Airline Marketing Benchmark Report-October 2015

benchmark report

airline marketing

OCT 2015 ISSUE

A monthly selection of the most innovative marketing campaigns launched by airlines around the world SimpliFlying | airlinetrends.com Oct 2OI5

Issue 37

benchmark report

airline marketing

welcome.

Published by market research agency airlinetrends.com and aviation marketing strategy consulting firm SimpliFlying, the Airline Marketing Benchmark Repor t contains a wide range of airline marketing case studies each month, providing you with the latest and most innovative social, digital, experiential and traditional airline marketing campaigns recently launched by airlines around the world.

Whether you’re looking for inspiration or are eager to help your airline move into the nex t stage of engagement, while also understanding how your airline marketing initiatives compare to campaigns from competitors in general, these repor ts are indispensable for airline professionals working in the f ield of marketing and corporate communications. The monthly repor ts also help agencies that work with airlines stay on top of the latest innovative airline marketing initiatives.

OCT 2015 ISSUE

EXPERIENTIAL

Faced with ever more experienced consumers, who routinely ignore the commercials and ads thrown at them, airline brands are finding new ways to break through the adver tising clutter to connect with consumers.

For any questions about the repor t, please contact Shubhodeep Pal at shubhodeep@simplif lying.com.

As innovative campaigns come in all shapes and sizes, the Airline Marketing Benchmark Repor t is categorized into the following four themes:

SOCIAL

Besides engaging their online audience via Facebook and Twitter-based campaigns, the airline industry is also busy experimenting with new social media platforms.

DIGITAL

With the huge popularity of smar tphones and tablets, airlines are tapping into these digital platforms to engage consumers, as well as releasing videos online which they hope will go viral.

TV, PRINT, OOH

Despite the current focus on social, digital and experiential campaigns, airlines continue to serve up creative, traditional media-based, initiatives in order to reach a mass audience.

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benchmark report

airline marketing

experiential

#tastetheworldofemirates

reimagined road tour

EMIRATES Emirates takes an experiential approach to connect with a younger demographic and inspire and appetite for world travel with its #TasteTheWorldOfEmirates ice cream tours.

At four German cities (Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfur t, and Munich) the airline’s hip ice cream Volkwagen van handed out cool samplings of exotic ‘Emirates Reise-Eis’ in flavours representing various international destinations (Afrikeis, Asiengwer, Mahatma Chokänguru, Kokozean, Mango, and Sesamsturm). The airline traded a scoop for a share on social media, Twitter and Instagram, with the hashtag #TasteTheWorldOfEmirates , with a chance to win two free tickets.

Emirates explained its inspiration on Instagram . “The various destinations in our route network inspired us to go on tour with the Emirates Reise-Eis and bring the taste of the world to four German OCT 2015 ISSUE

ETIHAD cities. Choose your free scoop of ice cream, dream of faraway countries and maybe win a flight that gets you there.”

In all, Emirates gave out over 3,000 scoops of ice cream, and documented the events at all four cities on YouTube .

After gaining huge world-wide coverage in the press with the reveal of its new ‘Reimagined’ cabins which made their debut on the airline’s new A380 and B787 aircraft, Etihad is taking a more hands-on and grounded approach to give potential customers in Europe a taste of what they would experience in the sky.

This sweet tactic fits well within Emirates’ lifestyle brand strategy, and was designed to appeal to its defined ‘Globalista’ demographic: youthful, fresh, and adventurous. Arrival of the alternative black chalkboard decorated ice van, was pre-announced as an event on Facebook in each city.

In a specially designed truck , painted with the same ‘Facets of Abu Dhabi’ livery which decorates its new aircraft, the airline has installed full-sized mock-ups of its A380 cabins: The Residence three-room cabin, First Apartment, Business Studio, Economy Smart Seat, as well as the B787 First Suite.

