AirAsia shares why CSR is an integral part of its marketing plan

There is an alarming number of Malaysians that are affected by cancer. In fact, cancer is said to be the second leading cause of death in the country.To raise public awareness about this silent killer, AirAsia joined forrces with National Cancer Council Malaysia (MAKNA) to help raise funds for the cancer patients and educate Malaysians on the perils of the illness. The move won AirAsia a silver in the Excellence in corporate social responsibility and a gold in Excellence in social media marketing segment in the recently concluded Marketing Excellence Awards Malaysia.We sat down with Spencer Lee, head of Commercial at AirAsia Berhad to find out more.This post was done in conjunction with Media Prima.A+M: Tell us about your CSR campaign. Why is it important to have CSR initiatives today?AirAsia: AirAsia has an existing CSR initiative called #AirAsiaMAKNA in benefit of MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Nasional), raising funds for them through creative means to support underprivileged cancer patients who are not able to afford treatment. We hope we can assist Makna to create more awarness on cancer and in a way contribute back to the society.When Media Prima approached us to collaborate on this Travelling Beruang project, which is also in benefit of  MAKNA, we thought it was very apt and in line with our own ongoing campaign. Furthermore, the Travelling Beruang campaign is to raises awareness of children who have cancer.CSR initiatives are important to us, because it is an opportunity to appreciate the communities that we serve. AirAsia would not be where we are without the support of all the local communities in the markets we operate in, and it is crucial for us to give back to them.A+M: How important is social media for communication with your target audience?AirAsia: Social media was a significant part of the campaign to achieve the objective of creating more awareness about children having cancer.Sharing on social media is something that comes  naturally to everyone now, therefore, devising the right campaign mechanics to ensure that the right user-generated content are created and shared online is important.We are very happy that apart from being able to do good through this campaign, we have been recognised with an award for the campaign which is a surprise to us. We are humbled by it and will use this as motivation to further create more meaningful campaigns.A+M: What are some of the challenges in the social space that you have had to overcome?AirAsia: Believe that the most challenging part is how to remain relevant to our audience, and ensuring that the right campaign mechanisms are executed. Believing and putting it into practice this motto - "Keep things simple and be real in your content."https://vimeo.com/193645536