First of all, China is a key future market for iGA-Istanbul Airport, as iGA-Istanbul Airport is a perfect international connection hub between China and hundreds of destination in Africa and Europe. Istanbul Airport, the Gateway to The World, our primary goal is to reach more potential transit passengers in Chinese market on social media. To present and position iGA Istanbul Airport as the best option for Chinese travelers with large route network, large capacity, perfect geographical position and for sure Chinese Friendly facilities and service.
In 2020, iGA-Istanbul Airport was awarded as 'Chinese Friendly Airport', which is the first airport in Europe to implement a full scale 'Chinese Friendly Airport' initiative. By utilizing the rich tourism resources and superior geographical location, iGA-Istanbul Airport is trying to redefine its positioning for Chinese tourists.
In addition, tourists were very concerned about the operation and safety of airports during the pandemic. iGA-Istanbul Airport also made great efforts to ensure the safety of passengers. The procedures, facilities and services of the airport are the most concerned topic on social media during this special period.
Therefore, to enhance the position of 'Chinese Friendly Airport' and increase the voice in China market, we have launched a video campaign on Weibo with cooperation with Mr. Tang Xiaoqiang, who is from Turkey and now a famous Weibo KOL based in China. We have created a nine-minute video to introduce boarding and PCR & IgM Test procedure at Istanbul Airport during the pandemic, to meet tourists’ concerns about flying back to China in this special period.
The video campaign was launched on Weibo in January 2021. We successfully connected with Chinese tourists though this campaign, to eliminate concerns and barriers of Chinese tourists who were planning to take flights via Istanbul Airport. For those who are looking forward to resumption of outbound traveling, the campaign also brought an opportunity to enhance their confidence to restart their journey with iGA-Istanbul Airport in the future.
To encourage more engagement and boost the campaign, we also prepared a special prize for lucky draw, one lucky follower of who reposted the post will receive the super prize. This has helped to reach more potential target audiences and create a bigger buzz on Weibo. During the campaign, Mr. Tang Xiaoqiang, who has over one million followers on Weibo, also reposted our Weibo post and videos at the same time, which has greatly expanded the social impact and touched more audiences.
By eliminate concerns and barriers of Chinese tourists, this campaign successfully established and maintained an active and positive social image for iGA-Istanbul Airport in Chinese market. What’s more, we also received more Chinese tourists’ inquiries and feedback of airport facilities and service, which is useful to guide us to understand Chinese tourists better.
Total video views: 558,000
Results of iGA - Istanbul Airport Weibo Post
Monthly engagement increased by 200% compared with usual.
Results of KOL's Weibo Post *2 (One image post and one video post)
Audience feedback and comments:
This Weibo post received 331 comments. A large group of the audiences think the video is very detailed and useful and would like to experience the convenient transfer service of Istanbul Airport. A lot of audiences expressed their willingness to visit Turkey and Istanbul while international travel resume.