Free food always draws crowds, but with the right recipe, ‘Emirates Reise-Eis’ – and the food truck promotions of several airlines this year – puts the brand in consumer’s hear ts, as well as their stomachs.

“The Etihad Airways Mobile Exhibition will give our corporate and industry partners an understanding of the innovation and creativity which went into designing these industryleading cabins,” said Peter Baumgartner, Etihad’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Starting in Zurich earlier this month, Etihad will take its Reimagined van through two tours of key European cities onto January 2016.

China Airlines ran a similar marketing initiative in 2014, to promote its new Boeing 777-300ER seat products across Taiwan. Airlines like Air New Zealand, JetBlue, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines and Delta have also given passengers an opportunity to trial their cabin products, before they fly, with various ground-based displays.

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benchmark report

airline marketing

high life

hausguest

BRITISH AIRWAYS British Airways let commuters dream of a fun escape from the working-day routine by distributing a special issue of its inflight magazine, High Life , at six selected train stations across London and the South East of England.

Ambassadors, dressed in full British Airways cabin crew uniforms, distributed the magazines and gave out fur ther information on bookings and traveling with British Airways.

The editorial for this special edition of High Life included travel news and features focused solely on the airline’s European destinations, and included exclusive reader offers and discounts on British Airways flights.

Sara Dunham, British Airways’ Head of Marketing, Retail and Direct, said: “This special issue for commuters really is an exciting move for us. It’s a wonderful OCT 2015 ISSUE

LUFTHANSA USA oppor tunity to offer our travel content beyond the plane and to connect with new audiences about BA’s extensive network in Europe and diverse product range.”

High Life editor Kerry Smith said, ‘High Life was established more than 40 years ago and we’re proud of its reputation as the leading inflight magazine, with original, credible editorial that informs and enter tains. To have this oppor tunity to reach commuters on the ground, as well as our readers on planes and in BA lounges, is fantastic.’

Airlines are learning the power of content to enter tain and inspire adventures yearround, not just onboard. SAS has created a dedicated content site for its new inflight magazine, Scandinavian Traveller , which complements the seat-back pocket edition and lets visitors book trips direct from stories.

Lufthansa has made itself at home – and gotten to know its neighbours better –as part of the launch of new service between Tampa and Frankfurt. The airline created a pop-up store at Tampa’s International Plaza Mall, giving ‘Hausguests’ a little taste of Germany and of its in-flight experience.

This follows the success of Lufthansa’s ‘Taste of America’ experiential marketing campaign in the US, with food trucks giving out samples of its inflight menus, by letting guests in Tampa to get a taste of traditional German dishes .

At the temporaty venue in Tampa, Lufthansa also incorporated its Oculus Rift in-flight experience (featured in our July report) by letting visitors take a fully immersive virtual flight . To get the word out, the airline recruited local social media influencers as special guests.

The event was shared on Twitter with the hash-tag #Hausguest . Lufthansa also helped get the word out by giving fans a chance to win themed collectibles in exchange for retweets.

On a similar note, KLM recently opened a pop-up store in New York City, which let passengers sample Dutch culture through music, food, art and design.

Included in the displays, were the mock-ups of the airline’s new World Business Class seats.

To ensure a consistent guest experience, KLM had Hella Jongerius, the creative responsible for the airline’s new cabins, design the look and feel of its NYC shop. The airline documented the event on YouTube .

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benchmark report

airline marketing

social

private opera

#onedayoffline

AIR FRANCE Air France has brought the airy sophistication of its popular ‘France Is In The Air’ campaign to a new context, by hosting a special musical interlude with MyPrivateOpera at its business lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle airpor t.

The airline’s alternative musical ‘France Is In The Air’ ad campaign has had over 73 million views on YouTube and by blending Old World/European style with modern European chic, Air France aims to appeal to visitors from Asia and the Americas.

The Business class lounge concer t, held as a special event on 4 September, gave passengers a taste of classical opera while they waited for their flights.

