Airline Marketing Benchmark Report November 2017

AIRLINE MARKETING BENCHMARK REPORT November 2017 and Issue 62

#LIFEINHEL FINAVIA

DON’T STOP ME NOW

BY EMIRATES

#BAMAGIC

BY BRITISH AIRWAYS

WELCOME Published by aviation marketing strategy consulting firm SimpliFlying, the Airline Marketing Benchmark Report 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 next 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 field of marketing and corporate communications.

The monthly reports also help agencies that work with airlines stay on top of the latest innovative airline marketing initiatives.

For any questions about the report, please contact Dirk Singer at dirk@simpliflying.com.

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INSIDE This issue features: 1. Alaska - That’s how we fly 2. ANA - Journey by Design 3. British Airways #BAMagic 4. Delta - Earning our wings 5. Emirates - Don’t stop me now 6. Finavia and Finnair lifeinhel 7. KLM - Meet BB 8. Philippine Airlines #FlyTheWayYouDeserve 9. Qantas - Not your typical airline 10. SWISS - Swederland

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ALASKA AIRLINES - THAT’S HOW WE FLY

The Alaska Airlines / Virgin America take-over has already been featured in two editions this year. In January, we talked about “Different Works”, an advertising campaign by Alaska Airlines that celebrated the merger with Virgin America by trying to show that pairings that don’t seem immediately obvious can work.

fans) commenting - “it’s usually not a good sign when companies think they can slap some mood lights on something and recreate a culture that’s unique from any other company in their industry.”

Fast forward to November, and Alaska has now rolled out a third campaign that seeks to clear up “misconceptions” about the airline. The campaign, called “That’s In April, the decision by Alaska to retire How We Fly.” the Virgin brand but co-opt a few of its features led to the ‘West Coast Vibe’ In the first spot, ‘That’s how we fly’, the campaign. At the time, this resulted in a airline talks about the fact that being certain amount of scepticism, with tech called Alaska doesn’t mean they “fly publication Techcrunch (whose readers lumberjacks to glaciers”, but instead they would have been active Virgin America fly a whole range of people such as “app

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developers to Mexico city”, “musically inclined novelists to Nashville” and “pilates instructors to Palm Springs.”

‘FOMO No’ highlights on-board features such as free online chat. ‘From San Diego on up’ talks about low fares, using a startup boss as an example, while ‘Glocal’ mentions airline alliances that mean you can book and fly globally.

The new campaign is set to run six to eight weeks, first on TV/video and on a variety of social mediums including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube on Friday, November 10. It was created by Mekanism, the creative agency that was appointed by the airline at the end of last year.

Separately, the soon to be retired Virgin America brand won the award for ‘best US airline’ in the Readers’ Choice Awards for the tenth year running. Alaska Airlines took the third spot.

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KEY TAKE-AWAY The merger with Virgin America and Alaska’s expanded route network clearly means there is a need to educate potential new customers on who or what Alaska Airlines is - in particular that the airline doesn’t only fly to that US State.

At the same time, we wondered if the ad spots weren’t trying too hard to be aspirational and ‘cool.’ After all, most passengers are unlikely to be startup bosses flying to San Jose, let alone pilates instructors going to Palm Beach.

They are obviously much more likely to be parents with kids visiting the grandparents for thanksgiving, or a small business owner travelling to Seattle.

Possibly more ‘real’ and relatable examples would have worked better here.

ANA - JOURNEY BY DESIGN

In September, our cover story featured All Nippon Airways (ANA) for its “Is Japan Cool� campaign, which over the past five years has showcased different sides of Japanese culture from Manga to Ramen.

Japan as a destination was also the focus for a campaign launched in October called Journey by Design. In it five major Instagramers and YouTubers from around Asia Pacific were brought to the country.

