benchmark report
airline marketing
JUNE 2014 ISSUE
A monthly selection of the most innovative marketing campaigns launched by airlines around the world SimpliFlying | airlinetrends.com June 2OI4 Issue 22
benchmark report
airline marketing
welcome. Published by market research agency airlinetrends.com and aviation marketing strategy consulting firm SimpliFlying, the Airline Marketing Benchmark Repor t contains a wide range of airline marketing case studies each month, providing you with the latest and most innovative social, digital, experiential and traditional airline marketing campaigns recently launched by airlines around the world. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or are eager to help your airline move into the nex t stage of engagement, while also understanding how your airline marketing initiatives compare to campaigns from competitors in general, these repor ts are indispensable for airline professionals working in the f ield of marketing and corporate communications. The monthly repor ts also help agencies that work with airlines stay on top of the latest innovative airline marketing initiatives.
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experiential
For any questions about the repor t, please contact Shubhodeep Pal at shubhodeep@simplif lying.com. As innovative campaigns come in all shapes and sizes, the Airline Marketing Benchmark Repor t is categorized into the following four themes:
Faced with ever more experienced consumers, who routinely ignore the commercials and ads thrown at them, airline brands are finding new ways to break through the adver tising clutter to connect with consumers.
social
Besides engaging their online audience via Facebook and Twitter-based campaigns, the airline industry is also busy experimenting with new social media platforms.
digital
With the huge popularity of smar tphones and tablets, airlines are tapping into these digital platforms to engage consumers, as well as releasing videos online which they hope will go viral.
traditional
Despite the current focus on social, digital and experiential campaigns, airlines continue to serve up creative, traditional media-based, initiatives in order to reach a mass audience.
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benchmark report
airline marketing
cross-media
experiential
france is in the air
rooftop film club
AIR FRANCE
Connecting the high-brow art experience with aviation marketing, Air France has chosen the exhibition route to engage with its audience and potential customers. The initiative, titled ‘Air France, France is in the air ,’ is an expo that unveils the airline’s new cabin ‘La Première ,’ along with other new products and services via a touring exhibition that will ‘pop up’ in Shanghai, New York, and Paris. The first exhibition took place in Shanghai from May 8th-11th, and, according to the sentiment on Twitter, was a huge success. “Already 2,000 visitors in 2 days!” exclaimed a Twitter user. A live feed of Instagram and Twitter posts with the tag #airfranceexpo appears on Air France’s event website, which displays a plethora of users engaging in the exhibition. Each event is free of charge and open to the public, allowing for maximum
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BRITISH AIRWAYS
exposure and a fun-inclusive nature. The high-brow aspect of the initiative is evident by the choice of venue for each of these exhibits. In Shanghai, the event was hosted at Three On the Bund, the citys finest lifestyle and food destination. In New York, the exhibit will take place at Center 548, where haute-couture fashion has staged runways, and art shows have decorated the walls. And the final destination will be appropriately hosted in Paris at the Grand Palais. The two remaining exhibits take place in New York from June 26th-28th, and in Paris from September 20th-21st. A mobile app is also available for download to enrich the experience for exhibit participants and offers functionality such as photo and message sharing and access to exclusive content.
Bringing the in-flight entertainment experience to the ground, British Airways has partnered with Rooftop Film Club, a cinematic experience atop London. The Rooftop Film Club itself has been operational for four years, offering classics and new releases to film goers in London at two rooftop locations. At this year’s screenings, sponsored by British Airlines, cabin crew provide chaperone services and refreshment services, just as they would in the air. Champagne, cocktails, food, and other beverages are available for purchase. The in-flight experience is also replicated via wireless headphones, which keeps the noise down for the rest of the neighbourhood, and blankets to get cosy. As an added attraction to the opening night of the film event, Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner and director Dexter Fletcher,
were in attendance to launch the program. Films are screened from May 1st until September 30th, 2014 with listings at specific locations. British Airways is also giving away tickets to screenings throughout the summer with a contest on their own website by means of a film trivia question. The Rooftop Cinema Club has a large following, with over 31,000 likes on Facebook and over 13,000 followers on Twitter. This sponsorship enables British Airways to tap into the club’s audience, too. On a similar note, in the past years, BA has hosted the ‘Silent Picturehouse ’ in cooperation with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) under the arches of the ‘Vinopolis’ in the heart of London’s Bankside. The same in-flight amenities, such as headphones and blankets, found at the Rooftop Film Club were also applied to the Silent Picturehouse screenings.