MyPrivateOpera organises private concer ts working with a pool of ar tists consists of around thir ty professional singers and pianists, including winners of OCT 2015 ISSUE

CATHAY PACIFIC international contests, who are all trained by conservatories.

Three singers accompanied by a pianist, performed classical airs for the airline’s premium passengers. This was the first time any airline has hosted a MyPrivateOpera event. Air France recorded the concer t event and posted a video of it on YouTube .

“The Air France lounge is one of the highpoints of our trip,” said one passenger who enjoyed the performance, “but to have your vacation end with this was just glorious.” “It was a pleasant surprise,” said another. “I’ve never seen [anything like] it in any business class lounge.” “This is actually my first experience with opera,” said a third passenger. “You can feel it inside, you know, it’s nice.”

As airlines around the word turn to digital and go mobile, Cathay Pacific has taken a moment to reflect on the benefits of disconnecting.

In a new global campaign called #OneDayOffline , the airline suggests taking one day to enjoy travel off-the-grid.

Cathay found that most people spend, on average, six hours of their day on-line, and check their phone 150 times a day, 18% of social media users cannot go more than 2 hours without checking it, and 91% of us rely on smar tphones when we travel. The airline suggests that life might be a little sweeter if we take time for bird watching, instead of Tweeting.

The campaign builds on Cathay Pacific’s new international brand campaign, Life Well Travelled, which suggests that travelling well is essential to living well, and hopes to inspire more genuine, meaningful and memorable moments along the journey.

The #OneDayOffline campaign was promoted on-line , encouraging par ticipants to share what they would do with their time off, and peppered with affirmations like: “I’m going to talk, not text,” “I’m going to stroll, not scroll,” and “I’m going to find something to love, not Like.”

Vlogger and independent filmmaker DevinSuper tramp, who has over three million subscribers on YouTube, took Cathay up on the challenge and recorded a video of his #OneDayOffline Bali Roadtrip experience and encouraged others to try taking a day off.

The airline also took an analogue approach to promote the initiative by handing out in which notebooks at its lounges travellers can document their journey the old-fashioned way: with pen and paper.

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benchmark report

airline marketing

freelance flyer

world’s longest selfie stick

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

TOURISM AUSTRALIA Tourism Australia has introduced a new Giga Self ie campaign, billed as the world’s longest self ie, specif ically targeted at Japanese tourists.

Tourism Australia placed high def inition cameras at popular spots in Australia’s Gold Coast, which – when activated by a mobile app – take ‘self ies’ which can be zoomed in and out to include both the individual and a widescreen landscape that might inspire other visitors.

“Japan has long been an impor tant tourism market for Australia, with more than 320,000 Japanese visitors travelling here in the past year alone and contributing more than AUD1.4 billion in visitor spend,” said Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan. “With new air services coming online this year there is a real oppor tunity to fur ther grow travel from Japan and

OCT 2015 ISSUE

capture the renewed interest in Australia as a travel destination.”

To promote its Giga Self ie, Tourism Australia set up a microsite in Japanese to explain the concept, and produced a video for YouTube starring Japanese model and TV personality Ren Ishikawa.

Tourism Australia is rolling out the Giga Self ie as par t of its ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ campaign, in conjunction with par tner airlines, travel agencies and State Tourism Off ices.

This campaign exemplif ies creative strategies to connect with and satisfy the travel activity preferences of target customers, which might serve as inspiration to airlines. It also highlights oppor tunities to par tner with local tourism organisations on cross-over destination campaigns.

Virgin Atlantic has found a clever way to bring its brand before corporate travellers and entrepreneurs. The airline posted a spoof job listing on LinkedIn adver tising openings for “freelance flyers” who want an oppor tunity with “upward mobility.”

Compensation consists of free round-trip tickets between London and a U.S. city of origin in the airline’s Premium Economy cabin.

