In the new digital era of "the customer is in control" there are still a few places that the customer feels like he or she has no control at all. One of those places is the airport. We all have our own airport stories where we felt adrift in the crowd and nobody cared. But there is one airport that's trying to change all that.
The Indianapolis International Airport launched their twitter account, @INDairport, yesterday. It's part of a whole integrated program to make their customers feel more comfortable and more in control of their situation.. I know this because they pinged our twitter account to let us know about it. I checked it out and so far, it seems like a nice mix of airport related information and customer engagement. The personality has a nice quirky humor to it – it's friendly and different without being unprofessional. It lets airport guests get updates on flights and weather patterns and retweets customer comments and content. One customer shot a picture from her plane's window while sitting on the tarmac. Another had a picture of the trippy walkway.
I talked with Evan Strange in the Communications & Marketing department there and he told me, "With a new CEO, we were challenged to put our minds together, as an organization, and find new, innovative ways to make life easier for our passengers. Two of the best ways we found to do this was to revamp our feedback system and to engage in social media, so we can communicate directly with the people who use our airport the most."
In addition to twitter, the Indianapolis airport is also creating a blog and Flickr channel. Eventually, they will have a YouTube channel. I think that's brave in this post Dave Carroll/United flap era. But, also necessary. If companies are going to be a part of the new consumer world, they need to adapt and take chances. But, most of all, they need to take part. Digital and social media aren't one way streets.
According to Strange, "In the airport environment, people always want up-to-the-minute updates and want to be in the loop. Twitter allows us to do this. It is important to us that the airport has a voice and is able to communicate in a 2-way symmetrical approach, so we are engaged in social media to create value for our customers. Our goal is not to increase sales, but to create meaningful relationships instead."
I think the Indianapolis International airport is getting it right, at least so far. This isn't an experiment to them. They created this new airport to be passenger friendly, have diversity represented in their shopping experiences and even designed it in a way to reduce their impact on the environment. If an airport can commit to the transparency and engagement today's customers want, why not your company?
Mike McClure, ECD and frequent flier
