what may be underlying causes for certain
dissatisfactions.
McMullen: Aside from engaging the connected traveller,
what insights have you managed to tap into from social
media that have implications for retail or operations?
Tan: Our passengers are not homogenous. They come from
diverse interest groups. For example, we have a huge
plane-spotter community but we have others as well who
are more interested in new F&B options at the airport.
One of the challenges we face now is the
customisation of content as much as we can to cater to
these diverse groups. After posting something on Twitter
or Facebook, we look at the reactions and gather which
offers or brand types generate the most interest. Social
media is an interactive process, and kind of like a test
bed. This helps us organise our promotions.
Facebook, Twitter – what else is necessary
and when?
Tan: Among airports, Twitter and Facebook are certainly
most popular. What about other platforms like Pinterest
and Google+?
McMullen: Many airports tend to open accounts very
quickly on several platforms without understanding the
value of them. Pinterest for example, is effective in
capturing imagination and inspiring people to travel. But
first and foremost, airports should aim to cover the bases of
customer service. There is no point inspiring people to
travel if you can’t respond to important enquiries or deal
with a crisis scenario.
Tan: How about trends that you foresee may affect the way
airlines and airports do marketing?
McMullen: As a matter of fact, we are putting together our
annual State of Airport Marketing trends report. One key
trend that has developed significantly over the last year is
crowdsourcing – i.e. ideas that are being developed by the
passengers for the airport.
Another trend is location-based customer
service. While the idea itself is not new, we are finally
seeing airports slowly developing better communications
with passengers in the terminal. They are learning
to pick up on negative situations and turning them
around into positive sentiments. Such trends are
particularly exciting and I hope to share more in our
upcoming report.
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SimpliFlying has worked with over 50 airlines and
airports globally to help them think differently about
aviation marketing.
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