Candidates are asked to post their missionstatement in a cover letter submitted through a microsite . In 1500 words or less, they must state their business objectives in London and explain why flying in Virgin’s Premium Economy cabin would help them achieve their goals.

“We’re seeking highly motivated candidates who are proficient at making the most of every oppor tunity. You’ll be passionate about leading a full life and being successful at a career you love. You’ll have a positive, go getting attitude, with a talent for

inspiring those around you,” the airline writes.

Job requirements include handling in-flight equipment, making good use of services onboard, and sharing details of the in-flight experience to inspire others.

“The initial investment was nothing more than we would normally spend to promote a job opening on LinkedIn,” the airline states.

“LinkedIn was the perfect platform—we know our Premium Economy flyers are ambitious, experience-hungry people who make the most of every oppor tunity, and this approach allowed us to reach them where they already are.”

First posted in mid-September, at the time of writing, the ‘Freelance Flyer’ job listing shows over eleven hundred applicants willing to add a sponsored flight in Virgin’s Premium Cabin [video] to their resumes.

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airline marketing

digital

#mrpoints

#davethedog

MARRIOTT As part of a wider ‘Travel Brilliantly’ repositioning campaign, Marriott has launched an ‘#MRPoints’ social media initiative to capitalise on today’s travellers desire to share their journey with followers on social media.

Participants in the campaign are rewarded ‘socially’ with points for Marriott’s reward program. Marriott Rewards members receive 25 points when they link their Twitter or Instagram profile (50 points for linking both) to their membership accounts.

Participants can then earn 25 points for shares that include a promotion-specific hashtag (like #StayDC and #StayBaltimore ), plus the #MRPoints hashtag. Very active sharers can earn up to 125 points per day.

Rewarding social advocacy is a smart tactic, if the right messages are awarded to align with the brand’s objectives.

OCT 2015 ISSUE

WESTJET Estonian Air became the first airline in the world to launch a ‘social loyalty’ program called AirScore in 2011, while Air Canada and JetBlue have lauched similar initiatives.

Estonian rewarded its AirScore program members for advocating the brand on Facebook, and getting a Facebook friend to join the AirScore program.

At the time, Estonian Air’s CEO Tero Taskilia described the benefits to the airline of the initiative: “Using traditional channels to promote the airline and the country abroad requires a big budget and human resources,” he said. “Social Media is one of the most effective ways to market and promote brands across the borders.”

WestJet has taken inspiration from mockumentary comedy like Ricky Gervais in ‘The Office’ and ‘An Idiot Abroad,’ to create its latest 90-second spot promoting the airline’s new low-fares flights between Toronto and London.

misprint? I’m eating kibble!”

The premise is of a long-distance romance between Dave, in England, and his girlfriend Katie, in Canada. To save money on flights to visit his sweethear t, Dave disguises himself to travel as a dog.

The launch of this ad follows the airline’s introduction of new 767-300 service , with new cabins and a new logo, all in preparation WestJet;s first long-haul service.

For most of the video Dave boasts to the camera of the genius of his scheme, but, as the video ends, the camera zooms-in on an ad in the newspaper thrown into Dave’s cage, with a printed ad of WestJet’s new GBP194 one-way fares from Gatwick to Toronto.

Surprisingly, the video has just over 78,000 views on YouTube so far. In comparison, WestJet’s viral Christmas Miracle has generated over 41 million views. This could be a simple matter of timing, or a sign that hear t-strings can trump funny bones, when it comes to on-line viewership.

Richard Bar trem, VP marketing communications at West Jet, said the ad reflects WestJet’s “fun and friendly attitude”.

In a last line as hear t-wrenching as it is side-splitting, Dave the Dog says: “Is that a

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benchmark report

airline marketing

tv, print, ooh

how do you make didier?

r2-d2 unveiled

TURKISH AIRLINES

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS ANA continued the promotion of its partnership with the Star Wars franchise with the launch event in Seattle of the first Starwars-themed B787 delivered by Boeing, the R2-D2 ANA JET. On September 12, the R2-D2 ANA JET appeared for the first time and with a design that delivered on the promise of renderings published in April of this year.

