benchmark report
airline marketing
DEC 2015 ISSUE
A monthly selection of the most innovative marketing campaigns launched by airlines around the world SimpliFlying | airlinetrends.com Dec 2OI5 Issue 39
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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safety demonstration
experiential
sudden plans IBERIA To increase awareness of the benefits of its Avios loyalty program, Iberia and Avios launched an original adver tising campaign, called ‘Planes de repente’ (‘Sudden Plans’) highlighting last-minute leisure options in Spain which can be booked with points. Iberia surprised passers-by in the streets of Madrid who happened to step on a big yellow Avios tile by spontaneously playingout three improvised leisure activities in the streets with the stage in a little longer than a minute. The events, which Iberia posted a YouTube video , included a beach outing, a hotel stay, and a night at the cinema - all activities which can be booked at any time using Avios points. The “Planes de Repente” campaign also branched out to online promotions on Social Media . The airline also included an Out of Home component to the campaign with ten bus stands around Barcelona and Madrid. Iberia placed touchDEC 2015 ISSUE
EMIRATES screens with Internet access in the bus stands offering commuters a range of quick oppor tunities to use Avios, and a chance to win one of 50 prizes of flight tickets for two on Iberia. Virgin Atlantic ran a similar campaign in New York City a couple of years ago, called ‘No Ordinary Park Bench’ , in which the airline brought in-flight enter tainment to life for the public (video) . In both cases, these impromptu performances captured the attention of the general public, raising awareness of the features highlighted in the campaign and associating the airline brand with spontaneous fun.
Emirates capitalised on the popularity of inflight safety videos in a whole new way, as part of the airline’s ongoing sponsoring of sports teams.
and demonstrating the proper donning and use of the team’s scarf, along with other helpful in-game instructions. It went viral on YouTube with nearly 2 million views so far.
The airline signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Lisbon’s football club Benfica earlier this year, which will have its ‘Fly Emirates’ logo on the team’s jersey until the end of the 2017-18 season. To celebrate the agreement, Emirates put on a special pre-match ‘safety demonstration’ on October 25 before approximately 65,000 sports fans.
This safety demonstration also got international coverage by the press including the Daily Mail , The Straits Times and Gulf News .
Eight Emirates flight attendants walked out onto the centre circle at the Estadio da Luz, before the players ran out onto the pitch for a Primera Liga match between Benfica and city rivals Sporting Lisbon, and delivered a tongue-in-cheek version of their usual preflight safety routine. The YouTube video of the event shows flight attendants pointing out stadium exits,
Emirates is an active sponsor of sporting events and already sponsors Arsenal in the English Premier League as well as AC Milan in Italy’s Serie A, Real Madrid in Spain’s La Liga and Paris Saint-Germain in France’s Ligue 1. This latest promotion also forms part of Emirates’ ‘Hello Lisbon’ campaign #HelloLisbon and forms part of a month of clever promotions launched by the airline.
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aegean marathon
#PopIntoBerlin
AEGEAN Few things in life are as intensely physical and emotional as completing a marathon, yet Aegean Airlines recently found a way to make this experience even more special for 10 lucky people. As official sponsor of the Athens Classical Marathon, Aegean invited runners to tell them (before the race) about a loved one who lives far from Athens, but who they would love to see waiting for them at the finish line. The airline then drew ten lucky winners from all the entries and, the day before the marathon, flew 10 special individuals to Athens. The ten winners were not told that they had won, or that they were soon to meet with the person they most dearly missed. Instead, the airline used chip technology embedded in the runner’s number bibs. When the 10 runners reached the 25th
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AIRBERLIN kilometre – known to be the most difficult of the course – their chips triggered a personalized video of their loved one to play on a very large screen with a message of encouragement, and the wonderful news that they were waiting at the finish line.
Airberlin, Berlin’s tourism authority, and a host of other hip or iconic Berlin brands and companies have banded together to generate buzz about the German capital, share it’s culture, in an effotrt to bolster tourism to the city.
