Airline Marketing Monthly
Issue
March / April
76 2019
S7 Airlines Visit Earth Big Data, taking airlines places - with FlightPath3D
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Published by SimpliVisible, the content arm of SimpliFlying, Airline Marketing Monthly is the only trade magazine worldwide devoted to aviation marketing
Content Introduction Cover-story S7 Airlines - Visit Earth
4-5
6-14
Aviation Campaigns
59-70
WestJet Safety Video
60
The Air Asia Restaurant
61
British Airways Retro
62
Liveries Featured campaigns
15-35
63
Dreamliner
JetBlue -
18-19
Plaza Premium Lounges - 65 Your Airport Moment
Etihad Holiday Machine
20-23
Southwest Storytellers
How airlines marked
24-27
Canadian Airports Council 67
international women’s day
Travelport - Travel Unified 64
66
- Wonder takes flight Scoot - MARVIE Chatbot
68
Jewel Changi Airport
69
rebrand
The SimpliFlying Global
70
Big Data, taking airlines 36-58 places - with
Aviation brands in this
Aviation brands at SXSW
28-33
London City and Dubai
34-35
International Airport
FlightPath3D
Institute
issue
71
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Alaska Airlines - Fly smart, 16-17 land happy
#ALLYOUCANJETSWEEPSTAKES
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Etihad Special Olympics
Introduction How many people really follow the news? If a giant Microsoft study conducted proportion of so-called ‘active news customers’ could be as low as 4%. Or 14% if you are more generous. That Microsoft study is noteworthy for two reasons. First of all, researchers tracked what participants actually read, as opposed to what they said they read. Then, the sample size was significant - 1.2 million Internet users. True, the study was carried out in the US, but I believe the results apply to other Western countries as well. The researchers concluded that being into news is actually a hobby much like any other. It’s a bit like being a NASCAR fan. Or indeed an AV Geek. Some people are really into it. Most not so much. So the 86% (or 96%) who are not actively tuned in, really only pick up snippets here and there. The odd headline on the radio while driving to work, the first 30 secs of the TV news before switching over, a glance of a story at Facebook, a few tweets. Only the most top-line stuff
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As a result, few stories really break through to mass consciousness. One that did however was Boeing and the (at time of writing) grounding of the 737-MAX. Within the space of a few days of the tragic Ethiopian Airlines crash, one news media outlet after the other picked it up, while a series of tweets by US President Donald Trump served as the tipping point to just about everyone knowing about it. Going back to our point about the interest in news being a minority pursuit, few people will have understood the ins and outs of the issue. Rather, much of the general public will probably simply have thought that there is something “wrong” with the plane. Indeed, I imagine many don’t even understand the difference between the MAX and the other variations of the 737. Speaking from a communications, and not regulatory, point of view
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
a few years ago is to be believed, the
is ever absorbed, and little detail.
zine is of course aviation marketing, and
alternative to grounding the aircraft.
our cover campaign goes to S7 Airlines,
It also means that Boeing and operating airlines would be wise to make sure that steps to put things right, such as the proposed software update, are
which once again has come up with something really different. “Visit Earth” was a travel show for aliens, which was beamed into space.
heard about as widely and as clearly as
The campaign is a joy to watch, it’s
possible, and that a confidence building
unique as far as airline campaigns go,
campaign takes place.
and the results so far speak for them-
The whole raison d’etre of this maga-
selves.
This month, we are pleased to be working with FlightPath3D, the airline industry’s number one map provider. Our industry guide, looks at a number of different trends shaping passenger needs and the IFE Industry, while also including a white-paper from FlightPath3D President Duncan Jackson.
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As always, we’d love to hear about your campaigns. Tell me about them by sending me an email editor@airlinemarketingmonthly.com Dirk Singer Editor
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
that means there was really no
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
S7 - Visit Earth
S7 - Visit Earth At the end of last year we started seeing short YouTube videos from Russian airline S7, that seemed to take the form of some kind of bizarre reality TV show. We asked one of our Russian speaking colleagues what it was all about, and she told us that the airline had created a
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
travel guide to earth for aliens.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
This travel guide - Visit Earth - has now been translated into English for audiences outside Russia. Forming a six episode online video series that has also been beamed into space, it’s our cover story for the month.
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S7 - A track record of doing things differently
The airline has been on our covers on a number of occasions, for example with the “best planet” campaign where Cosmonaut Andrei Borisenko told us that
shot ad where kids talked about magical places they’d love to go, after which S7 showed that these destinations exist right here on earth.
the most amazing experiences can be
Then of course, there was the collabora-
found right here on Earth, and with “I
tion with OK Go, where the music video
am you”, which encouraged people to
for “Upside down and Inside Out” was
leave behind the fake experiences of the
filmed in zero gravity on an S7 aircraft.
digital world and see the real world for
That particular activity saw the airline
themselves.
win a Gold Lion at the annual Cannes
Other S7 campaigns worth noting are
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an EEG headset), as well as a beautifully
Advertising Awards.
the 2015 Imagination Machine, which
Finally, as a Russian airline, S7 of course
was both an experiential stunt where
created marketing activity around the
participants could “fly” a virtual plane
2018 World Cup. In particular, a rather
to a destination using their minds (via
manic video shows a stunt where a set
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
This isn’t the first time we’ve featured S7.
of goal posts were painted on a luggage
no means a ‘big’ airline, but in market-
carousel at Moscow’s Domodedovo Air-
ing terms it consistently comes out with
port. If your bag “hit” the goal you won a
campaigns and ideas that are stand-out
prize (flights).
unique. Though it incorporates ideas
The point is, with less than 100 aircraft (including no wide body jets), S7 is by
from previous S7 campaigns, the alien travel guide, “Visit Earth” is no different.
Visit Earth - Six episodes for “aliens” Working with Mackenzie Sheppard, W&K
the Best Planet and the Imagination
travelled to Spain, Thailand, Italy, Japan
Engine, ‘Visit Earth’ was created by W&K
and of course Russia (Sochi and St. Pe-
Amsterdam.
tersburg), to shoot the six episodes.
W&K Amsterdam brought on Canadian
As part of this they looked to unearth
director, Mackenzie Sheppard, winner
quirky stories like Italian cheese bowl-
of the Young Director’s Award Prize, at
ers and Icelandic nudists to capture the
the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, for the six
imagination of aliens. This real-life travel
episodes of Visit Earth. Meanwhile the
footage was then merged with “com-
series was narrated in Russian by Dmitry
mercial breaks” explaining basic Earth
Syenduk, known to Russian TV viewers
concepts such as gravity, air and food
as the voice of the cartoon series “Rick &
made of dough.
Monty.” These six episodes cover nature, food,
campaign harks back to much of the
love, parties, sport and art. They are
thinking behind the Best Planet and I
intended to give alien viewers a taste of
am You - namely that there are so many
the best things our planet has to offer,
amazing things to discover, yet we’ve
with the idea being that after watching
switched off and often forget they are
the different episodes, our extraterres-
here waiting to be seen, heard, felt and
trial friends will set off to see Earth for
tasted.
themselves.
