benchmark report
airline marketing
JAN 2017 ISSUE
A monthly selection of the most innovative marketing campaigns launched by airlines around the world SimpliFlying Jan 2OI7
Issue 52
benchmark report
airline marketing
welcome. Published by 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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This issue features: l AeroMexico l airBaltic l Alaska Airlines
For any questions about the repor t, please contact Dirk Singer at dirk@simplif lying.com.
and Virgin
America l Etihad l Japan Airlines l JetBlue l KLM l Norwegian l TAP l WestJet
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The first airline worldwide to introduce a Facebook Messenger bot was KLM . Launched in March, KLM’s bot allows you to receive info via Messenger when you book tickets through the airline’s website. Once you do, the bot can send you your itinerary, boarding pass, check-in confirmation and even delay notifications through the app.
aerobot AEROMEXICO Mexican airline AeroMexico is the latest airline to introduce a chatbot as a customer service tool.
Though as a technology, Chatbots are still at an early stage, analysts agree that they could potentially revolutionise customer services for airlines.
In a press release the airline announced that travellers can now use “Aerobot” to search for AeroMexico and par tner flights, and to get flight schedules and pricing. Bookings then have to be done via AeroMexico’s new mobile friendly website.
For example, technology publication Venture Beat claimed that Delta could have dealt with its August computer outage, which left passengers stranded with delayed flights and cancellations, more effectively had it had a chatbot.
‘Aerobot’ integrates with Facebook Messenger, with AeroMexico claiming that 73% of Mexican Facebook users visit brand and company pages.
Venture Beat quotes Dave O’Flanagan from Dublin-based AI development company Boxever, in saying that when a major issue hits, airlines could use bots to deal with the first influx of queries.
AeroMexico says that it is the first airline in the Americas to have such a tool. However other airlines in the Americas have experimented with vir tual assistants, even though they are not integrated into Facebook Messenger as Aerobot is.
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For example, Alaska Airlines has a vir tual personal assistant called “Jenn”, which can help with flight reservations. Meanwhile Panamanian flag carrier Copa has a web-based chatbot called ‘Ana’ , though the blog 30 seconds to Fly points out that it is fairly rudimentary in that it doesn’t direct users to the relevant
web pages where they can find out more information about their query. The introduction of Aerobot is par t of a revamp of AeroMexico’s online proper ties. This includes the launch of a new website and the introduction of new self-service checkin kiosks.
This then in turn reduces the load on call centres and frees up customer services agents to deal with only those queries that can’t be instantly answered, and which need to be escalated upwards.
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Alaska’s blue and transitions to Virgin’s signature red. A menu of sub-pages like More Flights, More Rewards, More To Love, FAQs and Newsroom, make it a fun and comprehensive encyclopaedia of facts, images and news for anybody with questions.
different works ALASKA AND VIRGIN AMERICA More choices, great service, lower fares and a larger route network – all are things most passengers would likely say they want from their favourite airline. And yet while Virgin America and Alaska Airlines both feel that the acquisition of the latter by the former will result in these positive effects, there are a good many sceptics who disagree.
The focal point of the site is an embedded YouTube video (which got over 120,000 views between December 14th and January 2nd) also called Different Works. It features the 1989 #1 hit song “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, and is an energetic montage of viral web videos and classic film reel depicting unlikely things that somehow work; like an underwater wedding, trampoline basketball, chicken waffles and a pig on a skateboard.
Loyal customers and industry analysts are wondering things like “What will happen to spunky Virgin brand and service I love?” or “Are prices going to change” or “Will I be able to keep and use my loyalty points?”. Being proactive on the matter, Alaska Airlines and Virgin America have joined forces with ad agency Mekanism and launched an informative brand campaign called ‘Different Works’. In an AdWeek write-up Different Works campaign, JAN 2017 ISSUE
on the Sangita
Woerner, Vice President of Marketing for Alaska Airlines says: “I think there’s a lot of uncer tainty about how these two brands can live together. We thought why don’t we get out there ... with our own point of view, and our point of view is that yeah, on the outside our brands look different, but on the inside there are so many similarities.”
