Airline Marketing Monthly October 2018

AIRLINE MARKETING MONTHLY October 2018 - Issue 71

British Airways and Heathrow: Freddie for a day A look at airline boarding music Finnair and Helsinki Airport - East and West Side Story

AIRLINE MARKETING MONTHLY - OCTOBER 2018 Contents: Introduction - 03 British Airways and London Heathrow Airport - Freddie for a day - 04 Air Tahiti Nui Dreamliner - 07 A Look at airline boarding music - 09

Norwegian Airlines

Etihad Airways

Cathay Pacific

Air Canada Finnair

A theme tune or sound-track?

Easyjet and Flybe: Promoting female recruitment - 17

“flyshe” by Flybe Finnair and Helsinki Airport: East and West Side Story - 21 Virgin Atlantic - Depart the everyday - 23

easyJet - Imagine

Airline Campaigns - 26

flydubai safety video

Turkish Airlines, new uniforms

Lufthansa Cargo BMW Vision iNEXT World Flight

Lufthansa - The European Love Affair

Jet2 Hold my Hand Vistara RetroJet JetBlue - Bluerica Norwegian OnAir Cathay Pacific - Traditional Hong Kong InterJet Airlines - Inspiration to Travel Delta - Habitat for Humanity

Airport Round-Up - 37

Denver Airport - #Denfiles

Alice Springs Airport - Runway Dinner

London Gatwick Airport - Humans of Gatwick

Hamburg Airport - My Talent for Bucharest

Kansai International Airport - Welcome KANSAI!

The World’s most Instagramed Airports

SOAR - The Secrets of the world’s best airlines - 43 The Simpliflying Awards - 44 Aviation brands in his issue - 46

AIRLINE MARKETING MONTHLY Published by SimpliFlying, 152 Haig Road, #13-04, 438791, Singapore, www.simpliflying.com CEO: Shashank Nigam, shashank@simpliflying.com Editor: Dirk Singer, dirk@simpliflying.com To subscribe, please register here.

INTRODUCTION Welcome to the October 2018 edition of SimpliFlying, where we’ve featured 25 aviation brands from Air Tahiti Nui to Vistara.

Our cover story this month comes from British Airways and Heathrow Airport, who used the fact that Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury once worked at the airport as a baggage handler to stage a “Freddie for the Day” stunt and video.

We’ve also had an in-depth look at the world of airline boarding music, with a guest contributor - recording artist, live music performer and music creative director Juanito Pascual of “Signature Tones” - providing commentary on a selection of tracks.

Meanwhile other articles look at a 13 minute short film produced by Helsinki Airport and Finnair, innovative female recruitment campaigns by Flybe and easyJet and new ad campaigns by Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays.

Having personally come from a Public Relations background, one thing which has been an eye opener in editing this magazine has been in seeing things from the media side of the PR / media divide.

For example, some online media centres from major

airlines are surprisingly sparse, with many not even having an adequate image bank.

A lot of press queries we send out to airlines (and airports) are also often not returned. This is especially the case for airlines which have a generic media@ nameofairline.com press email.

For this issue for example, we contacted the media teams of three airlines and one airport - we got a response back from one (well done and thank you Denver Airport!).

The simple reality is, the more resources you provide up front for the media and the more responsive you are, the better the coverage you will get.

In a future issue we’ll be looking at this again in more detail.

Finally, don’t forget that in addition to this monthly magazine you can get a daily dose of commentary and analysis from SimpliFlying CEO and Founder Shashank Nigam via his daily SimpliLive Facebook show.

Dirk Singer, editor dirk@simpliflying.com

BRITISH AIRWAYS AND LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT - FREDDIE FOR A DAY Did you know that Queen frontman Freddie Mercury used to work as a baggage handler at London’s Heathrow Airport?

To celebrate this fact, to mark what would have been his 72nd birthday on September 5th, and to look ahead to the release of the film “Bohemian Rhapsody”, BA and Heathrow baggage handlers performed the Queen hit “I want to break free.”

Donning high visibility biker style jackets and Freddie Mercury-like moustaches for the song and dance routine, the baggage handlers practiced for weeks, with their moves being choreographed by “Strictly Come Dancing” and “X Factor” choreographer Lyndon Lloyd.

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They then performed the routine live on September 5th, in British Airways’ Terminal 5 home. The day was also designated “Freddie for a Day” by the airport and airline, with “I want to Break Free” forming the centrepiece of the celebrations.

According to British Airways Baggage Manger Adam Dewey, who starred in the video, “Freddie Mercury is an undisputed rock legend and it has been an absolute blast planning his birthday celebrations at Heathrow Airport, where he once worked.

“The new film Bohemian Rhapsody has proven a great inspiration for all of us, and we can’t wait to be hot-stepping our way to the premiere next month.”

SOAR SOAR is the first book to chart the journey of eight exceptional airline brands through eyes of the very people who made it happen – the employees.

In writing this book, SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam has drawn on his experience of helping 70+ brands in aviation to become remarkable.

For more information on how to order it for yourself and your team, click here.

The SimpliFlying Awards

Other activity included listing Queen songs on the arrivals screens. The screens themselves carried the title “Rock and Roll Arrivals.” The arrival city became the name of a Queen song, with the flight being a BA flight number corresponding to the year of that song’s release.