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They were Kevin Hendrawan (Indonesia), incredibly proud of.” mingjai14 (Hong Kong), Haley Dasovich (Philippines), KIMDAX (South Korea) and Each of the influencers chosen had a newapplearial (Taiwan). following in excess of six figures, meaning that in terms of reach they are easily They each crowdsourced travel tips from equivalent to a mainstream media outlet. fans before heading to Japan to explore For example, newapplearial has close to various parts of the country. Thereafter, 200k YouTube subscribers and her video they participated in an Instagram of her flight and visit to Tokyo has so far challenge while filming a travel vlog for been viewed 25k times.

YouTube to sum up their experience.

The campaign was developed by video It is the first time the brand has production company Brave Bison. Each used multiple influencers and Masaru influencer was clearly paid to take part, Watanabe, manager, marketing and sales, as at various points they make reference Asia & Oceania at ANA commented: “The to this. result is an impactful campaign that we’re

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Instagram in particular is being used more by airlines because it offers the best engagement rates out of the different social networks. According to a report this year by analytics company Track Maven, Instagram works best for both b2c AND b2b brands.

Hence Lufthansa Cargo, which is of course not consumer facing, makes good use of the platform, something we covered in the August issue. Added to high engagement rates is the fact that the Instagram stories feature now has more users than Snapchat.

Airlines that have worked with major A-Listers include British Airways, which worked with Luanna (2+ million followers), and Qantas who has in the past worked with @garrypeppergirl (1.7 million followers).

However when working with social media influencers and Instagram influencers, we’d make two additional points. First of all, influencers with slightly smaller followings, so-called “micro-influencers” (5-10k followers) actually deliver proportionally better engagement than A-Listers.

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Added to that, it is not necessary to be a huge airline with big marketing budgets to do the kind of thing ANA did in Japan.

For example, over the past year bmi regional has worked extensively with Instagramer groups, which has included sending Birmingham-based Instagramers to Nuremberg, and working with two major Munich based Instagramers to promote a partnership with car rental firm Sixt.

KEY TAKE-AWAY Travel is inherently visual and Instagram delivers good results in terms of engagement. You can also mix images and video and make use of Instagram stories to keep fans hooked. As a result, it makes sense to work with influencers who in terms of numbers are often like a media outlet in their own right.

Don’t ignore smaller influencers around the 10k follower mark though. Their engagement rates are better and they still have the equivalent reach of a small regional newspaper. As an airline, you’d often be willing to give seats to a regional journalist so why not an Instagramer? This is especially so if you know that seats on a certain route and over a certain month are more likely to go unsold.

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BRITISH AIRWAYS - #BAMAGIC

Over the past few months, British Airways has been rolling out an initiative called #BAMagic. According to the airline, “We witness some amazing moments in airports. Whether it’s travelling home to see loved ones or taking children for their very first overseas holiday, travel can be special.”

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As a result, BA Magic is a campaign that seeks to reward these special stories through free flights and experiences.

Applying is straightforward, simply email the story to digital.marketing@ba.com, and (crucially) agree to have it talked about on social media if chosen as each story is turned into a short video.

Over the past month, two BA Magic stories appeared. In the first one, Sarah MacFarlane from London was brought to Hong Kong on a surprise 24-trip to see her nephew perform “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” In addition to tickets to the show, the experience included Priscilla dressed characters meeting her at the airport, and a helicopter ride for the family.

flight since being injured. British Airways organised a Rolls Royce to take the couple to Heathrow, hosted them in the First Class lounge and then flew them to Dublin while presenting Joe with a flight simulator experience in the cockpit.

Upon arrival in Dublin, British Airways gave Joe and Liz a final surprise by presenting them with two Club World tickets to Australia, where Joe had previously lived.

The second story, “Joe’s First Flight Back” involved Joe Dowd, who suffered When we saw the first videos in isolation, life changing brain injury in 2014, going our reaction was much like the one to Dublin with his wife Liz on his first expressed in the London Air Travel Blog:

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“Was it a rearguard initiative in response to negative PR earlier this year? Or perhaps a drive for clicks and likes on social media with all too common “And you won’t believe what happened next?” click bait.”