The campaign uses a variety of mediums to challenge the status quo and explore the idea that ‘odd couples’ or unlikely pairings often result in the greatest innovations. The home of the campaign is a microsite , with key text and background elements done in a colour gradient that star ts in
Alaska Air posted it’s own thoughts on the campaign to its popular blog and USA Today and APEX.aero also covered the campaign online. Airpor t events across the USA (where oddly wonderful bacon and salted caramel doughnuts were given out) and outdoor adver tising (like billboards) have suppor ted the digital aspects of Different Works.
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nutcracker airplane ballet
holiday tradition like The Nutcracker ballet, the clip has a sweetly nostalgic feel that has already garnered it a bit of a cult following online. Already viewed upwards of 100,000 times on YouTube alone, the campaign has also been a huge hit on social media, especially on airBaltic’s Facebook page where the clip has been shared 3.6K times (and counting) and viewed more than 641,000 times since it went live just a few days before Christmas.
AIRBALTIC For many people the holiday season just isn’t complete until they’ve piled their loved ones into the car and driven to their performing venue of choice to see The Nutcracker. Leading on from that theme, Latvian airline airBaltic par tnered with Montreál, Canada-based aircraft manufacturer Bombardier to take that tradition to dizzying new heights by staging a performance of Tchaikovsky’a beloved, Christmas-set ballet starring the airline’s most recent addition to their fleet, a shiny new Bombardier CS300. Yes, you read that correctly, even the airplanes “dance” ballet beautifully in Latvia. Commemorating the late November delivery of the first of the 13 Bombardier CSeries 300’s that airBaltic will introduce to service in the next few months, the carrier produced a sweet and very funny spot recently to celebrate the occasion.
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Taking a mockumentary, Waiting for Guffman-style behind-the-scenes approach to the production of what is undoubtedly the world’s first airplane ballet, the clip showcases the comical effor ts of airBaltic team members and an actor playing a world famous “experimental choreographer” to bring the carrier’s boldly original vision to life on the tarmac.
Funny, charming and often breathtakingly beautiful to behold, the clip doesn’t just showcase Bombardier’s gorgeous new CS300 but also highlights the fun, off-kilter approach that airBaltic takes to making sure their passenger experience is second to none. And by filtering the campaign through the lens of a classic, time-honored
airBaltic’s cheeky, unusual approach to the hear tfelt holiday airline ads of old has also proven to be a huge hit with the press with the campaign receiving rave reviews everywhere from FlightGlobal.com and TravelFree.info to the Asian offshoot of the hugely popular budget travel website Fly4Free.com and BoardingArea.com . And judging by the popularity of the clip online, this Nutcracker-themed marketing campaign could prove to be the best gift under the tree for both airBaltic and Bombardier, not just this holiday season, but for many to come as well.
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flying reimagined ETIHAD Over the past few years Etihad has been engaged in a rebranding exercise that positions it as more than just an airline. Instead, it wants to be seen as a “hospitality brand.” As global brand consultancy Landor, which was involved in the project, explains, “Etihad is not a seller of seats. It doesn’t have passengers; it has guests. To reflect the aspirations and motivations of its discerning travelers, we conceived each cabin brand as a unique experience” . Following the rebrand, the next step has been to bring the new positioning to life through adver tising. After winning the Etihad global adver tising account in 2016, Cheil London launched its debut ad campaign on 26 December in Europe, the UAE, India and Australia.
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A series of five executions reinforce the distinction between ‘passengers’ on other airlines and ‘guests’ on Etihad. For example, one execution features a pair of earplugs above a toy giraffe with the strap-line, “passengers get earplugs, our guests get nannies” before highlighting the fact that ‘British trained Nannies’ are onboard to help enter tain young flyers. Similarly another execution promotes the free Abu Dhabi stopover on offer to first and business class passengers by pointing out “passengers get one holiday, our guests get two.”
The ‘guests’ versus ‘passengers’ differentiation is bold but it also isn’t without risk. The word passenger of course has a transactional feel to it. You pay money and someone delivers you from A to B. Meanwhile the word guest has a completely different connotation - someone actively looks after you. That brand promise could easily fall down if the reality that people experience onboard Etihad aircraft doesn’t live up to the adver tising campaign. However, along with its major Middle Eastern competitors Etihad consistently scores highly in passenger satisfaction surveys, and in October the airline received its five star cer tification from Skytrax .