For example, Flight BA 1977 was listed as coming from “We Will Rock You”, with the information notes showing that it was late “due to en-route turbulence.”

Meanwhile BA 1982 was due to come in from “Under Pressure”, but was listed as being cancelled.

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As part of the Queen / Freddie Mercury promotions, Queen memorabilia is due to go on display in the departures area this month.

Finally, anyone called Freddie, Frederick or the legend’s real name Farrokh, departing from Terminal 5 was invited along with their traveling companions to use British Airways’ First lounge on the day.

As well as promoting the Bohemian Rhapsody film, the campaign is helping to raise awareness for Queen’s charity The Mercury Phoenix Trust.

Key takeaway: We’ve chosen this as our cover feature for being a really innovative and creative campaign that got a ton of media pick-up. For example, the video was covered by publications as diverse as Britain’s The Sun, Italy’s Corriere della Sera, Heute (Austria) and SigmaLive (Greece) as well as hundreds of other titles.

The video has also notched up millions of views, in part due it appearing on multiple Facebook and YouTube pages.

The official Queen Facebook page carried it, resulting in two million views.

20th century Fox, which is behind the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, put it on its YouTube channel, where it was seen

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200k times, while it likewise received another 500k views on the British Airways Facebook page.

There’s a clear link between Heathrow and Mercury’s former job as a baggage handler, while ‘Queen’ itself as known the world over as a classic British music brand, with music sales estimated at between 150-300 million records.

As a result, this activity simultaneously promoted the airport, the film, the airline (British Airways), London as a destination, and finally Queen’s chosen charity. And while many in-airport marketing stunts are sometimes only seen by thousands, the core idea was different enough so that it reached an audience of tens of millions.

AIR TAHITI NUI DREAMLINER

French Polynesian airline Air Tahiti Nui has launched a campaign to mark the fact that its new 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft will be going into service from November.

The centrepiece of the campaign is a micro-site, where when you open it you are presented with full page images and animations promoting both Tahiti as a destination and the airline’s Dreamliner aircraft.

This includes a series of videos that come to life through Google cardboard, which among others things features a surfing 07 |

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scene, a group of Tahitian rowers on the water, and a sail around one of the islands.

Meanwhile the section on the aircraft features information on in-flight connectivity provided by Panasonic, the different cabins, and how the airline chose to fly the Dreamliner based on a desire to lessen its environmental footprint.

The aircraft itself has been given a special French-Polynesia livery. This includes two red lines representing the flag, as well as a collection of French Polynesia style

tattoos on the rear of the aircraft, designed to tell a visual story bout Tahiti and its people.

With all international aircraft being assigned a two letter registration code designating its country of origin, and three or more letters unique to each plane, the airline has used those three letters for meaningful Tahitian words.

This includes MUA, (forward), NUI (big), VAA (canoe) and TOA (warrior) Taken together, the fleet names mean: The warrior (TOA) going forward (MUA) in the great (NUI) canoe (VAA)!

The aircraft livery itself looks striking, and the micro-site is a good way to bring it to life as well as to promote Tahiti as a destination. The production values of the website are clearly very high, and the imagery used is high impact and colourful.

The one comment we would have is that the navigation is at times unfriendly with the explanation text being both small, and disappearing once you move your mouse away from the navigation menu.

See as well our feature on special aircraft livery in our August edition.

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A LOOK AT AIRLINE BOARDING MUSIC What is “audio branding”? It’s a way for a brand to have a distinctive identity using sound, be that a jingle, corporate music or an advertising soundtrack.

The benefits of having a distinct audio brand include being able to sharpen your brand identity, as well as inciting certain emotions within consumers.

This a point made by marketing strategist, best-selling author and speaker David Meerman Scott in an interview with SimpliFlying Shashank Nigam last year.

In the interview David made the point for why aviation brands should be more aware of their “musical logo.”

In fact, David has set up sonic branding studio “Signature Tones” alongside re-

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cording artist, live music performer and music creative director Juanito Pascual, to work with organizations on the use of music and to establish a unique and memorable identity.

For an airline, your boarding music is of course part and parcel of your “audio brand”, which is why we asked Juanito Pascual to review a selection of airline boarding music and to give commentary on each one.

Nor wegian Airlines Norwegian says that the core of its audio branding, the musical track “Northern Colours”, “was composed and produced

by Joel Krozer, with string and orchestral arrangements by Robin Mullarkey.

“The live instrumentation and voices were recorded in Trondheim at Øra Studio, using the Trondheim Solistene String Ensemble and Embla Choir who are both local to the area.”

Comment by Juanito Pascual Norwegian Airlines in-flight music is a fantastic blend of high artistic and production standards matched extremely well with its intended context.

The instrumentation is lush and evocative, beautifully performed by a large cast of performers (strings and singers layered in over more contemporary keyboard sounds) and recorded at a very high standard of audio quality, allowing for the intended emotional potential of the music to shine through.

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The composers initial use of ethereal instrumental sounds and the choice of gentle upwards-moving melodic gestures evokes not only a feeling of flying but conjures a peaceful and perhaps even sublime sense of floating.

It does a wonderful job of evoking the magic that can be associated with flying and helps portray the sense that this experience is both soothing and yet in some way wondrous

Etihad Air ways Etihad’s boarding music was unveiled in 2015, at the time when Nicole Kidman was brought on board as the airline’s brand ambassador and star of its TV ads.

