KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is amping up its digital engagement with KLM Must See Map, a friend-sourced destination map that combines social and print. 

Users create a map for a destination and ask friends for travel tips via Facebook, Twitter and email. Facebook check-ins show which friends have already visited the destination, their tips on favorite places and their locations. You can add your own tips, then order a copy of the map in print and receive it for free.

Up and running in 24 countries, the application comes from Dutch agency Code d’Azur. “One of the biggest challenges was to ensure that the physical map was a perfect representation of the destination, with the tips provided by friends,” said Nik Nieuwenhuijs, Code d’Azur.Continue reading...

"April 10, the ash cloud took over" declared Anna Ketting, head of social media for Air France KLM, at The Corporate Social Media Summit 2012 in New York this week. From the havoc an Icelandic volcano created for airlines in 2010 came the genesis of the brand's social media strategy.

Throughout the panel discussions during #CSMNY, the wide-ranging conversations shared a common theme — responsiveness.  Whether discussing gamification, marketing synergy, impact or big data, it is clear brands are feeling the pressure to prove social can be a successful commercial enterprise. But what also became clear from the summit is that responsiveness in social media creates opportunities for strong return on investment.Continue reading...

KLM announced its in-flight "Meet & Seat" matchmaker service in December, a social media-enabled opt-in feature allowing passengers to find compatible seatmates (like-minded or aligned business interests) based on their Facebook and LinkedIn profiles — and hopefully make the brand's flying experience more enjoyable (or at least memorable).Continue reading...

Dutch airline KLM is offering passengers a choice of seat-mates by accessing each other's Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.

The 'meet and seat' service in early 2012 intends to improve the flight experience by pairing seats according to shared interests, as travelers choose to link their Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to their check-in information.

KLM is not the first airline to court controversy by embracing social media for its travelers.Continue reading...

As people across the globe buy up the Toyota Priuses and electric Ford Focuses and Chevy Volts and switch their cars to biofuels and try to just figure out what is the best way to run cars without sucking up all the oil and polluting the air, there have been a few massive carbon-eating culprits flying around: airplanes.

Virgin Atlantic tried out biofuels three years ago, and is now working on developing the world's first low-carbon aviation fuel with just half the carbon footprint of the standard fossil fuel alternative, as Richard Branson announced last month. Two years ago, KLM completed the first commercial biofuel flight, while Finnair completed the longest biofueled commercial flight in July.

Now, U.S. airlines are finally getting into the greening business. The Guardian remarked how U.S. airlines are "racing" this month "to demonstrate their clean energy credentials, scheduling a number of flights powered partially by biofuels.”Continue reading...

As Renault extends its News of the World ad boycott to other News International titles, News Corp.'s very bad week gets the Taiwanese animation treatment (now with tattooed hipster intro).

Below, Star Wars chic, Apple politicking and more.Continue reading...

Apple's "app store" trademark suit likely to fail; COO Tim Cook visits China to talk 4G, may offer new iPhone in September.

Bacardi and Live Entertainment partner for social promotion.

Best Buy launches Music Cloud service.

BP faces fresh fingerpointing by Transocean.

China plans a cloud computing zone.

Clearasil reaches out to teens via Facebook and Lollapalooza.

CSN Stores rebrands as Wayfair.com.Continue reading...

Amazon launches mobile price-comparison engine that threatens store retailers.

Apple sells 2 million Beatles songs in first week.

Dolce & Gabbana namesakes indicted on tax evasion charges.

EBS and other Irish banks are up for sale as bailout request puts nation on brink of collapse.

Foursquare takes on the TSA with “Baggage Handler” badge, as TSA launches iPhone app to advise travelers.

Gibson sues PaperJamz paper guitar-maker WowWee and retailers including Toys'R'Us and eBay.

Google allows promoted tweets to real-time search results.Continue reading...