In the words of ‘One Mile at a Time’ - “A Rolls Royce ride to the airport, business class tickets to Australia, a ride in the British Airways flight simulator, and more?

They really took care of them, and it was well deserved.”

This is especially since an earlier video featured a man proposing to his girlfriend on-board a packed flight to Cyprus in front of other passengers - a classic “awww” moment that airlines and aviation brands often pull out of their PR hats..

KEY TAKE-AWAY

However you would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Joe Dowd’s flight to Dublin. As the blog says: “It is a salutary reminder for all that be able to fly is something that should never be taken for granted and aviation is fundamentally about bringing people together. And, irrespective of any motive for positive publicity, BA deserves praise for its responsiveness and generosity.”

However, three things make #BAMagic noteworthy.

First of all there is consistency. This isn’t a ‘one hit wonder’ - a new story seems to be released every few weeks. Secondly British Airways has done more than just throw unsold seats at deserving passengers. Instead, each BA Magic story involves the airline creating a full and thought out experience from helicopter rides to flight simulator psses.

Indeed what struck us in particular was the lengths British Airways went through to help the couple. The free flights to Australia rounded off what would have been a moving story, even had they not been offered.

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As a one-off the BA initiative could just be dismissed as a PR stunt designed to deflect attention from some of the reputational issues the airline has been facing.

Finally, an unspoken but implicit message in these videos is ‘Only BA can do that.’

No other UK carrier would have the ability to pull off the things British Airways does in the videos, because competitors such as easyJet simply don’t have the same global network.

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DELTA - EARNING OUR WINGS

In September we talked about easyJet linking its “For the Love of Flying” recruitment campaign into a programme

by UK broadcaster ITV called ‘Inside the Cockpit.’ The programme followed a group of trainee pilots as they took to the air for the very first time.

other potential cadets could relate to on a human level.

Not every airline has the good fortune to have a major broadcaster make a show about it, so Delta made it own.

The series, entitled “Earning Our Wings,” chronicles the journeys of some of Delta’s flight-attendants-in-training as they complete a “grueling eight-week training program that tests their limits.”

In our September report we talked about how the campaign was effective, not only because of the wide exposure it received via ITV, but also because it gave an actual insight of what it is to work for easyJet. The trainee pilots were people The series is meant to show what it really

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takes to become a flight attendant, where The danger for what is essentially a demand for jobs far outstrips the supply corporate piece of content (albeit one of available vacancies. that has been packaged up by the PR department as a reality TV show) is that Delta claims it received 150,000 it can appear too promotional. applications during 2016 for about 1,200 attendant positions. The airline said it In fact Delta has managed to steer away conducted 35,000 video interviews and from that and give the programme an 6,000 in-person interviews to fill those authentic feel about it. For example, spots. So far for 2018, Delta has received in the second episode we encounter a more than 125,000 applications. trainee who has time-keeping issues and who neglected to wear a watch (a must According to Delta, this means it is easier for all employees) to his style consultation to get into Harvard than become a flight where staff assessed his look. attendant for the airline.

The different episodes also manage to get The ten episode series sees a group of across information about what it is like to trainees get to grips with everything from work for Delta without being overly long. performing CPR to preparing in-flight At 3-4 minutes, each of the videos is short cabin meals. enough to hold web viewers’ attention

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KEY TAKE-AWAY Delta didn’t need to make this web video series, it has more than enough applicants every year to fill available positions. Nevertheless, it allows Delta to showcase the people behind the brand - the staff - and get across a series of key messages in each video (e.g the importance of being on time for an ‘on time airline’).

The statistic that it’s easier to get into Harvard than work for Delta additionally gave Earning our Wings much more exposure than would otherwise have been the case, with media coverage appearing in Australia, Europe as well as North America.

