Results and Effectiveness

Garuda’s efforts to increase consumer advocacy were a success. And using the Facebook platform proved to be the right strategy. Garuda’s Facebook fanbase grew to 30,475, a 33-fold increase. Engagement levels grew to 4,300 people per day on average (from 123), while 2,850 per day (from 82) talked about the content. 3,120 people per day saw Garuda’s content shared by a friend. On Socialbakers.com, Garuda achieved the #1 position in “Fanpage with Highest Engagement Rate”. The daily engagement rate increased from 0.3% to 13.4% This advocacy led to an increased number of passengers (+15%) for Garuda during the campaign period.

Creative Execution

Stories can touch hearts. Indonesians were encouraged to write personal stories about family members, friends and colleagues they wished to see return to their hometowns to reunite with their families. Garuda’s Facebook Fans were then asked to vote for the stories that touched their hearts the most. For the unfortunate individuals who had not seen their families for decades and who’s stories resonated and were voted for the most, their stories were converted into return plane tickets to go back home. Garuda fulfilled the wishes of many by facilitating their entire journey home, some to remote destinations across Indonesia’s 17,508 islands. The campaign was introduced purely via Facebook social ads and messages were posted on Garuda’s Facebook and Twitter pages. We created a tab on Garuda’s Facebook fan pages and provided a form for fans to write their stories. These stories were available for others to read and voted on.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Garuda Indonesia was lacking in consumer advocacy. There were only 913 likes on its Facebook page of which 123 users per day engaged with the content, while 82 per day would post or share content. Such numbers are disappointing in a business that is driven by recommendations, especially for a full-service airline competing with a plethora of low-cost carriers. Garuda knew it needed to set itself apart and in a big way. What better way to do this than to leverage the most anticipated occasion among Indonesians, the yearly Muslim Eid Festival. This event gives Indonesians a chance to visit their hometowns and reunite with their families. However, due to financial limitations many Indonesians are not able to go home for Eid. Garuda recognized this opportunity to advance its consumer advocacy but most importantly, to make a few Indonesians’ dreams of going home to their families for Eid a reality.