Avis: planning and deploying a full social media strategy 

 

The challenge 

 

As part of a larger effort to reinvigorate its “We Try Harder” proposition, Avis and Web Liquid partnered to harness the increasing influence of social media & consumer generated content.

The aim was to listen, learn and gain feedback from customers, enabling Avis to achieve the following goals:

 

1. Develop a new innovation & market-leading position in online customer service.

2. A reduction in negative sentiment towards Avis on the most influential third party sites.

3. An increase in the number of advocates promoting Avis in the online marketplace.

4. The creation of an online community and useful information resource for its customers to
enhance the Avis car rental experience.

5. Metrics for the measurement of online consumer sentiment. 

 

 

The bespoke solution 

 

To help Avis achieve its aims, we developed a comprehensive approach to mine consumer insight & key market priorities from online word of mouth (WOM) and consumer generated content (CGC) relating to Avis and its competitors. The insight was leveraged to: 

1. Establish benchmark & measurement baseline comprised of a Stakeholder Analysis to discover key influencers & ultimately communication targets.

2. Evolve strategic communications planning

3. Execute tactical marketing efforts offline & online

4. Develop & launch the wetryharder.co.uk blog

5. Initiate conversation with customers via online review sites, travel communities and forums

6. Establish measurable benchmarks & monitor them to confirm impact and growth of
related ‘through-the-line’ communications efforts 

 

The results

 

Since 2006 the Avis (Net) Approval Index has increased over 200% and remains well ahead of the competition. The project won the SOCAP award for Innovation in Customer Service at the 2007 National Customer Service Awards.

 

The Avis "We Try Harder" blog was nominated and short-listed as a finalist for the Travolution Most Innovative Use of Social Media.

 

 

Download a PDF of this case study:
Avis: Social Media & Word of mouth monitoring

 

 

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