benchmark report
airline marketing
Royal Brunei Airlines ‘route to relaxation’
Delta T4 experience SoHo New York featured yet another temporary ‘airport’ space this month, as Delta took over a historic cast-iron building on West Broadway and Broome St. and turned it into a mini-airport. As JFK’s Terminal 4 was due to open, the ‘Terminal 4 Experience’ designed in part by Delta’s brand agency Lippincott was created to showcase the feel, detail and finishes of the new terminal to generate interest before the grand-opening of the company’s state-of-the-art, USD 1.4 billion Terminal. Photos available here. The space was open during the first three weeks of May, and had all the amenities of the actual JFK terminal and even offered $4 lunch boxes served on a conveyor belt simulating a baggage carousel. “We wanted to give New Yorkers something
they can touch,” said Gail Grimmett, Delta’s senior vice president New York. The entire second floor of the SoHo pop-up dubbed ‘T4X’ was turned into a copy of Delta’s Thom Filicia-designed Sky Deck and its Sky Club, both available via annual membership or to premium ticket holders. On the 23rd May, British Singer Ed Sheeran hosted a concer t at the T4X to celebrate the launch of the actual terminal opening the following day. Delta repor tedly paid close to six-figures for the six-week rental of the building, which formerly housed a Tommy Hilfiger boutique and Johnny Walker pop-up.
Royal Brunei Airlines is still a relatively untapped ‘Kangaroo Route’ carrier, and with it’s recent rebranding has pushed itself to become an international player. While other airlines do encourage passengers to make a stop over in Asia or the Middle East on route to Australia, the Kangaroo route with Royal Brunei is unique in offering travellers a ‘double stop’ opportunity. Passengers could consider extending their layover with either or both a stop in Dubai for luxury shopping and dining and a second break in Brunei to experience the wilder side including rainforest treks, trips to the renowned water village and diving excursions. To help reinforce this key message, Royal Brunei Airlines has activated an experiential marketing campaign and
media par tnership with Global Radio to help raise awareness of its recently improved service to Melbourne from London. The activity saw RB staff and Capital FM street stars take over London’s Earls Court tube station (which serves an area with a large Australian population) with the distribution of ‘route to relaxation’ sleeping masks designed to encourage consumers to think about the different ways they unwind in a soft marketing campaign supported by billboard advertising. UK agency Good Relations said the promotion was designed to amplify Royal Brunei’s new brand promise directly to consumers, and offered tickets in a competition to Dubai, Brunei, Kota Kinabalu and Melbourne.
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