As the doors to the hangar opened, popular characters from the Star Wars franchise appeared, including stormtroopers, C-3PO and, of course, R2-D2, while the Star Wars theme played in the background.

Guests present were notably excited, with cheers heard across the field.

The event was broadcast live on ANA’s Star Wars microsite . ANA also included a livechat feature with the broadcast which allowed OCT 2015 ISSUE

fans to comment and share in the experience.

Enthusiastic fans really got into the event.

The R2-D2 ANA JET roll-out also received extensive world-wide coverage from major news services like The Telegraph , CNN , Fox, USAToday, and News.com.au as well as from tech sites like CNET .

Turkish Airlines has had great success with its series of commercials featuring Lionel Messi, Kobe Bryant and Didier Drogba.

While previous videos played on the theme of competition, pitting one spor ts star against the other in a contest for the best travel experiences, the campaign now zooms in on Drogba, showing pivotal points in the player’s life, with the tie-in message: “Discover how travel has made Didier Drogba the man he is today.”

to his community; and his curiosity traced to Istanbul.

The ad ends with the core message: “Where You Go is Who You Are.” Like its predecessors, this video is already very popular, with over 6 million views on YouTube so far.

The one-minute video traces Drogba’s evolution as a player and a person, attributing to each stop on his career path a quality of his character: His ambition, nursed in his hometown of Abidjan; his skills, built up during his time at Le Mans; his passion, born at Marseille; his style, linked to his time at Chelsea; his compassion, reflected by his return home to give back

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benchmark report

airline marketing

how 20 years have flown

price comparison

EASYJET With the theme “How 20 Years Have Flown,” EasyJet launched a TV-led multichannel brand campaign that aims to shine a light on people’s own travel journeys.

The TV ad debuted in the UK during the opening Rugby World Cup game where England will take on Fiji and and uses a ferris wheel to demonstrate the passing of time while telling the story of a couple who meet and fell in love on an easyJet flight.

On social media and a microsite , EasyJet asks customers to send in “iconic” images from their Easyjet travels over the years, using the hashtag #timeflies.

The airline will print those customers’ pictures in a collage on a special 20-year edition EasyJet plane. It will also curate a content marketing effor t, with ‘top 20’ lists

OCT 2015 ISSUE

RYANAIR and guides for customers.

According to EasyJet marketing director Peter Duffy , the airline star ted by asking customers whether there was any relevancy in celebrating its 20th bir thday.

“We did research with customers to ask ‘was it even relevant to talk about our bir thday or do self congratulatory work?’

What we found is that consumers really recognised the journey as a metaphor for their own travel journey.”

While the campaign is labelled as TV-led, Duffy emphasises that video content is consumed by customers on the platforms they prefer. “When I think TV, I mean video content and people will receive that on whatever device they choose.”

Ryanair is claiming a first for the airline industry with a campaign that compares its fares and complaints record against rivals EasyJet and British Airways in the UK. The comparison was built on Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) records of formal complaints against the three carriers. The ad is voiced by English up and coming comedian Doc Brown.

Speaking to The Drum , Ryanair’s CMO Kenny Jacobs, said the campaign was inspired by German discount grocer Aldi which has run similar tongue-in-cheek style comparison adver ts to great effect in a bid to highlight its quality and value proposition.

Jacobs said the airline wanted to avoid the predictable creative route most airlines take of a “white Caucasian family on a beach.” “It’s very samey,” he said. “This is a

fare and service comparison ad which is a first for the industry.”

Different competitors will appear in the print ads depending on the region where they run. For example, in Ireland Ryanair pits itself against Aer Lingus.