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According to S7, the thinking behind the
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
As with previous S7 campaigns such as
Eleonora Romanova, Deputy General Director for Marketing and PR S7 Group said:
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The mission of the S7 Airlines brand is to inspire people to travel. We always set ourselves the task of finding the most vivid and relevant ideas and implement them.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Quoted on Russian news website Sostav,
However, Eleonora Romanova pointed out that consumer habits have been changing from less live TV, to more on demand and online video consumption. As a result, the airline and ad agency decided to create a six part online video show that is a mixture of comedy and documentary: “Sometimes it is useful to change your point of view. The main idea is to remind you that our planet is the best place to travel in the Universe, which we often forget about in our everyday fuss”
In the same spirit, Evgeny Primachenko, W+K Amcommented:
Earth is awesome. It has ice cream, waterfalls, mountains, beaches, cute puppies and seven-string guitars, parties and so much more. But sometimes we can take our planet for granted. Creating Visit Earth was a great opportunity to not only produce content that would achieve S7’s brief to raise brand awareness, but also to make something that reminds all of us how lucky we are to live here and have the privilege to call ourselves earthlings.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
sterdam Creative Director,
Branded content can often fall flat but this really works For example, the first episode, around ‘na-
hit and miss affair. Often commercial and
ture’ starts with aliens being introduced to
sales messages are shoehorned into the
humans (blurred out naked figures scurry-
videos in a not too subtle way. At other
ing around a hill), before the aliens are told
times, brands suffer from “Dad on the
what a rock is - with the rock speaking and
dancefloor” syndrome - they try to be cool,
giving an explanation, after which one of
when clearly they are not.
the naked humans throws the rock in the
In contrast, ‘Visit Earth’ is funny and it keeps you hooked.
sea (cue a narration all about water and then air).
The episode also features the first commercial break - “air by trees”, which is shot like an aftershave ad.
The campaign is underpinned by a micro-site or ‘online hub.’ Though the international, English language campaign has just launched, W&K Amsterdam says that the Russian site has seen over 35 million visits
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over the past few months. . There, visitors could watch all six episodes, as well as create their ‘travel guides’ for aliens, in exchange for a chance to win flights.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Branded content can at times be a bit of a
Finally, to make sure aliens actually see it and
Apparently, the signal is expected to reach
come and visit, the show has been beamed
the exoplanet Gliese 581c in 20 years - set
into space with a RT 7.5 radio telescope and a
your watches to 2039.
specially developed transmitter.
A campaign that’s uniquely S7
and the airline and agency deserve to once again win awards for it. First of all it’s unique, and it took guts to create something like this. Can you imagine many other airlines rolling this out, and it getting past the board in this exact form? In a space where so many campaigns are interchangeable (swap the airline logo around and you don’t notice a difference), this is distinctively S7. The messaging is also consistent with previ-
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ous campaigns such as The
Best Planet. Branding is subtle to the point of being almost non existent - the content is allowed to work. The only hint of a commercial message is a list of destinations at the end of every video with the heading “this is where aliens can enjoy food”, “this is where aliens can enjoy sport”, and so on. The wealth of content and funny little clips means there are so many things
notes explanation, Mackenzie Sheppard says that the “things in dough” clip went viral in its own right in Russia. Then there is an element of audience participation (letting Russian viewers submit their own travel guides), and finally beaming the episodes into space makes for a final nice creative twist. Well done S7 Airlines on once again being featured on our cover.
to see, comment on and
(Campaign images, courtesy
share. Indeed in a director’s
of W&K Amsterdam)
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
This is a fantastic campaign,
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Featured campaigns
Alaska Airlines - Fly smart, land happy
quite a lot across. “Fly smart, land happy” is the title of a new campaign developed by Seattle ad-agency Mekanism. Four different spots each show people in everyday situations where what they get falls far below what they hoped for. In ‘Cycle-ish’, a trainer get distracted by looking at her phone while running a Spin class. ‘The dinner’ has a group of guests being offered tiny nouvelle cuisine style portions by a waiter, ‘Wahoo’ shows a young girl on a fairground style electric horse, which stops after five seconds, while in ‘Hired’ a new employee is asked which perk she would like - a desk chair, weekends off, or the bathroom door code - but she can only choose one. According to Natalie Bowman, the airline’s managing director of marketing and advertising, “the campaign challenges flyers to ask for more out of their flying experience and positions Alaska to deliver unparalleled value to its customers.”
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Alaska Airlines’ new ads might be short, at 15 seconds each, but they manage to get
With ad agency creatives still being overwhelmingly male, Campaign magazine says that agency Mekanism used a mainly female team to direct and produce the spots. This comes as Mekanism is supporting ‘Free the bid’, an initiative advocating on
global advertising industry. Mekanism points out that its support for ‘Free the bid’ ties in well with Alaska Airlines’ support for ‘Sisters of the Sky’, which promotes industry opportunities for women of colour. Alaska Airlines is in fact the only US airline – and the first West Coast Fortune 500 company – to achieve gender parity among independent board directors.
‘The best of Alaska and the best of Virgin America’ The Fly Smart, Land Happy Campaign coincides with Alaska Airlines unveiling its retrofitted Airbus jets, which according to company President Ben Minicucci, fulfils the promise that the company made when it absorbed the Virgin America brand of bringing together “the best of Alaska and the best of Virgin America.” The retrofit features ‘calming colours’, new seats, an upgraded first class and a “multitasker’s seatback”, which features a custom tablet holder at eye level that can adjust to fit most mobile devices.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
behalf of women directors for equal opportunities to bid on commercial jobs in the
#allyoucanjetsweepstakes
- JetBlue
in exchange for a year’s worth of free flights? If yes, then the competition JetBlue ran until March 8th will have been for you. In the “All you can” competition, entrants were asked to delete their existing Instagram posts (or archive them), and add a single JetBlue image instead. The idea was that with a blank slate, you could add new memories from all those JetBlue flights you’d be taking over the coming year. Needless to say, deleting all your photos didn’t mean you automatically won. JetBlue chose three winners among all the people who entered. As a competition mechanic, it is certainly different - to the point of being bizzarre. But judging from the comments on JetBlue’s Instagram post announcing the competition, plenty of people removed their selfies, holiday snaps, and pictures of their favourite food for a chance to win flights. In fact, 14,000+ people used the competition hashtag.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Do you love your Instagram account? Do you love it enough to delete everything in it,
Though that doesn’t mean 14,000 entered, it still means the tactic got an awful lot of pick-up on social media. And on mainstream media as well, where the promotion got JetBlue acres of coverage. Just some examples are Techcrunch, The Verge, Fortune, CNET and London’s Evening Standard. Most of the coverage focused on the rather unique nature of the competition and then asked pretty much the same question, why does JetBlue want you to commit to this act of social media cleansing?
