A simple but direct idea was applied – to use the flight information board to announce his win and to document Schooling’s historic timing in the Olympic 100m Butterfly Finals.

The announcement post was made within 14 minutes after his win, being the first brand to do so in the entire country.

At the heart of real-time marketing is immediate relevance. It was imperative that for Changi Airport to produce a social post the audience would find worth sharing – it needed to be informative, tasteful, and with timely relevance.

The social post was first published on Changi Airport’s Facebook page at 09:26h, merely 14 minutes after Schooling finished first and won the Olympic gold medal. The congratulatory post was published on Changi Airport’s Instagram and Twitter accounts shortly thereafter.

Changi Airport also utilised Facebook’s Live Video feature allowing fans from all over the world to be part, front and centre, of Schooling’s Singapore arrival. The use of live streaming helped in ensuring no Singaporean was left behind in welcoming the swimming hero. This was especially important as the transit area of the airport is restricted and not open to the public.

Note: Due to the nature of social media posts, the figures were accurate at the time of first writing.

Facebook (for 4 posts)

•Organic reach of 4.1 million unique users

•Over 10,000 likes in the first hour for first congratulatory post being published

•Over 84,000 likes

•15,419 shares

Twitter (for 2 posts)

•367 retweets

•347 favourites

Instagram (for 2 posts)

•6,989 likes

•71 comments

Estimated PR Value: $4,361,253

(Number based on internally agreed upon formula within the agency for computing PR value)

Notable Mentions

• “A class act.” - Linda Locke, renowned advertising veteran, Gold Cannes Lion winner, Cannes Lions Judge

• “Unsurpassed in its effectiveness.” - TODAY

• “A really good piece of work!” - Tan Chuan Jin, President, Singapore National Olympic Council, Minister for Social and Family Development

Selected Media Mentions

•The Straits Times

•ST Sports Desk

•TODAY

•8 Days Magazine

•9GAG

•MothershipSG