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little red wishes
taste of taipei
VIRGIN ATLANTIC/LITTLE RED
A little over a year ago, Virgin Atlantic launched its f irst ever domestic f light service in the UK and called it ‘Little Red .’ To celebrate its f irst bir thday, the airline took a grass-roots approach to marketing by using face-to-face engagement. A post box, accompanied by Virgin Atlantic ‘posties,’ was stationed at specif ic locations at London Heathrow Airpor t (April 8th), and at central locations in Edinburgh (April 10th), Aberdeen (April 11th) and Manchester (April 12th). The posties provided passers-by with postcards to enter the competition and see their #LittleRedWishes come true. To raise awareness of the campaign, Virgin Atlantic utilized Twitter pictures to display exact locations . For Little Red fans who could not make it to the
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UNITED
physical post boxes, a vir tual competition also took place on Facebook , with prizes such as 46 pairs of Little Red return f light tickets and 13 pairs of long haul return f light Economy tickets to a Virgin Atlantic destination. The vir tual contest attracted 720 Facebook comments on a single post from the airline. Additionally, Virgin Atlantic offered sale fares on several f lights throughout the month of April for Little Red’s domestic destinations.
Food trucks are a hot phenomenon these days, evolving from chip stands into quality gourmet food on the go, and many airlines have already capitalized on the food truck trends for marketing purposes. In March 2011, for example, Air France sent their own gourmet food truck to the streets of New York City as a means of promoting their on-board catering services. The AF truck featured dishes by Michelin Star Chef Joël Robuchon and was stationed at one location per day which was announced via Twitter and Facebook. Similarly, nearly a year prior to Air France’s food truck debut, Austrian Air’s coffee truck toured the streets of NYC as well. Austrian Air’s motive was centred around its direct f lights to Vienna, so the coffee itself was
a homage to traditional Viennese coffee and was distributed freely. Also on the food truck and aviation roster was Delta Airlines , who served hot cocoa, and Arlanda Airport , whose food truck promotes the restaurants and cafes that are found in the airpor t itself. The latest airline to join the food truck bandwagon is United Airlines , who in May promoted its launch of a new route from San Francisco to Taipei and celebrated this by par tnering with Taiwanese food truck Mamaliu . The Taiwanese food truck announced via Facebook that San Franciscans could enjoy free lunches cour tesy of United all week.
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social
social
black canvas
the swiss explorer
QANTAS
SWISS
Inspired by Tourism Australia’s ‘The Best Job in the World’ contest, which created a huge buzz worldwide in 2009, Swiss Airlines raised the bar with its own ‘The Swiss Explorer ’ Competition. The winner will receive a salary, paid expenses and paid travel with Swiss Airlines for the duration of 6 months, in exchange for their insight into the airlines products, services, and overall experience. To apply, applicants were asked to send in a video, a selfie, and the usual resume/cover letter documentation. The public then voted for their favourite candidates via the webpage and Facebook . As an additional incentive, those voting are given the chance to win one in 10 pairs of tickets for European flights. The chosen candidate is expected to discover and test all aspects of the airline
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by experiencing them first-hand—from on-flight services to destination tips—and report back, offering constructive criticism to the airline. The Explorer will also be expected to use Twitter as a tool throughout his/her travels, as well as document experiences via photo, film, and blogging.
In 2012, ar tist Gemma O’Brien was without her notebook on a Qantas flight, so she opted to use the motion sickness bag as her medium. As a result, Qantas collaborated with her for their recent social media campaign, #qantasblankcanvas .
On May 13th, Swiss published the contest video to YouTube and has already received over 80,000 views. Candidates have been sharing their own application videos all over social media, most notably on Facebook, where they can encourage their friends to vote for them.
The outcome is an interactive initiative that allowed passengers to pass the time on board, get creative, and enter a contest for a double Qantas Club pass , as well as priority check-in and extra baggage allowance.
The deadline for applications was May 28th, and voting closed on June 1st, 2014. The 3 candidates with the most votes will be invited to Switzerland for a job interview.
