Social Media Spreads WestJet’ Christmas Cheer Around the World: Source 2 – Emotion

Social Media Spreads WestJet’ Christmas Cheer Around the World

Being heavily involved in social media marketing, sometimes I find it difficult to separate personal taste and professional judgment on what brands do regarding social media. In the case of WestJet’s Christmas Real-Time Giving campaign, which went viral, I was in perfect harmony with myself. If you somehow missed the story – watch it here.

During last week, my news feeds on Facebook and Twitter were full of posts and re-posts in different languages about WestJet’s Christmas initiative, simply because it put smile on people’s faces and raised they spirits. The number of views on the video speaks for itself – 25,584,159 views on YouTube in 6 days! Frankly speaking, the whole idea of giving passengers of two Calgary-bound flights specific Christmas gifts that they wanted is smart, fresh and creative.

A typical comment on the video would be:

“I saw the video posted on Facebook by my husband and a friend. Wow! I cried! That was the best Christmas “flash mob” “surprise” or “That, is honestly the nicest thing I have ever seen a business do.” I find now a days there is no more customer service and this really showed me that someone really cares.”

Following many businesses on social media, I was looking for big and exiting Christmas ideas this year, taking into account that the power of social media has finally been recognized. However, this year, again it is all about discounts, coupons and sales in general. It seems like we ignore the true meaning of being social on social media – it is not about sales; it is about communication.

The good news is that WestJet’s Christmas story can be implemented on a much smaller scale.

1. A great customer involvement – making them participate, putting people together.

2. Make consumers happy – by doing that, there is a chance to create emotional bonds.

3. Help consumers solve some problems – look at the family in the video who was presented a big screen TV.

4. Acknowledge consumers – a small token of appreciation can go a long way.

5. Don’t think sales, think relationships (that’s why the WestJet campaign didn’t look like a traditional PR idea).

If all 5 points are involved and creatively designed, your consumers and social media will do the work for you, spreading your story to the global community.