SIA embarks on social media, finally

The airline, which is one of the last airlines of its stature to go into social media, made its debut this week.

It took over the unofficial Facebook page that was run for years by a passionate fan and which has found more than 110,000 fans since its 2006 launch. The Twitter account, meanwhile, saw some 550 followers on the first day of launch.

SIA will use the two social media platforms as communication and engagement tools with the users, while some social media promotions are in works.

TBWA provided consultation on the airline's social media accounts, but SIA airline will manage the social media presence entirely through internal resources, a spokesperson for the airline told Campaign.

"We have a global team of marketing and PR professionals within SIA who will be involved in maintaining our Facebook and Twitter accounts with support from other departments as required. We adopt an integrated approach to marketing and advertising, and digital platforms play a key role in all SIA promotional campaigns," the spokesperson added.

Earlier in July, SIA apologised and had pledged to win back the confidence of its customers after extensive problems with its new website.

The revamped website was introduced in May, as part of its ongoing efforts to refresh and enhance its online services. But significant numbers of users reported problems of website crashes and multiple billing, subsequently venting their disappointment on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as on online news portals.