Various-MTHE ELECTRONICS BAN

MTHE ELECTRONICS BAN - VARIOUS

On March 20th, the US announced a ban on passengers carrying electronic items larger than a phone in their hand luggage from a number of Middle Eastern countries.

The US electronics ban includes Turkey, the UAE and Qatar, hitting major Gulf carriers as well as Turkish Airlines, in major East / West transit points such as Dubai and Istanbul.

This was quickly followed by the U.K, although the UK’s ban does not cover the UAE or Qatar.

In a blog post published the day after the ban was announced, SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam looked at how airlines should respond, advising them in particular to do three things - show empathy, notify passengers proactively, and be resilient by coming up with creative solutions to the problem.

The last point in particular is something the different airlines have embraced, using the ban to run witty tactical marketing campaigns showcasing all the things you can do on-board even if you don’t have a laptop or iPad.

For example, Turkish Airlines boasted about ‘two billion’ minutes of entertainment on air, while Saudia talked about the ‘plug and play’ functionality of its seat back TVs whereby you can stream entertainment loaded on your phone.

Etihads’ short video ‘Make Flying Great Again’ is obviously a play on Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” and looks at the different amenities in each cabin.

However, Etihad is doing more than just talk about its in-flight entertainment, for its premium class passengers. In a March 28th announcement, the airline said that it would start providing iPads with free WiFi connectivity to business and first class passengers.

While Etihad is offering iPads, Qatar Airways announced a laptop loan service, which will be available to business class passengers travelling to the USA. This allows passengers to bring their files with them via a USB drive and still carry on working during the flight.

Meanwhile Emirates cut last year’s Jennifer Anniston ad into an 18-second Twitter video that opened with the text, “Who needs laptops and tablets anyway?”

At time of writing, that tweet has been retweeted 2,500x, as well as generating significant international press coverage, giving the airline extra free publicity.

Royal Jordanian Airlines has appeared in our monthly marketing reports before, for poking fun at Donald Trumps’ efforts to ban travellers from select Muslim majority countries.

The airline’s strategy of ‘trolling Trump’ has given it a sales boost, while seeing it receive a string of regional marketing awards.

In the same spirit as it’s earlier campaigns, Royal Jordanian first of all tweeted out a poem about the ban, followed by a tongue in cheek list of “12 things to do on a 12 hour flight with no laptop or tablet.” The suggestions, which have been retweeted over 5000x, range from “meditate” to “engage in primitive dialogue from the pre-Internet era.”

On 27th March, Royal Jordanian then took that one stage further by announcing an Electronics Ban Poetry Competition with the best suggestion winning two free tickets to the USA.

KEYTAKE-AWAY

The electronics ban meant that the eyes of the international media was on the airlines concerned. The different carriers used this to their advantage, turning a negative into a potential positive.

For example, thanks to the press coverage many more people will today be aware of the fact that Hollywood actress Jennifer Anniston has been the face of Emirates, and that the airline has an extensive IFE system.