The music was composed by Ramesh Sathiah, creative director and composer at the Sydney-based audio design com-

pany Song Zu, with the soundtrack being conducted by Roger Benedict of the Sydney Scoring Orchestra.

The airline says that it has “a cinematic score, peppered with Arabic musical elements, forms the perfect accompaniment to the imagery.”

Comment by Juanito Pascual Etihad Airways in-flight music is a bit of a study in mismatching content and context.

The composition itself has some interesting elements and complexities. There is however a surprising recurrence of some rather dissonant musical phrases.

One of the main melodic passages is played on a glockenspiel (related to a xylophone) and because some of the notes used, would seem better suited to a movie scene designed to arouse tension 11 |

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and cue the listener to be a bit uneasy.

Adding to this is the use of some rhythms that would seemingly connote suspense.

The piece is several minutes long and does have some very lush and and tension-free segments. However, even in the midst of the more fluid and soaring sections there is harmonic movement that would seem better paired with a situation where ambiguity or uncertainty would be the intended emotional impact.

Cathay Pacific We couldn’t find much background information about the Cathay Pacific boarding music, but one AV Geek YouTube channel claims it is” written by a renowned Hong Kong composer, the music is a reflection on the majesty of flying, and the elegance that Cathay Pacific brings to every aspect of the journey.”

Comment by Juanito Pascual Cathay Pacific blends some contemporary sounds with traditional string sounds associated with their home of Hong Kong.

The choice of keyboard sounds in opening moments conveys a fresh and contemporary feeling while also feeling ethereal and soothing.

The inclusion of the traditional plucked string sounds blends well, at the same time as distinguishing them by bringing out this cultural element and gently tapping into 12 |

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the inherent power of sounds to conjure deep associations and images.

The song rather quickly transitions however into what feels like a 1980’s piano driven television theme song, relaxing, but perhaps a little irrelevant to this environment.

Also notable is the somewhat stiff rhythmic pulse in much of the piece, which gives this music somewhat of a march-like feeling, which also pairs in an unusual way with the piano melody.

Air Canada “Born to Fly” is the boarding music developed specifically for Air Canada’s fleet of 787 Dreamliners.

Comment by Juanito Pascual Air Canada has chosen to portray an upbeat and youthful energy in their music.

Stylistically drawing from the band U2 among other influences, it is music that convey’s a combination of fun, excitement and optimism in a pop-rock-influenced song.

Compositionally, it sets the scene with a simple 3-note piano figure underscored by a gently crescendoing synthesizer, along with some wistful sounds evoking perhaps first rays of sunlight on a new day.

A rhythmic plucking is introduced on

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electric guitar and then a second guitar starts a main melody at which point the whole band kicks in. Interesting to note is the piece continues by adding strings and going on a little melodic journey into a minor key, adding perhaps an association of seriousness to balance the otherwise upbeat and more lighthearted feel.

The piece comes back to a rock band instrumentation of with drums, bass and guitar underpinning a strings section, again giving a sense of youthful energy while retaining a certain elegance and classic feeling through the use of the string orchestra.

Finnair According to the information on a Finland / Japan YouTube page, the boarding music is a track called “Vista Beauty.�

Comment by Juanito Pascual The Finnair music is a lovely piece of music that has what could be characterized as a placid and perhaps very nostalgic quality.

The composition blends lush passages of strings, chorus and piano with an intermittent drum beat and shaker.

The overall effect however is that of a very spacious piece with a lullaby-like gentleness.

This music points to the idea of finding 14 |

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balance in that they succeed beautifully in not overstimulating or creating any sense of tension, but this goes the opposite direction perhaps a bit too far, creating an almost melancholic air at times.

The piece is also notable for the high quality of the audio production, conveying a very lush experience when listened to though good headphones, but also giving the best chance to have its soothing impact when played through an overhead speaker system.

A theme tune or sound-track?

While these airlines have a ‘signature’ barding tune, Delta takes a very different approach. Delta has a rotating series of popular music tracks.

For example, writing about a flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis, StarTribune journalist Kerri Westenburg commented “A twangy rendition of Prince’s iconic “Purple Rain” hit my ears. I was sitting in my seat at the start of a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis, waiting for passengers to settle in.”

Previously you could find Delta’s playlist on Spotify, but that seems to have stopped.

Instead, Delta now publishes the monthly line-up on its website, but without links.

You can see the latest line-up here.

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Comment by Juanito Pascual The idea of a theme song versus a playlist like anything, has pluses and minuses.

Some obvious pluses with a unique theme song include the fact that is your own emblematic piece of music, which can be as much a part of the experience as the company’s visual logo and other branded materials.

The music in many ways completes this set of what are otherwise regarded as standard and essential elements of branding, whereas use of pre-existing song(s) can give the effect simply that the radio is on.

The process of creating a theme song, should involve a conscious effort to capture and celebrate some essential elements of a company’s character, brand promise and/or mission. You don’t get that kind of specificity with pre-existing music. And like with visual branding elements, ideally the music is something that will become immediately recognizable creating an immediate association with the company anytime it is heard.

