KLM's successful marketing campaign based on a supposed new employee, the dog Sherlock.
The Lost property management It is just another task in the set of activities that are carried out permanently in any airport in the world. In large international airports, it even becomes a duty that consume a lot of resources and space. As in all facets of life, sometimes the most curious solutions can turn out to be the most effective and, as in the case in question, the most endearing.
Taking advantage of this aspect of human nature, KLM Airlines recently had the idea of giving a «personal touch» to their Lost Property department by using a fictional dog, a beagle, who happens to be named Sherlock. The idea behind the campaign was to show the effort of your staff in quickly locating the owners of lost property and, if possible, even do it at the airport itself before they abandoned it. In reality, the KLM team uses a number of new techniques to locate the owners. lost items, such as maintaining contact with passengers via social media. In fact, they have demonstrated their expertise on social media with this campaign, as the video went viral in a short space of time.
The idea behind the video was simple: utilising the tracking nature of this breed of dog, widely used in hunting activities for their olfactory skills, Sherlock was trained to follow the scent of the owners of items that are occasionally forgotten by passengers both on aeroplanes and in the airport terminal. In fact, after any aircraft lands, the crew conducts a thorough inspection of the cabin to check if everything is in order or if anyone has forgotten something. If any personal belongings are found, Sherlock is requested, he sniffs them and begins a track that, in most cases, prevents the item in question from ending up stored on a remote shelf.
What initially seemed like a romantic idea, turned out to be highly effective. Little Sherlock has not only tracked down and found the owners of phones, scarves, teddy bears, handbags, caps and wallets, but has also become an attraction at the airport itself. Sherlock became in a short time, thanks to social media, into The most famous employee of KLM airline, who had the idea to launch this initiative.
Many of the people using Schiphol's terminals for their flights expect to encounter the little dog, with a blue backpack on his back containing any temporarily misplaced belongings, who runs in search of a traveller to whom he will undoubtedly bring a smile when he hands over their goods. Unfortunately It all turned out to be a marketing campaign, although very successful.
In summary, despite many people's disappointment upon learning that Sherlock didn't actually exist, The campaign turned out to be a great success. After all, KLM has secured significant global brand visibility with this initiative, thanks to new technologies. However, many airports and airlines worldwide are now studying initiatives like that of Sherlock the dog.