Throughout May, passengers could submit their entries via Instagram accompanied by the hashtag(#qantasblankcanvas) and the winners were then announced on the 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th. The ‘ar tists’ were not
limited to the sickness bag medium, other options for a canvas included in-flight napkins and boarding passes . According to Jo Boundy, Qantas’ head of digital and enter tainment, the campaign was about inspiring passengers to get in touch with their creative side while in the air. Gemma’s ar twork was also displayed in Qantas’ Sydney Domestic lounge and a shor t video of her and her work is available on YouTube . She also opted to keep the movement going with her own Tumblr page displaying her #qantasblankcavas, titled ‘The Spew Bag Challenge .’ Coincidentally, sick-bag ar t curator, Steven J Silberber , administers a site featuring air sickness bags that display interesting design and/or adver tisements.
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#hashtag westjet
cityselfie KLM
Selfies have taken the social media realm by storm over the years and are a phenomenon most popular among young adults. Tools such as Vine and Instagram are commonly privy to these types of posts, while TIME Magazine even built a database to rank the most selfie users per capita, calling it ‘The selfiest cities in the world .’ To capitalize on this phenomenon and the selfie audience, KLM conjured up the ‘CitySelfie ’ contest, wherein competitors take a 20-second selfie video that also displays a 360 degree virtual tour of their favourite local spot in their own city for the chance to win two round-the-world tickets. All entries are displayed on the KLM microsite in an interactive map of the globe . Applicants are mostly locals who are eager to share their special place in their town, and
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WESTJET
a jury will judge and decide on a winner after the deadline of June 9th. The concept is meant to reinforce the notion that locals really do know best when it comes to hot spots and trendy destinations in their city. The local connoisseur shares their sense of pride for their hometown, all the while creating a dialogue between the airline and its global audience. The hassle-free task, combined with a highly user-friendly website, allowed for an easy entry into the contest and hundreds of applicants have uploaded their videos so far from locations as diverse as Vancouver, Barcelona, Tokyo and Sao Paulo.
Two years ago, late night television show host Jimmy Kimmel popularized ‘mean tweets ,’ a segment on the show during which celebrities read mean Twitter comments directed at them. Since its inception, the YouTube videos have generated millions upon millions of views. Drawing inspiration from this, WestJet produced its own version of mean tweets wherein its employees read mixed reviews aimed at WestJet’s Twitter account and titled it ‘WestJetters read tweets- Hashtag #WestJet .’
receive por tions of the prof its twice per year (once in November and again in May). The airline produces videos and debuts them at each of the prof it sharing events and then publishes them on YouTube . Humour seems to be the common theme for WestJet, both past and present, as displayed in this April Fool’s video from 2012. ‘WestJetters read tweets’ was published on May 23rd 2014 and has generated only around 13,000 views so far, despite the potentially viral nature of the video.
The video was recorded as par t of WestJet’s prof it sharing event, as WestJet’s model means that each employee, also known as WestJetters,
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epic pool dunk
digital igital
catch-a-plane
TURKISH AIRLINES
Another airline tapping into popular online culture is Turkish Airlines. Following its Kobe and Messi viral hits, the airline is now taking to the European Basketball League to generate some buzz. The airline has been the main sponsor of the Euroleague for the past few years and has worked with Crispin Por ter + Bogusky London to star Euroleague ballers Shawn James, Kyle Hines, Robin Benzing and Sergio Rodriguez hoop it up poolside and make a big splash in new Turkish Airlines spot that builds up to an amazing aqua-dunk. The ad was inspired by the explosion of epic pool dunks on Vine and YouTube last summer, such as this diving-slidingbalcony-tossing classic . In the making-of clip, executive producer
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S7
Rob Steiner sums up the challenge: “It’s a one-shot ad—30 seconds. We’ve got two cranes, 12 players—four pros—all of whom have to be synchronized and choreographed perfectly. We’ve got one day to shoot this, but in reality we’ve got four hours, because the professionals are only here for that time.” After 22 takes, it all came together, with the guys making improbable passes across, around and into a fancy outdoor pool in Madrid. Ultimately, the shot gets made thanks to an epic assist from a guy hovering on some sor t of jet-sneaks. The epic pool dunk video has generated 3 million views on YouTube in just a month, while the behind the scenes video has been viewed 300,000+ times as well.