A playlist on the other hand has the advantages of variety and length without repetition. By having various songs, you come closer to the idea of “something for everyone” which has its advantages as well. Indeed, the idea of a single song

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that some percentage of people are going to quickly get tired of, is something to be mindful of.

A good balance can of course be a signature theme song, and perhaps a short playlist, if the situation calls for music to be playing for a while. Another approach when considering whether to have a the theme song is to have an extended composition, so the length is not an issue.

In the case of boarding a plane people are of course focused on getting in and settled and probably not listening too closely to the music, and therefore the music is a more subliminal element, setting the mood. It seems the primary considerations are to make people feel some combination of comfortable, safe, relaxed, and generally positive.

Delta Airlines uses the approach of a curated playlist and does a good job of setting a relaxing mood through a selection of medium tempo songs, that are more or less contemporary and generally in the inde-rock and singer/songwriter realms.

Music, whether a unique theme song, or playlist can go a long way in helping achieve these things, though the theme song is going to have the advantage of adding to a unique and memorable element specific to your brand.

EASYJET AND FLYBE: PROMOTING FEMALE RECRUITMENT

UK airlines flybe and easyJet have both been active in encouraging more women to join its workforce, in particular in flight crew roles.

UK airline easyJet staged a stunt at the end of August to encourage more women to become pilots.

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with the role of DiCaprio being played by nine-year-old Hannah Revie, the daughter of real easyJet captain Emily Revie.

Hannah Revie was then flanked by an entourage of boys, playing the role of cabin crew.

In a video filmed at London Southend Airport, easyJet reimagined the classic scene from ‘Catch me if you can’, where Leonardo DiCaprio walks through an airport dressed as a pilot, flanked by female cabin crew.

With only 5% of pilots worldwide being women, and with the industry facing a potential shortage as passenger / flight demand fails to keep up with pilot supply, easyJet has for a number of years been actively promoting its female pilot recruitment programmes.

easyJet’s imaginative twist involved recruiting the kids of airline employees,

This includes the Amy Johnson initiative, which we’ve covered in past issues,

Airline Marketing Monthly - October 2018

where the goal is to raise the airline’s female pilot intake to 20%. easyJet released a survey to accompany its ‘Catch me if you can’ stunt.

An internal poll of 500 easyJet pilots found that as children, the boys were more likely than girls to consider a career as a pilot. More than half (55%) of male pilots knew they wanted the job by the age of ten. Women were less keen, as only half (50%) had only thought about the career by the time they were 16 – or even older. easyJet also has a dedicated micro-site about pilot careers, which answers FAQs such as “can you be a pilot if you wear glasses?” (A - yes depending on certain requirements), and links to different flight academies and training programmes.

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“flyshe” by Flybe Another UK airline promoting female recruitment in aviation is Flybe, which in September launched its “flyshe” campaign, also underpinned by a campaign microsite.

The microsite looks good is comprehensive and informative. Rather than an exercise in corporate tokenism, it feels authentic, showing that Flybe really believes in this initiative.

The site starts with a video and an piece of introductory text that states “unfortunately, there are still some professions where women are still not trusted to do as good a job as a man. High trust roles like surgeon, soldier and pilot.

“This is having a huge impact on the aviation industry, as the key roles of pilot, engineer and high level management are

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all seen as jobs for the boys.

“In our recent survey, only 5% of flyers said they’d feel safer with a woman at the controls. These shocking gender biases are endemic in popular culture and ingrained at an early age.”

The video then shows a group of ten school girls who were asked to draw a pilot - all ten drew men.

The website directs visitors to different job sections such as information on becoming a pilot, a flight attendant, in maintenance or the head office.

The whole initiative is fronted by CEO Christine Ourmières-Widener, currently the UK’s only airline chief executive and one of the few in the world.

The website directs visitors to different job sections such as information on becoming a pilot, a flight attendant, in maintenance or the head office.

The whole initiative is fronted by CEO Christine Ourmières-Widener, currently the UK’s only airline chief executive and one of the few in the world.

Saudi airline Flynas starts female co-pilot recruitment Finally in Saudi Arabia, airline Flynas received 1,000 applications after an advert for female co-pilots was posted.

The Middle East Eye reports that this move supports both the Government’s initiatives to have more women participate in the country’s economy, while also getting more native Saudis into the workforce, as opposed to expats.

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FINNAIR AND HELSINKI AIRPORT: EAST AND WEST SIDE STORY Over the past few years, Finnair and Helsinki Airport have teamed up to roll-out campaigns highlighting the airport and airline, as a crossroads between the Far East and Western Europe / North America.

For example, one of our favourite campaigns of 2017, and a Cannes Lion winner was “Life In Hel”, where Chinese actor Ryan Zhu lived for 30 days in a cabin inside Helsinki Airport (See the campaign microsite and our November 2017 edition)

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Another campaign we rate highly is the “Stopover Challenge” featuring Chinese celebrity chef Steven Liu, who developed inflight Premium Class menus on Finnair’s routes outbound from Shanghai.

To promote Liu’s involvement with the airline, Finnair filmed a stopover challenge, where he was met on arrival in Helsinki and prior to his next departure to Paris.

In the challenge, Finnish chef Sasu Laukkonen collects Liu, drives him to the forests outside Helsinki and the two of them prepare a meal from local ingredients in the five hours between flights.

