benchmark report
airline marketing
experiential
heineken on draft
boeing’s centennial
KLM Dutch flagship carrier KLM has teamed-up with famous Dutch beer-maker Heineken to steal headlines with the unveiling of the world’s first ever in-flight draught beer – poured from a specialized beverage trolley and served to business passengers. While it is not unusual for an airline to work with major beer producers (or indeed smaller craft breweries ) on joint marketing campaigns, this par tnership clearly breaks the mould when we look at the significant level of research and development that went into it. Historically, any effor ts to serve draught beer at altitude have been unsuccessful. This is because air pressure in the cabin is far lower than what we have on the ground. This pressure differential always resulted in pints of foam when pouring was attempted with a standard Co2-operated keg tap. The solution for KLM and Heineken was to redesign the pumping mechanism AUG 2016 ISSUE
ALASKA AIRLINES to use air pressure instead of Co2, and to drastically reduce the dimensions of this new mechanism so it could fit inside a standard Atlas trolley. As with the introduction of any new equipment onboard, this specialized beer trolley must pass cer tification with aviation authorities, and this process has already caused some delays in launch, which is currently scheduled for August on select routes. While publications like The Independent , Conde Nast Traveller and Europe Business Review have nice things to say about this project, the initiative has caused controversy amongst die-hard beer who worry that the taste will be lovers inferior 30,000 feet up. Time will tell if they are right once the initiative launches, but in the meantime KLM has again succeeded in rolling out an initiative that has generated media exposure worldwide.
For Boeing, 2016 is an impor tant year. The company celebrated its 100th anniversary on July 15th, and to commemorate this landmark bir thday, Boeing’s longtime par tner Alaska Airlines – whose mainline fleet is comprised entirely of Boeing aircraft and who, like Boeing, also shares a long, rich history with the city of Seattle – marked the occasion with the unveiling of a specially-painted Boeing 737900ER. Dubbed the “Celebration of Boeing,” both sides of the jet’s fuselage were emblazoned with the Boeing logo and the phrase “100 years strong.” Alaska Airlines also paid homage to Boeing’s illustrious past by focusing on future and the next generation of aviation innovators to come. It did this by inviting invited a group fourth and fifth grade students to fly on the “100 Years Strong”
jet’s first passenger flight. The students were selected from children enrolled in the Museum of Flight’s summer camp, which encourages kids to pursue college degrees and eventual careers in S.T.E.M. related fields. Alaska Airlines documented the children’s experience with a very sweet clip on the its YouTube channel , while Alaska CEO wrote a blog piece about the airline’s relationship with Boeing. Aside from generating goodwill and extensive coverage from local media outlets like The Seattle Times and the Puget the special Sound Business Journal livery also made headlines everywhere from Kansas City to China .
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