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EMIRATES - DON’T STOP ME NOW

Did you know that the Queen song ‘Don’t Stop me Now’ is meant to be the most uplifting and feel good song of the past fifty years? This is according to neuroscientists who found the tune had the perfect mix of tempo and lyrics.

its home and hub, Dubai.”

The ad, shot by award-winning director Vaughan Arnell, uses camera work that transitions between key destinations and Emirates’ onboard features (e.g. a business class cabin and the same passenger with This insight has led to Emirates using it as his partner on a yacht) in “a picture within the soundtrack to its latest $15 million ad a picture” story-telling style. campaign. According to the airline, the ad campaign campaign seeks “to inspire The one-minute spot culminates in travel and promote the airline’s extensive Dubai, with a soundbite on how Emirates network of global destinations including connects the world via Dubai. The

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campaign launched on 15 October and That is why we chose to use the Queen is being promoted worldwide in key soundtrack, and a creative approach that markets. was uplifting and energetic, to remind people of the excitement of travel.”

“Emirates and Dubai have always been inextricably linked,” Boutros Boutros, The result that ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President is ultimate feel good song, according for Corporate Communications, Marketing to science, comes from cognitive and Brand, said. neuroscientist Dr Jacob Jolij, who found that a fast tempo (about 150 beats per “At Emirates we believe that people, minute), a major key and happy lyrics are regardless of their backgrounds, have a the key common elements of a feel-good strong desire to travel and experience song. the world for themselves. They want to be inspired, to discover, and to have fun. Dr Jolij’s study was indeed PR-led and

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KEY TAKE-AWAY On its own, this is a great ad as it showcases the range of destinations Emirates flies to, different cabin features as well as its Dubai home all within one minute.

However, the use of ‘Don’t Stop me now’ and the statistic that it is the best feel good song of all times, has turned the ad campaign into a media story that will generate a lot more exposure (and many more views) for Emirates.

was done to generate the “survey said” style press pieces you see in newspapers on behalf of brands day in, day out.

However what’s notable is that Emirates didn’t commission the study. Rather this was a project originally paid for by budget electronics brand Alba, whose products you can only buy at British discount retailer Argos.

Emirates then effectively co-opted the findings for its own campaign.

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At first we assumed that the research behind the stat was conducted by Emirates as part of the campaign, and most of the media who picked up on it seem to have made the same assumption. However it was of course done by Alba, and Emirates has successfully made the research its own - at no cost.

Another example of brands co-opting other brands’ PR stunts is the ‘most miserable day of the year’ (also known as “Blue Monday”) story you see doing the rounds on behalf of different travel companies every January.

Blue Monday has been a thing for UK PR’s for the best part of a decade, but it originated following a 2005 press release issued by Sky Travel.

FINAVIA AND FINNAIR - #LIFEINHEL

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The Tom Hanks movie, ‘The Terminal’ (partially inspired by the real life story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri) involved Hanks playing an Eastern European visitor trapped in New York’s JFK Airport.

mission is to find out whether Helsinki Airport really is “the best airport in the world.”

The task that the airport gave Zhu was as follows: Return to Beijing at any time he likes. Or live (in a small wooden cabin) at the airport and complete a series of daily challenges. If he completes them, he wins a trip to Lapland.

Now Helsinki Airport operator Finavia, along with Finnair, has taken this idea one stage further by actually recruiting someone to live at the airport.

Specifically, Chinese TV personality Ryan Zhu is currently at the end of a 30 day For example, on the first day he had to stint where he has taken up residence in find his cabin within fifteen minutes, day the non Schengen area of HEL. Ryan’s two involved buying five items within

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30 minutes, while on day nineteen he / China and the West. In fact, Finnair has actually got to leave the airport to spend been actively targeting the Asian market eight hours in Helsinki. over the past few years, a topic that is covered in SimpliFlying CEO, Shashank All challenges have been hosted on a Nigam’s book ‘SOAR.’ #LifeinHel website, in the form of a series of short videos. The website also As a result, given that social networks includes information about Ryan, the such as Facebook and Instagram remain airport itself, and it pulls in social media off-limits to most mainland Chinese social and media coverage about the campaign media users, the LifeinHel website also worldwide. links back to Chinese networks such as Sina Weibo.

