WOW Air-Wow Miracle

WOW AIR - WOW MIRACLE

Over the past few years, a number of airlines have used developed marketing campaigns where the idea is to delight, reward or unexpectedly surprise passengers.

The most famous example is KLM, with its KLM Surprise. As far back as 2011, our CEO Shashank Nigam wrote a post asking whether ‘surprises’ such as this represent a viable marketing strategy (conclusion - yes, but there are a few caveats).

In our last issue we also covered British Airways, which has an on-going #BAMagic scheme, where deserving passengers are rewarded with flights and experiences on a regular basis.

Just how regular? Since our last report came out, BA has released two more #BAMagic videos. In one, a young girl who has been treated for cancer gets the chance to fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming cabin crew.

In another, the airline reunites a married couple where one lives in Australia and the other in the UK (it’s noteworthy that BA chose a same sex couple for this).

The latest airline to roll out a surprise based marketing campaign is Icelandic LCC WOW air, which is currently running a Christmas themed initiative “WOW Miracle.”

The mechanics are fairly straight-forward. Send a travel wish to WOW air on social media using #WOWMiracle, say where you want to go and how many people will be coming with you, and that’s it.

And how are the tickets delivered? By drone off course! With the WOW air drone already having made an appearance in Stockholm and London.

The campaign is supported by a video showing WOW air staff in a ‘Santa’s workshop’ style setting where they wrap up the miracle tickets and send them out.

So far, the campaign seems to be getting good pick up on social media. According to Union Metrics, it received almost 200k impressions on Twitter in the past week (at time of writing). And though there are inevitable social media replies from customers along the lines of “it would be a miracle if you got me to my destination on time”, the overwhelming number of responses are genuine ones, from people wanting to win tickets

KEY TAKE-AWAY

This campaign works on a number of levels. It’s simple and low effort, it doesn’t take much for people to take part. It’s fun and seasonal (Christmas giving).

The use of a drone in delivering tickets means it is creative. And the fact that the drone goes from city to city, allows WOW air to showcase different destinations at the same time.

Looking at the wider issue of whether “Surprise” is a good marketing strategy, the advice SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam gave in 2011 remains the same. Is this scaleable? Can it be repeated again and again?

The answer for British Airways with its #BAMagic initiative is yes. Someone is currently being rewarded with a free flight and experience once every two weeks, which gives #BAMagic credibility, as it is a sustained marketing campaign rather than a ‘one hit wonder.’