In a statement given to Business Insider, JetBlue said:
JetBlue’s All You Can Jet pass is the ultimate way for people to do more of the things they love as much as they’d like to. “This year, we’re thrilled to bring back the coveted, unlimited travel pass with a twist: a social sweepstakes asking people to create a blank slate for the opportunity to live the jetsetter lifestyle, making memories and pursuing their passions in more than 100 JetBlue destinations for a full year!” Many have pointed out that JetBlue asking people to delete their posts and replace it with a JetBlue branded image, isn’t a million miles away from the now infamous Fyre Festival, where guests were asked to change their profile pictures to an orange square.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
As CNN’s AJ Willingham put it - “The idea seems to pit two complementary forces against each other: The desire for unfettered world travel, and the desire to obsessively document it in all its filtered, color-saturated glory.”
Etihad Holiday Machine In the past we’ve been lukewarm about
The new Etihad Holidays website, which
on-street activations and ‘stunts.’
the Holiday Machine stunt was meant
Some are big and bold enough to get extensive media coverage worldwide (see for example Delta’s Summer wall murals, or the silent disco in the air), but
gorithm’, which claims to offer the best packages and the best prices, guaranteed. The whole activity was promoted via an
created it, more than they do the client.
online video, which follows pretty much
but you wonder about the return on investment, given that these activations
the same basic script and format for ad / PR-agency created stunts of this nature:
are generally quite expensive yet the
The short 90 second film starts with the
reach (the number of people seeing it
character (the Steampunk clad host)
on the day) is actually quite limited.
showing off the machine.
With that in mind, we’ll turn to the lat-
The camera then pans to surprised
est piece of on-street activity, or rather
members of the public stopping to take
in-station activity, in this case, Etihad’s
photos and videos with their smart-
“Holiday Machine, where we’ve also
phones, before showing prize winners
invited a number of industry experts to
jumping for joy at getting a free holiday.
tell us what they thought.
Was it worth it? According to the Eve-
To launch the new Etihad Holidays web-
ning Standard, around 100,000 people
site, agency MullenLowe Open, created
use London’s Paddington Station ev-
a steampunk style machine at London’s
ery day, and the activation lasted two
Paddington Station (the departure
days. The Facebook video promoting
point for Heathrow Express trains) for
the stunt also received 800k+ views (we
two days - January 22nd and 23rd.
assume this was promoted / boosted).
Every person who came to interact with
Finally, MullenLowe Open could point
the ‘Holiday Machine’ and the Steam-
to the fact that this stunt was part of
punk clad figure operating it, received
a larger campaign taking place this
some sort of prize, ranging from money
quarter, including digital, press, social,
off vouchers to a free holiday in Abu
content, CRM, sponsorship events, and
Dhabi.
activation.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
others seem to benefit the agency that
It looks good on an agency showreel,
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to promote, is powered by a ‘smart al-
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
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Hit or miss? We asked a few creative industry experts their opinion: My first impression of the video was “the same ingredients as usual: a lucky person will win a big prize through a crazy machine.” But I was quite surprised by the details and I wonder whether Etihad may have nailed it - while perhaps forgetting a little bit of engagement.
Social Media Specialist,
The scenario Etihad created was different: a railway
including seven years
station in London. A smart choice!
with Azul. It had a flashy design and an entertaining showman, performing his role well. Even the background soundtrack got you in the holiday mood. But engagement is about much more than aesthetics, that look good on camera. How can you support engagement among those watching the film, but who can’t press the button. I want to press the button and win the prize too! Which comes back to engagement. With the constant growth of instant content, such as Instagram Stories, Snapchat or even live streaming, these features could support this kind of campaign. As a result, there is definitely more scope for improvement. The video has performed well with almost a million views on Facebook, and is Etihad’s most viewed YouTube video for the past six months. Etihad can (and I am confident will) improve the online element even more to make it more engaging for people who interact with it.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Bruna Didiaro Bruna Didario
I think we hit ‘peak’ Steampunk about six years ago, so was a little bemused hearing about this. But, I was intrigued to see just how they’d combine the imagery of this very corporate, Abu Dhabi-based, airline with what resembles a wild, sci-fi re-imagining of Martin Ballantine
Victorian times. I actually got quite excited.
Managing director, Piracy
However, my hopes were dampened upon reading an
Corporation
article about it.
Lifted wholesale from a press release and packed with corporate hyperbole, it carcost-effective solutions when booking packages for their holidays”. Then came a client quote - adding another three more unnecessary brand mentions - rashly hyping the promotion as “…the embodiment of the ideals we strive to achieve…”. Quite a claim. So, did the activity live up to the hype? Not really. From watching a video, the best thing was the Steampunk host – he really looked the part and had the dramatic flair that you want from actors on these occasions. I also thought that the ‘time machine’ looked great. But, I suspect that slick-editing made the promotion look a lot better than its reality – randomly stuck on a cold train station platform for two days, with thousands of disinterested commuters rushing by. It was also jarring to see cabin crew in contemporary garb alongside him. Why not go the extra yard and create complementary Steampunk-style outfits for them? Also, there’s some very half-hearted visual ‘synergy’ on the website. I think this is because many big corporates are incapable of seeing less-than-usual concepts all the way through. They usually end up diluting agency bravery and end up going off half-cocked, which looks what happened here. Maybe more crucially, there was also an erroneous belief that an algorithm *actually* merited a random experiential execution. So, sorry - in both hype and execution - this was a lot more steam than punk.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
ried the obvious-as insight that: “We know that customers are looking for clear and
How airlines marked International Women’s Day A number of airlines marked International Women’s
Stories of “WOW Women” Icelandic LCC WOW Air
Icelandic LCC WOW Air, invited passengers to share stories of “WOW Women” - the most important women in their lives - on social media. The most inspiring stories were re-posted on the WOW Air website on March 8th, and included 19-year old Maria from Montreal who has fought off stage four cancer, and Donna from the USA, who has been a caretaker since being a young girl in a household with eight children, and has volunteered in a Haiti care home.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Day on March 8th, here are a few examples:
WOW Air points out that women make up 54% of all staff, including 33% of managers. Though the share of female WOW Air pilots is still low at 7% of the total, that is higher than the share in both the US and UK, where it is at around 4-5%.
More than 30 Etihad Airways women
en in roles including pilots and cabin crew,
showcased their aviation skills and exper-
engineers, technicians, a technical safety
tise during Etihad’s first ever all-female
manager, a flight dispatcher and a load
flight from Abu Dhabi to London..
controller.
French Captain Sophie Blanchard and
Travellers to Abu Dhabi International Air-
Irish Captain Faela Stevenson piloted the
port were able to see artwork featuring
Airbus A380 along with First Officers Pirre
four of Etihad’s women as they journeyed
Susana Leese from Finland and Liesbeth
through the airport.
