benchmark report
airline marketing
SEPT 2015 ISSUE
A monthly selection of the most innovative marketing campaigns launched by airlines around the world SimpliFlying | airlinetrends.com Sept 2OI5 Issue 36
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
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. 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:
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.
TV, PRINT, OOH
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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KLM brings miffy
experiential
#airtramp AIRBERLIN With it’s recent #airtramp marketing ploy, airberlin celebrated wanderlust, spontaneity and the road-warrior spirit. On August 11, the airline announced (via its social media channels) that in three days time, a coach bus would drive along a predetermined route in the city of Berlin and pick up ‘hitchhikers’ bound for one of five airberlin destinations: Copenhagen, Rome, Vienna, Abu Dhabi and New York. People were encouraged to pack a light bag and make a sign showing the destination to which they wanted a lift. The bus made stops along the route, picking up 50 lucky ‘tramps’ and bringing them to the airpor t for immediate depar ture. Staff selected hitchhikers based on their originality and creativity. With more than 1.8 million subscribers, German YouTube star Sarazar made the ideal promotional par tner and live repor ter SEPT 2015 ISSUE
KLM for the event, sharing the rules of play through his YouTube channel on August 12 and then joining in the fun on August 14. Additionally, the airline enlisted German Instagram sensation Michael Schulz (handle: Berlinstagram ) to take par t and document the excitement with photos. Several of the 50 Berliners chosen from the roadside turned out to be bloggers as well. Some of them created their own videos of the experience and shared these through their personal YouTube channels and other social media. USA Today Travel repor ted on the unconventional campaign in its Road Warrior Voices section, remarking that the promotion was “designed to appeal to Berlin’s anti-establishment ar tist and youth culture.”
In a campaign highly reminiscent of EVA Air’s world-famous Hello Kitty passenger experience, or Finnair’s Angry Birds flight , KLM is leveraging a cute animated character to appeal to both younger flyers and consumers in Asia. On August 11, iconic Dutch bunny cartoon character ‘Miffy’ took over two special flights – KL809 between between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta and KL810 between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. Fans of KLM and Miffy (who have partnered before ) could follow the flight on Twitter using the #KLMbringsMiffy hastag, on the ‘KLM Brings Miffy’ blog and on KLM’s Malaysian Facebook page (which has more than 295 thousand likes).
literature at each seat. Passengers booked on the Miffy flight also had fun at the airport, where a life-sized Miffy character appeared to hang out and take photos with them. “The ‘KLM Brings Miffy’ campaign is in line with KLM’s philosophy of making flying inspirational and fun. We hope to raise awareness, especially among the younger audience, of our new KLM cabins and our extensive worldwide network through new and exciting social media activities they can engage with,” commented KLM Country Manager Malaysia-Brunei Aude-Lise Combier on the campaign.
For the flight, a KLM Boeing 777-200ER was completley decked out in cute Miffy paraphenalia, including printed headrest covers, pillows, meal trays and welcome
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a world beyond boarding gates
shades up JETBLUE JetBlue has been very active in experiential marketing, connecting with consumers in innovative ways and building a personal connection to its products and services. JetBlue’s NYC storefront ‘A Better Wingman’ promotion, included in our July repor t, featured a ‘vir tual’ crew member informing passers-by of JetBlue’s services. The YouTube video garnered over 33,000 viewers online. PR Week covered JetBlue’s experiential promotions, stating “Campaigns are great, but live experiences make memories that last.” JetBlue has now made more lasting memories with its “Shades Up” contest at Aventura Mall in South Florida. The airline invited shoppers to accurately identify city-views, for a chance to win free tickets. On the cabin wall of a fuselage, video monitors served as aircraft windows which SEPT 2015 ISSUE
JETSTAR ASIA x CHANGI AIRPORT played aerial views of the airline’s nonstop destinations out of For t Lauderdale and prompted par ticipants to guess what city they were flying over. Those who selected the right city were entered in a sweepstakes for two round-trip tickets to any of JetBlue’s destinations. Video of the event here . Over the one-week that JetBlue ran its ‘Shades Up’ contest, it garnered almost 9,000 interactions and 1,678 email submissions. JetBlue repor ts this represents an 18.75 percent response rate—well ahead of the industry average of 10 percent. Phillip Ma, adver tising manager at JetBlue : “For JetBlue, humanizing told Clickz the brand experience was extremely impor tant. JetBlue’s mission is to inspire humanity, and we breathe this into every customer experience. Surprising and delighting customers helps the company to deliver on this promise.”
