Gatwick Airport and Rabbit: Talk to Gatwick - Essay Example

Gatwick Airport and Rabbit: Talk to Gatwick Public relations refers to the management function which is responsible for studying public attitudes, identifying the procedures and policies of an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes actions to earn public acceptance and understanding. Public relations involve things like community relations, public affairs, investor relations, media events, public press conferences, internal and crisis communications (Narasimha, 2010: 35). Public relations might also involve behind-the-scene and non-public activities. In most incidences public relations are always aimed at influencing the public in a manner likely to benefit the business. This is the reason why social media might be an appropriate way to carry out public relation given that a great number of people use social media more frequently than they use this other kind of media. This paper aims at discussing how Gatwick Airport and Rabbit used social media to enhance the airport public relation through a campaign dubbed “Talk to Gatwick.” London Gatwick Airport was sold by its previous owners BAA to GIP in December 2009. Despite the fact that it is the biggest single runway airport in the world and the eighth biggest airport in Europe, it still suffered from under investment under the management by BAA. After taking over the management of the business, GIP immediately started changing the airport experience to a much more human one (Czerny, 2008). The first step they took is improving customer service section. Given the fact that more passengers were talking about Gatwick online and having internet enabled cell phones within the airport, the communication team decided to look into the possibility of using online social tool in improving the airport’s public relation. Through this they thought that they could inform their clients of the various changes taking place in the airport and getting their feedback in return. They also saw this as a way of giving their client a means of communicating their experiences to the airport. Through this they could also get the customers’ recommendations on the improvements that should be made on the services (Brown, 2009: 121). Having realized this, the company approached a social media agency by the name Rabbit. Rabbit was given the responsibility of coming up with a holistic programme that would bring in different social networks and online tools. One of such would be a round the clock twitter support. This was due to the realization that limiting twitter communication to office hours will limit the effectiveness of its use to communicate with the customers (Duhe?, 2007: 78). This is especially because Gatwick operates on a 24 hours daily basis. There was a training programming that was aimed at training the operating staff on using twitter. The airport also displayed messages on the information screens persuading their passengers to twit Gatwick. The airport has multiple restaurants, retailers, and other facilities like lounges in the terminal. This made the senior management team to think of a way in which the customers will be able give instant feedback through their notebooks, laptops, or Smartphones while at the airport. This has led to the decision to link in with the already existing location review service Qype. They built Qype’s API in the restaurant and retailer sections of the airport website. The result of this is that everyone who logs into the website will be able to see other people’s opinion on these sections of the airport. Messages were put on the information screens inviting passengers to review restaurants and retailers via Qype on their cell phones. The airport also uses a PR and travel blogger outreach campaign to convince their customers to give their feedback while at the airport regardless of the nature (Phillips, & Young, 2009: 87). The company then uses the client review as actionable intelligence. Research refers to the process of collection, analysis and interpretation of data and information with the agenda of solving a specific problem (Khan, 2011: 32). This research for instance aims at answering the question on the effectiveness of using social media in public relations, particularly in the Gatwick Airport’s case. This research can be referred to as an applied research because it is aimed at solving a practical question. The research is also qualitative because it seeks to explore the nature of an issue. After clear formulation of the problem and agenda of this research, review of literature materials was considered to be important in this case. Literature review aids in bringing focus and clarity to the research question or problem. For example, in this case it enhanced the better understanding of public relations and how it might impact the success of a business (Kothari, 2005: 37). This helps in knowing exactly what the question expects from the researcher. It was also through literature review that understanding of how social media can be used in public relations was possible. Literature reviews can also enable the researcher to improve the methodology. This is because they can avail information about the usability of a methodology, the success of their application in the past, and the disadvantages of using those methodologies (Jackson, 2012: 87). It also broadens the knowledge of the researcher in the research area. It can also help in comparing a researcher’s findings to those of other researchers. The literature materials that were reviewed in this case include journal, books and articles. These materials were crucial in the collection of the information that was used in this research. Before and after surveys were also carried out in this case. The survey was mainly aimed at determining the change that this development in public relation activities would bring. Passengers were given questionnaires and interviewed on their thought on the services offered at Gatwick Airport. The same questionnaires were given to the travelers after the changes were made. Interviews were also carried out to obtain the travelers views (Heath, & Vasquez, 2001: 76). The interviews used in both cases were structured. It was noticed that there was a significant change in the response given by the traveler. While the finding in the first round of survey recorded an average as the general response, the second round showed that the travelers were highly pleased with the services offered at the airport. Observation was also made during the process. Observation of the numbers of clients that the airports served daily was also done. This was done either through actual observation of the airport terminals or observation of the company’s statistical records. A big difference was noticed between the period before the improvements and the period after the improvement (Bowman, & Simons, 2011: 167). While carrying out this research, a number of ethical issues had to be looked into. As a researcher someone is not expected to be biased in any way. Being bias might interfere with the credibility of the research results (Mcburney, & White, 2010: 157). A researcher is also expected to use a completely appropriate methodology and use data sources that are reliable. This is precisely what happened during this research. This qualifies this research as highly ethical. The data that was collected was then put through a process of content analysis that enables the researcher to analyze the content of the findings from the methods used thus identifying the major themes that arose