This experiential campaign was designed around the tagline: “No distance is great enough to keep you away from what you love.”
The initiative is called #PopIntoBerlin and consists of a roaming pop-up store that has embarked on a 5-city European tour. The store appeared in Stockholm at the end of September before moving to London in October and travelling on to Vienna in early November. After spending a week in Amsterdam from November 16th to the 22nd, the store will appear somewhere in Paris from December 7th to the 22nd.
Aegean produced a touching video documenting the finish line reunions and also set up a special cheering area along the marathon route, as well as kiosks with branded signs for spectators to write messages of suppor t on.
kiosk within the store gives visitors the opportunity to book a trip to Berlin, right on the spot. Airline pop-up stores in major urban centres (like the one KLM did in New York and the one Lufthansa set up in Miami) have proven an effective way to engage with potential customers and establish brand affinity through fun experiences. By aligning with start-ups and design brands and presenting itself in an informal way, airberlin is effectively targeting a youthful audience that doesn’t typically respond to traditionally-formatted marketing messages.
At each new location, the Berlin-themed store provides a fun place to go and learn about the creative spirit of Berlin or purchase select products and designs. An airberlin
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social
#StoriesThat DeserveA Plane
brighton i360 BRITISH AIRWAYS British Airways has signed a five-year deal to be the exclusive sponsor of an ambitious building project and tourist attraction in the South of England. The British Airways Brighton i360 tower is designed by Marks Barfield Architects, who also conceived the iconic London Wheel back in 1999. When complete, the structure will stand 162 metres tall. It is being touted as the world’s first ver tical cable car and the world’s most slender tower. Visitors who dare to ride the 18-metre-wide glass viewing pod up to the top will be rewarded with 360-degree panoramic views of Brighton and the Sussex coastline. By putting its name on such a prolific attraction, British Airways says it highlights a commitment to its home country and local economy and cements its status as the UK flag carrier. According to the airline, DEC 2015 ISSUE
VUELING this project is the perfect choice for the airline, as the panned experience of riding the pod and looking down over Brighton and Sussex will very closely mirror the feeling that BA pilots have when they fly over the area. “Brighton is an impor tant place for British Airways as many of our staff live around here,” said Eleanor Harris, Chief Executive of British Airways i360. This bold sponsorship move also mirrors one by Emirates, which sponsored and named the London Emirates Air Line cable car near the O2 Arena, just in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Airlines often given planes clever names to reflect their brand character, connect with followers, or simply have a bit of fun. But with its most recent aircraft naming campaign, Vueling has chosen to recognise people around the world who perform good deeds for their communities. Through a new initiative called ‘Stories That Deserve A Plane’ , Vueling invites people to share stories of individuals whose actions contribute to a better society on a dedicated site . The airline selects stories it finds most touching and commemorates the individual’s social initiatives by naming one of thir teen aircraft after them. The person who submitted a winning story on the site also wins two tickets for a Vueling destination, and those who share the stories Vueling selects on social media are entered in a draw for a free flight.
The airline has named five winners so far, including a New York couple who dry-cleans suits free of charge for jobless people going for an interview (video) ; the man who gave a job to the Syrian refugee who was infamously tripped by a Hungarian journalist (video) ; the man behind the Tutu Project to raise awareness of breast cancer (video) ; the founder of Juegaterapia, which collects used game consoles and donates them to hospitals with oncology units; and the bus of the future project, an initiative by a Moroccan 20 year old who raised funds to buy a coach so children living in remote Moroccan villages didn’t have to walk many kilometres to get to school.