Ryan Zhu, a Chinese actor, was chosen clearly to illustrate the benefits of Helsinki Indeed, in the videos Ryan (largely) airport as a ‘bridge’ between the Far East speaks in his native Mandarin (though

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he learns a number of Finnish phrases) while the films have little China-friendly touches such as Chinese staff helping him when he goes shopping.

This is a really innovative campaign that has been called “reality TV meets game show.” Media coverage about the stunt has appeared in China, Finland, Western Europe and North America.

Meanwhile there has been extensive social media exposure. According to Tweetreach, the #LifeinHel hashtag had 800k+ impressions on Twitter in (at the time of writing) in the past week alone. #LifeinHel follows a 2016 campaign staged by Finnair and Finavia called #MatchMadeinHel, where the runway was turned into a fashion catwalk.

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KEY TAKE-AWAY This is a great campaign for a number of different reasons. Using Ryan means it reaches both Chinese (because of his profile) and Western (because of the challenges) audiences.

As they are all filmed, the tasks form 30 unique and individual pieces of content that can all be reused on social media and in PR. That content then highlights all the different benefits of flying from Helsinki.

Finally when Ryan wins his Lapland trip, Finnair and Finavia will in effect have another mini campaign, as it will promote the idea of flying through HEL and having a short 48 hour stopover.

Well done Finavia for coming up with something innovative that has already generated a lot of exposure worldwide.

It’s our cover story of the month.

KLM - MEET BB

Eighteen months ago, Dutch airline KLM became the first airline partner of Facebook Messenger. Web developer Perttu Tolvanen wrote a review of the whole process last year detailing how he got flight information and even his boarding pass via Messenger, noting how easy the whole process worked.

Spring for example it introduced a feature where passengers could ask for directions to the nearest restaurant, clothes store, ATM, taxi rank and more by sending an emoji.

The latest incarnation of the KLM bot is BB. This stands for ‘Blue Bot’, but we can’t believe it’s coincidental that it sounds like Over the past year, KLM has improved the Star Wars droid BB-8, with the next the initial functionality of the bot. In the Star Wars film about to be released.

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handling more than 16,000 cases a week.

Volumes will continue to grow.

“At the same time, customers require a speedy response. We have therefore been experimenting with AI to support our agents to provide a personal, timely and correct answer. With BB, KLM is taking the next step in its social media strategy, offering personal service through technology, supported by human agents when needed.”

To launch BB, KLM produced a short video, which is hosted on a micro-site.

In the video, which has echoes of the TV Essentially with BB you can now book sitcom, The Office, airline marketing staff tickets without having to talk to a human are told to welcome their new colleague being - unless you really want to or have BB, who they can hear but never see. to.

Another airline which currently allows you BB underlines KLM’s continued to book flights via a Facebook Messenger commitment to social and digital app is Icelandair. Icelandair’s bot also media, with the company admitting allows you to include a stopover of up to in a Mobile Marketing Magazine seven nights in your ticket when flying interview that it has 250 full time between Europe and North America. social media staff.

In his review of the original KLM “KLM is well known for its personal Messenger bot, Perttu Tolvaren approach,” said Pieter Groeneveld, SVP recommended that airlines in fact of digital at Air France-KLM. prioritise bots and messenger applications, believing that this kind “On social media, we offer 24/7 service of “app within an app” approach with our team of 250 human agents, made more sense than investing in

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developing a separate and bespoke mobile application.

Similarly in September, Chatbot Magazine published an article of how different airlines, including KLM, are using Chatbots.

