air-nz-and-aer-lingusair-nz-and-aer-lingus-socialIreland’s Rugby team may have come out second best in the second part of the Autumn battle against the All Blacks but the game did provide an opportunity for the two national airlines to show just what can be achieved by brands in social media around an event that has strong engagement with fans.

It kicked off with a challenge from Air New Zealand and quickly escalated into a battle of who could photoshop quicker and ultimately who could get cabin crew to the Aviva for a hand over after the game.

Was it all planned out in advance? Was it something that came to life in the couple of days leading up to the game? Neither side is willing to reveal the tricks that go into preparing for a big game, following the marker laid down by Joe Schmidt and Steve Hansen, but whatever the answers it certainly provided for an entertaining few hours on social media before and after the main event on RTE Sport.

Have a look at the full Aer Lingus timeline from the exchange here. 

It’s social media gold.