KLM, a very appreciated airline company, knows how to get closer to their customers. For a very long time, airports got to be boring; all are similar, with not any interactive and joyful activities. They are simply a necessity to get from A to B.
However, KLM just made its move at the right place, at the right time, and to the right people. It was a delight to discover how KLM set out to perform random acts of kindness. People flying with KLM only need to tell them where they are passing from and they might find themselves met at the gate with a NIKE sport band or a book, or simply a worm welcome.
This is marketing innovation. It is more than a simple act of kindness. It gives people reason to talk about how a thoughtful company KLM is and undoubtedly, fellow travellers, friends, and other groups will listen carefully and will spread the idea farther. Yet, this is the usefulness of social media in a very a creative way.
In his book “Tribes”, Seth Godin, the most innovative person in marketing, stressed out how important is to get followers and KLM is one of those successful companies that knows very well how little things can make people happy and also make them spread the idea.
This is what Philip Kottler calls Marketing 3.0, the era when people are no more threatened as simply consumers but human beings with hearts, minds, and spirits that should never be neglected. Therefore, those companies that target the hearts of the consumers will make a difference.
Undoubtedly, today, as a marketer, I have to think about what it means to put a smile on people’s faces with a very little act of kindness. Even if we don’t have the KLM budget to do these things at that level, we still can do something at the right time, right place, and to the right people.