Chatbot Magazine noted that Facebook Messenger was the vehicle of choice for airlines because it was both technologically advanced with different tools on offer for developers, as well as having a huge reach with 1.2 billion people worldwide using it.

KEY TAKE-AWAY With over a billion people using Facebook Messenger, the service easily dwarfs other online services and social networks, such as Twitter, where airlines have traditionally invested time and money.

As a result, with Facebook Messenger already being on most passengers’ phones, it is sensible that airlines use this as another way for people to interact with them, down to giving them basic customer services information and, in the case of KLM and Icelandair, actually allowing them to book tickets.

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PHILIPPINE AIRLINES - #FLYTHEWAYYOUDESERVE

Since a management change in 2015, Philippine Airlines has sought to differentiate itself from low cost rivals such as Cebu Pacific by emphasising the fact that it is a full service airline, with features such as checked in bags and free food and drink included.

Airlines, which have been awarded five star status, by 2020.

This thinking forms the basis of a new ad campaign, “#FlyTheWayYouDeserve, which is running in major metro areas such as Manila and Luzon. The ads coincide with the introduction of newly configured Indeed, the airline has set itself the goal A330s on key international routes such of joining the select group of airlines, as Manila to Honolulu and Osaka. including Qatar Airways and Singapore

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they fly PAL, they get more value for their money. Our overall better and heartfelt service at year-round surprisingly affordable fares will give them a better flying experience.”

At the same time as launching #FlytheWayYouDeserve, in the Philippines, PAL has rollled out an international campaign called “Experience the Heart of the Filipino.”

The first ad, an online video, features a This campaign is targeted at international passenger checking in for an unnamed leisure travellers. budget airline. He brings an over-sized carry on bag on board to avoid fees, sits While #FlytheWayYouDeserve shows off in the middle seat while being provided PAL’s full-service economy class product, with no in-flight entertainment and Experience the Heart of the Filipino people are climbing over him to reach leads with images of the premium cabin the WC, and is charged for a blanket and offering before showing tourist-friendly water. scenes from the Philippines itself.

The second part of the ad then features the same passenger flying PAL and checking in his bags, watching movies, getting a free hot meal with wine and finally being given a free blanket.

According to PAL Vice President for Marketing Ria Carreon-Domingo said “With this new campaign, we want more Filipino flyers to understand that when

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The campaign aims to build awareness amongst non-Filipino flyers that PAL is an airline representing the best of Filipino culture: hospitality, warmth and total care.

In the UK, the ad campaign has resulted in the airline taking out its first print ads since 2013 with the resumption of daily Heathrow - Manila flights from December 6th.

KEY TAKE-AWAY Over the past few years, a number of more established airlines have increasingly come to resemble LCCs by cutting costs and (e.g in the case of BA) charging for features such as in-flight meals. That of course begs the question - if you are getting a no frills service, why not fly with someone who actually makes a virtue about it (and charges accordingly).

Philippine Airlines recognises that and realises that if passengers have a choice there has to be some positive brand differentiation between you and the competition.

Interestingly enough, British Airways itself appears to recognise that. After cutting in-flight frills on short haul flights, British Airways is changing tack and is now promising “extra meals, fast wifi and plug points at all seats for its Economy passengers.�

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QANTAS - NOT YOUR TYPICAL AIRLINE

According to the US State Department, close to two thirds of Americans (64%) have never been abroad and don’t own a passport.

Australian airline Qantas has a simple solution - if you are American it will pay for your passport. Or, to be more precise, Qantas is deducting $135 off the ticket to Australia for US travellers - $135 being how much it costs to apply for a passport in the US.

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The campaign, under the strapline of ‘Not Your Typical Airline’, was developed by advertising agency BWM Dentsu Sydney, to coincide with Qantas introducing the 787 Dreamliner on flights to the US from December.

In addition to the $135 offer, the campaign features iconic Australian locations including Great Barrier Reef and Uluru, with the explanation being that Australia also offers not your typical vacation experience

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In combination with the insight that 40%+ of Americans don’t have a passport, the campaign used the stat that Australia is in the top five destinations US travellers would like to go to over the next two years.