Russian low-cost carrier S7 has come up with a novel way to promote its loyalty program and inform its target audience about the airline’s and Oneworld alliance’s destinations. With the help of adver tising agency Leo Burnett Moscow, the airline has launched a branded ‘Catch-a-plane ’ app, which allows smar tphone users all over the world who have downloaded the app to catch free miles when an S7, BA, Cathay Pacif ic, Qatar Airways, or any other Oneworld-alliance aircraft passes over. Thanks to a combination of GPS technology and f light timetable, the app keeps track of all S7 and Oneworld alliance plane locations relative to the user. Whenever plane f lies over the mile collector’s head, he or she gets free miles. Flyers will be able to use the miles on S7 and other oneworld alliance airlines.
How it works: After indicating the airliner of S7, or any other airline of the oneworld alliance, the app will send a notif ication with the information on the airliner route. If the par ticipant opens the notif ication about the f light and clicks the button “Catch a plane”, he/she will get from 1 to 3 miles accrued to his/her account depending on the f light range: up to 3000 km – 1 mile, from 3000 to 4000 km – 2 miles, over 4000 km – 3 miles. Video of the campaign here . Under the campaign rules a user can catch only one airliner within 10 minutes. A user can also get 1 mile for publishing the app link in his/her Facebook or Twitter prof ile. The total number of miles available to compete for is 5 million, after which the campaign will expire. Those wanting to par ticipate in the event have to register for S7’s loyalty program.
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a not so ordinary call
bare fare
HOP!
HOP! , Air France’s regional low-cost brand, is promoting its low economy fares by exploring a human sentiment that can only be found through face-to-face connection. The carrier’s campaign video, #EnVraiCestMieux , which translates to: “Together is better.”, highlights the impor tance of intimate and in-person interaction in an age when people can stay in touch easily and remotely and have real-time conversations over the web. The video, which has generated over 1.5 million views on YouTube within just a month’s time, explores the relationship between friends, a mother and her son, sisters, and family, as they converse over webcam. On one end of the camera, however, is a reconstructed set of the friend or family member’s home all within the confines of a truck parked outside of
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SPIRIT AIRLINES
their loved one’s residence. The element of surprise is revealed when their loved one is called down to the door to accept a parcel and discovers their friend or family member right there in front of them. The copy reads, “En Ligne C’est Bon,” or “Connected is good,” followed by, “En Vrai C’est Mieux,” or “Together Is Better.” The adver t concludes with a splash page of air fares as low as 59 Euros, driving home the tangibility of visiting a loved one, whether planned or even spontaneously.
Turning damage control into an advertising campaign is Spirit Airlines’ latest marketing tactic. Having been named the ‘most complained about’ airline in America, the ultra low-cost carrier has spun the story into a positive and provocative light, and launched a ‘Bare Fare’ campaign in which it aims to ‘educate’ the public on its no-frills business model. Or as the airline’s CEO Ben Baldanza puts it: “Let’s own what we are and make it very clear and transparent about the consumer tradeoffs.” The ‘Bare Fare’ video campaign is an illustrated demonstration and guide on how to navigate the Bare Fare - bare boned air fare that is customizable to every passenger’s needs - and its aptly named ‘Frill Control.’ Some copy of note reads, “It’s not to cramp your style, it’s to save you money.” Unbundled pricing is also a point driven home in the video and is meant to prove
that “you only pay for what you want.” Two additional videos that complement the campaign are titled, ‘Jack Goes Bare Fare,’ and ‘Theresa Goes Bare Fare.’ In the spots, Jack simultaneously strips and packs his small-carry on with the clothes off his back, leaving him only in his briefs. Theresa’s video replicates this as she strips down to her underwear. With its provocative nature, the campaign attracts the young traveller, and Spirit hopes their low fares reel them in. Spirit is working with ad agency Barkley to re-brand the airline, complete with a new logo, tagline and the color yellow. The color yellow not only possesses “great stopping power,” it speaks to one’s mood – think “warm, sunshiny and happy,” according to the agency. Since the campaign’s launch, Spirit has earned a large amount of press coverage including nods from USA Today and Adweek.com .
