Dismissing Social Media

Robin Kiely is the new Head of Communication for the budget airline Ryanair, and as part of his new position he has looked at the relevance of social media. While he agrees that some other airlines may use Facebook as a means of communication, he stated that “a Facebook account would not be helpful” to Ryanair.

Ryanair is sticking to its budget nature in not wishing to spend resources on having to hire more staff dedicated to the social media site. He stated that if customers wanted to get in touch the existing methods are still available, referring to their brands customer car line.

While it is commendable that Ryanair recognise the need to manage the page, when other brands fail by leaving their page without a plan, it seems that Ryanair may be shying away from social media to avoid the likelihood of the sites becoming a place on which dissatisfied customers can vent their anger.

The question is, should this fear still be relevant? With the way social media is going brands should have established content plans and rules of engagement for fans to abide by.

Although Ryanair do not spend very much on advertising, PR is of huge importance to the brand and a presence on social media could increase customer interaction and engagement. 

Ryanair is hugely online based with its flight booking and check-in systems so it would make sense to have an online system by which customers could engage with the brand itself.

So are Ryanair right in avoiding the social media and sticking to traditional media, or will this avoidance come as a disadvantage to the future prospects and advancement of the brand?

Claire Mc Nally, 

Marketing Advisor