Singapore-based Jetstar Asia and Changi Airport last month installed a bright orange door in Changi’s Terminal 1 transit area, inviting passengers to cross the threshold to adventure. Some walked right past the installation, but the daring were rewarded for their curiosity with a personalised tour of the airport terminal, and its many recreational activities. Guests spent their transit time escorted as Jetstar’s special guests to enjoy Changi’s kinetic rain display, rooftop cactus garden, swimming pool, butterfly exhibit and the many shops and restaurants of the airport. Jetstar shared a video of the promotion on its YouTube channel (40,000 views)
multicoloured door installations in Paris’ public spaces which opened up to a fully interactive tour of European destinations. This campaign relied on real-time satellite connections to the other side of the ‘travel door’ which allowed participants to interact with their virtual hosts. A custom-made digital screen, built to fit the doorframe, completed the illusion that the door led to the other city. Passers-by who opened the door were entertained by a mime artist in Milan, had their portraits drawn in Brussels, danced with a hip-hop crew in Barcelona, shared a boat ride on Geneva Lake, or joined a group of young Germans on a bicycle tour of Stuttgart.
On a related note, a previous ‘Europe is Just Next Door’ campaign (video) by French rail operator SNCF placed several
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social
befriend the world
#bestrequest
OMAN AIR At its core, aviation is about bringing people together across great distances. Oman Air gets that and is trying to set a new Guinness world record for creating the longest human chain of friendship on the internet in honour of the International Day of Friendship. The airline invites par ticipants to post their own pictures of family members, friends and colleagues holding hands on www.befriendtheworld.com which enters them in a prize draw, with the chance to win two return flights to Muscat from any destination within Oman Air’s network. On the dedicated website , the airline explains its motivation for the social media campaign: “In testing times, people need a sign for peace and understanding. With our digital human chain, we want to set an example for international friendship via social SEPT 2015 ISSUE
VIRGIN ATLANTIC media. That’s why we called this website befriendtheworld.com.” Oman Air has also shot a video to promote the campaign, which it shared on Facebook page . On the ‘Befriend the World’ site, Oman posts updates on par ticipation. With 67 days left on its goal at the time of writing, 696 people had held hands across the world in 176 shared images. Mohammed Al Shikely, General Manager Marketing for Oman Air, says of the campaign: “We would be thrilled to set a new Guinness World Record, and with the response we are getting so far, we are optimistic about our success.”
Anyone who has f lown often enough – be for work or for leisure – has tried at least once to get an upgrade. Passengers can get creative when they crave sky-high creature comfor ts, claiming honeymoons to bir thdays and all special days between. Some stories, however, are more believable than others. While Sir Richard Branson is a friendly man, it is doubtful he has as many friends as have tossed his name around to push for better seating. Virgin Atlantic is capitalising on all that creativity by launching a #BestRequest contest on social media. Following a survey of over 1000 ground staff and cabin crew, the airline revealed the funniest requests for upgrades in a blog post on its off icial website . Among the winners, a famous magician who offered to perform tricks for the crew in return for the experience of f lying Upper Class.
With the new Virgin Atlantic contest, customers f inally get a chance to earn that coveted free upgrade, by sharing their premium pitch on social media— Twitter, Instagram or Facebook—using the hashtag #BestRequest . Response has been positive. Passengers have tied pulling hear t strings, tickling funny bones, and resor ting to the reliable stand-by’s of puppies and babies. The airline is employing a humorous approach to the social media contest and simultaneously proving to customers that its employees do listen to their requests and feedback. “#BestRequest taps into a common traveler behavior – asking for an upgrade,” Kelly Pellico, VP at Millward Brown told Mobile Commerce Daily. “Rather than the tired bir thday and honeymoon requests, the brand is challenging its customers to get creative.