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traditional
la nueva iberia
rain codes
IBERIA
Between May 20th and 26th, Iberia marketed its new in-flight entertainment system by placing reproductions of it at key points of peak traffic in the streets of Madrid and Barcelona. The airline partnered with media buying company Carat and outdoor kiosk specialist Posterscope to turn some of Posterscope’s interactive kiosks into inflight entertainment systems.
CEBU PACIFIC
chosen for their location and high traffic volumes at peak hours and Iberia aimed to generate over 8,000 interactions with the kiosks.
To obtain the attention of media-savvy consumers - who routinely ignore ads out-of-home advertising has become much more creative. In Hong Kong, which receives just 100 hours of sunshine during its summer monsoon season, Philippine LCC Cebu Pacific used the wet weather as an integral part of a clever outdoor campaign aimed at driving bookings to a much sunnier Philippines.
Passersby could interact with the entertainment system as if they were on a plane from Iberia and discover, among other things , the catalogue of movies, TV series, music, games, as well as information about the flight, destination airport or city. Video and images here and here .
The clever campaign used water repellent spray was used to draw ads onto the ground in high traffic areas throughout the city, making them invisible until wet weather hits, when water droplets roll off the sprayed surface, revealing a brief tagline, “It’s Sunny in the Philippines.”
The reproductions were placed in a total of 10 bus shelters: five in Madrid and five in Barcelona. The shelters were strategically
The sunny advert was also accompanied by a QR code - known in this case as a ‘rain code’ - meaning wet commuters could scan
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the ground with their phone and to receive a Cebu Pacific discount code to be used for a flight to the Philippines. Video of the campaign here “Hong Kong summers are notorious for thunderstorms, so we thought, why not use the rain to bring a little sunshine into people’s lives?” said Reed Collins, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong, who created the campaign for Cebu Pacific. “Our ‘rain-codes’ were so unexpected, something people had never seen before. The campaign received a lot of attention, but even better, they sparked action.” In a case study video crafted by Ogilvy, the agency claims the stunt led to a 37 per cent increase in online bookings for Cebu Pacific.
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bikevertising ALASKA AIRLINES
A marketing tactic that has been adopted by several airlines so far is to advertise on bike share programs, something which is also known as bikevertising . As cities across the globe have been taken part in bicycle share programs which are enjoyed by tourists and locals alike, those bicycles provide for some pretty nimble advertising opportunities. Air Baltic , has been one of the first carriers to embrace this marketing approach and even launched its own bike sharing program, called BalticBike in 2010 in Riga and the seaside resort Jurmala to promote an inexpensive and eco-friendly way for visitors to get around town. According to airBaltic spokesperson Janis Vanags, “BalticBike makes a marginal profit, but it is hugely popular among the city residents and tourists, and hugely visible,
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and so irreplaceable in advertising.” KLM meanwhile, purchases adver tising space on Miami’s shared bicycle program in order to adver tise the launch of its new route on the city’s 1,000 shared bicycles . In Seattle, the city’s hometown carrier, Alaska Airlines , has par tnered with Seattle’s first bicycle share program, Pronto! Emerald City Cycle Share , contributing USD2.5 million over five years to the bike share program in order to help its star t-up costs. The bike sharing program will launch in September 2014 Alaska Airlines’ logo will appear on the first 500 Pronto! Cycle Share bicycles, on the company’s web site and on membership materials sent to bike share users. Unfor tunately, there will be no bikes offered up at the airpor t.
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about us. At SimpliFlying, we believe in thinking differently about aviation marketing. We thrive at the intersection of aviation and marketing, and in the past four years have advised over 30 airlines and airports on customer engagement and marketing strategy. Our growing clientele includes Airbus, LATAM Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Toronto Pearson and more. One of the top five most influential on Twitter with over 12,000 followers, with over a million YouTube views, SimpliFlying. com is also recognised by Flightglobal as one of the Top 2 blogs on aviation.
Airlinetrends.com is an independent industry and consumer trends research agency that monitors the global aviation industry for commercial innovations in response to changing consumer behavior. Airlinetrends.com repor ts its f indings in a free monthly email newsletter as well as in paid trend repor ts and corporate trend sessions. Get in touch at info@airlinetrends.com or visit www.airlinetrends.com.
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