Finnair subsequently worked with Steven Liu in a very imaginative “Hear the Taste” project, where he demonstrated how sound can change how you perceive food.

“East and West Side Story” is the latest campaign around the same theme. One website claims this is “the first film made by an airport” (the accuracy of that statement of course depends on your definition of ‘film’.)

East and West Side story was directed Korean director “Wookie” and Swedish director Johan Storm.

As befitting the East / West theme, both directors give their own perspectives on the same story, which is about an American author and a Korean photographer, who meet in in Helsinki.

East and West Side story is the third and final part of the Match made in HEL campaign, which has been running for several years and is a joint marketing initiative be-

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tween Finnair and airport operator Finavia.

In 2015, Match Made in HEL turned Helsinki Airport into a skate park for professional skateboarders. In 2016, Finnair and Finavia held a stunning fashion show with seven designers from Europe and Asia on the actual runway of Helsinki Airport.

The film is hosted on the Match made in HEL micro-site, and was premiered at Helsinki Airport on September 6th.

At 13 minutes this is of course longer than the average 4.4 minute length of a YouTube video. But it’s of course not really a run of the mill online video, rather it acts as a piece of branded content.

According to an article on the ‘Mission’ on Medium (which includes some excellent examples of branded content outside of aviation), content like this has brand recall 59% higher than display ads while consumers are 14% more likely to seek out information from the same brand.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC - DEPART THE EVERYDAY

British Air ways - Flying Start

Virgin Atlantic is encouraging travellers to “Depart the everyday” in a new marketing campaign and TV ad released in September.

In the ad, Virgin asks people to “depart the cookie-cutter, the humdrum, the blah. Depart the everyday, and join us above the clouds for a flying experience full of joy.”

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A Virgin Atlantic aircraft takes off from the grey UK airport, and rises above the clouds. Once the aircraft is there, the fun starts with the Chaka Khan song “Like Sugar” playing in the background.

A boy dances on the ceiling of the plane, while the air vents dispense rainbow coloured ice cream. A man falls asleep on a

cloud, before ending up in a Virgin Upper Class flat bed.

The clip ends in New York, where a winking Statue of Liberty greets the arriving Virgin Atlantic jet.

The cabin crew members you see on the video are actual Virgin Atlantic employees who auditioned for the role.

“Depart the everyday” was directed by Salomon Lighthelm, who also directed the campaign which made the cover of our December edition - S7s, I am You. Speaking to the Drum, Virgin Atlantic SVP of marketing Claire Cronin explained, “there is a fair amount of surrealism whereby we are playing with the boundaries of reality” At the same time, Virgin Atlantic’s sister company, Virgin Holidays, has released

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an ad with a very similar theme and look and feel (both were created by ad agency AMV BBDO.) Both are complimentary, sharing the same ‘visual language’ and while Virgin Atlantic concentrates on the in-flight experience, Virgin Holidays of course looks at the magic of being in the destination itself.

“The world is your playground” starts off with a man skateboarding on top of a tiny car on California’s Big Sur and includes other Virgin Holiday locations such as Las Vegas, Disneyworld and San Francisco.

To celebrate the launch of the new campaign, Virgin Holidays created the UK’s largest outdoor ball pool on London’s Southbank. With 140,000 balls, the pool was opened by Olympic diving medallist Tom Daley.

easyJet - Imagine If you didn’t know better, you would think the ad agency that produced the Virgin ads was also behind the latest easyJet campaign. That’s because the core idea and much of the use of imagery is very similar.

The film (from ad agency VCCP) shows a plane in flight above the clouds before transporting viewers through the imagination of a passenger on board.

For example, children swim through the clouds as if it were a pool. The

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clouds also form into two giant statues, one taking a picture of the other, and then cover a bunch of outdoor tables in a mediterranean cafe.

While Virgin Atlantic chose Chaka Khan’s “Like Sugar”, the easyJet ad is set against the soundtrack of Cat Power’s ‘Dreams.’

Virgin’s campaign is airing in the UK. easyJet’s however is pan-European, supported by a €12 million media budget comprising of TV, Press, Cinema, Social and Digital and Outdoor.

AIRLINE CAMPAIGNS

flydubai safety video flydubai has released a new safety video, to be shown on-board the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft before each flight.

Like the airline’s earlier safety videos, it is animated and features characters from the Emirati kids TV series, “FREEJ.” The video sees flydubai cabin crew member Maya carrying out the pre-

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flight safety demonstration to passengers including the four Emirati grandmothers from the FREEJ series.

In the run-up to the September safety video release, flydubai released a number of Instagram videos, showing “Maya” meeting fans at flydubai HQ, as well as taking delivery of the final video and bringing it to one of the aircraft.

Turkish Airlines, new uniforms To celebrate its 85th birthday, and to look ahead to the opening of the new Istanbul Airport on 29 October, Turkish Airlines has unveiled new cabin crew uniforms.

Turkish Airlines says that the uniforms incorporate traditional patterns found in artisanal glassware, ceramics and calligraphy with contemporary textures and details.

The collection combines shapes and colours found in Istanbul Bosphorus while a new ‘flow detail’ is meant to

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symbolise Istanbul’s role as an intersection between East and West.

The airline teamed up with Milan based Couturier Ettore Bilotta to create the designs.

