KLM Royal Dutch Airlines launched a social campaign especially for the Chinese market with popular cartoon rabbit Miffy as the star.
Case study summary
• Dutch airline wanted to boost presence in China
• Took popular Dutch cartoon Miffy on a world tour., promoted on social media
• Photos, videos and messages were shared on Chinese social media including Sina Weibo, Renren and Tencent Weibo.
• Videos watched watch than 4.2 million times, with 500k reports and 88,000 new fans
The challenge
Miffy, the creation of Dutch artist Dick Bruna, is extremely popular in China. The campaign aimed to increase market awareness and promote KLM’s destinations. It also worked to increase the number of followers on KLM sites in the Chinese social media.
The solution
Together with “uncle pilot”, Miffy travels to a variety of KLM destinations over the course of sixty days. The first destination is Amsterdam followed by Rome, Paris, Barcelona, London, and a secret sunny spot. During her trip, she will receive travel tips from a number of Chinese personalities who have lived at these destinations. In London, she got tips from British singer James Blunt.
All photos, videos and messages from miffy’s travel adventures were shared on Chinese social media including Sina Weibo, Renren and Tencent Weibo.
Followers who participated in the many games, quizzes and online activities also had a chance at winning special KLM and miffy prizes designed especially for the campaign.
KLM developed this campaign with Energize, in cooperation with Mercis bv, owner of the nijntje/miffy brand.
The results
The campaign was a great success, with the videos watched watch than 4.2 million times.
Social media updates were posed 500,000 times on Weibo, getting 88,000 new fans in the
process.
Erik Varwijk, Managing Director KLM, said: This is the first time that a campaign with a social character of this kind has appeared in the Chinese airline industry,” says KLM’s Managing Director Erik Varwijk. “It should come as no surprise that KLM has chosen China. KLM serves eight different routes, which means it has the largest network between Greater China and Europe.”
