Go Beyond by Scoot

Don’t stop in Singapore. This is the surprising message for Australian travellers made by Singapore-based LCC Scoot, which is running a promotion aimed at Aussies called ‘Go Beyond.’

As the name implies, the campaign is encouraging Australians to go further than they might have originally intended to and to take advantage of low-cost Scoot flights which currently extend to Athens, Greece.

The airline says it’s making far-flung destinations such as India, Greece, the Philippines and Germany, more accessible and affordable for Australian families. As a result, Scoot has enlisted the help of 10-year-old Keira Lucas, one of the stars of travel blog Our3kidsvtheworld, to talk up the benefits of taking kids on a big trip.

From this Summer, Australian travellers will in fact be able to fly even further than Athens, as the airline launches its new route to Berlin. A YouTube video features two Germans, Marc and Stefan, talking Australians through different German phrases that might be useful on their visit to the German capital.

A lot of LCCs have to answer two questions to get passengers on board. The first is “do they fly where I want to go, or where I might want to go?” Scoot’s ‘Go Beyond’ campaign seeks to address that question.

The second point is ‘what is it like to fly them, and what corners are cut in exchange for the cheap fares?’ That question has been addressed by getting journalists to try Scoot out for themselves, for example a News.com journalist was a guest of Scoot flying from Sydney to Singapore to Athens.

His verdict? This was potentially a “game changer” when it comes to getting to Europe from Australia, with the standard of the aircraft and seats on par or even above what you would find on more established and full service carriers.

The journalist also mentioned the fact that the aircraft were relatively new, something Scoot is promoting via a Virtual Reality tour of its new Dreamliner aircraft.

To further promote these new planes, “Pop up VR zones” are being rolled out in China, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia.

The experience combines real footage and animation. Once ‘on board’, passengers can tour different parts of the aircraft and interact with dancing holiday-makers, mischievous children, astronauts, robots and a levitating yogi as some of the fun, animated characters making up the cabin crew and passengers.

Scoot is by no means the first airline to use virtual reality to showcase its new aircraft. Two years ago KLM launched a tour of its 787 aircraft using (like Scoot) pop VR areas, as well as the option for consumers to try the tour for themselves via Google Cardboard.

Key Take-Away

The key to Scoot’s current marketing campaigns is awareness and education. As the press reviews of its long haul flights show, once you have people on board, they are by and large pleasantly surprised about an experience which exceeds their expectations. The challenge is getting them on there in the first place.

That means showing travellers that though Scoot is a Singapore based airline, it will take you much much further than that - from this Summer all the way to Berlin. And showing that the aircraft aren’t 20 year old hand me downs from other airlines, but are state of the art and brand new.