Social media round-up
Before you head off to dance away the bank holiday weekend at Notting Hill Carnival, take a look at this week’s round-up of a social media.
When Ryanair passenger Suzy McLeod took to Facebook to vent her frustrations at "unfair" charges she was met with a deluge of support. After being charged €300 (£236) by the airline to print out five boarding passes for her and her family on their way back from Spain, Suzy posted: "When flying from Alicante to Bristol yesterday, I had previously checked in on-line but because I hadn’t printed out the Boarding Passes, Ryanair charged me €60 per person!!! Meaning I had to pay €300 for them to print out a piece of paper! Please ‘like’ if you think that’s unfair… 🙁 To date, the post has had more than 416,000 likes and over 20,000 comments.
– Package holiday specialist Thomson is modernising its holiday experience with the introduction of social media integration for its guests. The experience begins before jetting off with Google+ video "hangouts" and continues throughout with dedicated Twitter hashtags for the resorts. Guests can even question an iAdvisor. The trial will begin at the end of this month at one of its Sensatori resorts in Crete #sensatoricrete
– Sportswear brand Adidas has announced its social media growth following various Olympic activities. The Adidas UK Twitter account saw a 25% leap in followers over the Olympic period with its hashtag #TakeTheStage proving a resounding success, and videos especially created to market the brand during the Games received millions of views on its YouTube Channel. Can’t wait for Paralympic fever? Take a look at some of the best videos, such as David Beckham surprising visitors at the Adidas photo booth or Team GB letting their hair down to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now
– You may remember McDonald’s failed US Twitter campaign #McDStories which prompted tales of negative McDonald’s experiences to spread across the web. Well, the fast-food giant has ventured back into the social media world with a new, far more successful campaign. Steering clear of Twitter and Facebook, the Canadian campaign ‘Our Food. Your Questions‘, follows a simple question and answer format on a specially created microsite. Customers are encouraged to ask any question they like about the fast food chain’s offerings with replies posted within a couple of days. Some video replies have also been created, so should you wish, you can now recreate the famous sauce in Big Macs at home
– And finally, as a nation of tea lovers, Tetley’s new advertising deal with Channel 4’s 4oD is a stroke of genius. In the first ads of its kind, the new Ad Pause activity means that the adverts appear on the online television catch up service website while the programmes are paused, displaying the question "Paused for a cuppa?"… well now, since you asked…
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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