Quoted in the Daily Mail, fashion critic Simon Glazin called the new uniforms “chic and smart.” Meanwhile the photography to promote the new uniforms was done by British photographer and artist Miles Aldridge, who took the shots with iconic Istanbul locations as a backdrop.

Lufthansa Cargo BMW Vision iNEXT World Flight In September, Lufthansa Cargo teamed up with cargo manufacturer BMW to turn one of its Boeing 777 into a mobile flying showroom, used to showcase BMW’s latest electric car concept.

The aircraft was fitted out with BMW decals, after which it went on a press trip that took in Beijing, New York and San Francisco.

Lufthansa Cargo displayed its technical know-how on its social media channels and in a press release on how it made the whole endeavour happen. This included a quick turnaround, where guests arrived to view the car eight hours after arrival, and the aircraft left for its next destination four hours after the press viewing ended.

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It was estimated that 300 media representatives worldwide were able to see the car, and hear presentations on-board given by BMW executives on the future of mobility. Coverage we have picked up includes pieces in Digital Trends, The Drive, Die Welt and Fast Company.

According to Lufthansa Cargo CEO and Chairman Peter Gerber, “visionary products deserve visionary presentations. We are delighted to have made this extraordinary world premiere possible in cooperation with BMW.” We’ve in the past used Lufthansa Cargo as an example of smart, creative storytelling and marketing by a b2b aviation brand.

See the feature in our special edition on visual storytelling, that we published in May.

Lufthansa - The European Love Affair

Lufthansa has launched a campaign aimed at young UK travellers inviting them to rediscover their love of Europe. The mechanic has been for Brits to win a date in Budapest, with either a man or woman.

To apply for the date, participants have to upload their photo, give their best “chat up line� and then add some personal details.

The campaign website also includes a ÂŁ15 discount for flights from the UK to continental Europe.

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Jet2 Hold my Hand

UK holiday airline Jet2 has launched five new TV adverts building on the airline’s long-standing “Hold my hand� concept.

The adverts are being supported by radio, digital, out of home, and social media campaigns as well as two online competitions, offering customers the chance to win a getaway to one

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of the five-star hotels in Gran Canaria that feature in the new advert.

Hold my hand is a song performed by Jess Glynne, which Jet2 also performs on its aircraft. In our August edition we reported on UK media articles claiming passengers had been hearing the song so many times on a loop, that they were starting to complain.

Vistara RetroJet India’s Vistara is a relatively recent newcomer to the growing Indian aviation market, commencing operations in 2015 as a joint venture between Tata Sons & Singapore Airlines.

Having an old black and white photo of a DC3 to work with of the original Tata Airlines created in 1932 by J.R.D Tata, the team at Vistara painted an A320 in retro colours.

You wouldn’t expect an airline that has only been flying for three years to unveil a ‘RetroJet’ as a marketing tactic, but as SimpliFlying Shashank Nigam explained in a recent episode of the SimpliLIve show, that is exactly what they did, producing India’s only commercial airliner with a retro exterior.

But not only that, the cabin crew uniforms had a retro look, while the menu was inspired by some of J.R.D Tata’s favourites.

The result is what Shashank called “a very smart marketing ploy”, as they are not acting like a start-up but rather drawing on the heritage of parent group Tata.

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Vistara has released a Facebook video, which has been viewed almost half a million times capturing all the things that made this activity special, from the uniforms to the menu.

Currently the airline is advising Facebook fans on how they can book flights on this special RetroJet.

JetBlue - Bluerica JetBlue is celebrating its connections to the island of Puerto Rico, and encouraging tourism to the island by having unveiled an A320 with a special Puerto Rico themed livery.

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This follows an earlier initiative by JetBlue, where the airline paid homage to the practice of spontaneous applause once a flight lands in Puerto Rico.

The “Bluerica” jet was designed with help from a group of JetBlue crewmembers based in San Juan, Aguadilla and Ponce, Puerto Rico.

JetBlue teamed up with Puerto Rican musicians Ángel “Cucco” Peña and Víctor Manuelle to create a surprise experience for customers traveling on a New York JFKSan Juan flight to celebrate the tradition.

The airline says that “together, they identified the quintessential cultural symbols that will promote Puerto Rico as Bluericua travels throughout the JetBlue system.”

Victor Manuelle led an improvised rhythmic chant, incorporating the famous applause with live music, while inviting JetBlue customers to join the fun during an aircraft-wide celebration.

Airline Marketing Monthly - October 2018

(Image credit - Norwegian)

Norwegian OnAir In previous editions, we’ve talked about how airlines are using podcasts. Two examples are KLM’s “The Journey” (covered in May), as well as Virgin Atlantic’s “The Venture.”

Another airline with a podcast is Norwegian, with “OnAir”, which is basically an audio press-release feature about company information.

The airline says that though it’s primarily designed for investors, it also has relevance for staff or anyone interested in the airline.

The latest episode, released in mid September, talks about what it’s like to work for Norwegian based on the feedback received from 3500 staff in the Nordics.

Think podcasting has reached its sell by date? Think again, according to a Wired article from earlier this year, “podcast listeners really are the holy grail advertisers hoped they’d be”, showing high levels of engagement with the content.

