Star Alliance Launches New Social Media Campaign in China

Star Alliance has launched a social media campaign in China, targeted at international frequent flyers in this market, as well as their friends, colleagues and family members. Using the slogan “you make the difference”, the Alliance is encouraging the traveller’s “circle of friends” to show their appreciation for their dedication to work and travel. In addition, the campaign aims to educate and engage the Chinese international frequent flyers and also increase their brand awareness and affiliation to Star Alliance.

The campaign will run through December 7th, 2015 and is accessible via the Alliance’s WeChat social media channel in China. In addition, it is also being promoted in the communication channels of Star Alliance member airlines, such as for example their respective Chinese social media platforms or frequent flyer eNewsletters.

Friends, colleagues and family members of international frequent flyers are invited to send thank you messages, expressing their appreciation for the traveller’s devotion to work and travel. These messages can be sent through the online campaign platform in WeChat. The international frequent flyer who receives the message has the chance to win Star Alliance Gold Status, to make their travels more comfortable. A total of 10 Star Alliance Frequent Flyer programmes are participating in this promotion and will be giving away one Gold Status each: Aeroplan® (Air Canada), PhoenixMiles (Air China), ANA Mileage Club® (ANA), Asiana Club® (Asiana Airlines), Infinity MileageLands® (EVA Air), KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines), MileagePlus® (United), Miles & More (Austrian, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS), Miles&Smiles (Turkish Airlines), Royal Orchid Plus (THAI).

The friend, colleague or family member who sent the message of appreciation has the chance to win two Star Alliance Round-the-World tickets.

These exclusive prizes underline the Star Alliance brand value and allow the winners to experience the Star Alliance global airline alliance benefits.

As a prelude to the current campaign, Star Alliance launched its new Elite Gathering Community on WeChat in China last month. This group brings together global business travelers, providing a platform for them to share their insights and valuable tips about travelling throughout the world.

Star Alliance is present in both WeChat and Weibo in China and in addition to the daily posts related to international travel, the Alliance also runs smaller promotions through these channels.

In total 20 member carriers serve the Chinese markets. Member carriers Air China and Shenzhen Airlines have both been adding international services this year. Air China for example recently launched flights from Beijing to Minsk, Budapest and Montreal and will be serving Johannesburg from the end of October. This is in addition to increasing services to, for example, Australia and the USA. Shenzhen Airlines this year started non-stop flights from Shenzhen to Osaka. It total, the Star Alliance member airlines offer around 270 daily flights international flights from China, connecting to 79 destinations in 42 countries.

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), China is on track to become the world’s primary business travel market. Driven by domestic and international outbound business travel, China continues to close the gap on the U.S. as the largest business travel economy in the world.

The campaign can accessed at http://x.spayz.cn/e1 or by using the QR code below. The video accompanying the campaign can be viewed via the Star Alliance youtube channel at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX37IN9u05I (available in Chinese only).