from the process. With the information, the final report can be easily drafted at this point. The use of social media and other online tools for public relation was completely beneficial to the airport. This is evident in the observations that are notable in the kind of feedback they get from their customers lately. It can also be seen in the way the public opinion towards the services offered at the airport has highly changed since the introduction of the use of social media and other online tools for public relations. With the primary and secondary data collected from different sources, the research was able to prove that the use of social media and online tools for public relation improved the company’s public relations. For instance, the literature material that was reviewed showed that Gatwick twitter followers had increased from 4000 to over 17000 in a period of just one year. The literature materials also reveal that the 24 hours twitter initiative, Qype initiative, and the giant mobile barcodes have inclusively had a total of 220 pieces of blog, news, and online travel coverage. This is a clear indication that the public relations of the airport have highly increased. The translation of the information collected through the survey shows that there has been an increase in positivity in the response given by the travelers after the changes in public relations were made. For instance, most of the travelers were pleased that some of their complaints were able to be dealt with in real time. This was made possible through the speed enabled by online communication. It was even noted that some of the recommendations that the travelers made through their feedback had already been looked into and effected by the airport management. Since the survey included even studying responses by the travelers through twitter, it was noticed that there was a general improvement in the contentment depicted by the twits. General improvement on how the public viewed the quality of services offered at Gatwick Airport was observed. This is even further supported by the various awards that the airport has earned as a result of using social media and other online tools in improving public relations (Holtz, 2002). One of such awards is the award for innovation in online customer service that they won at the Econsultancy Innovation Awards that was won in the year 2010. This is an award that recognizes the best practices within the digital industry. The airport has also been nominated by the Social Buzz Awards for the best social media customer service strategy in 2013. This is a clear indication that this move was highly effective in increasing the popularity of the airport and improving its public relations. Despite the fact that this campaign was a complete success, there are several improvements that can be made to make their service delivery even better. For instance, the management might consider widening the use of social media to involve other forms of social media. This might include Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and other. This will make sure that they increase the channels through which they can communicate with the travelers (Noor Al-Deen, & Hendricks, 2012: 154). This will also increase channels through which they would be able to get feedback from the travelers. The general outcome of this will be increased public awareness of the company and the services that it offers to the public. The research activities conducted above could be improved through aligning the researchers’ objectives to those of the organization. For instance, the goal in this research was determining the effectiveness of using social media in improving public relations. Aligning it with the company’s goal of increasing their market shares will impact it effectiveness. This is because at that particular instance the research will fully be aimed at giving an answer to the business’ problems. The use of evidence based practice might also improve the above activities. This will be important in determining if the recommendations will be beneficial to the business or not. The airport management might also consider coming up with a system which can allow constant notification of passengers on activities in the airport through their smartphones or social networks. The notifications should probably begin immediately the consumer show interests in their services through the social media or any other online tool (Galloway, & Kwanash-Aidoo, 2005: 223). This way the customers will be able to get information on things like fare discount instantly without having to log on to the business’ website or visiting any of their social media accounts. The changes are likely to bring a more inclusive result as opposed to the results that were achieved. The main tactic of the company was to lure investor to invest in the company by convincing them that the company was a profitable one. This would only be possible by increasing their market shares. Being the eighth biggest airport in Europe much was expected from such an airport. The extension of the number of online tools used in improving public relation will mean that they are able to reach out to a larger section of the public. This being the case they are most likely to attract more travelers as compared to before this campaign. With such improvements the company will be able to accomplish its objectives of increase the business’ income and thus attracting more investors. With more investor coming on board, the company will be able to improve the facilities in the airport in a major way thus increasing their competitiveness. The good improvement of the public relations might also make it attractive to employees with high skills and devotion. These factors will improve their service delivery generally making their income higher and higher. Bibliography Bowman, M. W., & Simons, G. M. (2011). London's airports. Barnsley, Sth. Yorkshire: U.K., Pen & Sword Aviation. Brown, R. (2009). Public relations and the social web how to use social media and Web 2.0 in communications. London: Kogan Page. Czerny, A. I. (2008). Airport slots: international experiences and options for reform. Aldershot, Hants, England, Ashgate. Duhe?, S. C. (2007). New media and public relations. New York [u.a.]: Lang. Galloway, C., & Kwanash-Aidoo, K. (2005). Public relations issues and crisis management. Southbank, Vic: Thompson / Scoial Science Press. Heath, R. L., & Vasquez, G. (2001). Handbook of public relations. Thousand Oaks [u.a.]: Sage Publications. Holtz, S. (2002). Public relations on the Net: winning strategies to inform and influence the media, the investment community, the government, the public, and more! New York [u.a.]: Amacom. Jackson, S. L. (2012). Research methods and statistics: a critical thinking approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Khan, J. A. (2011). Research methodology. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation.. Kothari, C. R. (2005). Research methodology: methods & techniques. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd. Mcburney, D., & White, T. L. (2010). Research methods. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Narasimha, R. C. V. (2010). Effective Public Relations and Media Strategy. PHL Learing, India. Noor Al-Deen, H. S., & Hendricks, J. A. (2012). Social media: usage and impact. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books. Phillips, D., & Young, P. (2009). Online public relations a practical guide to developing an online strategy in the world of social media. London: Kogan Page. Read More