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Cathay Pacific - Traditional Hong Kong Over the Summer and Autumn, Cathay Pacific has been releasing a series of videos on Twitter under the theme of “Traditional Hong Kong.”

Each is a short clip profiling a part of Hong Kong life, where the subject is allowed to do the talking without a corporate voice over.

This is something we discussed in our feature on Korean Air’s “Go Korean” campaign in August.

Allowing the subject of the film to speak uninterrupted makes it both more authentic and watchable.

In the first episode you meet Chan Tsu-Wing, Hong Kong’s longest serving Star Ferry captain. The second episode features Glory Tam, “one of Hong Kong’s most eclectic interior designers.”

Meanwhile, the third instalment of Traditional Hong Kong focuses on Chinese Opera.

The content in Traditional Hong Kong is good, and so what puzzled is is why Cathay 34 |

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Pacific made so little of these films. You won’t find them on the airline’s Instagram and YouTube pages for instance. Why not?

Indeed, it is the kind of material that would lend itself to a full blown Hong Kong destination campaign, complete with a campaign microsite.

InterJet Airlines - Inspiration to Travel Mexican airline InterJet has launched its inaugural ad campaign for the US and Canada, called “Inspiration to Travel.”

Calling the campaign ‘provocative’, the airline says the aim is to differentiate InterJet from other airlines flying to Mexico by talking up service offerings such as free food and drink, prior seat selection, free checked in luggage and even female only WCs.

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According to Julio Gamero, Interjet’s Chief Commercial Officer. “Creatively, we’re doing something very different than you see in the category and instead of showing airplanes, using imagery that connects with the reader’s interpretation of everyday life in a fresh, intelligent way that resonates with the essence of the Interjet flying experience.”

The “multimedia” campaign is supported by an online video ad and a micro-site.

Delta - Habitat for Humanity If you give your empty drinks cans and napkins to a Delta flight attendant, the chances are that recycling waste could lead to someone getting a new home.

The waste material isn’t literally changed into building materials of course, instead Delta has been taking it to recycling centres and then using the proceeds to fund homes for low income families.

At the end of September, Delta employees worked alongside two Atlanta families to put the finishing touches on the 10th and 11th Habitat for Humanity homes funded by 36 |

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the airline’s Inflight Recycling Program.

The program has raised $1 million in proceeds for Habitat since 2007, when flight attendant Susan Powell first started the program.

To reduce waste on Delta flights, paper, plastic and aluminum from food and beverage products are collected and transported to recycling centers in 36 cities worldwide.

Delta says the programme has recycled over 230 tons of aluminum thus far, which is enough to make five A350 aircraft.

AIRPORT ROUND-UP Here’s a selection of marketing activity from airports worldwide. See as well, our cover story featuring London’s Heathrow Airport and British Airways, and our feature on Finnair and Helsinki Airport’s “East and West side Story.”

Denver Airport - #Denfiles also promoting the ongoing work to renovate the airport’s Great Hall.

The ads all carry the hashtag #DENFILES, and relate to conspiracy theories detailed on the airport’s website such as the idea that the airport is the headquarters of the illuminati.

Apparently there is a favourite airport for Internet conspiracy theorists and tin-foil hat wearers: Denver.

The airport has been the subject of theories on the further edges of the web that according to the Guardian include things such as satanic symbols on the airport floor, and an underground lair for the “lizard people” being underneath the baggage claim system.

The airport has turned this to advantage by using construction barriers and walls at the airport to create ad hoardings making fun of Denver Airport’s reputation, while

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Normally construction hoardings are both an inconvenience for passengers (who often have to get around them or find some facilities are closed) and an eyesore.

They are also dead space, that an airport can and should use to tell people a bit more about what’s going on there.

Denver Airport has done so in a really creative way, while making some of the stranger ideas that exist about it online into a marketing tactic. And the core idea is something just about any aviation brand could co-opt.

What wild or strange ideas or stories exist about you as a brand, and how can you use them to get people talking about you?

Alice Springs Airport - Runway Dinner

(Image from Alice Springs Airport Facebook)

To coincide with the Australian (Northern Territories) city of Alice Springs hosting the Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine Dinner, Alice Springs Airport held a “first” for an Australian Airport - a nighttime ‘Runway Dinner.’

According to ASAM president Dr Kate Manderson, quoted in the NT News, the event provided “Runway, aircraft and stars all at once.”

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(Image from London Gatwick Facebook)

London Gatwick Airport - Humans of Gatwick Over the past year, Gatwick Airport has been rolling out a series of posts on social media called ‘Humans of Gatwick.’ According to the airport, ‘Humans of Gatwick’ involves sharing staff “stories, adventures and travels.”

The latest staff member to be profiled on 19 September was “Chris” (we’re not given his full name), who is a Gatwick Surface Transport Manager.

The idea of showing the human faces behind the brand is fundamentally good, with a clever title making reference to the very popular “Humans of New York” series.

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However, we’d question the execution.

The whole interview appears in both Instagram and Facebook posts, and its questionable whether people will read through it as neither platform is meant for blog style posts, and a blog is ideally where this belongs, with just a link from social media.

Also we’d suggest profiles like this work best via video and in the person’s own words (See our August feature on Korean Air’s Go Korean campaign, where we talked about the effectiveness of video mini-features where the subject did the talking, and ones with a voiceover)

Hamburg Airport - My Talent for Bucharest

(Photo via Hamburg Airport Facebook)

From mid September to mid October, Hamburg Airport ran a promotion to support the Blue Air route to Bucharest.