In line with its main regional competitors, Etihad has a track record of rolling out innovative marketing campaigns. For example, in June the airline worked with Cheil subsidiary The Barbarian Group where Hollywood A-Lister Nicole Kidman starred in a vir tual reality film that showcased different areas of an A380 en route from New York to Abu Dhabi . In addition to gaining worldwide media coverage, the video has been viewed close to 2.5 million times on YouTube .
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JAL gets ‘Happi’ JAPAN AIRLINES In 2012, a painting that the Beatles (John, George, Ringo and Paul) co-created in a Tokyo hotel suite during their first and only trip to Japan together, sold at auction for more than USD $150,000. They played five shows in three days during that 1966 visit, but sadly were unable to make other public appearances in the city due to strict security measures. The one major public showing they did manage pull off, was when the four bandmates stepped off their Japan Airlines (JAL) flight from London to Haneda Airpor t on July 29th still wearing their Happi Coats – beautiful silky robes styled after the traditional Japanese ‘Happi’ garment and given to all JAL First Class flyers at the time. So many photos were snapped of the Beatles in that moment that it was great PR for the airline, and the garment was immor talized as well.
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In December, for a very limited time, JAL brought back the Happi Coat First Class amenity on the JL 044 London Heathrow to Haneda flight. From mid-month to New Year all First Class passengers received the navy blue and white silky robes with waist tie and the word ‘Kotobuki’, meaning ‘best wishes’, emblazoned boldly in red Kanji font across the back. Business Class passengers flying the route on December 24th and 25th were also treated to the coats.
Some of these modern-day replica Happi coats have already found their way to the online marketplace Ebay , though they’re selling for just a fraction of the famous hotel room painting created by the band.
As the flagship carrier of Japan, a country as steeped in history as it is modern and technologically advanced, it’s wonderful to see JAL recalling it’s own past activities with an exclusive promotion of this type, which is also clearly designed to reward top-paying premier customers. The campaign is also a clever way of reminding the world that JAL was indeed par t of the Beatlemania in the swinging sixties.
For more colour on the original Beatles landing in Japan, a Japan Times online feature from March 2013 called “The Day My Mum Looked After the Beatles” explains what the London to Haneda flight was like for a stewardess who served the band.
Numerous aviation, travel and Asia-focus news outlets have covered this recent limited-time giveaway, including Rocket News (blog), Intelligent Aerospace and Business Traveller .
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time travel agency JETBLUE The 1960s was the so-called golden age of air travel. The uniforms, the livery and the service have been immor talised in TV productions such as ABC’s Pan Am . Founded in 1998, US Airline JetBlue wasn’t around in the 1960s, but that didn’t stop it from tapping into 1960s nostalgia to coincide with the launch of the airline’s seasonal JFK Palm Springs route.
A special JetBlue ‘RetroJet’, an A320, was kitted out in a one-off 1960s style livery. That livery featured so-called “racing stripes”, which were popular in 1960s graphic design, along with a retro type-face and the words ‘New York International’ along the side.
JetBlue’s star ting point was to imagine “What would JetBlue have looked like if we had existed some 50 years ago? How would we stand out as an industry innovator? How would we have been different?”
The design concept then extended to limited edition amenity kits and 1960s themed cabin crew uniforms designed by Stan Herman, the “Father of Fashion Week” .
With JetBlue’s design team conducting hours of research at New York City’s Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography , they came up with a concept that managed to capture the spirit of a by-gone era while at the same time being fresh and original.
To launch the new Palm Springs route, JetBlue then opened up a pop-up 1960s style travel agency in New York.
While many marketing campaigns essentially build on something that has been done before, JetBlue’s project was genuinely new.
Created by adver tising agency MullenLowe , the “Time Travel Agency” was kitted out like a shop from 1966, and where New
From the RetroJet livery to the pop-up shop to 1960s Spotify ads that ran in suppor t, the airline created multiple touch points where
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Yorkers could buy flights to Palm Springs for $66. “At the Time Travel Agency, people could step back in time to experience an era (and way of booking flights) that’s synonymous with 1960s Palm Springs,” explains Amy Ferguson, VP, Creative Director at MullenLowe . “Everything inside the Time Travel Agency reflected the era: the employee’s mannerisms and dialect, the office supplies, even the $66 fares.”
consumers could interact with this 1966 themed experience. Impor tantly, this is also a idea that has longevity, it could for example be adapted around JetBlue having moved into the TWA Flight Centre, originally designed by iconic architect Eero Saarinen .