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work hard, hawaii hard
#ishouldhave
VIRGIN AMERICA x AIRBNB
TIGERAIR With travel comes plenty of enjoyment, but sometimes also regrets over missed oppor tunities due to rushed travel itineraries. Knowing that most of us aren’t likely to revisit a city, simply because of a single missed attraction, Tigerair offered to take passengers back for more—with its ‘I Should Have’ contest offering a year’s wor th of free f lights in the form of 12 f light e-vouchers which can be redeemed once each month from the date of issue. To be eligible for the prizes, par ticipants had to upload their ‘I Should Have’ story (in no more than 500 words), including photos and videos, and list their travel regrets. All contest entries were posted to a dedicated site ; each par ticipant was allowed to post one story. TigerAir
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has mapped out the number of entries it received for its destinations. To get par ticipants’ creative juices f lowing, the airline produced a series of animated videos, posted on YouTube, featuring regrets like not having brought a bike along , uncooperative weather ruining fun in the sun , and a bad f it on a custom made suit . The airline also posted a video of its f irst winner receiving her prize and taking her f irst trip to revisit Hong Kong.
To promote its new service between San Francisco to Hawaii, Virgin America has introduced a ‘Work Hard, Hawaii Hard’ campaign, featuring a contest , in par tnership with Airbnb,. The airline follows the Virgin brand playbook by employing Sir Richard Branson as chief promoter of the contest. Virgin America has aimed its ‘Work Hard, Hawaii Hard’ campaign at its hyper-workaholic Silicon Valley customer base. The grand prize includes round-trip tickets for two on the inaugural flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, a three-night stay at a luxurious beachfront Airbnb estate with Sir Richard as the Airbnb host on the first night. On LinkedIn, Sir Richard Branson wrote an Influencer post ‘Work Hard, Play Hard: The Virgin Way’ , explaining the impor tance of taking time off, while
promoting the route launch, and the ‘Work Hard, Hawaii Hard’ campaign. A YouTube video for the contest features Branson living the ‘Work Hard, Hawaii Hard’ lifestyle. The airline has used the #HAWAIISCAPE hashtag to promote the contest, and launched a microsite for the contest. “As the number one destination requested by our Elevate members, we really wanted to take our Hawaii launch to the next level and give our fans and flyers a chance to be rewarded with the ultimate work escape and getaway—and Airbnb instantly came to mind,” said Luanne Calver t, CMO at Virgin America. “Both of our brands are about capturing the transformative aspects of travel—and we thought what better way to experience Hawaii than to do it at an Airbnb proper ty with our Chief of Play Hard, Sir Richard.”
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t-shirts to paradise
digital
ANA planet
VANCOUVER AIRPORT Vancouver Airport (YVR) recent ‘T-shirts to Paradise’ contest aimed to inspire British Columbians to explore Asian travel destinations reachable on direct flights out of YVR. decorated By picking up a free T-shirt with sites and symbols representing these Asian travel destinations at key events in Vancouver, then sharing a photo taken with the shirt shared on social media, participants entered for a chance to win free trips to China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and The Philippines. The campaign focuses on activities and attractions in each of these destinations, such as hiking through the mountains in China, surfing in Taiwan, or snowboarding in Japan. YVR is the only airport in North America served by four mainland China carriers: China Eastern, China Southern, Air China and Sichuan Airlines, and the airport has up to 134 direct flights per week to Asia during SEPT 2015 ISSUE
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS the peak period in August. Thirteen airlines service routes between YVR and 10 major Asian destinations. “YVR has seen tremendous growth from our Asia Pacific market thanks to increased air services, terminal improvements and ambitious initiatives,” said Anne Murray, VP Marketing and Communications, Vancouver Airport Authority. “We are excited to continue this growth by promoting Asia and highlighting some of the amazing countries with direct access to YVR.” Air Canada, All Nippon Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, China Southern Airlines, EVA Air, Philippines Airlines and Sichuan Airlines sponsored business class tickets to designated destinations for this contest. The airport has used a multi-platform approach for the campaign including a microsite and social media hashtag #TSHIRTSTOPARADISE .
