benchmark report
airline marketing
solo send-off
fanvan
BRITISH AIRWAYS
British Airways pride itself on its British Heritage. So when British novelist William Boyd launched his new James Bond novel ‘Solo ’ publishers HarperCollins teamed with BA to give the book a ‘Best of British’ send off. The first seven copies of ‘Solo’ were numbered 001 to 007 and signed in London’s luxury hotel The Dorchester before being transpor ted in a vintage Jensen spor tscar motorcade to Heathrow Airpor t to be flown off to destinations around the world with par tner BA. The setting of the launch mirrored the opening of the new book , where Bond, a veteran agent at 45, celebrates his bir thday with an evening of gambling, drinking and fine dining at The Dorchester. The seven copies of the book were placed in perspex briefcases
NOVEMBER 2013 ISSUE
CATHAY PACIFIC
and given the ‘Bond’ treatment by being escor ted by British Airways stewardesses to the airpor t, where they were handed over to BA captains and stored securely in flight-decks before making their way to VIPs in Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Zurich, Los Angeles, Delhi, Cape Town and Sydney. British Airways connection to James Bond has been checkered. Originally in the Bond films, British Airways was the airline of choice of fictional character James Bond. However, Virgin Atlantic took the mantle from BA when they appeared in Casino Royale in 2006. This reconnection to the franchise is a tactical move, trying to align itself with the long-lasting heritage between the two brands.
Cathay in 2012 launched a promotion called ‘Fanfares ’, in which a limited number of return economy class tickets are put on sale on a dedicated website every Tuesday morning for flights depar ting from Hong Kong. Eleven shor t- and long-haul destinations from Cathay and whollyowned regional subsidiary Dragonair are included and tickets for imminent travel, as well as more than two months in advance, are available. The general purpose of the ‘fanfares’ is to clear inventory while getting exposure in the Hong Kong market at the same time.
van to stop by striking a special ‘hail’ pose as showcased on the airline’s website (video here ). Cathay is stepping up the promotion of its Fanfares to increase its exposure at a time of increasing competition in Hong Kong for low fares because of the arrival of new LCC’s such as Hong Kong Express, Jetstar Hong Kong and Spring Airlines in the city.
In October 2013, Cathay launched the FanVan on the streets of Hong Kong to celebrate and promote the 2013 campaign of Cathay’s Fanfares. The FanVan will appear every Tuesday for four weeks and fans wishing to win a prize can signal the
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TRADITIONAL