Baldewijns from Belgium. The flight deck worked hand in hand with the 19-member all-female Cabin Crew team from 13 nationalities, on the flight of 368 guests. The operation also brought together wom-
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Etihad’s first ever all-female flight from Abu Dhabi to London
Other airlines which flew aircraft staffed by an all-female crew included the Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines), and Thomas Cook Airlines. Credit - Image from Delta
‘Tail Fin Heroes’ by Norwegian
gian aircraft, to create 10 British Female
the portraits of eight renowned British
Tail Fin Heroes.
women will adorn the airline’s tail fins - Photo by Noam Galai/ andCredit become ‘Tail Fin Heroes’. Getty Images for Delta
The eight additional women include mathematician Ada Lovelace, writer
They will join Amy Johnson and Jane
Charlotte Brontë, and medical pioneer
Austen, who already feature on Norwe-
Florence Nightingale.
Virgin Atlantic
What’s the only country in the world to be named after a woman? Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays say it’s the island of St Lucia, named after Saint Lucie.
As a result, anyone lucky enough be blessed with the first name “Lucy” or “Lucia” on their passport was given the
Virgin Holidays carried out research
chance to fly to St Lucia, by entering the
showing that two thirds of British women
special competition website.
struggle to take holidays, due to the pres-
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sures of balancing work and family life.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Meanwhile, Norwegian announced that
Finally, British Airways marked interna-
They listened to talks from British Air-
tional women’s day by welcoming 100
ways’ female pilots and trainees who
young women to its Global Learning
shared tips on how to break into the
Academy to inspire more girls to be-
industry, advised which subjects they
come commercial airline pilots.
should be paying close attention to at
Girls aged between 14 and 18 from 30 different schools across the South East were invited to visit British Airways’
required as well as the excitement that comes with flying around the world.
state-of-the-art training centre to meet
However it’s worth noting that the coun-
some of the airline’s female pilots and
try with the highest number of female
experience flying an aircraft in one of
pilots as a proportion isn’t Iceland, or
British Airways’ flight simulators.
the US or the UK - it is India. While the
As well as this the 100 youngsters toured the airline’s training facilities and one of its long-haul aircraft and learnt how crew deal with challenging issues during a flight.
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school and explained the dedication
proportion worldwide is still a pitiful 5%, India is a leader in female aviation equality with 13% of the country’s pilots being women.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
British Airways inspires more girls to become commercial airline pilots.
SXSW round-up
at ITB in Berlin, we went to SXSW in Austin. Though not as many as in previous years, a number of aviation brands did have a presence. This included:
Embraer The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer had a heavy-weight presence around the theme of the future of urban mobility. In particular, Embraer used the conference to highlight its partnership with Uber, namely with the Uber Elevate, or Flying Taxi, programme. This included showing off a prototype (by way of images), letting users see the experience of an Embraer
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
While most airlines, and most aviation journalists were
‘flying taxi’ fly overhead via a VR headset, and having a space in one of the conference venues where users could build their own flying taxi out of lego bricks.
Embraer also sponsored a number of conference sessions, and the Embraer brand was prominent at the event. Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
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SAS
This featured both a Scandinavian pop-up restaurant, and a rolling schedule of talks from Scandinavian speakers around the main conference themes of technology and marketing. As in previous years, Scandinavian Airlines was behind the House of Scandinavia. This featured both a Scandinavian pop-up restaurant, and a rolling schedule of talks from Scandinavian speakers around the main conference themes of technology and marketing. Like Embraer, SAS had a serious, visible and high budget presence with the Crown Princess of Denmark being in attendance to spearhead an official Danish initiative focusing on Danish and Scandinavian values and strengths With Austin being a major US tech and startup centre, not just at SXSW, one entrepreneur wants to make the House of Scandinavia a permanent feature.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
As in previous years, Scandinavian Airlines was behind the House of Scandinavia.
Ray Sosa, the CEO of fintech company Rev, which worked with SAS on the Eurobonus travel wallet last year. Sosa feels that the US could, “do with some Scandinavian transparency and pragmatism. At the same time, maybe Scandinavians need a bit of that feeling that it’s ok to fail. We can even envisage the idea of having a permanent House of Scandinavia here in Austin to really build a bridge – SAS isn’t just an airline, it’s a company that transports ideas and dreams –
It is worth mentioning that SAS does not actually fly to Austin. Right now the only European airlines that do are British Airways, Norwegian and (from this Spring) Lufthansa. SAS did however have an SXSW flight from CPH, which the airline called a “one-of-a-kind direct flight”, where guests could “explore the latest in digitalized traveling at a special event in Copenhagen Airport.
Lufthansa Like SAS, Lufthansa had a special flight from FRA to AUS. Or to be more precise, the airline ran one of its “Flying Lab” flights. The best way to describe the Flying Lab is of a TED talk in the air. Lufthansa runs a number of these a year to major trade shows and events, and the idea is you fly direct to the destination - and you are able to follow a series of speakers who give talks during the ten hour journey.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
We’d like our partnership with SAS to empower entrepreneurs to discover the world.
United United didn’t have the highest budget presence, far from it, actually what they ended up doing must have cost them very little. United targeted journalists on their way out of Austin, to show off the new United app in a pop up lounge, within the actual United lounge at AUS. That doesn’t sound particularly creative, but we found it effective. For one thing United was the only brand we could see trying to get media on their way out of Austin, rather than join the bun fight in town.
fly business, most don’t, and in exchange for a 15 min demo of the app, media got lounge access. Features in the new app include ‘dynamic’ boarding passes which update automat-ically (e.g. if the departure time shifts), and a ‘my trips’ page with prepopulated boarding passes where you don’t have to be a United frequent flier (or log in every time) to access it. As well as updated home screens, with more engaging content, the home screen is also more personalized to each user; for example, customers who recently passed loyalty milestones will be recognized on the home screen, and the app will also celebrate customers on their birthday.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Secondly, it’s not a given that journalists
SXSW - Should you have a presence? As the world’s biggest combined interactive, film and music event, SXSW drew in 75,000 conference attendees last year, with 25% being from outside the US. As an airline, should you have a presence? Depending on what you have in mind of course, we’d say (as 7x conference veterans), yes. Those 75,000 people have an above average income, are more likely to travel, and much as the phrase is overused, really are early adopters, open to new ideas.
In 2018 were also over 4000 media in attendance (the definition of media of course includes bloggers, niche trade publications such as this one, as well as A-List titles). That means over 5% of the audience are media. SXSW isn’t cheap, but if you do have the budget, doing something like SAS did is worthwhile. Or, you can spend less, be smart and do what United did and catch people in a setting no other brand was able to. It’s worth saying that United told us that they have been doing the same thing at other influencer-rich conferences, such as CES in Las Vegas.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
They are also more likely to be on social media, be ‘influencers’ (another overused word), and to share what they see and find - and talk about it afterwards.
London City and Dubai International Airport Rebrands Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Two airports have undertaken a
Royal Docks and close to the Thames.
rebrand in recent months, London City
Meanwhile the green represents
and Dubai International.
London’s parks and green spaces.
Launched earlier this month, London
The airport claims that the use of bright
City, the London airport actually with a
colours confirms a real departure
London postcode, unveiled a new look
from the conservative grey and blue
with a heart motif, “which reflects a more
combination, which the new brand
dynamic, vibrant and contemporary look,
replaces.
synonymous with modern London.” The new identity comes during a
34.