As repor ted back in April 2015, All Nippon Airways (ANA) has par tnered with LucasAr ts/Walt Disney Japan to promote the airline internationally though the popular Star Wars franchise. ANA’s first ‘R2-D2’ livery, which will take off this fall, created huge exposure with coverage on major news outlets around the world. The airline is following up that success with the introduction of two new liveries , featuring ‘BB8’—a robot which will make its debut in the new film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The airline has also followed the Lucasfilm playbook by offering Star Wars themed merchandise on its dedicated site, where shoppers can earn ANA Mileage Club miles from their purchases. ANA is fur ther building the momentum of its Star Wars campaign with the launch of a new ANA Planet game microsite,
where visitors are greeted with a message that expresses the spirit of the campaign: “To soar the skies is to free your mind to wander afar, with new encounters awaiting you beyond the blue horizon. It is the desire that drives us to embark on a journey.” By solving Star Wars-themed clues, “chosen ones” can then navigate through different cities and their time zones, and unlock 37 famous quotes from the film series and eventually 37 Star Wars wallpapers (for e.g. “Space needle” unlocks the next clue at Seattle on the interactive globe). In the process, the airline can promote the destinations covered by its routes as well as local time and live weather information.
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asean traveller / because you can
men in black
AIRASIA / JETSTAR
AIR NEW ZEALAND To coincide with the Rugby World Cup in England, Air New Zealand teamed up with New Zealand’s ‘All Blacks’ national rugby team for the airline’s latest onboard safety video ‘Men in Black Safety Defenders’ . Inspired by the ‘Men In Black’ film franchise, the video sees team members Dan Carter and Captain Richie McCaw appearing as ‘Men in Black’ agents. Other international rugby stars make cameos, such as former England Captain Martin Johnson and former Captain of the Argentine team Agustin Pichot.
the rugby players in a remixed performance of Will Smith’s Men in Black single.
The video was produced in collaboration with Sony Pictures which produced the Men In Black movies and features familiar sets, creatures and special effects.
‘Men in Black Safety Defenders’ has earned 1.5 million views in its first two days online and was close to 2.9 million views at the time of this report.
Men In Black actor Rip Torn reprised his role from the movie as the Men In Black chief, and the flight safety instructions are delivered by
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Air New Zealand head of global brand development Jodi Williams said the airline was “crazy about rugby”, making the All Blacks the perfect partner for its latest safety offering. “We’ve worked with the All Blacks on previous safety videos and thought it would be fun this time around to have them step into the shoes of the other highly trained Men in Black,” she said.
Two of Asia’s leading low-cost carriers are promoting themselves as pan-Asian brands with initiatives aimed to position the airlines as lifestyle brands. To promote its new ‘Asean Pass’, AirAsia launched an ‘Asean Traveller’ contest, recruiting five winners to explore the wonders of Asean countries as a Beach Specialist, Instagram Ar tist, Selfie Exper t, Pro-Foodie or Extreme Daredevil. Each AirAsia ‘Asean Traveller’ has to complete a list of fun tasks and follow a trip itinerary tailored to their categories, highlighting the wonders of Asean through their trip. AirAsia CCO Siegtraund Teh commented, “The AirAsia Asean Traveller Contest is a great way to showcase how well-rounded the Asean Pass product actually is, whilst giving fans a chance to explore the region to its fullest based on itineraries set by AirAsia according to each position.”
Meanwhile, Jetstar has stepped up its marketing game with the launch of a new campaign that taps on the cultural phenomenon of the Selfie. As par t of its new brand slogan ‘Because You Can’ , the LCC says it aims to empower travellers to travel their way. The campaign marks the airline’s first regional campaign specially tailored for the Southeast Asian audience. Featuring travellers in different selfie poses, paired with various taglines and updated with a touch of magenta, the new brand campaign is being rolled out in seven markets across Southeast Asia: The campaign also features a contest which saw Jetstar give away 20,000 selfie-sticks in Singapore, encouraging Singaporeans to post their pictures on social media using the #JetstarBecauseYouCan hashtag, with a daily prize of SG$100 Jetstar vouchers for creative captions.