This ad is the latest work product of creative agency Dare, which has guided Ryanair through the tricky 18-month transition of establishing itself as a customer-centric brand under its ‘Always Getting Better’ campaign. “[Ryanair] wanted to be seen as more of a retailer than an airline. Like a retailer it’s trying to offer more at great value,” explained Brian Cooper, creative par tner at Dare. “That’s how it’s trying to talk and from a [strategic creative] point of view that’s quite a radical shift.”

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benchmark report

airline marketing

take off: why we go

trayvertising

DELTA Delta has tapped-in to the awe and wonder of aviation with its new ‘Take Off: Why We Go’ commercial from Wieden + Kennedy in New York.

Voiced by actor Donald Sutherland, the video begins with an overhead shor t of the runway speeding by as a plane prepares for takeoff, and the phrase, ”What’s happening here is not normal… it’s extraordinary.”

The video was mostly filmed with the camera pointed directly at the tarmac as runway stripes whizz by underneath.

As the aircraft reaches greater speeds, Sutherland explains the highest aspirations of aviators, and highlights the courage of test pilots. At the very end, the camera swoops to reveal a breathtaking lavender, blue, and green horizon as the aircraft takes off; and concludes with Sutherland uttering the tag line: “Because there’s no stop in us,

OCT 2015 ISSUE

UNITED or you. Only go.” This tag line does doubleduty for the brand with the pun “there’s no stopping us.”

AdWeek described it as “the most highconcept airline ad in a while,” saying it was “either quite inspiring or a bit dismaying, depending on your level of comfor t with airline ads that focus on the actual terrifying physics of giant machines hur tling along at great speeds.”

On social media the video also touched the aviation community, professionals and #avgeeks alike. Business Traveller ranked it #1 in its most recent list of favourite airline adver ts.

Despite the costs and trouble to introduce wireless in-flight enter tainment (IFE) and/or in-flight connectivity (IFC) onboard, many airlines forget to make passengers aware of the availability of these services onboard, with most mentions tucked into seat pocket cards, lost between the in-flight magazine, duty-free, and in-flight menu.

The fact that many passengers are simply unaware of the new service, is a lost oppor tunity for passenger satisfaction and revenue. Simple tactics such as tray table ads, notifications on napkins and seat covers can do the trick.

For example, United is currently building awareness about its wireless IFE product using print ads on its tray tables. With more than 150 of its aircraft offering Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) enter tainment as the only IFE option available, the carrier has found that passengers who are aware

of the service rate the airline better in passenger satisfaction. The airline has also used the large space of the traytable ad as an oppor tunity to promote its destinations with panoramic images.

On a similar note, Singapore long-haul LCC Scoot promotes its onboard Wi-Fi with specially printed headrest protectors .

For those airlines which might want to use a more high-tech approach to promote the service to customers, SITA OnAir revealed plans at this year’s APEX EXPO to do so with a dedicated app and beacons , located at the airpor t and on the plane, which push messages offering connections to passengers’ mobile devices.

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about us.

Pricing SimpliFlying is a global consultancy that believes in thinking differently about aviation marketing. Having worked with over 50 airlines and airports around the world, it has presences in Singapore, UK, Spain, Canada and India.

Today, SimpliFlying advises airlines and airports on customer engagement strategy, achieving aviation business goals by harnessing the latest innovations in the social media space.

The firm also conducts MasterClasses to train and develop airline and airport teams to become self-sufficient in executing measurable and rewarding social campaigns.

OCT 2015 ISSUE

SimpliFlying’s growing list of clients includes Lufthansa, Emirates, Toronto Pearson Airpor t, Halifax International, KLIA, Jet Airways, LAN Airlines, airBaltic, Airbus and Bombardier.

Get in touch at engage@simpliflying. com or visit www.simpliflying.com.

Airlinetrends.com is an independent industry and consumer trends research agency that monitors the global aviation industry for commercial innovations in response to changing consumer behavior.

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