The blue in the new logo represents
£500 million four-year development
London City being by the water, in
programme.
which last month unveiled a new brand, DXB, where the primary colours are yellow and blue. The brand comes as the world’s largest international airport announced new customer experience, retail and restaurant enhancements. To launch the new brand, DXB partnered with extreme sports organisation XDubai, to deliver a record-breaking stunt by Emirati extreme athlete Mohammed Baker. This saw the world’s longest free fall attempt that began with a jump out of a helicopter and a glide through the Dubai sky, followed by a swoop under Sheikh Zayed Road bridge. The event also saw a live installation by UAE calligrapher and art performer, Diaa Allam, among other creative expressions, aimed at linking the essence of old Dubai with the city as it is today. According to Dubai Airports’ operators, this rebrand signifies DXB’s transition “from airport operator to a consumer-led company, committed to making the world’s busiest international airport, the world’s best.”
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Another airport leaving “conservative grey and blue” behind is Dubai International,
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Big Data, taking airlines places
At the recent APEX Asia Conference in
First of all, there is the growth in experi-
Shanghai, FlightPath3D Vice President
ential travel.
of Marketing Jon Norris, gave a presentation, which also forms the title of this
This comes as the world’s leading visual
supplement - “big data, taking airlines’
social network Instagram, has passed
places.”
one billion users, and posts on the social network now influence many decisions
In it, Jon Norris outlined three big trends
on where to go (leading easyJet for
shaping passenger needs (and the IFE
example to introduce “Look and Book”
Industry).
functionality in its app, where you can
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Big Data, taking airlines places
captive audience, that spends a lot of
one’s post).
time thinking about their destination passengers in-flight.
Secondly, big data and AI is driving personalisation. The amount of data now
And how can airlines and destination
existing in the average consumer’s social
marketers do so? Via the most con-
and digital footprint, leads to more per-
sumed piece of content in-flight, the
sonal targeting based on his or her actual
interactive map, which FlightPath3D calls
interests (as opposed to guesswork).
“geo-tainment.”
And finally, there is the growth in an-
We’ve partnered with FlightPath3D to
cillary revenue, from $2.5 billion to $67
examine some of these trends in greater
billion in a decade.
detail in our third special industry report of 2019, this includes a white paper by the
Together these three trends lead to op-
company’s President Duncan Jackson.
portunity. In particular, the opportunity
Want to find out even more? Contact
to sell highly relevant experiences to a
FlightPath3D at crew@flightpath3d.com.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
book the destination you see in some-
Big Data, taking airlines places By Duncan Jackson, President of FlightPath3D
Part 1 - Trends Shaping IFE Industry Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
A staggering 90% of the world’s data was created in the last 2 years. 39.
Big data has tremendous potential to
• Generate ticket sales and ancillary reve-
enhance the passenger experience and is
nue
one of the most important trends driving the evolution of air travel today. There are literally billions of experiences being consumed each year driving demand for air travel. Instagram, for example, has 100 million new photos every single day. If leveraged properly it has the power to:
There are three big trends shaping passenger needs and the Inflight Entertainment (IFE) Industry today, these include: • The growth in experiential travel • Big data and AI driving personalization • The growth in ancillary revenue There is an opportunity to create a par-
• Create a personalized inflight service by
using data that can dynamically re-orga-
harnessing billions of social experiences
nize IFE content to create more targeted
• Predict demand for specific flights by
products and travel suggestions for pas-
learning passenger desires
sengers.
Google and Facebook dynamically prioritize and rank content based on user interest Why aren’t IFE systems organizing videos, music and destination data this way? There are literally billions of experiences being consumed each year driving demand for air travel. Instagram, for example, has 100 million new photos every single day. Airlines that leverage this rise in available data can create a competi-tive advantage that will leave other airlines behind.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
adigm shift in the inflight experience
Let’s briefly look at the three big trends. 1. The growth in experiential travel The desire for bigger and better experiences has created a growing demand for cultural exploration and activity-based travel. Online photos, videos, and stories are one of the biggest inspirations for traveler travel to a more personalized experience. Anyone can now discover where friends and influencers have visited, how they traveled, and the moments they enjoyed.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
wish lists and air travel. Social media has accelerated the shift from traditional mass
Travelers are Craving Local Authentic Experiences People are seeking off-the-beaten-path adventures that are authentic, unforgettable and Instagram-worthy. Whether your passion is to explore cathedrals in Croatia, taste pastries in
Many people haven’t had time to plan these smaller activities, which creates a huge opportunity for airlines to service the consumer who is motivated to do last minute research for a bite-sized travel snack. Immersive Augmented Reality The experiential traveler is seeking to
are showing an enormous appetite to
be immersed in the journey from the
explore and get hyper-local. Passengers
moment they leave their home. In-flight
want to explore places with social and
they are seeking deeper engagement
contextual information and to capture a
with the flying experience more than
more meaningful personal experience.
simply watching movies to pass the
Snacking on Bite-Sized Travel
time.
Experiences Business travelers and tourists are both looking to pack travel itineraries into shorter time-frames. With a rise in weekend getaways and business travelers looking to add some interest to their trip - many travelers are looking to slot in a
3D augmented reality (AR) experiences
few unplanned activities, asking them-
such as virtual cockpit or augmented
selves; “What’s the most popular thing
camera view are some of the most pop-
to do near my hotel?” or “Where can I go
ular selected experiences inflight with
for a run in the morning?”
an astonishing 60%+ open rate on some seatback IFE systems.
The new experiential traveler wants: • To explore socially evaluated places • Take part in the local culture and memorialize it online • Wants an immersive experience from the moment they start their journey
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Paris, or nature in Norway, passengers
2. Big Data and artificial intelligence Intelligent IFE
Airlines rely heavily on delivering excel-
Big data has been described as a cultural movement helping us discover how consumers interact with the world. We can now harness the patterns in billions of online experiences and enhance how your passengers interact with the and community-based desires amongst travelers with similar tastes.
utation and AI technology can be used to improve and tailor recommendations and guarantee fast response times, even in the absence of staff. Dynamically re-organizing data inflight to create more targeted products and travel suggestions. For example, passengers can explore “individualized points of interest” that have been compiled
People already have smart homes with AI agents everywhere from thermostats
based on themes and geospatial queries and make a suggestion like:
to door locks to Alexa, Google Home, and Siri. Intelligent IFE will help passengers plan their next trip, recommend destinations, search flights, and airport transfer options. The Personal Touch Making the passenger feel understood has always been a core component of business class.
get active in the outdoors when you land for the athletic type, or
check out these iconic local landmarks for the history buff
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
IFE. We can understand both individual
lent customer service to build their rep-
3. Ancillary Revenue growth Ancillary Revenue at $92.9 Billion in 2018 According to CarTrawler and IdeaWorks - company ancillary revenue is generated by activities and services that yield cashflow for airlines beyond the simple transportation of customers from A to B. These activities provide more options for consumers and more profit for airlines.