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tv, print, ooh
jennifer aniston vs nicole kidman
KLM music KLM Airlines have given their brands musical backdrops with great success. In last month’s repor t we looked at Brussels Airlines’ par tnership with Tomorrowland (the world’s largest electronic music festival) and Iberia’s new music por tal, Iberia Music, which links tunes to traveller’s itineraries. Aiming to inspire travellers to follow their passion for music on an international stage – and that it is the airline people love to take to new worlds – KLM has launched the ‘KLM Music’ campaign, using the tagline ‘We Take You, Where The Music Takes You.’ On the KLM Music microsite , visitors can learn more about KLM’s close ties to the Dutch electronic music scene, buy tickets to music festivals while booking their flights to get there, and put themselves on a guestlist for events for a chance to win a
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EMIRATES, ETIHAD VIP package, including free travel and VIP tickets. The campaign is par t of an ongoing program by KLM to connect with music fans. The airline has called attention to music and events over the past two years and has worked together with internationally renowned Dutch DJs Armin van Buren and Hardwell . The airline has also previously entered par tnerships with musical events such as the Amsterdam Dance Event, Mystery Land and Lowlands. KLM introduced the campaign internationally with a cinematic commercial , which features cities like New York, London and Shanghai, brought to life by the vibrant Dutch expor t of music.
Reaching out to a broader audience of fans, Gulf-based carriers have expanded from sponsoring major soccer teams to signing up big celebrity names to become the ‘face’ of their airline. Etihad last year contracted Nicole Kidman to represent its latest ‘Reimagined’ brand campaign, following Danii Minogue who promoted the airline’s new A380/B787 interiors when they were first revealed. Jennifer Anniston, 46, has now signed a USD5 million deal to appear in adver ts for Emirates Airlines. Aniston will appear across TV and print ads worldwide. Vishal Anand, CEO of Dubai-based communication Gulf News agency, Blue Apple told that both airlines would have done due diligence and carefully analysed their stars profiles to ensure their values are aligned with the airline brand. “Emirates and Etihad would have..looked at personality matches, influence of the star, their target markets and the message they want to send before approaching these celebrities. If done
properly, celebrity endorsements can do wonders to a brand.” The National contrasts the choice of the two actresses by Etihad and Emirates respectively. By choosing Aniston, it reports , “Emirates has chosen to associate its brand with smiles and fun.” While Kidman brings a cer tain élan to Etihad, Aniston transfers her ‘Friends’ spirit and approachability to Emirates. “As well as being funny and relatable, one of Aniston’s most endearing qualities is that, despite her fame and wealth, she somehow manages to maintain that ‘girl next door’ charm.” This fresh and light persona fits well with aims of the airline’s new ‘Be There’ campaign, featured in our July 2015 repor t, which targets what the airline dubbed the ‘Globalista’ lifestyle. Additional recommended reading: “Are Celebrities Effective As A Branding Method For Airlines?”
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the way brazil connects with the world AVIANCA/STAR ALLIANCE This July, Avianca Brasil joined the Star Alliance. To promote the extended network, Star Alliance and Avianca launched a special marketing campaign, built around the slogan “The Way Brazil Connects With The World.”
The result is a beautiful global city modelled with that Brazilian twist.”
The creative of the campaign consists of a visual metaphor of the Brazilian flag, formed by a 3D model of iconic landmarks around the world, representing the many cities which Star Alliance membership now opens up to Avianca Brazil’s travellers.
The concept was originally intended only for use on press and online ads, but was so well received by Brazilians that Avianca’s ad agency was asked to adapt it for fur ther channels, including poster sites, cinema ads, in-flight enter tainment and TV. The Star Alliance posted a 30-second ad of the 3D model on its YouTube channel which had more than 130,000 views at the time of this repor t.
Says Atomic, the ad agency behind the campaign, “What better way to visualise this than bringing all of the world’s iconic buildings to Brazil. We did this is by creating a three dimensional version of the Brazilian flag with Brazilian architecture in the centre, South American in the outside centre, and the rest of the worlds filling the periphery.
Mark Davies, Star Alliance’s director of loyalty and marketing, said of the campaign: “We’re very excited to celebrate the joining of Avianca in Brazil with such an emotional, visually stunning and multi-channel Brazilian-flavoured alliance campaign that has been jointly created closely with our new member carrier.”
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about us.
Pricing SimpliFlying is a global consultancy that believes in thinking differently about aviation marketing. Having worked with over 50 airlines and airports around the world, it has presences in Singapore, UK, Spain, Canada and India. Today, SimpliFlying advises airlines and airports on customer engagement strategy, achieving aviation business goals by harnessing the latest innovations in the social media space. The firm also conducts MasterClasses to train and develop airline and airport teams to become self-sufficient in executing measurable and rewarding social campaigns.
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