In her SocialMedia.org Member Meeting case study presentation, United's Senior Manager of Social Media Marketing Programs, Allison Brown, talks about using social commerce to create a better experience for their customers. Allison reveals their new social program called Flight Fancies and explains how it's benefiting their social media strategy by selling the experience over the product.

1. SOCIALMEDIA.ORG
CASE STUDIES
Member Meeting 32
Chicago, 6-15-2014
Learn more about Member Meetings
socialmedia.org/meetings
SOC
IALMEDIA.
ORG
MEM
B
ER MEETIN
G
32
CHICA
GO
United Airlines
Allison Brown
Unlocking social media sales socially

2. Unlocking
Social Media Sales Socially
UNITED

3. 2
UNITED
What are the big
questions that keep you
up at night?

4. WSJ- Social Media Fail to Live Up to Early Marketing Hype
Just Being Social is not cutting it anymore.
Quote‐ Jan Rezab, chief executive of Socialbakers AS
“Fans and follower
counts are over.
Now it's about what is
social doing for you and
real business objectives."
UNITED
Businesses are looking more critically at social media and its influence on the bottom line.
A majority of respondents in a Gallup survey said that social media had no influence at all on
purchasing decisions.

5. “That’s cool. Where should I go for spring break?”
Desired-
I just booked a flight to Denver
on United.com
I just checked in for my flight to
Munich on united.com
Social Notifications Social Reactions
“I will book a flight on United.com too”
Reality-
“So what? You are going to Denver for work again.”
“Well, good for you, but I’m not about to spend $xxx.xx
just because you did”
United is having a special
deal to Hawaii
united.com/specialdeals
“Too bad. I wasn’t looking for a beach vacation, I was
actually searching for outdoor adventure destinations”
UNITED
Current implementation of social integration
One way communication, product focused, lack of CTA, not too targeted
“I can buy my client a drink?! It will seal the business
deal, and I will look good in social space. I’m so doing
that .”

6. 5
Its one-way communication
It’s not too engaging/compelling
It’s hard to track and measure
It’s not tailored beyond broad segmentation
It’s missing the social component of social
YOUR MESSAGE
SHOUT-OUT
What's wrong with the Megaphone approach?
UNITED
BRAND
Not a problem but can we do more?

7. Peer
Recommendations
(Amazon, Yelp)
Group Buying
(Groupon,
LivingSocial)
Peer to Peer
(eBay, Etsy)
Social Shopping
(Mattel, Go Try It On)
Participatory
(Threadless,
Kickstarter)
UNITED
Assessing the social commerce landscape
Noticing communication direction, who are the players?
Source ‐The 7 species of social commerce by Lauren Indvik

8. UNITED
Maslow's drivers of human behavior
SELF-ACTUALIZATION - Problem solving, Helping others,
personal growth, fulfillment…
ESTEEM - Confidence, Achievement, Recognition, status…
LOVE/BELONGING - Friends, Family, affection…
SAFETY - Security, Employment, Insurance, order, law…
PHYSIOLOGICAL- Breathing, Food, Sleep Water…
Why do we do what we do?

9. SOCIAL - Connections, Sharing, Reciprocation
ESCAPISM – Entertainment, Enjoyment
EXPRESSION – Communication, Consumption, Transaction
UNITED
ALTRUISM & DISCOVERY - Problem solving, helping others, self
development, learn from others, meaningful, truth
What motivates us in social space?
Source – TMW social Media Research
Why is it important for us to understand these drivers?
FAME - Recognition, Reputation, Status

10. My Epiphany- baby Brown
UNITED

11. 10
Basic Product Overview
“Flight Fancies” is a social storefront
intended to use our existing customers
and their buying behavior to trigger
purchase of our ancillary products by
their social networks.
Customers can purchase products or
pay for fees on their friend’s / client’s
itinerary. i.e – pay for their baggage
fee, drinks on the plane, e plus, United
club day passes, and more.
We are helping people use social
gifting to reinforce social bonds and
enable travelers to help travelers in a
way that leads to discovery and
purchase of United products.
Social sales strategy should be around interactions and
transactions between people, not corporations to people.
Flight Fancies
Friends, Family & Colleagues to make your travel experience remarkable
UNITED

