benchmark report
airline marketing
roald dahl
#USAerLingus
NORWEGIAN To commemorate what would have been the beloved author’s 100th bir thday, Norwegian revealed new Roald Dahl ‘tail fin hero’ livery which recognises the writer’s lasting contributions to literature. The author now features on a Norwegian Boeing 737-800 plane. “Selecting our first ever British tail fin hero is not only a mark of our huge plans for UK expansion, it is also chance to recognise a truly heroic British figure. Roald Dahl has inspired generations of adults and children and as the world celebrates his centenary, it is a great honour to have this world-famous author adorn our aircraft,” says Thomas Ramdahl, Chief Commercial Officer. Norwegian has made “tail fin heroes” a distinctive element of its livery and its brand, and features a number of famous Scandinavian figures who influenced the ar ts and sciences, architecture, philosophy enter tainment and spor ts. The airline OCT 2016 ISSUE
AER LINGUS often ties-in the personality selected for commemoration with a dedicated route. Recently, the airline recognized Danish classical pianist and humorist Victor Borge who made a life for himself in New York and was extremely popular with American audiences. Borge features on the tail fin of one of Norwegian’s long-haul 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Roald Dahl--who was born in Cardiff and of Norwegian descent--is the first UK icon recognized by the airline, but not the first international author. Norwegian has also appealed to its Spanish market this year by dedicating a tail fin to Miguel de Cervantes who, though very much a symbol of all things Spanish, is also an international literary treasure. This year marks the 400th anniversary of his death with a number of special events in Spain celebrating his work.
Aer Lingus has tapped into two American classics to promote its flights between the UK and the U.S.: bagels and Marilyn Monroe. The airline placed food trucks painted with a New York skyline and the Statue of Liber ty in town centres at Manchester and Birmingham where it served fresh bagel sandwiches to visitors. Suzie Kennedy, an award-winning Marilyn Monroe look-alike, encouraged visitors to take a picture and share it on social media using the hashtag #USAerLingus for a chance to win tickets from the two cities to Aer Lingus destinations in the U.S.. The airline also shared a video of the events on YouTube. Food trucks are popular favorites and inspired by the philosophy that the fastest road to the hear t is through the stomach. Other airlines has likewise taken advantage of the Food Truck trend in the past:
Lufthansa’s LSG Sky Chefs showed off its regionally inspired menus served on Business and First class flights from the U.S. by touring six U.S. cities with a food truck and offering the public menu samples as par t of its #TasteofAmerica campaign (video) . Delta Air Lines offered New Yorkers winter weather favorites (hot chocolate and cookies) from its ‘Nonstop Hotstop’ food truck which promoted its non-stop flights from the city. Korean Air brought food trucks to Houston and shared samples of its signature in-flight meals to celebrate the launch of services from Houston to Seoul (video) . Finally, Air France delivered fine dining to New Yorkers on its ‘Gourmet Food Truck’ and won the praise of food writers at bon appétit .
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