• In-Aircraft Services such as checked baggage, food and beverage sales and seat related like extra leg room • Off-Aircraft Services relating to commissions from travel retail like hotel bookings or car rentals
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
The key components of this revenue fall into two broad buckets:
of the connected aircraft. Ground-based travel services purchased inflight will continue to fuel the growth in ancillary aircraft revenue. The question is what information and travel services will passengers desire most. The New Connected Airline Economy We’ve seen that ancillary airline revenue is currently pegged at $92.9Bn per year and growing rapidly. This growth was independent of broad-based inflight internet access. There’s a new connected airline economy around the corner that will unlock ancillary revenue growth powered by over 2 billion smartphones and billions more smart devices. Inflight IFE and these devices will enable access to $330Bn of sharing economy services and over $500Bn of indestination spend.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
The off-aircraft revenue has the potential to dwarf on-board services with the arrival
Part Two - Top Four Big Data Tips 1. Socially Rank IFE Content Internet Content is Socially Organized,
plore things to do that have been prior-
why not IFE ?
itized” based upon millions of travelers
Data science can collate, tag and prioritize content to assist users to find the
aircraft’s current location and destination.
post or video. Google and Facebook dynamically prioritize and rank content based on user interest. Why aren’t IFE systems? In the context of IFE, we can take experiences from millions of people and apply machine learning and algorithms to analyze billions of reviews, photos, visits and other social records to identify and organize any IFE content. Aggregate Travel Experiences Around Your Network To service the desires of the experiential traveler, we can aggregate hundreds of thousands of landmarks, attractions and other points of interest around the globe and present them based on the routes you fly and your destinations. Analyse and Rank We can then allow passengers to ”ex-
46.
Social ranking allows passengers to explore things to do with incredible accuracy; the most popular experiences trending anywhere, right now, even within a few city blocks. As the passenger continues to engage and explore we can make further, more accurate, personalized recommendations.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
most relevant, popular or recent article,
experiences, billions of data sets, and the
2. Make Recommendations Make Comparison Suggestions
According to a Forrester study, over 15% of visitors admit to buying recommended products We are all very familiar with the online experience of “Frequently bought together” or “People who bought this also bought”?
and experiences available to save to a wish list. Why not do this with travel and entertainment services?
Drive Product Placement and Sales
2. Based on passenger profile & interactions
Marketers have moved toward more active
3. Specific to the destination
product placement – which is what we technically refer to as product integration, where the product is woven into the passenger experience. For example, offering a passenger the ability to see things to do in their destination ranked by popularity and also suggested based on their actions. We know you land at noon and the potential to visit a local hot spot. Present in Context of Route
Here’s an example for Santa Ana Airport in California. Recommendations work best when created in a way that passengers would want to consume them, without perceiving them as commercial offerings. Let’s look at how we make the link between so-
Presenting activities, restaurants, hotels,
cially ranked
ground transport options, airport services,
recommen-
and other data that is dynamically:
dations and
1. Trending right now & ranked by popularity
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your route map.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Where value is created for the customer by facilitating the discovery for products
3. Promote Routes and Flights
Network Insight and Passenger Demand Every route of a network needs to contribute to an airline’s bottom line. Tap into customers inflight to gain valuable insights into real-time passenger demand and flight trends. There’s no better place to educate and analyze customer demand than when passengers are onboard with plenty of
48.
time on their hands. Interactive Route and Destination Directory An intelligent route application can allow passengers to pick their preferred origin or destination and filter down to show flights and routes. Passengers can see flight duration and distance on the IFE screen.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
At the heart of every airline is its network of destinations and routes
IFE Flight Schedule and Calendar Choose to show your flight schedule and daily flight times within a calendar view. A flight summary view captures departure and arrival times, distance and other relevant details. Flight and route data can be stored onboard and updated using a media upload process to create this experience inflight without constantly streaming see pricing, inventory and book a flight from your website. Route Analytics A simple, playful and interactive experience powered by your flight data can showcase your destinations and allow passengers to create a wish list of future travel destinations, check flight times and much more to assist with your network planning.
Captured data can include: • Route search intelligence includes route views and searches by user • Ranking reports for a specific route, destination and other categories • Location intelligence to analyze trends based on the flight’s location
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
data. With connectivity, passengers can
4. Offer Destination Information and Services
Provide Relevant Travel Information and Services All passengers are on the move and as such have a specific need to consume information and services related to their journey. Drive ancillary revenue and enable your passengers to research and purchase travel services. Offer Ground Transportation Options All passengers need to take care of transport to and from an airport. Present car rental, rideshare, shuttle, or other transport options with pricing
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Location-aware IFE technologies can solve challenges for passengers, enhance their in-flight experience and drive ancillary revenue
based on distance from the airport to their final destination. It’s now possible to store distance and time estimates in an IFE system and easily add pricing from transportation providers. Ride and car booking options can be offered Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
from a connected aircraft. Showcase Your Partners Showcase your airline partners, hotels , financial services, car rental, restaurants, attractions in the context of the passenger’s journey. Offer Hyper-local Information and Experiences Data science enabled billions of traveler statistics to identify hundreds of thousands of attractions
by their popularity and
This offers huge value to
worldwide and rank them
specific location means
a passenger and an abil-
by popularity. Sharing
any passenger can explore
ity for an airline to earn a
these hyper-local experi-
what to do within walking
commission for bookings.
ences that are prioritized
distance of any hotel.
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Summary Passengers are Craving Disruptive Innovation The digital revolution has given birth to a new generation of networked consumers with big imaginations and even bigger appetites for innovation. It’s not surprising that airlines’ passengers are craving a disruptive innovation---one that creates new solutions for their traveling needs and introduces a new onboard experience. They want something that captures the imagination and catalyzes change.
There are literally billions of experiences being consumed and posted each year driving demand for air travel. Intelligent IFE can tap into this rich pool of data to speak more personally to a passenger, recommend experiences, connect them with their destination, book a ride to their hotel, book destination activities, plan their next trip, suggest future flights and so much more.
Big Data has tremendous potential to enhance the inflight passenger experience to: • Make the passenger feel more understood • Create a more immersive experience • Provide location info and travel services • Gain insights into demand for flights • Create direct and ancillary airline revenue Do you want to leverage this rise in available data to create a competitive advantage that will leave other airlines behind? Contact crew@flightpath3d.com
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Intelligent IFE
Two years ago, youth focused travel and tour company, Top Deck Travel, surveyed 31,000 millennials from 134 countries, to find out what they wanted from their travel experience. The results, according to Forbes, showed that “this younger generation is no longer seeking a party-animal atmosphere when traveling, and instead wants to fully immerse themselves into new cultures, and feast on local cuisine.” The top attraction and wish when travelling was experiencing a new culture (86%) and eating local foods (69%), far ahead of partying (44%) and shopping (28%). However, it’s not just the under 35s who are after these authentic experiences when travelling. This is a desire that crosses age groups and also includes older travellers with a higher spending power. In an interview last year, Marc Handl of luxury hotel group Rosewood, described them as “affluential explorers. These are people for whom luxury is a given, but they are primarily driven by their desire for authentic experiences when they travel and a sense of place in where they stay.”