Called “Mein Talent für Bukarest” (my talent for Bucharest), the tactic involved Hamburg Airport’s facebook fans sending in a picture of their particular “talent” in exchange for flights to the Romanian capital.

The eventual winner was Eli and her performing dog Frodo (we assume Frodo won’t be Eli’s plus one on her Bucharest trip!)

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Kansai International Airport - Welcome KANSAI!

In early September Kansai International Airport in Japan was closed for several days due to the impact of Typhoon Jebi.

To get tourism traffic going again with the reopening of the airport, The Kansai Tourism Bureau has launched a “Welcome KANSAI” campaign advertising

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special offers and discounts for visitors to the region, arriving at the airport.

A video released by the local tourism board shows how the airport became operational again after the typhoon’s landfall, with some services starting again within three days.

The World’s most Instagramed Airports Airports are big Instagram locations, with people travelling being in a social-media sharing frame of mind. Then there is of course a large community of AV Geeks who hang out at airport perimeters or even take flights to take photos.

Travel website Globehunters has put together a list of the world’s most Instagramed airports with the top five being Seoul Incheon, London Heathrow, Am-

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sterdam Schiphol, Moscow Sheremetyevo and Tokyo’s Haneda Airports.

Given that we’ve seen quite a few press mentions of the Globehunter survey, the company will almost have certainly been pleased with the ROI of this tactic as it looks simply to have involved free desktop research and the production of an infographic.

Airline Marketing Monthly - October 2018

SOAR - THE SECRETS OF THE WORLD’S BEST AIRLINES Two years ago SimpliFlying CEO and founder Shashank Nigam launched his book, “SOAR”, which looks at the secrets of some of the world’s best airlines.

The material was gathered via extensive staff and executive level interviews within the airlines themselves, while Shashank also drew upon his huge industry knowhow to write the conclusions.

In Halifax, Canada, Shashank signed the 10,000th copy at the ACI Customer Excellence Summit, with the book being auctioned off, with the funds going to a local Halifax food bank.

What’s the next step for SOAR? In this video, Shashank talks about how rather than a second edition, he will be produc-

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ing special editions for airlines.

One example of a special edition is the one produced for WestJet, which has the WestJet colours on the front, an introduction by the WestJet CEO and a dedicated WestJet chapter.

The idea is to give WestJet employees a third party perspective on their brand, as well as helping them to learn from what other airlines do.

Does this sound like something you would like for your airline? Get in touch at contact@simpliflying.com if so.

And if you’ve not already got a copy yourself, you can find out how to buy SOAR at SimpliSoar.com

THE SIMPLIFLYING AWARDS The SimpliFlying Awards have been held annually since 2010 to acknowledge and award airlines for their exceptional work in digital and social media marketing.

This year, airlines were honored in four business categories, including Best Use of Influencers, Best Airline In Launches, Best Airline in Social Care and Best Airline in Driving Revenue, along with two special categories for Best Small Airline and Best Overall Airline.

Our judging panel included industry experts Michelle Lee (CMO for Middle East Africa & Eastern Southern Europe at MetLife), Max Kingsley-Jones (Executive Director Content at FlightGlobal), Marcelo Franco (Global CMO of Easy Taxi), Ri44 |

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cardo Rivera (Director of Marketing and Innovation at Best Buy in Mexico) and Barbara Pezzi (Former Director of Search and Marketing Optimisation at Fairmont Raffles Hotels International).

The award for Best Overall Airline 2018 was given to WestJet as it “continues to raise the bar in every category,� according to the judge Max Kingsley-Jones. WestJet enjoyed further success by winning major awards for the Best Use of Influencers and the Best Airline in Driving Revenue.

WestJet also received the special honour of being inducted in the Hall of Fame for sustained excellence in social media marketing. This was the third time at the SimpliFlying Awards an airline has been

inducted into the Hall of Fame, following American Airlines in 2017 and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in 2015.

WOW air was honoured as the Best Small Airline 2018 for its continuously disruptive and low-cost digital marketing strategy.

“SimpliFlying Awards recognizes airlines on the cutting edge of marketing innovation. It’s heartening to see the likes of WestJet and WOW Air pushing the boundaries of airline marketing,” said Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying.

The award winners Best Use of Influencers: WestJet Highly Commended: Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways Best Airline in Driving Revenue: WestJet Highly Commended: Aeromexico, flyadeal Best Airline in Social Care: Etihad Airways Highly Commended: Avianca, Volaris

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Best Airline in Launches: Cebu Pacific Highly Commended: flyadeal, Lufthansa Best Small Airline: WOW air Best Overall Airline: WestJet Hall of Fame: WestJet

AVIATION BRANDS IN THIS ISSUE Air Tahiti Nui Alice Springs Airport British Airways Cathay Pacific Delta Denver Airport easyJet Etihad Finnair flybe flydubai Flynas Hamburg Airport Helsinki Airport InterJet Kansai International Airport Jet2 JetBlue London Heathrow Airport Lufthansa Lufthansa Cargo Norwegian Turkish Airlines Vistara

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AIRLINE MARKETING MONTHLY October 2018