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#WeWorkInTheAir
digial
jetman
VIRGIN ATLANTIC Plenty of airlines have been getting crafty when it comes to targeting and communicating with the so called ‘creative class’ passenger demographic of young entrepreneurs and outside-thebox thinkers. Examples include ‘hackatons’ by American Airlines and Finnair , Delta’s ‘Innovation Class’ mentoring program, Turkish Airlines’ ‘Invest on Board’ initiative and British Airways’ ‘UnGrounded’ event. Now Virgin Atlantic has come up with a creative approach to target this group, attempting to bring them forward in the cabin with a campaign promoting Premium Economy travel. By pairing up with an international chain of co-working off ice spaces, WeWork, Virgin Atlantic executed a social media promotion called #WeWorkInTheAir .
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EMIRATES Through this initiative, WeWork members living in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco could win a free f light to London, plus ground transpor t and a hotel voucher. All they had to do was take to social media (Instagram, Twitter or Facebook) and creatively share why their business could benef it from a trip to London, using the hashtag #WeWorkIntheAir. Five people from each of the three eligible American cities won Premium Economy tickets to London, a desk at WeWork’s London location and access to exclusive member events while in town. Virgin Atlantic is also offering a free twomonth WeWork Commons membership to passengers who book a Premium Economy ticket by December 31.
Air show attendees expect to be wowed by aerial displays, and Emirates Airline did not disappoint during the opening of this year’s Dubai airshow. The airline arranged a unique stunt with Jetman Dubai by flying the largest commercial aircraft in the world, the A380, in formation with Jetman Dubai pilots over the Palm Jumeirah district, with the Dubai skyline and the iconic Burj Khalifa in the background. Jetman pilots Yves Rossy and Vince Reffet joined an Emirates A380 aircraft flying at 4,000 feet in two holding patterns. “It was absolutely surreal flying alongside the biggest aircraft there is and we felt like mosquitos beside a gigantic eagle,” says Rossy. “I come from a background of piloting commercial aircraft and it was always a dream to fly without the constraints of being inside a cockpit.”
The stunt was shared on social media with the hashtag #HelloJetman . The video of the stunt quickly went viral garnering 17.3 million views. Viewers reactions, as reflected in comments, ranged from disbelief to amazement. The stunt required careful coordination. During the flight, the Emirates A380 flew at a weight 350 t (the maximum weight of an A380 is 575 t), with wake turbulence the most significant risk to the Jetman duo during the flight. The necessary preparations were made with precision to ensure the stunt was performed with limited complications. Emirates’ behind-the-scenes YouTube video , which details how this special stunt was coordinated, has generated nearly 1.5 million views so far.
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istanbul flow motion
unboxing the 787
TURKISH AIRLINES Turkish Airlines has partnered with Rob Whitworth , a well-known filmmaker with a dynamic and unorthodox style, to create a video telling the story of Istanbul. Using his signature ‘flow-motion’ shoot and edit style, Whitworth has created a fascinating few minutes of eye-candy that takes the viewer on a colourful and fast-paced trip through Istanbul. Shot in 4K resolution and edited from nearly 4 terabytes of raw material (collected over 6 weeks in the Turkish capital), the ‘The City of Istanbul’ video is full of zooms, twists and hints of magic – plus a poetic narration about the history of metropolis. Only at the very end, when the shot pans out across the whole city and a plane zooms past, do we see evidence of Turkish Airlines’ involvement in this video. The first purpose of the film is to interest people in visiting Istanbul and airline branding is secondary. DEC 2015 ISSUE
KLM This effort has produced a lot of buzz in the photography world and was viewed roughly 5.5 million times in just 20 days on the Turkish Airlines YouTube channel. Whitworth also worked with Emirates at the beginning of this year to create a flowmotion tour of Dubai using plenty of stunning hyperlapse shots. That video also takes us into an A380 First Class Suite, the cockpit as the aircraft lands and through hidden parts of the airport. That video has been viewed roughly 1.4 million times on YouTube.
