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AIRASIA’s Group Commercial Head Woos 100k Fans on Sina Weibo with Promise of Exclusive Sale
CHINA, 20 APRIL 2012 – AirAsia’s Group Head of Commercial, Kathleen Tan is now dominating the highly popular Chinese developed microblogging site, Sina Weibo with a staggering 109,772 fans as of Tuesday (24th April).
Known as one of Asia’s top 10 most influential women leaders and brand advocate in the travel industry, Kathleen Tan’s Weibo account raised eyebrows and garnered thousands of followers who were intrigued with the engaging content from Kathleen Tan. Her gutsy spirit and passion won the hearts of many in China and she was ranked 2510th most influential account over 300million users on the social media page.
A savvy marketer, Kathleen recognized the power of social media in elevating brands and its exceptional reach to consumers globally. She believes that social media will change the way companies promote and sell their products and services.
Due to this belief, Kathleen personally championed the utilization of social media in AirAsia, and was instrumental in the establishment of a dedicated social media unit. Her vision was spot on, as AirAsia is today ranked the second airline in the world to achieve highest number of fans on Facebook and one of the top five most-active-airlines on Twitter. Encouraged by the success, she decided to start a Sina Weibo account on Dec 14 in 2010, for her to easily reach out to the public and get feedback on the airline’s services and products.
Kathleen said, “When I first started, I didn’t know what to expect. It was a humbling experience but one that is stimulating, exciting and very challenging. The initial idea was to provide a platform where our guests, and the general public in China to provide feedback and recommendations regarding our services and products. It was a good initiative as now I’m able to identify the needs of our guests and their expectations. Best of all, many of them became my friends and shared various thoughts and ideas to make AirAsia even better.”
During her birthday recently, Kathleen made a pledge to organize an exclusive AirAsia sale for her Sina Weibo fans should her wish for 100k fans becomes a reality. And now, with the aspired fan numbers reached, Kathleen will live up to the promise. Slated for April 25th, it will be the first of it’s kind on social media where a sale is driven by an individual. 500K Airasia seats to destinations across AirAsia network such as Bali, Phuket. Singapore, Sabah, Bangkok, Australia and many more will be on offer. Fans will also be treated to hotel room offers from as much as 50% off on 5 star hotels in popular resorts. All fans of Kathleen Tan on Weibo, do keep a look out for updates soon! Details of the sale is made available on http://www.weibo.com/kathleentan
“Travelers nowadays are extremely technology-savvy, and the massive wave of Weibo communication has inevitably changed the way online content are being consumed. My main objective was to engage with the crowd, as the followers represent the voice of our guests,” said Kathleen.
“There is no secret formula in how to win eyeballs and fans’ hearts. If your content is boring, no one will follow you. As a women leader and senior management staff of AirAsia, I take his opportunity to share about my lifestyle, my personal views as a woman on fashion, style, food and my travels as well as corporate thoughts of leadership,” added Kathleen.
Most of the Weibo fans find Kathleen extremely inspiring. One of her fan, “Dreamy Piggie” wrote “Kat you are my mentor to learn how to become a successful women entrepreneur with a balance healthy lifestyle. I want to learn from you.”
Another fan, “Little Grass” noted “Reading your weibo has become part of my daily routine. Your contents are inspiring and encouraging to me to discover the world.”
“Kat I actually pin your weibo under my “old friend” category because reading your weibo is like talking to old friends. I’ve flown with AirAsia for 3 years and it inspire me even more by getting to follow you personally through weibo.” Commented another fan via the nickname “SunnyBamboo”
Kathleen has been pivotal in building AirAsia, an Asian brand to one that has become a global and powerful brand in the aviation industry, winning many global brand and digital marketing accolades. She currently oversees a huge portfolio that includes Revenue Management, Marketing, Branding, Social Media, Corporate Communications, Social Media, Mobile and development of ancillary products and services, including hotels, credit card, insurance and in-flight food.
Recognising the rising trend of social media, Kathleen was quick to seize opportunities to introduce this as another marketing channel throughout the AirAsia group.
“AirAsia is an innovative brand, where we embrace changes and adapt easily. Social media is used heavily as marketing tools at AirAsia because it complements our offline marketing efforts, resulting in cost savings and maintains the relevance of our brand with young travelers, and of course those who are young at heart,” said Kathleen.