Out of the eight million international visitors who came to Australia, less than 10% (753,000) were from the USA. They in turn injected $3.7 billion into the Australian economy during their visit, an increase of 7% year on year. As a result, Qantas clearly believes there is a larger untapped market.

At the same time as it is offering to pay Dreamliner program.” for Americans’ passports, Qantas has launched a wider campaign to promote Filming for the Dreamliner campaign took the new Dreamliner aircraft in the fleet. place in regional Queensland, Melbourne, Sydney and the Boeing facility in Seattle, A series of online videos features different Washington.

Qantas employees who are in some way involved with the B-787.

KEY TAKE-AWAY The campaign profiles a pilot whose curiosity for flying began while his mother worked at the airline in the 1970’s; an engineer’s early passion for mechanics and aviation started on a farm; and a flight attendant who immigrated to Australia at a young age and is passionate about making people feel comfortable and at home.

According to Ben Sampson, creative director of The Monkeys, the agency which came up with the campaign, “Being able to show the human side of something as technologically advanced as the new Qantas Dreamliner was a nice creative opportunity, and suited the Qantas brand perfectly.

“They have such spirited people and that was clear when we discovered the stories from three of their staff, and experienced their excitement at being part of the

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Will the Qantas campaign lead to a rush of Americans applying for a passport?

Almost certainly no. However it is a way to get what would otherwise have been a standard ad campaign noticed.

Both the statistic (of people not owning passports), and the mechanic gives the advertising extra legs as it can be used both in social media content and as a way to generate press coverage via PR.

SWISS - SWEDERLAND

Which pairs of countries confuse Americans the most? Apparently the list includes Austria and Australia, Uruguay and Paraguay - and Sweden and Switzerland.

And it’s not only Americans who confuse the Swiss and Swedes. It prompts confusion in China as well with the two names sounding similar in Mandarin (the same is true of Spanish as well). So much so that several years ago the SWISS and Swedish consulates in Shanghai ran a competition asking local residents

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for funny ways to differentiate the two countries.

Similarly, a blog exists explaining the difference between the two countries for the uninitiated.

Lufthansa owned SWISS used the insight that the two countries often get mixed up to run a competition to win flights to “Swederland.”

“We decided to put an end to the confusion by sending those in need of clarification to

Switzerland, accompanied by a Swedish tour guide, to once and for all explain the differences between the countries,” Gabriel Leupold, Senior Director Sales Nordic & Baltic Countries, Lufthansa Group, said of the marketing campaign.

To be one of the “Swederland” winners, you have to visit a Swederland competition site. You are then prompted to find a Swedish / non Swedish Facebook friend (depending on your nationality) and to make a “confession” on your own Facebook profile.

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For example, the suggestion for this writer was - “Before I travelled to Denmark, I thought Sweden was in between France and Germany. I had been to Paris 38 times….”

Entries for the competition close on 28 November, with a winning pair receiving return flights to Switzerland with a “Grand Train Tour” pass and all accommodation paid for. Meanwhile two runner-ups win a public transport pass and accommodation.

KEY TAKE-AWAY ‘Swederland’ is a nice, creative hook that should get SWISS a fair amount of attention.

The problem with the mechanic however is two-fold. It relies on Swedish and non Swedish people being Facebook friends, which immediately limits entries. And some people might shy away from making a ‘confession’ about confusing the two countries (even as a joke) as it could open them up to ridicule.

As a result, we’re interested to see how many entries SWISS gets by the time the competition closes at the end of the month.

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ABOUT US

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 airpor ts 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.

SimpliFlying’s growing list of clients includes Lufthansa, Emirates, Toronto Pearson Airport, Halifax International, KLIA, Jet Airways, LAN Airlines, airBaltic, Airbus and Bombardier.

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

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