12. 11
John books a
reservation with
United
John shares his
reservation on FF
and also shares it
out on his Facebook
John’s social
network sees the
FF link on his
Facebook
Allison decides to
purchase something for
John and clicks on the
FF link on his Facebook
Social postsFlight Fancies
Public
Allison’s social
network sees the FF
link on her Facebook
and her generosity
towards John who
they also know
Allison is linked to FF
personal view seeing
John’s FF options
Allison purchases an
E Plus for John and
shares her generosity
on her Facebook
Social posts
Social Activation
Takes over
Flight Fancies
Personal
John receives an
email from FF of
Allison’s generosity.
He has an option to
share this out to his
social network
FF email
Flight Fancies
UNITED
Basic Social Networking Flow

13. 12
Origin Check-in desk Gate In flight Destination
Baggage Fee paid by my
sister
A drink on flight bought
by my vendor
United Club one day pass
paid by my colleague A snack box bought for
me by my boss
Flight Fancies
Social activation opportunities integrated into customers' travel journey
UNITED
An
EconomyPlus bought
by my friend

14. 13
Flight Fancies
User Experience: Sample wires
UNITED

15. IT’S
FUN
IT’S
SOCIAL
IT’S
HELPFUL
Enabling with infrastructure and product catalog
Take yourself out of the equation
Enable your customers by providing the infrastructure and the products, then butt out
UNITED
Selling the experience, not the products
Selling products via social media is a fine strategy, but selling experience is a better strategy
since social media is an experience delivery mechanism. Travelers are looking to purchase
and share experience s that are unique and personal to the them and hard to replicate.
Lowering the barrier of entry for participation
Purchasing a plane ticket is a highly committed activity and is not considered an impulse
purchase. We need to provide them with a set of products that they can purchase and will
make them look and feel good on their social channels.
Brands dictating what products customers should purchase, let alone what to buy for their
friends, does not bode well with emotionally‐savvy customers. Leave the decision‐making to
your customers that they know what they want to buy, and let the social do its social thing.

16. 15
Organic, social communication & experience focused
I just booked a flight to Denver
On United.com and with FlightFancies,
you can buy me a drink in flight!
My vendor just paid for my drink on
@United flight via FlightFancies
Social Notifications Social Reactions
“I can buy my client a drink?! It will help seal the
business deal, and I will look good in social space. I’m
so doing that .”
“I am buying my coworker a day pass to United Club, so
she will be able to join this mtg. from the business
center, and we won’t have to reschedule!”
Thanks to FlightFancies, and my
friends, I felt like a celebrity on my
united flight this morning
“Since I took my mom shopping and made her buy a
whole new wardrobe, it’s only fair that I pay for her
baggage check–In fees.”
New approach to social activation
UNITED
Status
Smart biz?
Evil?
Solving
problems?
Expression
Social

17. 16
A win-win: How United gains
Flipping the sales funnel and leveraging the rule of reciprocity in social networking
UNITED
TRIGGER/AWARENESS
CONSIDERATION
PURCHASE
Customer Acquisition
TRIGGER/AWARENESS
CONSIDERATION
PURCHASE
Traditional mass media marketing funnel spends
budget first then hopes for the best
New Customer Sales force
Existing Customer
Sales force
VS
Source – Flip the Funnel Joseph Jaffe

18. Altruism &
Discovery
Problem solving,
Helping others,
Doing good,
Meaningful, Truth
Fame
Recognition,
Reputation,
Attention
Social
Friendship, Family,
Connections, Sharing,
Reciprocity
Escapism
Entertainment,
Enjoyment
Expression
Communication,
Consumption,
Transaction
UNITED
Conclusion: Remember the Drivers of Motivation in Social

19. 18
UNITED
THANK YOU
A L L I S O N P A R K B R O W N
U n i t e d A i r l i n e s

20. Learn more about past and
upcoming Member Meetings
socialmedia.org/meetings
SOCIALMEDIA.ORG
CASE STUDIES
Member Meeting 32
Chicago, 6-15-2014
Learn more about Member Meetings
socialmedia.org/meetings
SOC
IALMEDIA.
ORG
MEM
B
ER MEETIN
G
32
CHICA
GO