The internet phenomenon of ‘unboxing’ —people f ilming the moment they unbox their gadgets like the latest smar tphone, smar t watches, tablets, game consoles and other highly coveted items—has become a popular trend online. KLM joined-in by f ilming the ‘unboxing’ of its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner and putting the video on YouTube . In this case, the hangar served as the gift box to be opened, and the Boeing 787 aircraft was the ultimate high-tech reveal. In the video , the brand new KLM 787 is ‘unboxed’ by crew in the same way as others ‘unbox’ their gadgets. Protective packaging, stickers, and screen protectors are slowly removed. The two pilots reveal items on the f ly deck and the cabin crew is f irst to unpack and test-out the features of the airline’s new interiors.
The f ilm, shot at KLM’s home base Schiphol Airpor t, progresses step by step as more of the aircraft’s features are revealed to the world. The airline promoted the ‘unboxing’ event on social media , blogs, and in its focus markets. KLM also set up a dedicated site to commemorate the ‘unboxing’ event. KLM is the world’s f irst airline to present a new aircraft in this way and the lighthear ted ‘unboxing’ movie has been viewed more than 1.1 million on YouTube. KLM’s campaign is a good example of how the popularity of internet memes (concepts that spreads from person to person via the internet) makes them an effective marketing tool for airlines to create buzz around their brands.
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most popular travel video of 2015
wings to a dream BRITISH AIRWAYS X BOEING People of Indian descent represent the largest minority group in the United Kingdom and British Airways has been actively connecting with this key demographic through a series of heart-warming videos released over the past several years. Family loyalty, integrity and unity are cornerstones of Indian society, so it is fitting that these themes form the basis of this ongoing video campaign. The first of four videos produced so far was called ‘A Ticket to Visit Mum’ , released in 2013. That video’s popularity (1.4 million views) caused British Airways to produce three more campaign instalments: The Welcome of Home , Go Further to Get Closer , and Wings to a Dream – which was just released this November. In Wings to a Dream , staff at the BA India offices pour over the touching stories DEC 2015 ISSUE
GOOGLE of many young people in India who want to win a trip to London with their grandparent. It’s unclear from the video exactly how many people actually won this contest, but cameras do follow the BA staffers to the homes of several winners to capture their authentic reactions to the unexpected news that they had been selected. This contest and video also serve as a great promotion for BA Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which made its debut in BA’s fleet on the airline’s important Delhi to London route.
Demonstrating the power of viral videos, four airlines have been recognised this year in YouTube’s Travel Top 5 for 2015 . “YouTube has over a billion users – almost a third of all people on the Internet – and every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours of YouTube videos and generate billions of views,” Google repor ts. At the top of the list, Air France holds bragging rights for the most popular travel-related YouTube video of 2015, ‘France is in the Air’ which garnered more than 87.9 million hits. The ar tistic promotional video with its catchy tune was par t of the airline’s rebranding campaign, which aimed to express the lively and dreamy spirit of French culture. Air France signif icantly out performed the
second most popular video of the year, FUNnel Vision , celebrating the opening of the LEGOLAND HOTEL in Florida which had 16.7 million views. Boeing was awarded the number three spot with its video ‘Boeing Prepares the 787-9 Dreamliner for the 2015 Paris Air Show’. It left over 12.7 million people breathless with a daring take-off followed by a series of ex treme air manoeuvres which tested the limitations of the aircraft. Delta Airlines won the number four spot with ‘The Internetest Safety video on the Internet,’ which delighted 9.3 million people by squeezing 22 Internet memes into a six-minute in-f light safety demonstration. Turkish Airlines was recognised in the number 5 spot for its ‘Fly Africa’ video, which was viewed over 8.9 million times.