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bonding buffet KLM Anyone who’s ever tried to corral their various far-flung family members and friends around a dining table during the holidays will surely appreciate KLM’s innovative Bonding Buffet spot. Hoping to combat the loneliness and isolation of the often hectic holiday commute at airpor ts far and wide, KLM’s charming, Christmas dinner-themed spot gives new meaning to the term “social experiment.” And the result just might be the innovative holiday airline spot running in a season overflowing with them. Placing a lavish, KLM-branded holiday feast on a table set 4.5 meters above a large ring of barstool-style chairs in Amsterdam Airpor t Schiphol, the cameras rolled as curious passengers began to sit down on the stools. Quickly realizing that the table lowered a bit every time a new passenger took a seat, JAN 2017 ISSUE
the group were soon excitedly recruiting their fellow travelers to join them. And once every seat was filled, the table lowered enough so that the gathered crowd could enjoy a delicious Christmas bonding buffet with their newfound friends at the airpor t before jetting off to destinations unknown. Celebrating the spirit of togetherness that so often eludes harried passengers this time of year, the beautifully-shot clip is the brainchild of KLM and the innovative creative team at the award-winning DDB & Tribal Amsterdam – who also produced a spectacular inflight safety video for the carrier last year using stopmotion animation and Delft Blue tiles. Already proving to be massively popular online, KLM’s bonding buffet spot has been viewed on YouTube more than 1.5 million times in less than two weeks and even had its innovative use of product design celebrated on the Product Design
community page of up-and-coming hipster social media hub Imzy.com . And on top of all that, the spot was also recently rated 4.5 stars out of 5 for best use of “Christmas Spirit” and labeled “Brilliant” by Dailycommercials.com . Also written up on a number of travel and marketing related sites including Marketing Communication News , Adsof brands.com , and the Australian website TheStable.com.au , the hear tfelt spot continues to win over everyone who sees it. But the real proof is in the Christmas pudding itself, so to speak, as evidenced by the reactions of the lonely travelers featured in the original spot. The looks on their faces as they realize what is happening, and that they must work together to reap a wonderful holiday reward is absolutely beautiful and probably the most ringing endorsement yet for KLM’s focus on
providing superior PaxEx for all, even during the holidays.
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And finally, as destinations and prizes were drip-fed out on three hour intervals up to 20 December, social media fans had an incentive to keep coming back to enter.
free shipping day
Norwegian’s US promotion comes as the airline won approval from US authorities to expand its services .
NORWEGIAN When ordering Christmas presents, one thing a lot of online buyers now look for is free shipping. In December, low cost carrier Norwegian took this idea and turned it on its head. meant passengers “Free shipping” could fly out to collect presents for free in different Norwegian destinations, or as the airline put it, this was “the only sale where YOU get shipped for free.” As a result, instead of the shipping happening in a cardboard box, “You’ll be shipped in comfor t on a 787 Dreamliner, built to reduce jet lag with its smar t lighting and fresher in-cabin air” . The free shipping campaign was aimed at US consumers, and was developed as a way to combat two awareness problems that Norwegian has as an airline in the American marketplace. JAN 2017 ISSUE
As a result, the airline claims it will be able to offer transatlantic fares for as low as $69 from New York and Boston to Cork, Shannon and Edinburgh . As all three airpor ts are served by a combination of Ryanair and easyJet, this could potentially put a European vacation within reach of a far wider range of budgets than is currently the case. First of all Norwegian needed to put clear blue water between itself and Norwegian Cruise Lines, which has already been established in the US for a number of years. And secondly it wanted to demonstrate that Norwegian doesn’t only fly to Norway. The mechanic involved US consumers going to a microsite where they could enter a draw to buy up twenty different products from Europe, for example a silk scarf from Rome or a Sweater from Norway.
If chosen, the winner was first of all flown to Norwegian’s “Shipping Hub” (Oslo Airpor t) and then onto the relevant European destination to claim the prize. There are a number of reasons why this promotion stood out. First of all everyone understands the concept of ‘Free Shipping’, this took a seasonal trend and put a clever twist on it. Secondly there was a gaming element involved, you essentially entered yourself into up to 20 sweepstake draws in the hope of winning free flights.
