{"id":9002,"date":"2018-04-03T15:49:02","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T19:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.atl.com\/?p=9002"},"modified":"2018-04-03T15:58:31","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T19:58:31","slug":"atls-wakanda-flight-lands-social-media-windfall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.atl.com\/atl\/atls-wakanda-flight-lands-social-media-windfall\/","title":{"rendered":"ATL\u2019s Wakanda \u2018flight\u2019 lands social media windfall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

By Anika Robertson
\nSenior Editor\/Assistant Public Relations Manager<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"The Airport recently celebrated its most successful social media post ever thanks to the ingenuity of two Department of Aviation employees, Amany Fanous and Devin Pascoe. Timed closely to the release of Marvel Studios blockbuster \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d the post about a \u201cflight\u201d to Wakanda went viral, amassing 4,472,096 impressions in days and gaining thousands of ATL followers. Fanous and Pascoe share insight into the Twitter and Instagram posts that got celebrities talking and made national headlines.<\/p>\n

Wakanda, a fictitious place, drew very real numbers. How did the post come about? Was it planned or spontaneous?<\/strong> <\/em><\/h6>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> We [began instituting] weekly Monday meetings with our social media team. And at a meeting, Amany shared a post by a famous Atlanta chef Darius Cooks (@darriuscooks). He pulled a prank that day and called an actual travel agent to try to book a flight to Wakanda, and the airport he tried to get that flight from was ATL. So, we shared that post and [then] someone commented with an elementary version of Photoshopping the sign. I told Amany, \u2018We can do better.\u2019 So, we did better.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> Devin took the idea and created the graphic and post. She put it out on Twitter. We didn\u2019t imagine that this would happen.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> Timing is everything.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> When we started, it had 250,000 views. When we shared on our Facebook, now it has over a million.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> That kind of initiated the whole idea that ATL could do something like this. Cooks\u2019 post had already been gaining traction.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> We thought it was funny, so [we posted it]. When we see that people are mentioning us, or they are sharing stuff, [we respond]. We are following social media all the time.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> He didn\u2019t actually tag us. Other people commenting were tagging us.<\/p>\n

How long did it take from the moment you were notified about the chef\u2019s video to posting the Wakanda flight graphic?<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> That post was only on Facebook, so we needed something for Twitter and Instagram. It was 10:30 a.m., and I made the graphic at 6 o\u2019clock at my house.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> And then I didn\u2019t sleep!<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> I didn\u2019t, either. But we had to do it that day. The movie came out Friday [Feb. 16]. It had already been a few days.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> When I saw the post, I didn\u2019t know what Wakanda [was] because [I] didn\u2019t see the movie. Then I saw it was not a real place and it was related to the movie. I thought, \u2018This is fun.\u2019<\/p>\n

What was the celebrity engagement like?<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> That\u2019s when it went viral. Lupita Nyong\u2019o [Academy Award-winning actress in \u2018Black Panther\u2019] replied. First, she retweeted our post to her account. Then, she replied with in-flight entertainment, which was this hilarious, punny list of movies. We replied with our own list of in-flight entertainment songs. And she is what sparked it. It was locally viral before she responded, but then it took on a life of its own. Then Forest Whitaker [Academy Award-winning actor in \u2018Black Panther\u2019] retweeted it, and then Marvel Studios replied. And this was over the course of days. It didn\u2019t really die down until Friday [Feb. 23].<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> Yesterday, people were responding.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> The peak of it was Wednesday [Feb. 21]. Twitter was where all the celebrities were [posting], but \u2026 some of the big reposts by The Shade Room and other viral celebrity accounts were on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> 181,000 likes on The Shade Room.<\/p>\n

You talked about Lupita Nyong\u2019o\u2019s posts. What were some of your favorites from other users?<\/strong> <\/em><\/h6>\n

Fanous:<\/b> Someone wanted to go to Genovia [depicted in \u2018The Princess Diaries\u2019]. I told him to keep monitoring our website for updated flights.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> Some of Amany\u2019s responses were great. One of them got on The Shade Room. Someone asked, \u2018Do you take SkyMiles or nah?\u2019 All Amany said was, \u2018Nah.\u2019<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> We were professionally responding as well. For example, someone mentioned the WiFi and I told them, \u2018Of course we have the fastest WiFi [at an airport] in the nation now.\u2019<\/p>\n

Why do you think the post resonated so well?<\/strong> <\/em><\/h6>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> It was perfectly on time and it was perfectly unexpected. No one thought the Airport would ever post that, which is what made it so delightful for people.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> I think this movie has a high volume of engagement.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> The hashtag was already trending, #wakandaforever, so we fell in. But then also, there\u2019s another layer where Atlanta is Wakanda because most of the movie was filmed here. It was so relevant that we, of all the airports, would do it specifically. It\u2019s ironic since we\u2019re already in Wakanda.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> And we were able to create a new hashtag for Atlanta, #ATLforever.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What is your process for managing\/catapulting trending topics?<\/strong> <\/em><\/h6>\n

Fanous:<\/b> We are always [searching]. If I find something, I go back to Devin because marketing is responsible for creating content.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> Amany is listening to everything.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> I\u2019m interacting more with the customers through the platforms, responding to complaints, reviews, mentions. Even when people are checking in to the Airport, we tell them, \u2018Welcome to Atlanta.\u2019 So, we are much more engaging with the customer on a daily basis. Marketing is creating content, campaigns, captions \u2013 the creative.<\/p>\n

This sounds like a 24\/7 job. What are the hours like?<\/strong> <\/em><\/h6>\n

Fanous:<\/b> Unfortunately, we have smartphones so everything is one touch.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> At a different brand, it might be different if you left it alone overnight, and you don\u2019t respond until the next day. But at an airport, the volume of posts \u2026 is unreal. If we miss a night, then we\u2019re behind.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> If you are at the Airport at 3 in the morning and you don\u2019t find anyone, the first thing [many] will do is go on Twitter or Facebook and start to communicate [with] the Airport. Social media is the easiest way now for people to communicate, and they know there [are] people behind it. The customer service model in social media is growing because people found out [they] can speak with the Airport on social media, and the [response time] is shorter than trying to call. Sometimes if I\u2019m awake, you will find me responding to them at 3 in the morning.<\/p>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> The volume is so great that I\u2019d rather check it on the weekend and stay abreast, then try to come in on Monday and be so stressed out. For instance, on Instagram, a way to gain a new following is [through] our location tag and like other people\u2019s user photos of our location \u2026 If I wait a whole weekend to do that, then I\u2019ve miss two days of people I could be culling to like our account. I\u2019d rather do it every day than get behind.<\/p>\n

Do you see any upcoming trends? What should we be paying attention to?<\/strong> <\/em><\/h6>\n

Pascoe:<\/b> We need to use Twitter and Instagram more and more. The way Facebook is changing and has been changing \u2026 Facebook is governed by its algorithm. The way to stay engaged and keep our numbers up month over month is to use Twitter and Instagram like we did. Facebook is too controlled by [itself] to have these types of things happen like they do on Twitter and Instagram. We need to use every available platform.<\/p>\n

Fanous:<\/b> In technology, everything is moving so fast. We can utilize each tool we are using on social media to serve something. We have different audiences. It\u2019s important to have different visions because it\u2019s not me. At the end of the day, I\u2019m a user but it\u2019s not me; it\u2019s whatever is happening in the market.<\/p>\n

Follow @ATLAirport on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more updates on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.<\/h6>\n