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Affluential Explorers, the search for authentic experiences and the role of personalisation
However, authenticity is often subjective.
Which is where personalisation comes in,
To take one example, in our piece about
being able to accurately predict what a
Chinese travellers, we talk about coach-
passenger actually wants, and then being
loads of Chinese tourists descending on
able to sell the right kind of experiences or
the Oxfordshire (England) village of Kid-
services into him or her.
lington.
If you know where Mrs Jones in seat 31F is
To Chinese tourists, Kidlington has been
from, her age and where she is flying to,
marketed as the quintessential English
you will already have a fair idea of her pref-
village experience (it also happens to be
erences. If Mrs Jones has flown with you
on the way to Bicester Shopping Village).
many times before even more so.
However, if you took other nationalities there, they’d probably wonder what you
And if you start customising in real time
were doing.
the choices and options for (say) tours in
As a piece in the Conversation says, “au-
clicking on and what she’s watching, then
thenticity is a pretty complex idea – what
the experience will be even more personal
one person sees as an authentic experi-
for her - and the chances are much higher
ence, another may view as a sham.”
of a sale for you.
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her final destination based on what she is
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Use AI and personalisation to deliver the right kind of authenticity
What’s the most booked experience via TripAdvisor? A skip the line pass for the Vatican Museums, St Peters and the Sistine Chapel. Meanwhile the third most booked experience is a skip the line pass for the Colosseum in Rome (second is the Chicago River Architecture Cruise). Overall TripAdvisor says that ‘skip the line’ made up four of the ten fastest growing experiences in 2017, and the second fastest growing category for US travelers by gross booking value. It makes sense - you’ve booked ten days
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Skip the line? An opportunity for airlines
When looking at overall categories of
allocation, and after a ten hour overnight
the kind of experiences travelers buy
flight to Rome, you don’t want to spend
from TripAdvisor, the network says that
much of your limited time waiting in
historical heritage tours, sunset cruises
line.
and private day trips come top. Other
Rather, you want to get straight in and experience the world of the ancient Romans for yourself. And the opportunity is obvious. On that flight to Rome, while the passenger is browsing through experiences in the Italian capital, offer him / her queue jumping passes, so s/he doesn’t have to hang around.
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categories in the top ten include culinary experiences, sailing trips and museum passes. Just like the queue jumping passes, these experiences and more can be served up to passengers while they are on their way to the destination, and while they are actively thinking of how to spend the days ahead.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
out of your precious two week vacation
Who are the world’s big-
This means Chinese tour-
But that isn’t the whole
gest spenders when it
ists want nothing more
story, as a report by Agility
comes to airport and in-
than to shop, right?
Research shows, in many
flight shopping?
Ac-
cording to Swiss research consultancy ‘m1nd set’, the answer is the Chinese, who account for 13% of all duty free sales (ahead of South Koreans with 5% and Brits with 4%).
57.
Wrong. Yes they are more likely to buy luxury items in airport retail concessions,
ways Chinese travelers are not so different to their peers from other countries.
and that in itself opens up
Much like other nationali-
opportunity for travel and
ties, they value experiences
aviation marketers.
over monetary purchases.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
What affluent Chinese travellers value - Culinary experiences, nature tours and shopping
Ask the residents of the sleepy Oxfordshire (England) village of Kidlington, who have seen coach loads of Chinese tourists roaming residential streets, taking pictures of locals and even entering gardens. Why? Because the village is being marketed in China as the symbol of a “true sense of the country”, and “the environment makes you feel you are closer to the simplicity of your original self”, according
The village also happens to be on the way to the shopping outlet centre of Bicester Village, showing how ‘cultural experience’ and retail trips very much can work hand in hand. As a result, while Agility Research’s find-
cial media use, with 94% of WeChat users
ings show that 69% of affluent Chinese
using it once a week.
travellers prefer to go somewhere where they can buy luxury items, 93% said a “cultural offering” or experience was a factor when choosing somewhere to travel to. When looking at which cultural experiences were the most important, local food and cuisine comes top for affluent Chinese travellers, followed by nature tours and safaris (in third place is outlet shopping). How do you reach Chinese travellers, and offer these experiences to them?
However, the potential is also to reach passengers in-flight via the map, and to create more of an interactive experience and to use it to drive ancillary revenues. FlightPath3Ds reach now extends to Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, meaning there is scope for airlines to target Chinese outbound tourism via the interactive map. If Chinese travellers value cultural tours, especially involving food, above anything else then that’s the platform to do it on,
Social media is of course important, with
while they are in the air and thinking of
social media use in China differing from
their destination. And if they want trips to
that in the West. Unlike Facebook, which
shopping villages (the 3rd most popular
is largely blocked in China, Sina Weibo
option), you can do that via an interactive
and WeChat, take the lion’s share of so-
map as well.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
to a tour guide interviewed by the BBC.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Aviation Campaigns
WestJet Safety Video
The aircraft will operate on domestic flights for crew training and regulatory compliance before the first scheduled international flight between Calgary and London (Gatwick) on April 28th. To coincide with the Dreamliner entering the WestJet fleet, the airline also released a new safety video called “First Flight.” The video, which is animated, features a child character feeling a sense of wonder at her ‘first flight’, which neatly ties into WestJet flying the Dreamliner for the first time. According to One Mile at a Time, the video isn’t over the top like so many safety videos are these days, instead it “has cute visuals, is easy to understand, and feels calming.”
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
On February 20th, WestJet’s first 787 Dreamliner, made its official debut when it was used for a commercial flight between Toronto and Calgary.
The Air Asia Restaurant
That hasn’t stopped airlines like United pushing back and showing off the recipes served to premium class passengers via its own cookbook. However while United’s cookbook showcases the airline’s Polaris cabin, one LCC is so confident of the quality of its in-flight catering that it is opening its own restaurant. Air Asia is considering opening a new restaurant, “Santan”, which will be named after the airline’s in-flight menu, with AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes quoted in the Singapore Straits Times as saying, “I think our food is fantastic. We believe in it so much we’re going to start a fast-food restaurant out of it.” The Santan website gives a hint of some of the items that might be available, such as “Uncle Chin’s Chicken Rice”, Pak Nasser’s Nasi Lemak and Chicken Tikka Masala with Garlic Naan.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Airline food hasn’t had the best reputation over the years, and is often the butt of jokes.
British Airways Retro Liveries
Airways Centenary Year celebrations, which included a BA 747 being painted in retro BOAC colours. British Airways has now followed this up with two more ‘heritage’ aircraft. An Airbus 319 is now flying in BEA livery, which appeared predominantly on domestic and European routes between 1959 and 1968. Meanwhile, the third heritage aircraft is a Boeing 747 painted in the “Landor design”, which will be recognisable for many as it flew on British Airways aircraft between 1984-1997. The 747 entered service on 9 March, and will be flying to long-haul destinations served by the Boeing 747, with the design remaining on the aircraft until it retires in 2023.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Last month, our cover story was around the British
Etihad Special Olympics Dreamliner
honoured to support the Special Olympics
Summer Games which were held in Abu
World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 and to
Dhabi from 14-21 March, Etihad painted
unveil this very special new livery in
one of its 787-9 Dreamliners in Special
recognition of the greatness of the Games
Olympics themed livery.
and in celebration of the achievements,
The livery featured the images of four UAE Athletes, who took part in the games -
incredible athletes who will participate.