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fly moji TAP PORTUGAL Emoji’s are everywhere. These tiny, conventionalized pictures have moved beyond a simple thumbs up, hear t, or smiley face to express increasingly complex thoughts and ideas, replacing even full sentences for advanced users. So prevalent is this communication trend that he word “Emoji” was selected as by Oxford 2015 Word of the Year Dictionary, and exper ts are still in a hot debate over whether Emojis could one day be classified as a language. While staying out of the academic debate, TAP Por tugal has nonetheless adapted the Emjoi trend to generate buzz with a lighthear ted campaign called TAP FlyMoji . In December, TAP Por tugal (currently undergoing a privatization programme and network restructure) created a free, Emoji keyboard app available for download on iTunes and Google Play. JAN 2017 ISSUE
– possibly due to poor timing in the busy Holiday season.
The FlyMoji app contains more than 100 illustrated Emoji’s that probably won’t replace another language, but that people can cer tainly use to add colour to text conversations – especially if they’re chatting about air travel, the holidays, TAP or Por tugal itself (i.e. cities, food and culture). Aviation Emojis on the app include TAP cabin crew of different genders and ethnicities, crew uniform elements, TAP aircraft exteriors from different perspectives, inflight meals, boarding passes and more. Holiday images include a plane in a Santa
hat and St. Nicholas himself having a snooze in a lie-flat aircraft seat. The airline also created a microsite where people could create Christmas post cards with a customizable TAP crew member, Christmas background and personal message. On December 6th TAP used the Nasdaq Global Newswire to distribute a release about the FlyMoji app and also published a shor t video Tweet and a Facebook post, though likes and re-tweets were low
As of January 2, 2017, there were still no reviews of the app on iTunes, yet Google Play shows it at 4.4 out of a possible five. We downloaded the iPhone app found activation with iMessage was somewhat tricky. This possibly explains why on December 23rd the airline posted an activation tutorial video on its YouTube channel and subsequently tweeted the video several times. It could also explain why uptake and positive feedback/activity appears weaker than probably anticipated. Airway Magazine , a title popular with aviation enthusiasts, picked up the news and published this ar ticle, which revealed that a creative contest would soon be held with winners designing the next crop of TAP FlyMoji’s.
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In addition to showing how WestJet is a core par t of the communities it serves, WestJet staff are integral to each ‘miracle.’ In 2015, airline personnel were central to making the 12,000 random acts of kindness happen, while in 2016 the For t McMurray Christmas event came about thanks to 48 WestJet volunteers giving up their time.
airline marketing
CSR industry blog Just Means calls the initiative “CSR done right” , pointing out that “when you’re a company that does right you’ll inspire others to do right in return”, with the 2016 video having trended on YouTube in the Christmas week.
christmas miracle WESTJET
As well as gathering significant attention on social media, the 2016 Christmas miracle was widely covered in national and international media ranging from CBC to Mashable .
Since 2012 WestJet has been staging an annual “Christmas Miracle.” The first one was relatively modest compared to subsequent years, when a Christmas themed flash-mob appeared in a Calgary Airpor t boarding lounge . From there the idea has grown. In 2013, “Santa” appeared on screens at boarding gates to ask passengers what they wanted for Christmas . Those gifts then appeared on luggage carousels much to the surprise and delight of passengers. The 2014 Christmas Miracle took place in the Dominican Republic , with WestJet bringing Santa Claus and fake snow to the residents of Nuevo Renacer. Meanwhile last year, staff performed 12,000 random acts of kindness (or ‘mini miracles’) in 90 different destinations, which ranged from free cups of coffee to sending a wounded Afghanistan Vet to Hawaii . JAN 2017 ISSUE
The theme of the 2016 Christmas Miracle was the May wildfire in For t McMurray, Alber ta, which resulted in all of the city’s 80,000 inhabitants being evacuated and many losing their homes .
themed music, dancing and crafts. The high point of the event was when hundreds of tiny parachutes were dropped on guests, each one containing a personalised family ornament and a free flight voucher.
WestJet invited residents of the city to a Christmas par ty to allow them to “create new family memories” .
With its Christmas Miracle campaigns, WestJet has created something that has built momentum and success over time. Since 2012, the Christmas Miracle videos have notched up a staggering 54 million views online.
Almost 1,000 turned up at the WestJet event, and were enter tained by Christmas
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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.
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