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travel compass
tv, print, ooh
seat view VIRGIN AMERICA Virgin America has turned bus shelters in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington D.C., and Chicago into digitally-immersive, out of home adver tisements with the help of Google Street View. This campaign plays right into Virgin America’s popular image as the hip and edgy airline in the Nor th American market. The bus stops are completely covered in Virgin imagery and branding. People waiting at the special bus stops can use a huge touchscreen to navigate through one of Virgin America’s aircraft in precisely the same way they’re used to doing on Google Street View (which now features similar interior views for airlines such as Emirates, Air France, British Airways and SAS). The 360-degree vir tual experience lets bustakers explore an A320 cabin from front to back galley, and even enter the rows for a DEC 2015 ISSUE
LUFTHANSA realistic “seat view.” Virgin America has blended the visual impact of large-scale out of home adver tising with the futuristic allure of digital. When trying to impress people in a world saturated with marketing messages, sometimes more is more. Virgin America’s ‘Seat View’ can also be found on the airline’s website and is accessible through Google Maps . One simply need type in “Virgin America” plus the code of an US airpor t they service. A web campaign aims to drive traffic to the new feature. Clickable banners directing people to the feature have appeared online at The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, etc.
The month of November can be dreary. As the Nor th turns towards winter, many people seek an escape. With its latest outdoor campaign, Lufthansa aims to inspire citizens of Berlin and Hamburg to travel with a 360 degree video city tour of destinations in Asia and the USA. The airline has installed special outdoor displays in these city centres called ‘Travel Compass’ made from revolving ad displays which have been embedded with video screens, covering digital posters into interactive video city tours. Airlines have taken to 360º degree immersive videos as an effective medium for destination marketing. Qantas launched a 360 degrees tour of Hamilton Island which could be viewed on Google Chrome, and later on Facebook’s mobile app (for audiences in Japan). Lufthansa also featured of San Francisco, an Oculus Rift tour
along with its onboard service at IBT Berlin. The Lufthansa ‘Travel Compass’ works more like interactive binoculars. Depending on which direction the visitor turns the compass, it displays Lufthansa destinations in Asia and the USA, revealing a vir tual 360°City-Trip. When visitors selected a favourite destination, the display showed 360°videos that let them explore the location of their choice up close. Viewers could explore Hong Kong’s markets, get a tour of Ocean Drive (Miami), or enjoy a captivating view of the East River (NYC). Lufthansa posted a video on YouTube of visitors in Berlin using the displays to explore their city of choice. The airline also promoted the Travel Compass campaign on its Social Hub site, and on Facebook .
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#AirNZFanClub AIR NEW ZEALAND Air New Zealand has set its creativity loose with a guerrilla marketing stunt, while having a bit of fun at the expense of the competition. The oppor tunity presented itself when Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and American Airlines CEO Doug Parker visited Wellington, NZ to announce a new par tnership service between Auckland and Los Angeles. At the time of the announcement, Joyce complimented Air New Zealand on its service excellence, describing it as “an extremely well run airline.” To express their gratitude, Air New Zealand ran a full page ad in the Sydney Morning Herald announcing that Joyce had been awarded a membership in Air New Zealand’s Airpoints loyalty program. Air New Zealand also created a video of the press conference, mash-up DEC 2015 ISSUE
repeating the moments when Joyce and Parker acknowledged Air New Zealand’s service excellence. Air New Zealand tweeted its press conference mash up with the remark: “AwShucks, Doug & Alan, you both made us blush… Happy to welcome you to the #AirNZFanClub #airlineautotune.” The airline also posted the video mashup on Instagram where, among the comments, Qantas replied: “So sweet you’re taking our #GreatMates friendship with @americanair so well! We’re smiling not blushing about our new LA to NZ services, book here AirNZ customers >> qantas.com ;-)” This continues friendly banter between the airlines after a bet for the World Cup Rugby final. Qantas crew members lost a bet when the All Blacks won, and had to wear All Blacks jerseys.
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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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SimpliFlying’s growing list of clients includes Lufthansa, Emirates, Toronto Pearson Airpor t, Halifax International, KLIA, Jet Airways, LAN Airlines, airBaltic, Airbus and Bombardier. Get in touch at engage@simpliflying. com or visit www.simpliflying.com.
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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