Swimmer Omar Al Shami, runner Hamda
“This aircraft will continue to fly long after
Al Hosani and bowlers Saleh Al Merri and
the Games and is just one of the ways the
Mariam Al Hosani were all present for the
legacy will live on. “
unveiling.
Another airline, which strongly supports
The Special Olympics World Summer
the Special Olympics is United, which
Games is the biggest sports and
last year announced an initiative where
humanitarian event of 2019, and featured
the airline’s 60,000+ staff will be trained
7,500 athletes from 190 countries taking
to better serve the needs of passengers
part.
with intellectual disabilities. United also
Robin Kamark, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are
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commitment and determination of the
supports various Special Olympics events in the USA.
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
To mark the Special Olympic World
Travelport - Travel unified
the side of one of its 787 Dreamliners. Another company which has launched an initiative encouraging the industry to better cater for passengers with intellectual disabilities is Travelport. With the Travel Unified campaign, Travelport is seeking to improve the awareness and use of the SSR code DPNA, which denotes special needs passengers. A micro-site gives further details: Travelport’s six month long campaign will reach more than 100,000 travel agents in 30 countries and content will be displayed to agents more than 3.5 million times making it one of Travelport’s biggest ever digital media campaigns. Travelport will also be seeking to raise awareness among the intellectually disabled community through a range of initiatives across social and traditional media.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Earlier we talked about Etihad featuring four UAE Special Olympics team members on
Plaza Premium Lounges - Your Airport Moment
their “best, unique airport moments” can
Lounges has launched a campaign in the
win gift cards to be used in exchange for
Far East and the UK called Your Airport
lounge passes.
Moment, under the overall umbrella message of ‘Everyone is a traveller.’ A series of short video ads show a collection of airport moments, from the tired family having to transit between flights, to the dishevelled looking businessman arriving on the red eye prior to a meeting. In each case, the lounge transforms the passenger(s), e.g in the business executive’s case it makes him ready for his meeting post a shower and coffee / breakfast.
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Overall, we’re not fans of this campaign. Cardboard cut-out characters (e.g. business guy on the red eye), bad acting, stirring music and stereotypical situations (e.g business guy is now refreshed and gazes over the runway drinking his coffee while an attendant smies) lead to a feeling of unreality when watching the ad spots. As an alternative idea, why not show what goes on inside the lounges? Show how they can be a source of inspiration, cre-
The campaign is under-pinned by a social
ativity and productivity before your flight
media competition passengers posting
(lounge hackathon anyone?).
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Paid for lounge service Plaza Premium
Southwest Storytellers
A short-list of 100 was then chosen,
the story of Bob Golan, an entirely
where influencers had to fill out a
fictitious character, who had a ready
questionnaire, including about their
made Instagram account, largely filled
“social influence”, before 10 finalists were
up of destination stock photos and 12,000
chosen.
followers. We bought Bob for $60 to demonstrate
campaign follows a similar one by US
to a conference how easily social media
train company Amtrak, which ran a
numbers can be gamed, and to warn
‘social media residency programme’
against an over reliance of vanity metrics.
called #AmtrakTakeMeThere, where
In fact, vanity metrics appears to be what Southwest in part based a February competition on. “Influencers” were given the opportunity to compete for the grand
people with large social media followings, rather than professional bloggers, shared their stories about riding on Amtrak.
prize of up to 12 round trips by posting
The Southwest story-teller campaign
a photo related story and tagging
follows a similar initiative that the airline
Southwest. The catch? It was only open
ran in 2018.
to people with at least 2500 followers.
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Mobile Marketer says that Southwest’s
Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
In the previous issue we talked about
Wonder Takes Flight Canadian Airports Council
Canadian Airports Council (CAC). The aim of the campaign is to remind Canadians of the wonder you once felt stepping into an airport. In particular, the Canadian Airport Council says that while many frequent travellers simply see an airport as the gateway to their next destination, Wonder Takes Flight wants to remind them of the excitement they once felt simply by being within the airport. The campaign does this by looking at airports through the eyes of a child, and featuring “beautiful airport visuals and some of the impressive technology that lives within Canada’s airports.” This is a new direction for the CAC as previous campaigns focused very much on an economic message by talking about the benefits airports bring to communities in terms of jobs and investment.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Wonder Takes Flight is the name of a new bilingual English / French campaign by the
Scoot - M.A.R.V.I.E Chatbot
of the dozens of airline Valentine’s Stunts, we’ll pull out one - as it involves chatbots, which we intend to look at in more detail in an upcoming issue. Interacting with the Scoot M.A.R.V.I.E chatbot on February 14th, meant sending him a message with the heading “Time for Love.” He then responded with travel recommendations for you and your significant other along with “travel recommendations and advice on how to get your other half to say yes to a getaway.” M.A.R.V.I.E stands for “most awesome and resourceful virtual intern ever”, and was developed and launched last year by Caravelo for Scoot. This made Scoot, at the time, the first Asian airline with a chatbot to respond to customer queries via Facebook Messenger.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Our last issue was already in production when Valentine’s Day came along, so out
Jewel Changi Airport
of amenities on offer, and due to the fact that SIN has turned Changi Airport into an experience - a destination in its own right. That perception will only be reinforced by the opening of Jewel Changi Airport (‘Jewel’), which the airport calls “a multi-dimensional tourist destination.” Designed by a consortium comprising Safdie Architects, as well as architects from RSP Architects Planners and Engineers and Benoy, Jewel will feature a distinctive domeshaped façade made of glass and steel. The airport says that the concept for Jewel’s design “represents the juxtaposition of a park and marketplace. This is exemplified in the lush Forest Valley and majestic Rain Vortex that take center stage in the complex, surrounded by over 280 retail stores and eateries.” A preview video summarises the core idea - tropical forest meets shopping mall. However, this being Singapore everything is being done on a grand scale. For example the context features the world’s tallest indoor waterfall (the “rain vortex”). The project, which seeks to draw people to the airport even if they don’t necessarily have a flight to catch, is also being heavily pre-promoted with its own micro-site and social media channels.
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
In ‘best airport’ surveys Singapore regularly ranks at or near the top, due to the amount
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
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Aviation brands in this issue Air Asia British Airways Canadian Airports Council Dubai International Airport Embraer Etihad FlightPath3D JetBlue London City Airport Lufthansa Norwegian Plaza Premium Lounges S7 Airlines SAS Singapore Changi Airport Scoot Southwest Travelport United Virgin Atlantic WestJet
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Airline Marketing Monthly | March/April 2019
Alaska Airlines
